Offers
Offers
Offer Defined: It is what begins the process of getting customers and making money. It is the first thing any new customer will interact with in your business.
“Make people an offer so good they feel stupid saying no.”
GRAND SLAM OFFER
It’s an offer you present to the marketplace that cannot be compared to any other product or service available, combining an attractive promotion, an unmatchable value proposition, a premium price, and an unbeatable guarantee with a money model (payment terms) that allows you to get paid to get new customers . . . forever removing the cash constraint on business growth. (p. 26). Kindle
Example
Pay one time. (No recurring fee. No retainer.) Just cover ad spend. I’ll generate leads and work your leads for you. And only pay me if people show up. And I’ll guarantee you get 20 people in your first month, or you get your next month free. I’ll also provide all the best practices from the other businesses like yours. Daily sales coaching for your staff Tested scripts Tested price points and offers to swipe and deploy Sales recordings . . . and everything else you need to sell and fulfill your customers. I’ll give you the entire play book for (insert industry), absolutely free just for becoming a client. In a nutshell, I'm feeding people into your business, showing you, exactly, how to sell them so that you can get the highest prices, which means that you make the most money possible . . . sound fair enough? (pp. 29-30). Kindle
Massive Pain
They must not want, but desperately need, what I am offering.
The degree of the pain will be proportional to the price you will be able to charge (more on this in the Value Equation chapter). When they hear the solution to their pain, and inversely, what their life would look like without this pain, they should be drawn to your solution. I have a saying I use to train sales teams, “The pain is the pitch.” If you can articulate the pain a prospect is feeling accurately, they will almost always buy what you are offering. A prospect must have a painful problem for us to solve and charge money for our solution. (p. 35). Kindle
THE VALUE EQUATION
As you can see from the picture, there are four primary drivers of value. Two of the drivers (on top), you will seek to increase. The other two (on the bottom), you will seek to decrease.
“Get The Bottom To Zero”
In the beginning of my career, I focused all my attention on dream outcomes and the perception of achievement (social proof, third-party edification, etc.) In other words, the top side of the equation. That’s where beginner marketers make bigger and bigger claims. It’s easy, and it’s lazy.
But as time has gone on, I have realized that these larger-than-life claims are the easiest to establish (and therefore less unique). After all, anyone can make a promise. The harder, and more competitive, are the Time Delay and Effort & Sacrifice. The best companies in the world focus all their attention on the bottom side of the equation. Making things immediate, seamless, and effortless.
I have shifted my focus to “the hard stuff” — decreasing the bottom side of the equation. And I believe the better you do this, the more you will be rewarded by the marketplace.
In other words, if you can reduce your prospects' true time delay to receiving value to zero (aka you realize your immediate dream outcome), and your effort and sacrifice is zero, you have an infinitely valuable product. If you accomplish this, you win the game. (p. 57). Kindle
1. Dream Outcome
Our goal is not to create desire. It’s simply to channel that desire through our offer and monetization vehicle. The dream outcome is the expression of the feelings and experiences the prospect has envisioned in their mind. It’s the gap between their current reality and their dreams. Our goal is to accurately depict that dream back to them, so they feel understood, and explain how our vehicle will get them there.
People generally, and our clients specifically, want:
. . . To be perceived as beautiful
. . . To be respected
. . . To be perceived as powerful
. . . To be loved
. . . To increase their status
The dream outcome value driver is most prominently used when comparing the relative value between two different desires being satisfied. In general, the dream outcome that most directly increases a prospect’s status will be the one they value most. As such, a prospect may value that entire category of vehicles that satisfy one desire more than another category that satisfies a different desire. For many men, making money is more important than being handsome. Why? Because money drives status for men more than being handsome does. So, in general, they will value all offers that make them money more than offers that help them look good.
So it’s not about the money, it's about the status (the perceived increase or decrease in relative standing when compared to others socially or professionally). Talk in terms of things your prospect believes will increase their status, and you will have your prospects drooling. (p. 61). Kindle
Pro Tip: Frame benefits in terms of status gained from the viewpoint of others. When writing copy, you can make it that much more powerful by talking about how other people will perceive the prospect’s achievement. Connect the dots for them.
