Should customers expect this?

[SuzanneR]

hi

I have a question about whether customers typically make requests like the following--and whether I should rethink my response.

It's this: A prospective customer asked to see samples from the autoresponder email packs he wanted to buy from us. I graciously refrained from doing so and instead showed him the link on our sales page for an email sample that reflects the kind of content he would get.

He *poofed*

His request reminds of those Amazon books where you can look inside the book for free.

Has Amazon raised the bar on what customers might expect? I really don't want people asking for samples and then swiping them.

Anyway...my co-partner and I felt like we handled it the right way. But I'm wondering if anybody else gets requests like this--and has it become typical of what customers expect?

thanks!

Suzanne
Money Making Email

[mattlaclear]

He probably was looking for some samples that he could rip as his own without having to pay for them. Call me jaded but my instincts are usually right on when it comes to this sort of thing. You handled it correctly imho. Of course if the sample you share is vague in any way then maybe that interaction was just the customer's way of telling you to beef up your sample.

[David Hamer]

Originally Posted by SuzanneR

It's this: A prospective customer asked to see samples from the autoresponder email packs he wanted to buy from us. I graciously refrained from doing so and instead showed him the link on our sales page for an email sample that reflects the kind of content he would get.

Hi Suzanne,

It's a tricky one! I think mattlaclea could be right - but sometimes you just have to use your gut feeling and respond in different ways to different people.

On the other hand I guess a lot of people ARE going to ask to see an example of what they might expect to see.

The other response could be to say that you treat all your clients differently depending on each situation - therefore all your email campaigns are different - which they probably are to a certain extent.

There's also the argument that when you give something away you usually get something back in return. There are always a few rogues out there - but if you give 100 clients some free info / advice / help, then I bet you'd get a lot of business back in return.

Maybe like website conversions you just need to test different approaches and see which works best for you in your area.

Just a few thoughts - probably muddied the waters!

Best wishes - Dave

[vagabondette]

I agree that it sounds dodgy. you could put together a sample that you just don't care about people stealing if you want but I think most people wouldn't ask for samples. Sounds like he wanted something for nothing. I was reading somewhere the other day that there's an ebook floating around recommending that people ask writers for samples and then keep and use or re-sell them without paying. Pretty crappy if you ask me.

[FBisMoney]

That sounds like a lame attempt to steal some of your work. Good call IMO on your part.

[Kim Davis]

When people want to see a sample of my writing I send them to my website to see the ones on there. I am not going to write them an article and give it to them for a sample. So I think you did the right thing sending them to a common sample that everyone can see.

[Steve Crooks]

This is a difficult one.. On the one hand, yes he could certainly be trying to get some freebies but on the other, he might genuinely be interested to see an example if exactly what he would be getting.

Maybe it would be an option to take a screenshot of one of the emails so that at least if he was a timewaster it wouldn't be a simple cut and paste job of the sample email.

Originally Posted by SuzanneR

hi

I have a question about whether customers typically make requests like the following--and whether I should rethink my response.

It's this: A prospective customer asked to see samples from the autoresponder email packs he wanted to buy from us. I graciously refrained from doing so and instead showed him the link on our sales page for an email sample that reflects the kind of content he would get.

He *poofed*

His request reminds of those Amazon books where you can look inside the book for free.

Has Amazon raised the bar on what customers might expect? I really don't want people asking for samples and then swiping them.

Anyway...my co-partner and I felt like we handled it the right way. But I'm wondering if anybody else gets requests like this--and has it become typical of what customers expect?

thanks!

Suzanne
Money Making Email

[SuzanneR]

Thanks for your responses!

Ok...so it sounds like anything could be possible here (though I'm with the jaded folk on this one).

I like the idea of a screen shot sample.

And maybe even the first paragraph or so would suffice.

This is a recent launch--and it could be we haven't built up enough proof yet. I had that in the back of my head too.

thanks again.

Suzanne
Money Making Email

[iplusgold]

My take is that the person was simply trying to get some samples to rip for free. I've seen this a few times before and always felt like helping someone out as much as possible but everytime I would give them a "sample" they would disappear and i'd later find out that my work was used elsewhere etc etc.

Now I stick to whatever is listed on my sales page and if they choose not to by on that basis then they were probably unlikely to anyway.

Hope that helps

[Dan C. Rinnert]

Looking at your site, I see that you are offering autoresponders in two different niches (Health & Fitness and Internet Marketing) yet only offer a sample in one niche: Health & Fitness.

I don't know what niche the buyer was interested in, but if I were interested in one of the Internet Marketing packs and, after asking for a sample, was pointed to the sample for the Health & Fitness niche, I would go elsewhere.

Niches are different and products created for them may be different too. Different focus, different style, etc. What works for one niche may not work for another.

I've worked with a fair number of freelance writers. Before choosing a new writer for a specific project, I'll want to see samples. I do not expect them to write something for me--a sample of their previous work is sufficient for me. If I were looking for a writer to write an article on Internet marketing, and the only samples they could produce were in the health niche, I would select the writer who was able to show me a sample of something they've written in the IM niche. Or, at least a business article--just something that is related from which I can make a reasonable comparison.

Now, if your prospect was looking for a sample out of one of the other Health & Fitness autoresponders, then maybe you have more reason to question why he wants a sample. (But, even so, niches within the Health & Fitness niche may vary too, so it's possible he just wanted to see something from the actual pack he was interested in.)

Of course, if he wanted an additional sample from the Fat Loss 4 Idiots pack, that would throw up a red flag.

But, if the prospect was looking for a sample out of one of the Internet Marketing packages, then I can understand why he disappeared on you after you declined to show him a sample from that niche.

[SuzanneR]

Dan--your point about the two niches is a valid one. He was interested in IM packs. We should probably put an IM sample up there. If that was his reason for asking--it means others feel the same way.

Thanks.