# 58 of the World's Greatest Offers #

58 of the World's Greatest Offers is a series of four articles from Copyblogger
contributor Dean Rieck. In this series, Dean provides you with a handy resource
of offers that have proven to be winners over the years. Remember that many
great offers are combinations of two or more individual offers, so feel free to
mix and match.

## Offers That Raise Response and Lower Risk ##

### Raising Response ###

Technically, every type of offer is intended to boost response. However these
are classic offers that are particularly good for raising your sales.

1. Free Trial - This may be the best offer ever devised. People can try out your
   product free and without obligation for 10 days, 15 days, 30 days, or more.
   The time frame should fit the product. This offer removes risk for the
   prospect and overcomes procrastination.

2. Money-Back Guarantee - This is perhaps the second best offer. A customer pays
   upfront, but if dissatisfied can return the item for a full refund. Like the
   free trial, this offer removes risk, but it allows you to use customer
   inertia to your benefit since only a small percentage of people will take
   the trouble to return something.

3. Free Gift - When you offer a freebie that your customer wants, your offer will
   usually outperform a discount offer of similar value. That's because a gift
   is a more tangible benefit.

4. Limited-Time - An offer with a time limit gets more response than an offer
   without one, especially when you give a specific deadline. This forces
   a decision. The faster you can get a decision, the more likely it will be in
   your favor.

5. Yes/No - You ask your prospect to respond positively or negatively, by
   checking a "yes" box or a "no" box, for example. This offer creates
   involvement and usually pulls more response than an offer that does not
   offer a "no" reply.

6. Negative Option - This is generally used with a free trial. You allow your
   prospect to try your product for free and then automatically ship and/or
   bill unless the prospect specifically refuses the order within a certain
   time frame. This often results in higher returns and a few more irate phone
   calls, but it pulls better up-front and can produce higher overall sales.

7. Credit Card Installment Payments - Nothing is easier than paying with plastic
   over time. These days, there's no reason not to accept payment this way
   whether by phone, mail, fax, or the Internet.

8. Sweepstakes - This can dramatically increase your order volume. Just remember
   that running a sweepstakes can be a pain. And sweepstakes customers are
   seldom loyal. Plus, many people find that once they start using sweepstakes,
   it's hard to go back to more traditional offers.

### Lowering Risk ###

Since people can't touch or try your wares immediately, there's always an
element of perceived risk. By lowering the risk, you can raise sales.

9. Double-Your-Money-Back Guarantee - Most people never make a return or ask for
   their money back even when unhappy. So this is a simple way to dramatize
   both your offer and your guarantee for low-priced items.

10. Long-Term Guarantee - This is another way to dramatize your offer and
    guarantee. Instead of a 30- or 60-day guarantee, you offer a one-year,
    multi-year, or lifetime guarantee. If you can reasonably expect your
    product to last, this puts inertia and forgetfulness on your side because
    few people will take advantage of or even remember your guarantee later on.

11. Guaranteed Buy-Back - This is just another way of offering a standard
    money-back guarantee. You offer to "buy back" the item if your customer is
    not satisfied.

12. Guaranteed Acceptance - If people usually go through an application process
    to use your product, access your service, or join your club, you can give
    them a guarantee to accept them. This works best with something that
    appears hard to obtain.

13. Limited-Time Introduction - This lets prospects try something with little
    cost or risk before making a greater commitment. "Try it for 12 weeks for
    only $24.00." You must track results, though, and be sure your sales
    conversions justify the lower price.

14. Yes/Maybe - This is another way of making a low-commitment or no-obligation
    offer. The "yes" response is for a purchase. The "maybe" response is for
    a free trial, product information, introductory offer, etc.

## Offers That Reduce Price and Increase Urgency ##

### Reducing Price ###

No matter what you're selling, eventually it comes down to price. Saving money
can be a good motivator, especially when you're operating in a competitive
environment.

15. Dollars Off - You offer a certificate with a dollar value that may be
    redeemed toward a purchase. Or you simply show the original price, cross it
    out, and offer a lower price. However, test carefully because a free gift
    of equal value often works better.

