Offers that win orders

How to create an offer that wins orders

When you make an offer to a prospective customer, it needs to be as compelling as possible – so that you have the best chance of making the sale.  The companies that do well at making offers are the ones most likely to win the business.

Making compelling offers can also give your lead generation a big boost, as experience shows that people are more likely to respond to such approaches.  Here are just a few ideas to make your offers as compelling as possible:

Offer a choice of payment options

This applies not only to the method of payment (invoice, credit card, PayPal, etc) but also to the time you make available to pay.  A well-used example is furniture stores that frequently run the “buy now and pay nothing until Christmas” offer.  The same can apply to business, where you might structure an installment offer or even a “payment holiday” offer.  Remember that not every business or consumer necessarily has the cash to buy from you right now, so taking away this obstacle can secure the sale.

Create action using a time limit

Even if people really want and need your product or service, they have many other things to deal with.  You want them to take action NOW, while they are thinking about your product or service. There’s nothing like a deadline to prompt action.

Create action using an “early bird” discount

As well as or rather than limiting the time of the offer, you can create early sales by offering a discount for orders received before a certain date.  Many people love to feel they’re amongst the first to buy, as well as securing a bargain.

Give the customer a choice of offers

Here, you’re not saying “Would you like to buy from us?” – you’re saying “Which of our many different offers would you like to take up?”  There is an implied assumption here, of course, that the customer will buy – it’s just a question of exactly what he or she buys.  Giving people more than one way to say works well.

Show your offer as a bargain

If your product retails at £79.50, offer it for £49.50 – and stress that this is a saving of 38% or £30. You can also offer further discounts for multiple purchases or orders whose total value is above a certain threshold.

Reduce or eliminate the risk

Buying decisions almost always involve an assessment of risk; will it work?  Will we make the savings we need to?  Will I get the benefits I’m looking for?
You can reduce the risk for the purchaser by offering a free trail for a limited time.  Most offers of this type are set up so that they automatically convert to a sale if the customer does not cancel the free trial.  As long as you state this clearly up-front, you should not have any problems.

Offer a guarantee

Guarantee is one of the most powerful words in marketing.  To completely eliminate risk you can offer a guarantee such as “If you are not entirely satisfied with the product or service, we will refund your money.”

Know your market

There are many different types of markets in business – and perhaps one of the most important distinctions is whether you are looking for sales opportunities in the “business-to-business” (B2B) or “business-to-consumer” (B2C) market. Put simply, does your business sell mainly to other businesses (B2B), or to consumers (B2C)?

People in these two different types of market make their decisions on different reasoning. In the B2C arena, buying decisions are often more emotionally based, with logic being used to justify the decision.  It stands to reason therefore that some types of offer will do better in B2B than B2C, and vice versa.

So if you want to boost your lead generation and find more potential customers, think about making your offer as compelling as possible.