Example: If you buy this golf club, your drive will increase by 40 yards. Your golf buddies' jaws will drop when they see your ball soar 40 yards past theirs . . . they’ll ask you what’s changed . . . only you will know. (p. 61). Kindle
2. Perceived Likelihood of Achievement
People value this perceived likelihood of achievement. Increasing a prospect’s conviction that your offer will “actually” work for them, will make your offer that much more valuable even though the work remains the same on your end. So to increase value with all offers, we must communicate perceived likelihood of achievement through our messaging, proof, what we choose to include or exclude in our offer, and our guarantees (p. 62). Kindle
3. Time Delay
Time delay is the time between a client buying and receiving the promised benefit. The shorter the distance between when they purchase and they receive value/the outcome, the more valuable your services or product is.
There are two elements to this driver of value: Long-term outcome and short-term experience. Many times, there are short-term experiences that occur while en route to the long-term outcomes. They happen “along the way” and provide value.
It’s good to understand both. The thing people buy is the long-term value, aka their “dream outcome.” But the thing that makes them stay long enough to get it is the short-term experience. These are little milestones a prospect sees along the way that shows them they are on the right path. We try and tie as many of these as possible into any service we offer. We want clients to have a big emotional win early (as close as possible to their purchase). This gives them the emotional buy in and the momentum to “see it through” to their ultimate goal.
Pro Tip: Fast Wins. Always try and incorporate short-term, immediate wins for a client. Be creative. They just need to know they are on the right path and that they made the right decision trusting you and your business. (p. 63). Kindle
4. Effort & Sacrifice
This is what it “costs” people in ancillary costs, aka “other costs accrued along the way.” These can be both tangible and intangible.
looking at the marketing of plastic surgeons, these are the exact pain points they hit on when they say things like: “Tired of wasting countless hours in the gym. . . . tired of trying diets that just don't work?”
This is why when you sell fitness, you have to spend an hour arm-wrestling a client to give over 1/10th to 1/100th of the amount of money they pay for surgery. There's just not a lot of perceived value because the perceived likelihood of achievement, the time delay to achievement, and the effort and sacrifice are so high.
So even though the outcome is the same, the value of the vehicles are dramatically different, hence the difference in price.
Decreasing the effort and sacrifice, or at least the perceived effort and sacrifice, can massively boost the appeal of your offer.
Our goal as marketers and business owners is to increase the value of the dream outcome and its perceived likelihood of achievement, while decreasing the time delay of achievement and the effort and sacrifice one has to put in to get there. (pp. 65-66). Kindle
VALUE OFFER: CREATING YOUR GRAND SLAM OFFER PART I: PROBLEMS & SOLUTIONS
Step #1: Identify Dream Outcome
I had heard of weight loss challenges, so I started there. Lose 20lbs in 6 weeks. Big dream outcome - lose 20lbs. With a decreased time delay - 6 weeks. Note: I wasn't selling my membership anymore. I wasn’t selling the plane flight. I was selling the vacation. When you are thinking about your dream outcome, it has to be them arriving at their destination and what they would like to experience.
Step #2: List Problems
When listing out problems, think about what happens immediately before and immediately after someone uses your product/service. What's the “next” thing they need help with? These are all the problems. Think about it in insane detail. If you do, you will create a more valuable and compelling offer as you’ll continually be answering people’s next problem as it manifests..
So, let’s go ahead and list out the problems from a prospect’s perspective as you think about them. What points of friction exist for them? I like to think in the sequence that the customer will experience each of these obstacles. Again, channel insane detail (the more problems the better!).
Example Problem: Weight Loss
First thing they must do: Buying healthy food, grocery shopping
Next thing they must do: Cooking healthy food
Next thing they must do: Eating Healthy Food (etc.)
Next thing they must do: Exercise regularly (etc.)
Now we’re gonna go full circle here. Each of the above problems has four negative elements. And you guessed it, each aligns with the four value drivers as well.
List out all the problems your prospect has. Don’t let these buckets, which are just meant to get your brain going, constrain you. If it’s easier for you, just list out everything you can possibly think of.
What I showed here isn’t just four problems, though. We have 16 core problems with two to four sub problems underneath. So 32 to 64 problems total. No wonder most people don't achieve their goals. Do not get overwhelmed. This is the best news ever. The more problems you think of, the more problems you get to solve.
So, to recap, just list out each core thing that someone has to do. Then think of all the reasons they wouldn't be able to do it, or keep doing it (using the four value drivers as a guide). Now we get to the fun part: turning problems into solutions. (pp. 76-78). Kindle
Step #3: Solutions List
Creating the solutions list has two steps. First, we are going to first transform our problems into solutions. Second, we are going to name these solutions.
