I received a comment on one of the premium posts the other day that really got me thinking about overcoming objections in sales.
The comment was from a visitor by the name of Kevin and he didn’t pull any punches when it came to what he though about my premium content:
Can’t afford your premium access until I cam [sic] generate more income from my Catholic content business. Not joking.
As you can see, it was very simple and to the point. However, despite how short the comment was, it really says a great deal.
Is the price of the premium content too high?
Absolutely not! The material that is in the premium section cost me over 5K in self-investment to gather and learn.
Does that mean that Kevin is a liar or cheap!? No! It just means that I am a poor salesman.
In selling there are two main things that you need to do: Give the buyer a reason to buy based on value, and destroy all possible obstacles that could be perceived as risk.
Here’s a great explanation by Jefferey Gitomer:
It is never the prospect’s fault if they don’t buy, it’s yours
Since content has been the primary goal for the premium section, the sales pages and copywriting has been lacking (for now). For example, here is the current text that visitors see when they click into the premium section’s sale’s page:
Thank you for your interest in subscribing to the premium section of Productive Catholic. We are constantly adding new content and it will only get better and better.
Premium membership is a monthly fee of $9.95. There is a 30-day risk-free trial. If you are not satisfied, simply cancel before the 30-days and you won’t pay anything.
10% of all proceeds go to a ministry to help out of work mothers and fathers to start their own business to support their family.
Now, does that show value or mitigate risk? The fact is that there is nothing in that text at all that is selling anything. It doesn’t explain what the premium section is or why it’s valuable. Yes, it talks about the 30-day free trial, which is a risk mitigator, but overall it’s horrible sales copy. It is any wonder why Kevin didn’t want to buy premium access? Heck, he didn’t even want to chance the free trial because it the selling was so bad.
What real sales copy should look like
A real sales or squeeze page should be engaging and have a clear message showing the value of what you are offering and why the reward of your offer is worth far more than the risk. Below is the new page for the productive Catholic Free Member Community
Become a Member of the Productive Catholic Community
Do you think that this page is more convincing? What do you think the value statement? What do you think is the risk mitigator(s)? Let me know in the comments!
Christian
August 26, 2011 at 10:45 am“Do you think that this page is more convincing? What do you think the value statement?”
I suppose a convincer would be each month one free sample from the payzone that would clearly show its content is superior to the freezone content.
Dean Soto
August 26, 2011 at 11:00 amWow, that’s a geat idea. Hmmm… Something like for every 4-5 paid, give 1 comparable thing away for free.
Christian LeBlanc
August 26, 2011 at 4:22 pm“Something like for every 4-5 paid, give 1 comparable thing away for free.”
Well, maybe not that much; just make enough prime content available (say one article, and replace it every other month) so a potential primer can understand on his own that the prime content is better.