New Payment System, Advice Wanted

[keystothemind]

Hi everyone.
I have written here a couple of times asking for copy advice for Master Hypnosis Now, Advanced Hypnosis Training and Certification, and received some great tips.
Now I would like to pick your brains about the payment system.

The current system:
customers get 2 options, monthly = $47 per month for 6 months, with materials progressively added to the download center each month until they have received everything.
instant, framed as a special discount, 197 for everything instantly.
So far 95%+ of sales have been for the instant (as planned)

The old system (which probably made more money per visitor, but i was soundly advised to end)
works like this:
monthly: users pay $35.00 per month and immediately get instant access to everything. They pay a further 35.00 per month for a total of 6 installments. I built into the sales copy the fact that once the first payment was made, they had an obligation to complete the rest (although nothing was really making them). about 7.5/10 people did the honest thing and completed all payments.
Instant: everything for $200.00

The reason why I post here is I am wondering, is there a smarter way to run the old system?
People like having instant access to everything, but it was a bit risky.

I have been thinking letting people opt in to the currently monthly system for $7.00 for the first month and more from there, or something similar.

Not entirely sure at this stage.

The value of the product (in terms of quantity and quality of material and in comparison to competitors) is at least $200.00, probably more with the extra material I have added with the upgrade to the new payment system.

The thing is, 197.00 is a very common price for courses in my niche, almost too common if you know what I mean. I want to branch out and be different not just in the content of the program, but in the structure of the material.

Any advice on how to safely maximize sales and profits from this greatly appreciated.
Cheers
Nathan

[David Babineau]

Hi Nathan,

If you want to stand out, have you considered increasing your price? How about testing the price at $497 or 3 monthly payments of $197...

It's hard to know not having seen your content, but fact is a lot of people judge on price. So the fact that you're charging more might have them saying to themselves "huh... this guy is charging 2.5 times what everybody else is, this must be really good). Not to mention it'll create some differentiation for you (you could even address that in your copy - "You might have noticed everyone else is charging $197, so why am I charging $497? Well, the reason is..."

Now granted everything else has to be in place (copy, testimonials, etc.) but if your goal is maximizing profit, it might be worth the test...

Hope this helps!
David

PS Also, maybe I missed something here, but I'm just curious as to why someone would advise you to stop doing something that was making you more money?

[wordwizard]

Hi Nathan,

Whatever you end up deciding on the price point...

a way to keep people paying up even after you have given them access to "everything" would lie in providing them with additional content (bonuses, updates, expansion/enhancements etc.

and provide teaser announcements to your mailing list... i.e., "guess what I have planned for next month" ;-)

Good luck!

Elisabeth

[lenlatimer]

Hi,
If you're getting 97% to pay the instant access fee, why do you want to change it? I would suggest keeping it and adding an upsale where they get even more valuable info for $497.

[ryanmberg]

A few thoughts...

If only 5% of your customers are opting for the payment plan the $197 price tag could be too low (although the single payment option makes a lot more sense... much cheaper, plus 6 months is a long time to wait for full content).

So like others have suggested I would test a higher price.

I'd also test a shorter payment plan. Six months seems too long if you aren't offering live training. Too much time to aggravate buyer's remorse (every time they see that charge they're weighing if it was worth the investment).

Bottom line though you just need to test and look for what creates the highest profit (factoring in refunds, cancellations, profit per sale, etc.).

Ryan

[keystothemind]

Thanks for the replies everyone!

An up sell to a higher price is something I'll put a lot of thought into, as I think that idea certainly has a lot of potential.

Do you feel the original monthly system was secure from my perspective as seller? my feeling was potential for abuse was too high, but then again, I imagine it could be made to work.

Cheers
Nathan.