WAIT! click ok to leave or cancel to remain on the page!

[David Mcalorum]

I was just curious, hoping maybe some fellow warriors could shed some light on this subject.

There seems to be an abundance of landing pages that have the script where when the button is clicked to leave a website, a message pops up with the "WAIT!! I have something to offer you! etc etc, click ok to continue or cancel to stay on the same page"

I honestly despise these pages and I was wondering if anyone can speak from personal experience if they DO in fact increase conversions?

It seems everyone I speak to absolutely hates them and immediately leaves after the message pops up. But there HAS to be a method to the madness, so I figure SOMEONE has to have seen increased conversions?

[Adam Bshero]

Of course they do.

It's lost traffic anyways if people are click out of your site. Think about it... If you get a single additional sale from using this, it was worth it. I find the best offers are opt in pages or downsells.

[Steven Carl Kelly]

I find the practice personally intrusive and offensive, and I won't buy from a site that uses it and I will absolutely NOT use it on any of my sites.

[artsub]

It could also be said that most people that go to your sales page leave without buying... like anything, it's a numbers game. Of course not everyone is going to stay, but you are not aiming for everyone. At the end of the day they are leaving anyway, you may as well have a shot at them. Even if you get an extra 5% to opt-in or 0.5% to buy (just 1 in 200) then surely that makes it worth while (yes, I have seen increased conversions).

I think the key is to offer something a bit different before they go. Yes it's just annoying if you get a "please don't go"... if I didn't want to go, I wouldn't have clicked it in the first place... but if you get a discount, or an extra bonus, or something that wasn't offered in the first place, that works better.

Intellichat use this same concept, and although I haven't used them, I know people that have reported amazing results from this. This is basically where as they are going to go, a chat window pops up so they can chat. It doesn't need to be manned, because it uses artificial intelligence. It's actually way better than you might think... I tried to trick one knowing it was a robot one time, and struggled.

When I couldn't trick it at first, I asked it to sleep with me, and it said I was being rude and it was going to end the conversation... I almost started thinking it was real and started feeling bad! I did get it in the end, but I was very impressed.

[Zach Booker]

Yes it does. Depending on how it's used.

For instance, say on my personal blog I used that script so every visitor that left saw that messgae. It'd probably just piss off everyone; they've viewed the blog liked it or not and have decided to leave. Maybe they'll come back maybe they won't.

But let's say you're using this script on a niche site that is there purely to get sales. If someone tries to leave than yes you need to try and make them reconsider. Because no matter what they most likely won't come back.

The difference is on certain sites your aim is to get them to come back, like your personal blog would be, and certain sites are there strictly to make sales.

Now it depends on how these pop ups are used, too.

One's the say "wait, are you sure you want to leave?" aren't going to work, at all.

Often on certain niche sites you'll do well if you say "Wait, before you leave I want to give you some free stuff on dog training."

And than if they say ok you'll send them to a page of your site with an opt-in box on it where you'll tell them the benfits of joining your list.

This works very well.

So in conclusion; yes they can sometimes be annoying but they can also help the reader and give them a great free gift. (Always make your opt-in presents of value, it's like a virtual first impression.)

Zach

[artsub]

Steven,

Here is the thing with your logic... you jump on a site, decide to buy the product... you will never see the exit pop, and won't even know it's there. You will only see it if you were going to leave without buying anyway, so using you as an example, even though you would never buy from a site that uses this, the vendor has not cost themselves a sale.

[Steven Carl Kelly]

Originally Posted by artsub

Steven,

Here is the thing with your logic... you jump on a site, decide to buy the product... you will never see the exit pop, and won't even know it's there. You will only see it if you were going to leave without buying anyway, so using you as an example, even though you would never buy from a site that uses this, the vendor has not cost themselves a sale.

Actually, they have. I rarely buy on my first visit to a site. I usually check it out, then do some research to see if others have any feedback on the product in question, and I'll even ask some of my clients or students about certain products.

Just the other day I was on a site and found it fairly compelling. I bookmarked the site so I could return to it later to examine it more carefully, and when I navigated away from the page I got the "Wait don't go yet!" pop-up.

Not only did it cost the product publisher a sale, but it cost the affiliate a commission since I had purposely gone to the site by request of someone on one of my list and used their affiliate link in case I decided to buy.

