Does this happen to you?
You’re online, checking your email, updating your Facebook status, and there it is! An email with a juicy offer… an invitation to buy something. Let’s say it’s a home study course on how to create high-quality videos with your cell phone camera. You click the link and are taken to a good-looking, easy-to-read landing page with some pretty convincing copy that gets you pretty excited about the program and what it might do for you.
You check out the price. Whoa! It’s not cheap. In fact, it’s more than you thought it would be. But it still sounds pretty good, so you read the third-party testimonials, look for a guarantee and maybe do a little online research. Then, finally, caught up in moment and having already invested a fair amount of time on this product, you buy it! You fill out the invoice information, stick in your credit card number and submit! It’s done! That program is yours. baby!
And you feel pretty good about it. Until later that day. Or the next day.
You start to second-guess your decision. You don’t feel so great about your purchase, and you think thoughts like:
“Do I really need another home study program?”
“What was I thinking? I don’t even have the time to commit to this!”
“And money is tight right now. I just paid my taxes. And my niece’s birthday is coming up …”
And on it goes.
You, my friend, are neck-deep in what is known as Buyer’s Remorse – the regret that sets in after making certain purchases. And you can bet that your clients and fans have experienced it as well…. maybe even after they bought something from you.
Buyer’s remorse is extremely common, almost to the point of being predictable these days. So many purchases are made impulsively online and without the advantage the “see, touch, smell and taste” factor a retail store provides. But even when buying items in a retail store, many people experience buyer’s regret.
Your clients and customers will tend to experience buyer’s regret when:
- they buy a high-priced item or service.
- they feel they were “sold” on something they wouldn’t normally buy.
- they haven’t been reassured that their purchase was a wise investment that will serve them well.
As a creative entrepreneur who is selling products and services online, you want to be sure your clients and fans feel great about each and every investment they make with you! Not just because you want to prevent returns and cancellations, but because you want to keep your customers happy and eager to do business with you! If they regret or resent the investment of time, energy or money they spend with you, they will most likely never buy from you again.
Here are 5 “preventative care” tips to help you eliminate the possibility of buyer’s remorse in your customers:
Give Immediate Reassurance and Support
One of the best ways to eliminate buyer’s remorse is through autoresponders — those handy automatic emails that are sent to your customers within seconds of making their purchase. That first email, which your customers should receive within seconds of clicking the “submit order” button, needs to not only confirm their purchase but make them feel great about it!
Be sure the copy in that email congratulates them and affirms all the reasons why they are so smart for making this investment. Tell them how their life or business is going to improve because of this product. Help them get excited about what’s to come without being insincere or salesy. You need to be real, authentic and honest as you congratulate them. In other words, you need to believe your own words!
And don’t stop there! Set up a series of autorepsonders so that your customer receives ongoing support and assistance from you relative to this product. It doesn’t matter whether your product is a digital, one they can download immediately, or something you send through the mail. You want to be sure your customers know that you care about their experience and their ability to get maximum satisfaction from their investment.
Give Them a Surprise Bonus!
I’m a discerning tea drinker. I only like certain kinds of Assam tea, so I order it online from a company that has a high-quality selection. Every time I order tea from this company, there is always a surprise gift inside the package, usually a sample of some other kind of tea! And it always feels so good to get that gift.
Imagine how your new customer might feel if you gave them a surprise bonus gift! What if, in that first autoresponder, you told your customer they are also getting an unexpected “something,” like a downloadable product, an mp3 or special report? Wouldn’t it be great to surprise them by giving them MORE than they ordered?
You bet it would! And it will go a long way in eliminating any kind of buyer’s remorse.
Make It Easy… and Fast!
Have you ever tried to order something online only to get so bogged down by the ordering process that you just gave up? I have! One time, I tried to submit an order multiple times only to be told I hadn’t filled out this or that when in fact I had filled out this or that. I got so frustrated, I just shut that sucker down.
Be sure your ordering process is easy, fast and glitch-free! Don’t make your customer figure out how to navigate some complicated system. It really needs to be as simple as clicking a button. (Think Amazon. It’s so darned easy to order from Amazon that it’s almost scary. There must be Amazon 12-Step Groups forming all over the globe!)
Just as the purchase and ordering process should be easy and swift, so should the process by which your customer gets what they ordered! If it’s a downloadable product, make sure they are able to download it immediately. If it’s something that is sent via snail mail, make sure that process moves quickly and they get what they ordered as fast as possible.
Offer a Guarantee!
Stand behind the value of your product by offering a money-back guarantee of some kind. Maybe it’s a time-limited guarantee, like “try it for 30-days and if it’s not everything we promised it to be, we’ll refund your money in full.” Or an unconditional money-back guarantee. It will depend on the type of product you are selling.
Either way, when you offer a money-back guarantee of some kind, you ease your customer’s apprehension about going for it. If they know they can return it or get their money back, they will be more apt to buy and to let go of any kind of buyer’s remorse.
Deliver the Goods!
You can do all of the above to help eliminate buyer’s remorse, but in the end, the only thing that really works is to deliver a product that is first-rate. Your autoresponders can be helpful and beautifully written, your sales system can be as smooth as feathers on silk, but if you fail to deliver a product that serves your client, you will have disappointed customers with an incurable case of buyer’s remorse.
Put your energy into creating products and services that do a phenomenal job of serving your client. Go the extra mile and over-deliver. If you feel your product or offering is a little weak or could use a little something more, get the help and input you need to make sure it is the very best offering you can give.
So, take a look at your products, services and sales system. Are you keeping your customers happy to buy? Where could you upgrade or improve the process or even the offer you are making? How can you provide greater customer service?
Then tell me, where do you think you could improve and where are you doing really well in eliminating buyer’s remorse? Let me know in the comment section below.
Let’s work together to eliminate the merest whisper of buyer’s remorse in the minds and hearts of your customers!