Day 19: Use this to speed up response on your offers
Published: Fri, 06/10/16
Few forces create action faster than a deadline.
It’s a powerful tool for rewarding action-takers.
If you don’t have a deadline and allow prospects to determine the buying timeframe, you reduce the likelihood of getting your desired response. Worse yet, your prospects may get lured away by another offer.
Remember, people are natural procrastinators.
So when you create a sense of immediacy, prospects realize they must respond now -- or risk missing out on a valuable opportunity.
As Robert Cialdini stressed in his book, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, “We value more those things that have recently become less available to us.”
So simply figure out what has the most meaning to your potential buyers and set your deadline around that motivation.
For example, price is a big factor for buyers at Amazon.com. So the retail giant drive tons of shoppers to Today’s Deals, a page packed with heavily discounted items that are available in small quantities for a limited time.
Amazon.com even includes a countdown timer to stress scarcity.
My buddy, Andy Renk, uses a similar principle on his fundraising site for rescued pets -- Mac & Jack. All T-shirt proceeds from the site go to help rescue pets in need.
That only catch is, you can only get the one-of-kind T-shirts for a limited time. Once the pet rescue partner changes, Andy reveals a new T-shirt and the previous one is no longer available.
So you must act fast if you want a particular design.
Another idea is to focus your deadline on a timeframe you can’t control. For instance, I’ve worked with several personal injury attorneys who represent car accident victims. These people have a limited time to file a personal injury lawsuit (the timeframe varies by state).
So we always mention this statute of limitations. After all, when accident victims miss this deadline, they lose their right to collect compensation for injuries from a car accident.
The reality is, deadlines work so well because we instinctively don’t want to miss out on opportunities and we crave things that aren’t easily available.
How are you using a deadline for what you offer?
Talk soon,
Tom
NOTE: This is Day 19 of a 30-day marketing challenge for all my subscribers. These emails are designed to help you fix underperforming campaigns, cut marketing expenses and uncover overlooked profits in your business. Simply pick and choose a few strategies and apply them to your business. (Of course, keep me updated on your progress too.)
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