Now don't get me wrong, I won't begrudge any IM'er who wants to use whatever reasonable tactic they wish to try an improve their sales. However, as a buyer I have my own right to decide what I like and dislike about a seller, and whether or not the things I dislike about them is sufficient to cost them the sale.

It is the marketer's choice to choose their weapon, and it is my choice to decide whether or not they deserve my money.

[David Mcalorum]

I s'pose yes, if a bonus is offered that does change the game a little bit, and may persuade me otherwise. But there are many sites that just seem to say they want to offer a bonus and then never actually deliver said bonus, or the bonus wasn't worth the time of day.

But yes, I guess if you are purely interested in sales and you offer a dandy bonus than it is worth upsetting some people for that extra sale. Thanks for the input everyone.

~Grae

[Zach Booker]

I semi-agree with Steven.

I think using pop-ups or any cheesy marketing tactic when selling to marketers is just stupid.

I personally do use pop-ups, and they work very well, in non-MMO niches.

But I would never attach one to my own product in the MMO niche because, like Steven has said, it just turns people off.

Zach

[Lance K]

Ken Envoy talks about a site owners "Most Desired Action" (<--I think that's how he puts it).

What he means is that for every page you have, you should have a most desired action. Whether it's getting an opt-in, making a sale, getting an adsense click, etc. Every page should have one single MDA.

People navigating away isn't likely anyone's MDA. So they use these scripts as a final attempt to divert people to what their MDA is. If 1,000 people click to navigate away and the "WAIT" box gets just one to come back and complete the MDA, it has done it's job.

Like it or not, how it makes "bouncers" feel is of little consequence. Because the statistics say that you're likely never coming back anyway. So pissing you (& 998 others like you) off to the point that you consciously say that you're not coming back is worth it in order to obtain a SINGLE MDA.

So you should decide...

Do you want everyone to like you (not gonna happen anyway), or do you want to do what's best for your business?

Because believe it or not, even if somebody gets annoyed by a tactic of yours, they really don't spend that much time thinking about you.









"Timid salespeople have skinny kids" -- Zig Ziglar

[Lance K]

Originally Posted by Zach Booker

I think using pop-ups or any cheesy marketing tactic when selling to marketers is just stupid.

I would think that marketers would understand and appreciate what these other marketers are doing.

Frankly, I'd feel better about my decision to leave another marketer's site if they were NOT using marketing tactis proven to boost conversions.

[Amy Carczak]

There's a clue there ...if everyone is doing it .. it might just be because it's working.

[hyperlite]

I hate those things so much. I'm hesitant to even promote products that use it because it seems so scammy. I would never buy anything from a site that uses it.

[Kay King]

What happens when more customers figure out the trick is often used to offer them a special deal - I've found loads of them that offer a reduced price on the product I was just looking at. That seems to be the main purpose of this particular popup. How convenient once you catch on!

Would be interesting to know how many sales come through the popup as compared to the regular sales page - and whether adding the popup reduces sales through the normal sales page (at full price).

The worst thing about that particular popup to me is that they all look exactly like.

[WebVideoDesigner]

I can think of at least one instance where I took advantage of the "wait, don't go" offer.

The original asking price was something like $47, but the "wait, don't go" offer was $19. I figured it wasn't worth $47, but it was worth $19, so I bought.

In another case, an affiliate pointed out the fact that a product had a "wait, don't go" offer and encouraged people to buy that way rather than pay full price. I'm sure it cost him $$ per sale, but it saved his list members some cash and he may have made up for it in volume.

-Roger

[Ruth Hendrickson]

I haven't used exit pages because I personally find them so annoying. But I have to admit to buying from one in the past. They're becoming almost common place now, it seems. Next time I go to buy something I must remember to exit the page first to see if there's a better deal.

[pappyy3]

I agree with everyone's comments. These "Wait don't leave" messages are instrusive and extremely annoying.

I'm quite surprised they work at all, and in fact for those that offer something for free, I'll opt in, get the free product and them immediately un-subscribe from that particular list.

Why?

Because I'm annoyed!

[Dan C. Rinnert]

Originally Posted by Steven Carl Kelly

Actually, they have. I rarely buy on my first visit to a site. I usually check it out, then do some research to see if others have any feedback on the product in question...

