Tiny Sales Killers

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What is a "tiny" thing that has made you NOT go through with a purchase? A not-so-obvious turn off that just made you click the back button, X out of a sales page, or abandon your shopping cart cold?

I'll start it off... I was about to make a purchase, wallet in hand geeked up and everything! And then there it was...something told me to look at the footer of the page. The date on the footer was outdated, like by 2 years! I was like WTF this sh.. must be old. And that was all she wrote - I was outta there! Now this may sound small to some people, but for me it was big enough to kill my motivation to trust the site and go through with the sale.
#main internet marketing discussion forum #killers #sales #tiny
  • Not marking required form fields, then making you fill the whole form over again after a generic error message. Says "I either don't know how to test my set up" or "I don't care enough to make it easy to buy from me."

    Neither inspires much confidence...
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    • Oh god, when the form resets because of one mistake... Haha, that's not a "small" turn-off in my book!
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    • Banned
      [DELETED]
  • For me it's requiring to fill in a phone number when ordering online.

    I know it's for contacting in case of delivery troubles... I just don't trust it. They already got my email and my address, right?
    When it's a non-physical product you don't need it at all. *sigh*
    If it's a product I really need, I do give out my phone number though. Have to admit, no problems with unwanted phone calls or messages so far.
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    • Yes, I changed my phone number because a I was getting calls on a weekly basis trying to sell me get rich schemes. When I put the number on the do not call list, I started getting text messages to the tune of 3-5 per day!

      My phone number is 888-555-1212. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!
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    • Sometimes when I'm reading a sales page, I will find an obvious clue that the marketer has not proof-read his/her copy. This is especially irritating when it's a template that someone is trying to pass off as original copy.

      Say, for example, the sales page is for a PLR product. The marketer may have overlooked this:

      "Buy my product . . . blah, blah, blah . . . as it will be taken off the market on [ insert date here ] and will never be available again!

      I do get a laugh out of it, but you don't get my money.

      Steve
  • An ebook named something similar to this:

    "40 Days To Internet Riches - UPDATED! 2005 Edition!"
  • Whenever the sales letter includes the bashing of other marketers or products. I.E. ...

    "Are you tired of rehashed garbage?" I read "I lack confidence in my product so I have to bash others in a pitiful attempt to make mine look good."

    "Don't be fooled by..." I read, "Let me fool you instead."

    George Wright
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  • A turn off for me would be when the sales doesn't
    include any testimonials and social proof.

    That tell me right away that it's just hot air.
  • 1. Password conditions (one capital, one number, one special, etc).
    2. Captcha.
    3. Asking for my phone number (which will be used for telemarketing).
    4. Refusing my CC payment because of my postal code even if it is correct.
    5. Way too long sales letters. If a sales letter is to the point, explains what it can do for me, proves that this can actually be delivered, I DO NOT want to go through a 30 minute VSL or 10.000 words of sales copy to buy it.

    I've seen this more and more. It is not that people won't read long copy. They do. I'm a copywriter, I know that.

    It is that enough is enough. If three pages are enough to make the sale, don't feed me "Shogun" there. This evening I was reviewing a VSL for a potential client and it was awesome. It was something that actually made me want to buy the product.

    Yes, a VSL that is so good (the promise of the product was something I was actively looking) that made me buy it even if I could have gotten it for free.

    The only problem?

    33 m long VSL without any option to buy in advance.

    I knew that I wanted it before the 5:00 mark. Just place the damn buy button under the video and don't reveal it only at 90%.
  • The sales copy

    And it's inability to connect with the problem being presented
  • Great topic! Let's see...a tiny sales killer that I can think of is simply when I go to checkout and there's a box that asks "do you have a promo/discount code?" I understand this process is used a lot in marketing, but I must admit that if I don't have a code ready, being the deal shopper that I am I will more than likely abandon my shopping cart and start searching the web for promo/discount code. If I don't find one quick my attn oftentimes gets distracted and I forget all about returning to the site to complete the purchase. Then when I think about it again, it's likely too late because I probably came across a better product/service somewhere elsewhere. Oh well, competition is a Mutha!
  • [DELETED]
  • no contact info is a killer foe me
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    • Yes...that's a killer for me also.

      I can recall at least dozen products I would have purchased IF I could have gotten answers to a couple of presales questions I wanted to ask.

      But there was just no contact information to be found anywhere on the sales page.

      That's just plain dumb marketing

      And I'm seeing this more and more today with the products that are being released
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  • I have loads. I have a real hair trigger when it comes to backing out of a sale.

    One thing that will instantly put me off is mentioning false cliches like "shiny button syndrome" or "product hopping" or someone telling me not to waste "their" time if and unless ...[insert inane condition here].

