How To Create An Offer That Sells Itself
If you're in the business of selling anything (which is all of us!), then you need a strong offer. All the marketing in the world can't sell a product nobody wants — but even below average marketing can sell an irresistible offer.
As Travis Jones puts it, "Make people an offer so good they’d feel stupid saying no."
In this blog I’ll show you how to do just that!
PS — Before you do this, you’ll want to have a detailed customer avatar. Click here for a blog article that shows you how to create one.
Why a strong offer is so important.
In today's highly competitive landscape, capturing the attention of customers and standing out from the noise has become increasingly challenging.
To cut through the clutter and run profitable campaigns, your business needs to have a compelling offer that resonates with your target audience.
A well-crafted offer can significantly increase conversions and drive sales, making all the difference in both your marketing campaigns and your business as a whole.
What most people get wrong.
The biggest mistake most businesses is make is they focus on features and price. Keep this in mind… customers aren’t buying a product they are buying the outcome.
They are paying money to improve their life not just get another thing.
If you are running a marketing campaign and it’s not working, the offer is the first thing we check. Whilst things like graphic design, copywriting and landing pages can be a factor, it’s most likely your offer that’s causing the problem.
Customers either don’t see the value in it, don’t have a clear reason to choose it over a competitor or they just don’t get it.
Customers aren’t buying a product they are buying the outcome it creates.
What happens when you get it right.
If you have an epic offer, your marketing becomes a LOT easier. You get higher conversion rates, cheaper clicks, lower cost per acquisition, better customer engagement... everything!
Like I said at the start — even the best marketing will struggle to sell a poor offer, but below average marketing will still sell a killer offer.
If customer perceive your offer as highly valuable, it’s presented in a way that makes them feel deeply understood and it’s clearly different to existing alternatives, you will get far more sales.
Customers buy when they feel confident you can solve their problem, and they’re presented with an offer so good they can’t refuse.
How to create an offer that sells itself.
Creating a killer offer isn't rocket science, but it does require some thoughtful planning. Here are some questions to guide you:
CUSTOMER — Who is this offer for?
Describe the target customer as specifically as possible.
PROBLEM — What problems are they having that we could help with?
The bigger the better! Focus on the problem itself, don’t list solutions yet.
Also, list problems you could actually solve.
GOALS — What are they trying to achieve that our solution could help deliver?
This is often the opposite of of the problem. E.g if they have back pain, the goal would be to not have back pain.
LANGUAGE — How would customers describe their current and desired situation?
Explain the situation in their words, as they might use different language.
VALUE — What is the most outrageous thing we could offer?
Start with something borderline ridiculous, and then dial it back until it’s something you can actually deliver on, whilst still making a healthy profit.
It might feel strange at first, but this helps you unpack the best possible offer.
You want to end up with something that would make a customer say “All that? Seriously? Yes, I’m in.”
RESULTS — What quantifiable results will they have after buying our offer?
Most people make the mistake of creating an offer that doesn’t have a quantifiable result. This means that when your customers buyer your product, they will achieve, or have the ability to achieve, a result that is measurable.
People do not spend money on info because they think the info is neat or helpful. They spend it because they have a goal, and they believe the info will help them achieve it.
PROCESS — What’s the step by step process for delivering those results?
Explain the step by step process for achieving the result. You can tidy it up later, but start by listing out what you do in order to give them what you’ve promised.
If it’s not linear (e.g a software), list all the most important features.
METHOD — What will we name our unique delivery system or methodology?
Creating your own ‘signature solution’ helps you stand out from the competition and also increase your perceived expertise in the eyes of your customers.
UVP — What makes this different/better to existing alternatives?
Make this specific (e.g avoid vague words like ‘high quality’) and measurable (e.g instead of ‘personalised service’, it might be that you only take on 20 customers at a time).
Also, avoid bland or obvious sayings like ‘results-driven’ or ‘integrity’. If you’re buying a product, you’d want to hope the business has those things as a default!
SCARCITY — What makes this offer limited?
People want what they can’t have. How can you introduce scarcity into the offer?
It could be things like limited spots for clients, limited supply of products, only certain customers can be accepted etc.
For example, at our agency we only take on 25 clients at a time, and we’re usually full most of the time. This adds a layer of scarcity.
URGENCY — Why should they take action now and not wait?
As Alex Hormozi says: “Scarcity and urgency are frequently used together, but “scarcity is a function of quantity, while urgency is a function of time:”
You can introduce urgency with deadlines, only have a certain window when you accept clients and so on.
If none of these apply to you, you can create urgency by explaining the impact of not solving their problem. E.g if they keep waiting or putting it off, they’re going to be stuck in the same position, which will lead to XYZ.
BONUSES — What else will they get when they buy?
This is a great way to instantly add perceived value. You might also be offering things already that you just haven’t communicated properly.
What are all the moving pieces when it comes to helping a customer achieve their result? It might be access to experts, access to software, free resources, discounts, referrals… list everything they could get when they become a customer.
Then with each bonus, explain what it is, how it relates to their issue and how it improves their life.
RISK REVERSAL — What’s a guarantee we can offer to reverse risk?
Providing a guarantee to customers removes their perceived risk and increases the likelihood of them purchasing (as well as keeping you accountable).
Now if the idea seems scary, it doesn't have to be. Ask yourself...
"When something has gone wrong for a customer, what did we do to fix it?"
E.g if you go to a restaurant and the food isn't properly cooked, they will make you a new one. That's essentially a satisfaction guarantee.
The key is to make the guarantee around something you can control (E.g you shouldn't offer a "100% no questions asks refund" if you delivered the product but the customer didn't do their part).
But for the areas CAN control, if you are confident in your ability to consistently deliver the desired result, it's worth offering.
For example when we do a website project for someone, we have a 100% satisfaction guarantee. We don't take final payment unless you LOVE it.
OFFER NAME — What will we call the offer?
Now it’s time to name of your offer. Similar to your Signature Solution from earlier, this adds a layer of added uniqueness and perceived value.
Offer checklist.
Once you’ve answered all those questions you can start organising your notes and packaging it all up. After you’ve completed this process, run your offer through this checklist to make sure it’s ticking all the right boxes.
Customer — Targeted toward a specific type of person.
Painkiller — Solves a strong problem or pain point (bigger the better).
Quantifiable — It delivers a quantifiable end result.
Value — It delivers far more value than it costs.
Clarity — It’s easy to understand how it works and what they get.
UVP — It's different and better than existing alternatives.
Method — Has your own unique methodology for delivering results.
Social Proof — It uses social proof to prove it’s in-demand.
Scarcity/Urgency — It uses scarcity and/or urgency to encourage action.
Risk Reversal — Has some form of risk-reversal to address fears/objections.
Bonuses — It includes high-value bonuses.
Name — It has a unique name.
Now you’re ready for marketing!
Once you’ve created a strong offer, now it’s time to get it out there. Don’t rush the process, it’s incredibly important and it will pay off!
If you’d like help putting this together or you’re ready to launch a marketing campaign, reach out to our team and let’s create a game plan.
Either way I hope you found this blog article useful, and I’ll see you in the next one!