Ditto. Also, sometimes I'll come across something that sounds interesting, but I don't have time to read through the sales letter, so I'll save the URL and check it out later. But, if they make it difficult for me to do that, I probably won't be coming back.

[Online Bliss]

I agree with Kay King,

Most sites that employ this script offer a discount and I always check
to see what that discount is.
I actually purchased the Virtual Assistant script but do not over use it.
It's like using too many special effects in your videos.
Use sparingly if at all.

[expertcapper]

I hate these scripts and its a huge turn off and screams some sort of spam or a phoney site to me for some reason. I would never use this script ever.

[Glenn72]

You need to play around with them a bit and you may get an even better deal. There was one popular product that was $47. I closed it and the pop up appeared offering it for $37. I still wasn't interested, but for some reason clicked the buy button out of curiosity. I then clicked the back button and a pop-up appeared again, but this time the price was $7. That seemed like a deal, so I bought it. As it turns out, the product wasn't that good, so $7 didn't actually seem like much of a bargain after all. There was plenty of bonus material though.

As for the use of these scripts. I've just come to accept them as being a part of the whole internet marketing way of doing things, like the ugly sales pages they normally appear on with the big red text and 50 testimonials.

[timpears]

I, and I think most people don't buy on the first visit to a site. I have been to many a site that uses one of these pop ups and offers me $10 discount. So when i decide to buy and I go back, I know to click away to get the discount. I have got to a point where I click away just to see if they are going to offer me something.

I hate pop ups as much as anyone, and even the ones that get me a discount are annoying. Butt it is all part of marketing and it is hard to get mad at someone for doing their job and trying to make the sale.

[David Chung]

In Beijing where I've been studying, when haggling one of the best tools you can use is the 'walk-away'. The merchant will usually cave in and sell to you if they are able to make a smaller profit at your asking price rather than letting you walk away and making no profit at all.

Of course sometimes I'm just simply walking somewhere else and planning on coming back later, but the merchant doesn't know that, so they sometimes yell increasingly lower prices after me while I'm walking away to go to the bathroom.

The exit pop-up in my mind is like that merchant trying to get you to buy before you leave. They don't know that you intend to come back later, in their mind something about the product or its price is not to your liking and caused you to walk away, so they try to sweeten the deal in an effort to make some profit. If you don't like it you just keep walking (or clicking), if you were planning on coming back then great, now you know you can get it for cheaper. I don't really see any reason to get upset over it.

[mystarter]

I tried it before and send visitors to CPA offer but none of them converted to lead/sale.

Need to revisit the strategy.

[Steven Carl Kelly]

Originally Posted by Dan C. Rinnert

Ditto. Also, sometimes I'll come across something that sounds interesting, but I don't have time to read through the sales letter, so I'll save the URL and check it out later. But, if they make it difficult for me to do that, I probably won't be coming back.

I think in some cases adding these exit pop-ups are simply a lazy way to increase conversion rates. If I wanted to increase conversion by half a percent, I'd first concentrate on the copy and the sales page itself before I threw an exit pop-up on the site.

But to each his own. Personally, I'm extremely turned off by them and therefore I'm currently not interested in using them. Could they make me a little bit more money? Maybe. But I'd rather feel good about my marketing efforts.

[GuerrillaIM]

SENuke use this for their OTO. It pops up a "are you sure you don't want it" type of message, then they hit you with another OTO and another pop up message.

It's actually done quite well, even though it is annoying.

[Ross Bowring]

Originally Posted by Amy Carczak

There's a clue there ...if everyone is doing it .. it might just be because it's working.

Amy hits the nail on the head.

[sbucciarel]

Just because they are leaving doesn't mean that they will not return. I guarantee you if you have one of those, I won't return. They annoy me. But I have purchased many things on the second or third or fourth visit to a site. Some people may be waiting for a paycheck or just haven't done enough research yet.

[Joshua.E1]

It depends, well you need to test whether this method works, if not you can leave this out.

[silverbax]

Those pop-ups cost vendors thousands of dollars in affiliate sales because you can't direct link to those types of pages, so guys like me don't even bother to test.

And I've run tests where it usually costs way more sales than it keeps because people think either

a. the site is "one of THOSE" scam sites
b. putting a virus on their machine.

