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Don't Hide That Price Tag!
By: R.M. Blackledge
R.M. Blackledge
TheWorkAtHomeBlog.com
© Copyright 2005
One of the most common misconceptions about selling is that the
naming of a final price shouldn't be done until you've already closed
the sale. This tactic is commonly used in new and used car
sales.
"How much, exactly?" The customer asks. But the salesperson
doesn't immediately answer, instead he/she continues babbling
on about some finer point of the product. In effect, the salesperson
is trying to entice the customer into falling in love with the product,
such that the final price won't really matter all that much.
The customer will find the money somehow...
This tactic must work relatively well, because it's ages old. Unfortunately,
the sales game on the internet is a little different than in the brick
and mortar world. Web merchants have to be concerned about a
little thing known as bandwidth.
Traffic that doesn't convert into sales wastes bandwidth, which can
become a BIG FACTOR if you have a ton of pages on the same web
host. The cost of placing your site[s] online is something that must
be factored in when you start your web business. It's common sense
then, to consider that poor affiliates will never become wealthy affiliates
if they don't pay attention to the bottom line.
Pay-per-click search engine advertising is a big deal now that banner
ads have become so ubiquitous as to be almost useless. Many affiliates
swear by their pay-per click campaigns. This type of advertising method
brings highly targeted traffic to the merchant's site.
In effect the people are ready to buy. But are they?
Many affiliates who use pay-per-click advertising also believe that
a sales price is something thatshould be hidden until the very last
moment. Thus, on the affiliate's site the price will be located at the
bottom of the page next to the sales link. The hope is that the customer
will read all the sales text FIRST, and thus still be willing to make
a purchase - even if the sales price is not exactly what they expected.
Is this the best way to go about making an internet sale?
It may depend really on whether you're selling a big ticket item, or
a small ticket item. If you're a merchant, for example, that sells
refurbished computers online, the customer obviously is not going
to expect to purchase a quality used computer for only 50 bucks.
So then what is to be gained by hiding the price until the very last
moment? If the customer can't afford your product, hiding the price
down at the bottom of the sales page will not put spending money
in their pocket, they don't already have. Conversely, if you're selling
computer software that has a retail price of under thirty dollars. Only
thirty dollars is a bargain for software. But, if your visitors are really
looking for freeware, you may still lose out.
In effect, not discussing price just postpones the inevitable. Customers
will usually make up their minds about whether to stay on your site
within the first five-to-six seconds. If you've pre-sold your product
effectively in the first place, then the customer knows what to expect.
Placing your sales price right in front of their eyes - so that they
don't have to search for it - may actually help you make a sale or
two.
This also demonstrates that you have confidence in your product.
If the customer gets the impression that you're not trying to B.S.
them, they will be impressed, instead of put-off.
Also, if your main advertising method is by use of a pay-per-click
campaign, placing your sales price right in the middle of your ad
will save you the headache of wasting your pay-per-click advertising
dollars on those web surfers who are just browsers and not buyers.
In conclusion, a sales price prominently placed can be an effective
tool for weeding out the bandwidth-wasting window shoppers from
those who are serious customers.
That's what you want!
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Resource Box:
R.M. Blackledge is the owner of TheWorkAtHomeBlog.Com.
Additional articles and important, up-to-date home business
news and information is available almost daily at the following url:
http://theworkathomeblog.com/index.html
contact: http://theworkathomeblog.com/contact.html
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About the author:
R.M. Blackledge is the owner of The Work At Home Blog, and is the publisher of many self-help and home business articles.
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