10 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}
10 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}

Bait and switch?

by dgmufasa
9 replies
I have been seeing some things online (and even things that I have purchased) whereby one low figure is quoted (like $99) but - at the end of the day, you have to spend $500 in one area and they want $127/mo. just for upkeep - BTW, if you are wondering, this happened to me on Legal Zoom.

I have seen also - with the selling of websites - that a low monthly fee is quoted on the "Prices" page, but then, after you sign up, the goal seems to be for you to purchase a website for about $2000/$1500 (which is basically a wordpress website with content only - nothing more or less) and then charge the monthly fee.

Is the idea to increase it slowly - and not tell the person about all of the costs involved until he/she is pretty far in. For example, Legal Zoom told me it would cost $250 to do X, then after X was done, they said it would be another $250 to finish everything out.

What is the general approach to take it to the finish line (for example convincing the customer that it is to their advantage to spend the $2000 when they were probably expecting to pay $89/mo.)? How can you convince people to buy at this point? Is a "high-powered" salesperson required here?
#bait #switch
  • Profile picture of the author absolutelee
    It's according to the price point, your relationship to the traffic (if you have one), and the niche. There's no one size fit all answer.
    Signature
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8928583].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Mark Tandan
    The best answer is to be honest and upfront in the sales copy. A sales copy should NEVER make promises that the agreed upon content can't deliver on.
    Upsells are a different story. Provided said content delivers, it's completely acceptable to say 'ok you purchased X for Y amount of dollars. But to make X really fly, and triple the productivity, you COULD invest Z amount of dollars'.
    Anything other than this formulae will result in seriously dissatisfied customers at best, but more likely a lasting negative brand on the marketer.
    Signature
    Get Your Free Ultimate Affiliate Marketing Cheat Sheet!
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8928720].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Tim3
    What a marvelous way to get people to trust you and build a solid reputation.
    Signature

    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8928742].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author eklipz316
    This sounds very annoying and makes me not want to use Legal Zoom. Your sales copy should never lie and claim one price and then present you with a higher one later. I think up-sales are fine as they can be skipped and don't prevent you from getting your original product. But straight up lying is unacceptable.
    Signature
    High Quality Automated Video Affiliate Niche Websites With Self Generating Super Targeted Traffic For Only $97 (Limited Time Only)
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8928756].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author seobro
    I am tired of $27 product that are a list of links to $297 courses.

    What is going on? Most of us are tired of crooks stealing our money.
    Signature
    http://www.seobro.com
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8936488].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author Shadowflux
      There is one MAJOR benefit to not doing this sort of thing and choosing to be honest, upfront, and reputable.

      You can rest easy.

      There really is less to worry about when you're just honest and upfront. You won't worry about "being found out" or having your customers post complaints about you. When you make a connection with someone, you can actually build a relationship and not have to worry about them seeing through your BS.

      All of that does, of course, ignore the fact that happy customers are repeat customers. They also refer others to you.

      When someone buys something there are two needs you need to meet. These are Emotional needs and Logical needs. You can sell them on emotional but without fulfilling the logical end they will have buyer's remorse.

      I can't think of a better way to cause buyer's remorse than to make someone realize they just spent $30 on a catalog of your more expensive products.

      If you think the price of your product is hurting your sales then you have two options:

      1. Lower the price to match what the market will pay
      or
      2. Target customers with a higher budget
      Signature
      Native Advertising Specialist
      Dangerously Effective
      Always Discreet
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8936512].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author AlexCN
      It's like the ads you see on TV that advertise cable services for $12.99...

      Is it possible? perhaps...

      Is it likely? Absolutely not.

      When was the last time anyone got a lowly $12.99 monthly cable bill?

      Probably never happens. Does that mean the cable companies are lying?

      You just have to know going in that to get a product or service exactly the way you want, it's going to cost a lot more than advertised, especially when we are talking about a product or service that was practically built for upsells like cable/data services and Self-provided Legal Services.

      Alex
      Signature
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8936514].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author dgmufasa
        Thanks for the input

        Originally Posted by Mark Tandan View Post

        Upsells are a different story. Provided said content delivers, it's completely acceptable to say 'ok you purchased X for Y amount of dollars. But to make X really fly, and triple the productivity, you COULD invest Z amount of dollars'.
        Understood -- what I have been seeing is (for example website sales), they just note how much it would be on a monthly basis to keep it up.When the person signs up, that's when they send the email saying - "oh, that's just website upkeep. To get the actual website, that will be $1500 - $2000".

        Or - the "free" monthly offer will be on the highest costing item - something like that. It seems as though they do this kind of stuff just to ~generate~ leads not to actually sell something.

        Originally Posted by seobro View Post

        I am tired of $27 product that are a list of links to $297 courses.
        I bought a WSO that was pretty much an advertisement for the person's services and some research (done thru Google). It is the main reason I don't buy WSO's at all - last year, I bought one only.

        Originally Posted by Shadowflux View Post

        If you think the price of your product is hurting your sales then you have two options:

        1. Lower the price to match what the market will pay
        or
        2. Target customers with a higher budget
        From what I could see, $1500 to $2000 was the standard price of a website (with content inside) - it was just that they (and others like them) just advertised the monthly fees (which are usually cheap)


        Originally Posted by AlexCN View Post

        You just have to know going in that to get a product or service exactly the way you want, it's going to cost a lot more than advertised, especially when we are talking about a product or service that was practically built for upsells like cable/data services and Self-provided Legal Services.
        Cable/data services is something that everyone knows about. This is not the case for legal services. It said $99 and I went in thinking it was $99 - but in the end, if you go thru everything they wanted - it is more like $1400.
        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8936861].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Brent Stangel
    And people make insane income claims and try to hook you up with "small print" and so many other things that are the nature of this business.

    If you understand that, it is not a problem.

    It's like the song says: "It's the politics of contraband. It's the smugglers' blues."
    Signature
    Get Off The Warrior Forum Now & Don't Come Back If You Want To Succeed!
    All The Real Marketers Are Gone. There's Nothing Left But Weak, Sniveling Wanna-Bees!
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8937267].message }}

Trending Topics