So arguments that you are grabbing an extra sale here and there completely ignore the fact that it may have cost them 50 sales to get that one. My sites are trying to build lifetime value out of a customer, and if I hit them with a pop up, I probably drive them away forever.

It basically boils down to whether you are trying to grab every dollar TODAY with no plan for tomorrow or whether you are trying to build a sustainable, long term business with repeat customers, growth, etc.

I'm sure it works for some people, but it always costs me way more in long term customers. They won't come back when you hit them with the pop up.

My take is like this: you walk into an electronics to buy an MP3 player. But none of the MP3 players look good, or they are overpriced. There is nothing in the store you want to buy. You start to walk out of the door, but a salesman blocks the door, grabs you buy the arm to hold you, pulls your wallet out and tosses it away and maybe even locks the door closed and screams, "Wait! What if I gave you $10 off?" Now, true, some people might buy. But most people are going to pick up their wallet, leave and never EVER come back. And as silly as that might sound, that's exactly what vendors are doing to their customers online. When they see those garish pop ups, most users think 'Oh crap! a virus', or they think they can't get out of the site and/or they envision having to pay someone to fix their computer.

[Lance K]

Originally Posted by sbucciarel

Just because they are leaving doesn't mean that they will not return. I guarantee you if you have one of those, I won't return. They annoy me. But I have purchased many things on the second or third or fourth visit to a site. Some people may be waiting for a paycheck or just haven't done enough research yet.

We all have our preferences and comfort zones. The thing we must remember though is this...just because we feel a certain way and feel rather strongly about it, doesn't automatically mean we're in the majority.

I'm not saying your way of thinking is wrong. Rather, I'm just offering an explanation as to why some people use this tactic even though it annoys you and others.

[Andy Crofford]

Originally Posted by artsub

Steven,

Here is the thing with your logic... you jump on a site, decide to buy the product... you will never see the exit pop, and won't even know it's there. You will only see it if you were going to leave without buying anyway, so using you as an example, even though you would never buy from a site that uses this, the vendor has not cost themselves a sale.

I agree with Steven on this. With me they will lose a sale as I rarely/never buy the first time I visit a site and will never buy from a site that uses this popup.

[Lance K]

Originally Posted by silverbax

Those pop-ups cost vendors thousands of dollars in affiliate sales because you can't direct link to those types of pages, so guys like me don't even bother to test.

Some vendors have a version without pop-ups for their affiliates as well.

[enterprise_seo]

Originally Posted by MJGrae

I was just curious, hoping maybe some fellow warriors could shed some light on this subject.

There seems to be an abundance of landing pages that have the script where when the button is clicked to leave a website, a message pops up with the "WAIT!! I have something to offer you! etc etc, click ok to continue or cancel to stay on the same page"

I honestly despise these pages and I was wondering if anyone can speak from personal experience if they DO in fact increase conversions?

It seems everyone I speak to absolutely hates them and immediately leaves after the message pops up. But there HAS to be a method to the madness, so I figure SOMEONE has to have seen increased conversions?

If I get one of those things not only do I click away from it as quickly as I can, but I also unsubscribe from the person who sent me the link in the email in the first place (and if I am a member of several lists of his/hers I unsubscribe from ALL of them).

Look, if I want to leave a web page it means I'm not interested in it. It doesn't mean I want to look at another little window asking me if I'm sure I want to leave, and then sometimes another one after that....

Bloody pain in the arse.

[TristanPerry]

Not sure about other people, but my personal thoughts/opinions on these are that they are too invasive for me. I never buy anything the moment I go onto a sales page anyway (I look for reviews and judge the competition, etc, first), so if - when clicking off - I get these annoying messages, I just make a mental note to not purchase from such offers.

[MSGeek]

Originally Posted by Steven Carl Kelly

Just the other day I was on a site and found it fairly compelling. I bookmarked the site so I could return to it later to examine it more carefully, and when I navigated away from the page I got the "Wait don't go yet!" pop-up.

The question is are you a typical case or minority? In the end that's a numbers game. If 1% or 99% leaving the page gets pissed off and don't buy, which they would only do with 10% probability because they may forget the address, other priorities took over or they just ask a wrong person for an opinion (which does not mean the product is bad, but the person who was asked may had an indigestion that day), well, you lost ~0.1% sales.

