All language subtitles for 09-Three of the Four Levers to Optimize Your Offer

So, we have our one reader, our one big
idea, our one promise, and our one offer.

All four parts of the rule of one
are deadly critical to your success.

But the offer?

Well, the offer is perhaps the easiest
part to optimize with the greatest

potential impact on making sales.

Your offer is the thing
that people get, put simply.

So when a prospect buys this thing
from you, what are they getting?

That's the offer.

When a prospect clicks the
button to buy now and enter their

credit card information, what
exactly do they expect to get?

That's the offer.

If you're a SaaS business, the basic
offer might be to upgrade to a business

plan in order to keep using the service
and getting results for your team.

If you're an e commerce business
selling a vintage jewelry subscription,

the basic offer might be to subscribe
to the annual plan and get one piece

of vintage jewelry every month.

Those are the basics of the offer
and anyone can come up with those.

Our job when working on our offer
for our long form sales page is

to follow the Godfather principle.

We're going to make them
an offer they can't refuse.

We're just going to do it more
ethically than the Godfather did.

But first, this is critical.

We can only have one offer, just one.

It might be available in two very similar
versions, such as if you're selling

a business plan for your software and
your prospect has got the choice between

either three users or 10 users, or if
you're selling a business plan for your

software and the prospect can choose
between monthly and annual payments.

The offer is still 99 percent
identical between these two versions.

But one version is likely to look
slightly more desirable, and the

ability to contrast those two
options can actually help your

prospect make the decision better.

But we'll get into that when
we start writing the page.

Your one offer is the one thing
that you want your prospect

to take you up on today.

And it has to be the best
offer you can put forward.

You've got four levers to
pull to make your offer what

some would call irresistible.

The first is this.

Clarity.

Like with everything in copywriting,
clear is better than clever, or vague.

Specific is better than abstract.

Think about any clear
messaging you've heard before.

For example, Call us toll free to book
your family's spot on this Disney cruise

before prices go up on December 1st.

That's a clear offer.

It's really straightforward.

It's simple.

There's no guesswork.

You need to be able to
express your offer clearly.

You'll be repeating your offer
while you write, so make sure you've

got the language crystal clear.

That way, Every time you say
it, you're slowly tattooing it

onto the mind of your prospect.

And when they're talking to their
spouse that night about taking that

family vacation at Christmas time,
they're thinking of your clear offer.

Call us toll free to book your
family spot on this Disney cruise

before prices go up on December 1st.

The thing about being clear is
this, it's not just about your

prospect understanding the offer.

It's also about making sure they
don't misunderstand the offer.

So one part is.

Do I understand it?

The second part is,
might I misunderstand it?

That's the basics when
it comes to your offer.

Let's get into the parts that make
your offer overwhelmingly persuasive.

After clarity, you've
got three levers to pull.

Discounts and incentives, refunds
and guarantees, and bonuses.

Let's start with discounts.

You may find that you want to test
an offer that includes a discount.

Discounts often increase conversion
rates but decrease average order value.

I, as the conversion copywriter,
think about conversions as

well as average order value.

We want to optimize for both.

So I don't want to increase conversions
at the expense of overall revenue.

I don't think you want to either,
unless you have a plan for upgrading

those people or doing something to
get referrals out of them, et cetera.

The challenge for many small businesses
in particular is that if you offer

a discount and get more customers,
now you have to deal with the

expense of supporting more customers.

There are real costs there.

So in most cases, we're looking at
just trying to keep average order

value where the business expects it.

And we want to increase conversions
based on that average order value.

With that in mind, I
recommend against discounts.

You probably agree with me on
that, but here's the thing that

might be lingering in your mind.

People love seeing discounts.

It's true.

It continues to be true.

So how can you position your
offers so that it appears?

Your reader is getting a deal.

This is where selling an annual
plan for your SaaS versus a

monthly plan can go a long way.

Generally, people save a month or two
worth of payments when they pay annually.

So you can position the annual plan
to be a dollar savings of X amount.

That's just one example.

What copywriters do at this point
is they go looking through all the

different options you've got for
customers and they find one or two that

can be positioned to sound like a deal.

That's how you pull the discount lever
without actually discounting your product

or introducing new money off incentives.

