13 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}
13 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}

Which is Best - Initial 'Hard' sale or Follow-Up sale?

by Justin Toner
10 replies
I have my new weight loss product almost ready to go live and am at the stage were my webmaster is finishing off the site's pages.

My BIG dilemma is, should I make a 'hard' sale for my main product immediately after an opt-in for the free offer (e.g. the 'Thank You' page), OR should I wait, let them take the freebie and then contact through follow-up emails?

ANY advice on this would be much appreciated.

So far the squeeze page, sales page and a series of 6 follow-up autoresponder emails are done but NOT using the initial hard sale approach.

Looking forward to hearing from you experienced marketers on this one and I am flexible enough to heed the advice and make the changes.

The goal is to have everything ready and tested pre-Christmas.

justin
#followup #hard #initial #sale
  • Profile picture of the author Shaun OReilly
    Your question will get a lot of opinions.

    However, if you're testing your process, then split-test
    your traffic down each of the two routes:

    1. Asking for the Sale on the Thank You Page + AR Series

    2. Asking for Sale in the AR Series Only

    Then track your sales for each route and let your buyers
    tell you which method they respond best to.

    Personally, I'm not a fan of hard selling at any stage of
    the sales process but do think it's OK to make a respectful
    offer on the thank you page and in each AR follow-up too.

    Some people are ready to buy right way, some people will
    buy from your AR series e-mails and of course some won't
    buy at all.

    That said, test it out with your own traffic to your own offer
    with your copy and let your visitors tell you the right answer.

    Dedicated to mutual success,

    Shaun
    Signature

    .

    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5240905].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Tadresources
    I would offer them the main product directly after signing up (so on the thank you page) then when they get the email confirming their email it should also offer the product on there.

    i.e. thanks for signing up your free report is below, then on the next paragraph if you missed our special offer you can click here.

    and then start the follow up messages for good quality products from around follow up message #5

    good luck with your launch!!!!
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5241228].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Justin Toner
    Thanks for the advice guys - much appreciated.

    I've heard varied opinions on this so I guess both methods have their pros and cons.
    At the end of it, it's what's getting the best results so looks like a little experimentation work ahead - should be fun!
    Signature

    FREE Weight Loss eBook
    www.MindAndBodyWeightLoss.com

    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5241303].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author PLRExpress
      I tend to not go for the hard sell - although many do and they are successful with it.

      I think it's always best to test your approach and see what works best for you. I tend to go with a series of emails that mentions the product and slowly increases the push towards the product. I think that if you really have a passion for the product that you are selling then it really shows to your subscribers.

      On the buying end of things, I tend to find that I like the softer approach to a sale. I understand that people need to sell something but I think that if you take the effort to not be overly pushy, you're more likely to get me as a buyer.

      Ultimately though, it also depends on the product. I think that if you have a good opt-in report or course then the subscribers can see the quality for themselves and they'll be much more likely to purchase the product anyway. It's as much about the whole conversion process as opposed to just how pushy you are with the sale.

      I always like to turn it around and ask myself how I would like to be marketed to before I go and do it to someone else.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5241448].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Justin Toner
    Thanks for the advice and tips Nathan & Bowerboy ... taking it all on board here.
    Signature

    FREE Weight Loss eBook
    www.MindAndBodyWeightLoss.com

    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5241580].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Daniel Wilson
    How about both?

    Get people to sign-up before purchasing the initial sale or to get initial sale they need to opt-in and then sell them even more with follow-ups.
    Signature


    -25% WF PROMO CODE: "WFPROMO911" (expires on 1.1.2012)
    http://microniche911.com
    - High search volume keywords , high CPC keywords, easy to rank keywords
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5241651].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author George Tee
    As a health and dieting publisher, I would say that in any niche, you need to sell the moment your leads reach your site. Do not wait. That's the best point of sale and after that, it gets harder and harder.

    Another thing is if you are paying for traffic, you will lose a lot of $$ not selling at the start.

    Followup is a MUST.. not just 6 but 365 followups if you can.
    Signature

    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5241855].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author BenjaminB
    That's the hardest part of online marketing. In normal real world face to face sales you can strike up a conversation not even talking about the sale and in the process gauge the prospects actions as to which approach is more likely to work with them. Online I think you can accomplish this a tiny bit by being really familiar with the niche you are marketing too. There are certain niches that have a higher rate of impulse buyers. I guess in the end all you can really do is split test like most people here recommend. I would imagine though that somewhere you could probably find some sort of numbers of which approach has worked best for other marketers in that same niche even if you might have to pay for it. Knowing which one to go with to start off would be worth a certain amount of investment rather than losing time being wrong.
    Signature
    Conversions have never been so easy!
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5241920].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author myob
      In such niches as fitness, weight loss, dieting, etc a hard sell approach is frequently necessary. People often will not take action unless presented with dire facts of not changing their lifestyle. A "soft sell" or wimpy "relationship-building" followup series will not achieve effective sales results. A daily dose of hard selling, tempered with authoritative documentation, credible citations, and testimonials is a very powerful and necessary marketing combination for this niche.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5242409].message }}

Trending Topics