If exit popup brought 10% to your opt-in list and you've got 10% sales on the list due to multiple exposure, you've earned ~1% sales back.

I hate those pop-ups too, but I think the key issue is that most of the time its implemented disrespectfully to the visitor. BTW, I hate those AI chats with pretty girls too. Anyway, I am personally experiemnting with exit-popups on sales letters and opt-in pages, but only there.

[applepie]

If I've decided not to buy, I still won't buy no matter what offer they're giving me through those pop-ups.
If I'm interested but not ready to buy it on that point, I'll read what the offer is .. if it's like "We'd like to give you a free access to exclusive interview with bla.. bla.. bla..." and if it's of value I'll probably trade my email address for the bonus.

But discounting through pop-ups are NOT good. It's diminishing the value of your product. One particular money making site I came across the other day offers the product for $49.95 then $17 on the first close, and $7 on the second (and last) close. I don't think this works. I do find it quite annoying instead ... but it's just me ;P

[Steven Carl Kelly]

Originally Posted by MSGeek

The question is are you a typical case or minority? In the end that's a numbers game. If 1% or 99% leaving the page gets pissed off and don't buy, which they would only do with 10% probability because they may forget the address, other priorities took over or they just ask a wrong person for an opinion (which does not mean the product is bad, but the person who was asked may had an indigestion that day), well, you lost ~0.1% sales.

If exit popup brought 10% to your opt-in list and you've got 10% sales on the list due to multiple exposure, you've earned ~1% sales back.

I hate those pop-ups too, but I think the key issue is that most of the time its implemented disrespectfully to the visitor. BTW, I hate those AI chats with pretty girls too. Anyway, I am personally experiemnting with exit-popups on sales letters and opt-in pages, but only there.

I'm more interested in building long-term relationships. I don't want an extra 1% in sales enough to implement an exit pop-up. Instead, if I want an extra 1% in sales, I'll either drive more traffic or improve my copy/offer enough to convert 1% more.

[Martin Percival]

I have to agree with the comments about checking the price "just to see if I can get it even lower".

Now what does that say about my original view of the value of the product, that I was prepared to walk away at the higher price? I guess it shows that I have already got a built-in Pavlovian reaction after seeing so many of these pop-ups.....and that's after only being in this game for around 2 months!

What worries me more is that the seller devalues the stuff (in my eyes) that I might have bought for a much higher price. Is that telling me that it was really a pile of crap in the first place? :-)

Martin

[eaglechick]

Obviously pro and cons. As a buyer I've encountered as many as 3 Wait - do'nt go's (on one webpage) and as already mentioned at a hugely reduced (discount) price. Desperate for a sale ? You bet. As a marketer I'm not in favor of pop-ups and this new sales trick. Everyone beats his own drum so to speak. You decide what you want to do with your business and how to do it. As finesse pointed out - my immediate reaction is : What is going on ? Why is this guy so eager to get rid of his stuff and why did'nt he offer it at the reduced price straight away.
Yeah I know - marketing strategy. Some people may fall for that but if you've been in
marketing for 20 years. Nope.

[LarryC]

Not only is it annoying, but it broadcasts the message that this product is no different from the hundreds of others that use the same gimmick.

[BrianMcLeod]

What I know to be true is this...

On niche sites outside the make-money market,
I see a reliable 20-30% increase in opt-ins when
adding a well designed "Wait, Don't Forget Your
Free Gift!" email submit exit-pop with a good ecover.

Sometimes the results are even better. I've even
been thanked for the "reminder".

You. Are. Not. Your. Market...

You won't see many people posting here reporting
sales going DOWN because of an exit script.

But you will see lots of people griping about them
as a consumer, some with great passion.

Ok. Duly noted.

I've put it down right here next to One-Time-Offers,
Upsells, Downsells, Cross-Sells, Affiliate Promotions,
Name Squeezes, Continuity, Video and On-Page Audio.

Check.

Best,

Brian

[jasonl70]

Originally Posted by Steven Carl Kelly

Not only did it cost the product publisher a sale, but it cost the affiliate a commission since I had purposely gone to the site by request of someone on one of my list and used their affiliate link in case I decided to buy.

to each his or her own, I guess. I personaly would not change my mind about buying a product for what I feel is an illogical reason. The product hasn't changed any, and now I know I'll get a discount.

