Customers Won't Pay - $50 For Best Advice

[simmonsmike7]

I'm having a problem with my small business website and would really like your help. I've brainstormed for ideas but would like yours as well. To add some incentive, the best poster gets $50 to their PayPal account

My business basically gives away a free pre-designed website to anyone that wants one as long as they sign up for hosting from me.

The visitor comes to my website, fills out their details, their website options, etc - and that information comes to me. I then follow up with the prospect and say ok we can setup your website, just sign up for a hosting account *here: link* and I'll take care of the rest.

Problem: A very small % of people actually end up replying to me or signing up.

I first send them an email, most don't respond. Then I follow up with a phone call, most don't pick up.

What's the solution?

[Tsnyder]

The solution is to let them go ahead and sign up for the
whole thing while they're on the site. Why would you make
the pitch then not go for the instant close?

There is no better answer... period.

They're obviously interested enough to fill out the info and
make the selections. Why aren't you letting them complete
the order at that time?

Tsnyder

[Andyhenry]

Is it clear before they sign up that they'll end up paying for hosting?

They may think it's free and then see the hosting cost and realise it's not, then just lose interest.

[ChristineC]

Do your potential clients know what their website is going to look like, or are they afraid of a "surprise"? Do you have a satisfaction guarantee?

[simmonsmike7]

Originally Posted by Tsnyder

The solution is to let them go ahead and sign up for the
whole thing while they're on the site. Why would you make
the pitch then not go for the instant close?

There is no better answer... period.

They're obviously interested enough to fill out the info and
make the selections. Why aren't you letting them complete
the order at that time?

Tsnyder

That's not possible because our leads are generated on 3rd party sites that won't allow this.

For example, Craigslist. They would email me what they like, I get their details, website info, etc - and then follow up.

Trust me, I wish it was possible to redirect them to sign up for hosting on the spot that would of course be the best option. Unfortunately it's not an option, I am looking for the next best alternative.

Originally Posted by Andyhenry

Is it clear before they sign up that they'll end up paying for hosting?

They may think it's free and then see the hosting cost and realise it's not, then just lose interest.

Andy,

I am testing this at the moment.

I used to have it in the sales copy but it wasn't so visible. It was in there but I figured most people didn't even read that far down.

I created a huge 700 x 400 image that stands out and pasted it towards the top which reads "Must Purchase Hosting Account @ $7/month"

We'll see how that goes...

Originally Posted by ChristineC

Do your potential clients know what their website is going to look like, or are they afraid of a "surprise"? Do you have a satisfaction guarantee?

They get a full screenshot with details and a sample website hosted on our servers to test out BEFORE they even fill out any details.

They definitely are committed and know what they are buying, have seen it, and tested out the website before doing anything.

[Frank Donovan]

Originally Posted by simmonsmike7

To add some incentive, the best poster gets $50 to their PayPal account

And how do we know you'll pay up?


Seriously, if you're targeting offline small businesses, don't assume they'll all be familiar with the concept of hosting. They may believe that all you need is a website and you're good to go.



Frank

[winebuddy]

Here's my best advice - -

On the page where you offer them the website, be sure and tell them it's NOT free. Tell them there is a nominal fee for the site setup and then a monthly fee to maintain the site.

Most of them may not know what hosting is so charge them for the site setup and design - like a membership. They'll pay for work.

The downside (or it could be an upside) is that you'll have fewer "freebie" seekers getting you to do work for them. You will only be dealing with serious paying customers.

If the hosting fee is small - say $8 a month - they'll have a turnkey site up and running for dirt cheap.

Then you can offer tons of services on the back end - SEO packages, etc. You could even offer to build an "optin form" and help them build a list.

of course, these extra services will cost them an extra $3 a month or $5 a month - you get the picture?

Oh yeah - PM me for my Paypal address :-)

[artwebster]

Why does everybody assume that some people don't have web sites and that they really want one?

If they do have web sites they also have hosting so your offer loses value.

If they don't have web sites they are either happy not to have one or nobody has told them how to save money by having one.

Like most people I will look at anything 'free' if only to discover what the 'catch' is. Something that is described as 'free' or 'no cost' should have 'subject to terms' appended.

Now, WHY do I want a 'free' web site?

[Andyhenry]

Perhaps if you focused on the financial savings that having the website done for free gives, and highlighted the potential opportunities having a website can have - then mention that all of this value is being given away to support your $7 hosting service , you can probably make the offer sound much more appealing and remove any negative feelings about the trivial hosting fee. If you also mention how much some people pay for hosting and that $7 is actually a low amount too, maybe you can maximise the conversions just by telling them the situation in a more appealing way.

Andy

[Norma Holt]

I have had many of these kind of offers made to me and I have not looked at any of them. If I have to pay for more hosting then I do the selecting. I think I would try something else because really this has been done to death.

Norma

[GuerrillaIM]

You should tailor your site to suit your source of traffic. Where are you getting traffic from?