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Give your potential clients and customers something easy to agree on first, then work from there.
4 min read
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
One of my friends has a business that is all about healthy living and whole food nutrition. She has a number of different products — all based on science and plant-based foods — that people can easily take and get on the road to better health.
In an effort to simplify the process, someone recommended that she should “lead” with their high-end program. Not because it was the highest-dollar amount (the integrity of the people who work for this company is awesome, so it’s not a money issue at all), but because it was actually the biggest bang for people’s buck.
In other words, for folks who were really serious about moving forward with their health goals, this high-end program was the fastest way to get there.
But, it was a little on the expensive side, and some people simply didn’t have the money. As a result, my friend found herself getting a lot of prospects telling her, “This is great, but I can’t afford it.”
“No problem,” she thought. “If they say that, I’ll just provide some less-expensive options — let people know they can start with some of my more basic packages.”
I asked her how much money her products were selling for.
Related: 10 Reasons Why Good Customer Service Is Your Most Important Metric
“Well, the high end package is around $225 per month for four months,” she said, “and the basic package is $40, again in four monthly installments,” she responded.
“Wow!” I said. “That’s a big difference.”
The high-end package includes shakes, nutritional bars, four kinds of capsules … the works. It was made for someone who is really serious about their health goals.
The frustrating part is that the company has three products, and if someone can’t afford the high end package, there are options that can totally work. But, after customers initially say “no,” it’s almost impossible getting them back on the phone.
My friend spent a lot of time trying to get people off of “no” and into “yes,” as opposed to just giving them an option where they can say “yes” right away.
Related: Steal These 4 Proven Customer-Retention Strategies
She led with her high-end product, and while I totally understand that it’s a good deal, from a financial standpoint, it just might not work for some peoples’ budgets. So when they say ‘no’, you try to move to a different, less-expensive package in an effort to get a “yes.” And that’s fine.
But, in customer’s mind, they’ve already said no” to the entire idea, rather than just a version of that idea. Getting them to say “yes” right after that has obviously been very difficult.
By adding a medium option and presenting all three at the same time, she could give people an option to say “yes” at the level they’re most comfortable with, rather than just what she thought would provide the fastest results.
And by getting people into “yes” right away, she can always talk with them a month or two later to see how things are going and if they’d like to upgrade their order. That way, she doesn’t spend a bunch of energy trying to get people to undo their initial decision.
Related: 25 Tips for Earning Customer Loyalty
I see this in other businesses all the time. We go into the sales process with one offer … what we think will work for someone else’s situation. Even if we’re right, it doesn’t mean the prospective client recognizes it.
In those situations, you’re working uphill getting to yes. Instead, try providing some options where they can say yes — even if it’s not ideal from your perspective. You can then work with them as a client in the months ahead to help them see the value of what you were initially saying.
Or to put it another way: Get people to “yes” first, provide excellent service and move up from there.
Not only is it easier and more appealing, but you’re giving more people more opportunities to work with you and your business … and what could be more rewarding than that?
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