Originally Posted by silverbax

Those pop-ups cost vendors thousands of dollars in affiliate sales because you can't direct link to those types of pages, so guys like me don't even bother to test.

How many affiliates still direct link though? google only let's one do it, so I was under the impression it was a dieing method anyways.

Originally Posted by silverbax

And I've run tests where it usually costs way more sales than it keeps because people think either

a. the site is "one of THOSE" scam sites
b. putting a virus on their machine.

So arguments that you are grabbing an extra sale here and there completely ignore the fact that it may have cost them 50 sales to get that one. My sites are trying to build lifetime value out of a customer, and if I hit them with a pop up, I probably drive them away forever.

It basically boils down to whether you are trying to grab every dollar TODAY with no plan for tomorrow or whether you are trying to build a sustainable, long term business with repeat customers, growth, etc.

I'm sure it works for some people, but it always costs me way more in long term customers. They won't come back when you hit them with the pop up.

I just don't think the vast majority of people who are actually interested in the product take such a draconian view of this.

Originally Posted by silverbax

My take is like this: you walk into an electronics to buy an MP3 player. But none of the MP3 players look good, or they are overpriced. There is nothing in the store you want to buy. You start to walk out of the door, but a salesman blocks the door, grabs you buy the arm to hold you, pulls your wallet out and tosses it away and maybe even locks the door closed and screams, "Wait! What if I gave you $10 off?" Now, true, some people might buy. But most people are going to pick up their wallet, leave and never EVER come back. And as silly as that might sound, that's exactly what vendors are doing to their customers online. When they see those garish pop ups, most users think 'Oh crap! a virus', or they think they can't get out of the site and/or they envision having to pay someone to fix their computer.

I think it's more like the store clerk stopping me for a second and handing me a 30% off coupon as I left the store. If I wasn't interested, I'd find him annoying. If I was interested, I would be "cool - I just saved some money".

I WILL test an exit pop on the next site I build for a product.. it won't be for a discount on the exact same product though, but more likely a stripped down 'lite' version of it. Or maybe a cheaper and different product altogether. One of the case studies for launch tree convinced me that this approach is very much worth looking into, as they had MORE sales of the product pitched in the exit pop (a totaly different product) then they did from their main product/sales page!

[JayXtreme]

Originally Posted by BrianMcLeod

You. Are. Not. Your. Market...

Brian, shhhhhhhh.. you're educatin' folks, man

Ok. Duly noted.

I've put it down right here next to One-Time-Offers,
Upsells, Downsells, Cross-Sells, Affiliate Promotions,
Name Squeezes, Continuity, Video and On-Page Audio.

Check.

Best,

Brian

LOL @ this....

Peace

Jay

[wmark]

i click away almost immediately. I am almost immune to this kind of tactics. Even for sales pages, hardly read them. I just go to the buy button to see how much it cost. In the end, i check myself to see if i pulled my credit card to buy the product.

[eaglechick]

Salute to Steven Carl Kelly - rather concentrate on building a sustainable long
lasting relationship with your customers. They are not stupid. This annoying
little thing just smells like a ...... RAT!!!!

[Simon Stanley]

Yes as annoying as they may be, it will increase conversions no doubt.

In my opinion you have to be selfish when it comes to this rather sensitive subject...as when the prospect leaves they will usually leave forever and will therefore me no use to you.

This goes for opt-in pages too, once they decide to leave I hit them with a sales page for a $1 products, then $45 recurrs every month. I have generated some good sales from this technique.

[Viktor Bebel]

I immediately leave after the message pops up. It does not attract me at all.

[Steven Carl Kelly]

Originally Posted by eaglechick

Salute to Steven Carl Kelly - rather concentrate on building a sustainable long lasting relationship with your customers. They are not stupid. This annoying little thing just smells like a ...... RAT!!!!

The way I see it is: as long as I'm making a very nice living marketing in a way that I feel good about (building relationships, providing quality products at a reasonable price), there's no sense using marketing tactics that I don't feel good about.

[DogScout]

Their existence now makes me always click away from every offer to see if the price will go down. If it doesn't I leave anyway, if it does I leave because the guy took a 'shot' at me.
(Of course I have also stopped buying anything ending in a '7' or on a squeeze page, too)
LoL