What we’re going to do is simply turn them into solutions by thinking, “What would I need to show someone to solve this problem?” Then we are going to reverse each element of the obstacle into solution-oriented language.
Simply adding “how to” then reversing the problem will give most people new to this process a great place to start. For our purposes, we are giving ourselves a checklist of exactly what we are going to have to do for our prospects and what we are going to solve for them. (p. 78). Kindle
Example: PROBLEM→ SOLUTION
PROBLEM: Buying healthy food, grocery shopping
. . . is hard, confusing, I won’t like it. I will suck at it→ How to make buying healthy food easy and enjoyable, so that anyone can do it (especially busy moms!)
. . . takes too much time→ How to buy healthy food quickly
. . . is expensive→ How to buy healthy food for less than your current grocery bill
. . . is unsustainable→ How to make buying healthy food take less effort than buying unhealthy food
. . . is not my priority. My family’s needs will get in my way→ How to buy healthy food for you and your family at the same time
. . . is undoable if I travel; I won’t know what to get→ How to get healthy food when traveling
PROBLEM: Cooking healthy food
. . . is hard, confusing. I won’t like it, and I will suck at it→ How anyone can enjoy cooking healthy meals easily . . . will take too much time→ How to cook meals in under 5 minutes
. . . is expensive, it’s not worth it→ How eating healthy is actually cheaper than unhealthy food . . . is unsustainable → How to make eating healthy last forever
. . . is not my priority, my family’s needs will get in my way→ How to cook this despite your families concerns
. . . is undoable if I travel I won’t know how to cook healthy→ How to travel and still cook healthy
PROBLEM: Eating healthy food
. . . is hard, confusing, and I won’t like it→ How to eat delicious healthy food, without following complicated systems (pp. 79-80). Kindle
VALUE OFFER: CREATING YOUR GRAND SLAM OFFER PART II: TRIM & STACK
Sales to Fulfillment Continuum
The ultimate goal, is to find a sweet spot where you sell something very well that’s also easy to fulfill.
“Create flow. Monetize flow. Then add friction.” This means I generate demand first. Then, with my offer, I get them to say yes. Once I have people saying yes, then, and only then, will I add friction in my marketing, or decide to offer less for the same price.
Create cash flow by over-delivering like crazy at first. Then use the cash flow to fix your operations and make your business more efficient. (p. 85). Kindle
Step #4 Create Your Solutions Delivery Vehicles (“The How”)
The next step is thinking about all the things you could do to solve each of these problems you’ve identified. This is the most important step in this process. This is what you are going to deliver.
For the purposes of keeping creativity high (divergent thinking), think about anything you could possibly do. Think of all the things that might enhance the value of your offer. So much so that they would be stupid to say no. What could you do that someone would immediately say, “All that? Seriously? Yes, I'm in.”
The goal here is to push your limits and jog your brain into thinking of a different version of the solution you’d normally default to. This is where you get to flex your entrepreneurial creativity.
Reminder: You only need to do this once. Literally one time for a product that may last years. This is high-value, high-leverage work. You ultimately get paid for thinking. (p. 85). Kindle
Example Problem: Buying Healthy Food Is Hard, Confusing, and I Won’t Like It
If I wanted to provide a one-on-one solution I might offer . . .
If I wanted to provide a small group solution I might offer . . .
If I wanted to provide a one to many solution I might offer . . .
Product Delivery Cheat Codes
Remember, it’s important that you solve every problem. I can’t tell you the amount of times one single item becomes the reason someone doesn't buy.
Don’t get romantic about how you want to solve the problem. Find a way to solve every problem a prospect presents with. When you do that, you make an offer that’s so good, people just can't say no.
Note: You must resolve every obstacle a buyer believes they will have to convert the highest amount of people. That’s not to say that if you don't, you won’t sell people. But you won't sell as many people as you otherwise could have. And that’s the goal, to sell the most people, for the highest possible price, with the highest possible margin. (pp. 88-89). Kindle
Step #5: Trim & Stack
Now that we have enumerated our potential solutions, we will have a gigantic list. Next, I look at the cost of providing these solutions to me (the business). I remove the ones that are high cost and low value first. Then I remove low cost, low value items.
If you aren’t sure what’s high value, go through the value equation and ask yourself which of these things will this person:
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