The next lever to pull to optimize
your offer is refunds and guarantees.

First, do you offer a money
back guarantee, or don't you?

Many SaaS businesses don't.

They offer cancellation policies instead.

What about annual plans?

Is there a refund policy if I'm
four months into an annual plan

and I no longer want to use it?

A ton of founders would say No, but our
refund policy makes every offer stronger.

Is it worth testing a refund policy as
part of your one offer on the sales page?

You're going right now.

SAS businesses are not the only
ones that hesitate to offer money

back guarantees and refund policies.

Small shop online businesses of all
kinds also struggle with this, especially

where you are selling real services.

For example, if I'm going to sign up
for your Housekeepers on Demand online

service where a housekeeper shows up at
my house within 20 minutes of ordering,

one, should I have the opportunity to
request a refund for their services?

A refund policy makes
every offer stronger.

Then there's the e-commerce business.

You're selling standing
desks for $800 a pop.

Like any business, you really don't
want to include a money back guarantee

in your offer because the shipping
costs alone would be ridiculous.

You do not have to offer
paid return shipping.

A refund policy makes
every offer stronger.

That said, a refund policy
is a business decision.

Not something a copywriter
can just throw onto the page.

So run the numbers to see if a refund
policy makes sense for your business.

Knowing it will strengthen your
offer, but also knowing that, even

if you only get a 1 percent refund
request rate, that's something you

need to consider as a business.

Ant.

When you decide to offer a refund
policy, you need to optimize that.

Is it a 30 day money back guarantee?

That's what everyone offers.

Can you improve on that?

What if you offered a one
year money back guarantee?

Here's what's interesting about long
but limited money back guarantees.

One, they take your customer's
eye off the calendar.

When you've only got 30 days to try
something, you're paying more attention

in those first 30 days to everything.

When you've got 90 days, or even an entire
year, you stop counting days and start

focusing instead on letting the product
or service integrate into your life.

Secondly, your competitors are
very unlikely to think about

optimizing their offer the way
you're thinking about it now.

So your optimized refund policy can
be a huge competitive advantage.

And because it's so different and
so high value in the eyes of your

prospect, You can shout it out.

Nobody shouts out their 30 day refund
policy, but if you're offering a one year

refund policy, that's the kind of thing
you can write across head as you introduce

your offer and as you close your prospect.

Once you've landed on your refund
policy, now you need to think

about how you'll communicate it.

It should not be satisfaction
guaranteed or your money back.

To start, don't settle for
satisfaction guaranteed.

Satisfaction means nothing.

When you say satisfaction,
what do you really mean?

Get specific here.

What does satisfaction mean
when using your product?

This is where you may want to
think about your one promise.

If your one promise is to save an hour a
day, That's the measure of satisfaction.

So you might write, save an hour a
day or we'll give you your money back.

Okay.

How long do I have to decide?

State the length of your refund
policy and state it clearly.

Save an hour a day, every day
for the next three months, or

we'll give you your money back.

That's good, but it's not memorable.

So let's brand that thing.

For example, the 100 day, 100
hour saved money back guarantee.

There, now we've got the
beginning of a powerful guarantee

to include in your offer.

Your job then becomes to write
the description of the guarantee.

You want to state the specific actions
your customer should take to get

the most out of that offer, such as
using your product every day for the

next 100 days, what they should do,
exactly what they should do if they

don't achieve the results promised.

It might seem like you
should gloss over this stuff.

You shouldn't.

That's because the people who are
on the fence are going to read this

copy line by line, word for word.

You're speaking to those
people with your guarantee.

So sell the guarantee.

Is there a specific person
they'll reach out to at your

company to request the refund?

Can you show a photo of that person
looking easy to approach and friendly?

Do they request the refund by email?

Is there an online form to fill out?

Work through those details and don't
forget to state the benefits they'll get.

Remember, you're still selling until
you close the prospect on the page.

So lace your guarantee copy
with benefits and outcomes.

To recap, the three levers we've
covered so far are, one, clarity,

two, discounts and incentives,
three, refunds and guarantees.

The fourth lever is a lever few businesses
outside of the online training, health,

and financial world think about.

I'm talking about bonuses, and
that's coming up in the next lesson.