    I'll also very rarely buy anything from anyone who uses stock photos for "staff photos" or is busted using fake testimonials [I DO check links].

    I like to know people's names if they are asking for my money as well. No name? No sale!

    Anything that tells me they don't pay attention to detail - especially on their website - such as broken page links, unfilled pages...etc

    As above..."bashing other competitors" is a huge turn off. Comparisons can be done tastefully.

    Great thread!
  • A bunch of things keep my money in my pocket - some won't get me to the site at all and some make me abandon a cart:

    1. Saying a page is secured that requires CC information but there isn't an https or padlock in my browser.

    2. Too late and I forgot the word but showing me a different language site depending on my location. I travel mainly between two countries and sometimes when I'm not in the US it's near impossible to get an English sales page no matter what I try to do.

    3. Talk about your good friend which is code for "a guy I've never met or talked to but that is offering an affiliate commission."

    4. I'm normally okay with religious references since I'm religious myself. But sometimes it feels that it's all a blatant lie or part of some sort of scam. Some of this stuff that people sell I can't imagine the owner honestly telling their religious leader or mother what they are doing and so their claims of being Christian or whatever fall on deaf ears which = no money.

    5. Showing me income screen shots that are obviously for another product or very old. For example, if you just came across this great new system within the last 30 days that you are sharing but you show me screen shots for the last 6 months - something is amiss.

    6. Adding me to other lists and/or sharing my contact information without divulging it first, will put you on my scammer list no matter how good your product is.

    7. No way to contact for presales questions and if there is a way, no quick answer. I normally don't ask presales questions but when I do I expect a legitimate business person to answer them. I know many Warriors refuse to answer them as a waste of their time which = getting my $$ is not going to happen.

    8. A link to a dead forum for support which kills any social proof you may be passing along.

    9. A requirement to do something on FB to get whatever. I'm very private on FB and won't add you no matter how much you may think I need your doohickey.

    That's enough for now.

    Mark
    • [1] reply
    • I goofed on one of these, I entered my paypal and it appeared my page refreshed. Thinking I entered the wrong password, i logged in. Later, PP notified my of suspicious activity and reversed the charges.
      now I double check! and I only use temporary emails with PP. I change it every so often so someone can't sneak in later.
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  • Outdated screenshots, overly enthusiastic fonts, and lots of exclamation marks.

    I also take a look at the footer sometimes to see if the page has been updated recently.
  • What really get me is when you get to the bottom on the order form and there's a check-box that says: "I have read and agree to the terms and conditions and privacy policy" with links to same. Not a problem in itself, but when you click the links to read what you're agreeing to, they open in the same window. When you click the "back" button to go back to the order form, it's lost all the information and you have to start all over again!

    Unless it's something I really want, I'm likely to abandon the shopping cart at that point.
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    • Ads on the sales page? I once followed the google ad on a squeeze page that took me to the same product for less than 1/2 the price. Needless to say, he got $0.10 for the ad instead of the $17 I was going to spend.

      Free bonuses that I know are worthless crap like the 15000 PLR articles.
  • Ohhh... I write about these types of "conversion breakers" all the time. Some of mine:

    1) Insane captchas
    2) Captchas that force you to watch commercials in order to find a word and then use that word to solve it.
    3) Sending me emails well after I've opted out, several times (I'm looking at YOU, NEAT Company).
    4) Anything that forces me to register before checkout.
    5) Sites that don't accept Paypal. I know that some can't, particularly in other countries, but give me an option besides a credit card!
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    • Wow! I'd like to say thanks to all that have participated in my thread so far. There are so many Tiny Sales Killers to think about and that I want to respond to all of them but can't. So let me address a few of these great responses.

      Yeah that stock photo move is stupid. They must think we're stupid!

      And yeah all that broken links, unfilled pages, that's a deal breaker for me too, so they better hope I don't catch it coz you best believe I'm lookin. There are free tools available today that any marketer can use to check their site for broken links - so no excuse!

      Wow Mark you gotta lot of good ones. Let me address a few:

      1. Saying a page is secured that requires CC information but there isn't an https or padlock in my browser.

      === yes this really sucks. One time this happened to me but the company explained that the lock or https appeared on the following page - once submit button is pressed. Actually, I think this might be true in some cases depending on how the site/salespage is set-up. It may start off as unsecure with just http on main page, and then turn into https/secure on another. So this is iffy situation but it no doubt makes me hesitate or skip purchasing.

      2. Too late and I forgot the word but showing me a different language site depending on my location. I travel mainly between two countries and sometimes when I'm not in the US it's near impossible to get an English sales page no matter what I try to do.

      ======I hate this too, this is why if the site owner has no way to control this site language change thing, then it might be best to get add a site translator button to their site.

      4. I'm normally okay with religious references since I'm religious myself. But sometimes it feels that it's all a blatant lie or part of some sort of scam. Some of this stuff that people sell I can't imagine the owner honestly telling their religious leader or mother what they are doing and so their claims of being Christian or whatever fall on deaf ears which = no money.

      ======It's unfortunate, but I've seen too many people get scammed by shady marketers using religion as a sales tool. Many con artist use religion coz they know that it gets to a lot of peoples' soft spot. I don't trust some marketer spewing religion out to me or trying to get that personal with me - especially if it's out of context or holds no relevance to the product or service. This is a sure sign that they are trying to pull the wool over my eyes! Not gonna happen.

      8. A link to a dead forum for support which kills any social proof you may be passing along.

      ======Yeah, that's just flat out irresponsible.

      Yes, most definitely I hate this too. But I think it's a catch 22 in some situations because it might not be the main site you're on, but an affiliate site - and with affiliate site versions sometimes it's scaled down and contains no contact info because affiliate marketers don't want their sales being "leaked" to the merchant - or the merchant is trying to respect their affiliates marketing efforts. So in this case if I'm somehow aware that there is no contact info because of this reason, I still might buy depending on how much I have heard about the brand or if I was directly referred by someone, etc. I don't really know what an overall solution would be for merchants who are leaving contact info off their affiliate site version, but there needs to be some type of pre-sales support for the customer if they decide they want to contact someone - else, you best believe that you're losing a sizable amount of money with this Tiny Sales Killer.

      Tons of exclamation marks kill me to!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (they should be used sparingly - else it just seems they're trying too hard to sell me.

      ...and oh, I see you have a foot fetish too

      Yeah, that kills it for me. Guess they didn't bother to do any user testing.

      Those crazy captchas are getting ridiculous!... I have 20/20 vision and still can't read some of those.
      • [1] reply
  • Long, drawn out sales pages.

    Over promising copy.

    Spammy emails.

    Over promotion of affiliate products.

    "Hey NAME...." at the start of an email...I know its an autoresponder don't try to sugarcoat it.
  • Its always great to vent these frustrations. One that annoys me to no end is when there is no mention anywhere on the sales page of a price for the product. No mention in fact until you end up at paypals backdoor. /CloseTab /NoSale

    If I see the value in what you are offering me, I don't care how much it costs IF I WANT IT..I don't like having to walk around blind corners to figure out what I'm getting into and it sorta makes me feel that the seller/product owner does not believe their product is actually worth what they ask if they can't be upfront with a price and need to do the price reveal as close to the checkout as possible in order to get the sale.

    I also completely agree on the Captcha that forces you to watch a video for some text about some product I could not care any less for.
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    • Security-related issues are probably the biggest for me (unknown payment processor, etc).

      I find most video sales letters off-putting, and usually I can't watch one for more than a few minutes. I far prefer regular sales pages--mainly so I can skip ahead. I am ok with short video testimonials used in conjunction with a written sales letter.
  • The ABSOLUTE thing that drives me crazy is when the page loads and the video starts playing. Your are amped to hear the message and the very first thing they say is.....

    "Stop What Your Doing And Listen"
    "I DONT KNOW How you got Here or How You Found This Page"
  • Not having full Contact Details, only having an Email Form... I'm gone.
  • Too bad that only us internet marketers are aware of such warning signs and yet all things mentioned above are almost invisible to an ordinary guy.
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    • It wouldn't be if he saw it as many times as we do.
  • Banned
    I back off when I see spelling errors, disparity in information across different pages and of course if the "chat box" always shows offline.
  • If they pop up a social sharing screen when I move my mouse. Or, even a subscription box. I really don't like either of those and that makes me want to click away.
  • One of my biggest pet peeves is when I click through to a product or piece of software I've already researched and am interested in and I'm forced to watch a long sales video in order to buy the product. I rarely sit through the sales video and usually end up not purchasing the product.
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
  • If price is not relevant with the value...
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    Tiny Sales Killers

    What is a "tiny" thing that has made you NOT go through with a purchase? A not-so-obvious turn off that just made you click the back button, X out of a sales page, or abandon your shopping cart cold? I'll start it off... I was about to make a purchase, wallet in hand geeked up and everything! And then there it was...something told me to look at the footer of the page. The date on the footer was outdated, like by 2 years! I was like WTF this sh.. must be old. And that was all she wrote - I was outta there! Now this may sound small to some people, but for me it was big enough to kill my motivation to trust the site and go through with the sale.