16. Refunds and Rebates - With a refund, you may ask $5 for your catalog, report,
    or other promotional item, then send a $5 discount certificate to be used
    on a first order. With a rebate, you offer a delayed discount, which
    encourages a purchase, then send a coupon which can be redeemed for dollars
    back.

17. Sales - A seasonal sale is a trusty standby to raise volume. A "reason why"
    sale is similar but gives some explanation for lowering the price, such as
    going out of business, inventory reduction, or overstock.

18. Introductory Price - This allows people to try something at a reduced cost
    for a short period of time. You can use this to get new customers, though
    it may annoy loyal customers who might feel they should get the best price.

19. Relationship Discount - This is the opposite of the introductory price. For
    example, new customers pay $30, while regular customers pay just $25. The
    goal here is to reward current customers, not to get new customers.

20. Group Discount - To target certain markets, you can offer a special discount
    exclusive to a type of profession, industry, club, etc. For example, an
    investment newsletter can offer a "professional discount" for accountants.

21. Quantity Discount - The larger the order, the better the deal. Or if your
    customer orders five items, you provide a 5 percent discount. Or you offer
    a lower per-item price for a two-year commitment than for a one-year
    commitment.

22. Step-Up Discount - This resembles the quantity discount, but is based on the
    incremental dollar amount. For example, a 5 percent discount for orders
    over $50, a 10 percent discount for orders over $100, and a 15 percent
    discount for orders over $250.

23. Early-Bird Discount - This encourages more and faster orders. Make sure the
    discount is a real discount. Don't just raise prices for those who order
    later.

24. Price Matching - If you compete on price, you offer to match any competitor's
    price. The idea is to assure prospects that you offer low prices.

25. Trade-in - You offer dollars off when a customer trades in a previous model
    or version and buys a new one. The trade-in can be your own brand or
    a competitor's.

### Increasing Urgency ###

In every sale there's always a little hesitation at the last moment. By
creating a short window of opportunity, you provide the push needed to help
people make a decision.

26. Last Chance - This is usually a reminder that you've previously made an offer
    and time is running out. If you say "last chance," mean it.

27. Limited Edition - This works well for art, plates, coins, special book
    printings, and other collectibles or rare items. The item is special in
    some way and there are only X number available or there's a time limit.

28. Enrollment Period - You establish a "window of opportunity" when people may
    enroll, for learning courses or business services, for example.

29. Pre-Publication Offer - This is a popular offer used by publishers,
    especially for expensive reference works. You tell people that you need to
    plan ahead, so you offer a special deal to reserve copies. Readers are
    guaranteed to get a copy and save money, usually 10 percent or 15 percent
    off what others will pay.

30. Price Increase Announcement - If prices are going up, you can announce it
    ahead of time so people can take advantage of the old prices one last time
    or stock up.

31. Charter Membership - You offer a prospect the chance to be one of the first
    to subscribe to a publication or join a club or organization. A special
    introductory price, gift, or other incentive is usually included.

## Offers That Improve Terms, Add Services, and Make Bribes ##

### Improving Terms ###

A good offer will always improve your selling results. But you can also improve
an existing offer by simply adjusting the way your customer pays or orders.

32. Bill Me Later - This gives you some of the promotional power of a free trial
    offer but with a stronger sense of obligation. It appeals to the modern
    consumer who has been trained to postpone payment until the last possible
    moment. It can double response over a straight cash upfront offer.

33. Installments - This offer takes a larger price and divides it into a set
    number of smaller monthly payments, usually with no interest. This makes
    a high price less painful. It's most effective when you highlight the
    installment amount and de-emphasize the total price.

34. Positive Option - This is the reverse of a negative option. Instead of
    shipping or billing automatically after a trial period, you offer a trial
    period and require action by the customer for a purchase. Response will be
    lower than for a negative option, but overall customer quality is often
    better.

35. Reservation Option - You offer to reserve or set aside an item that soon will
    be announced to the general public and which may sell out. You may also
    give a special price or a premium as a reward for responding by a certain
    date. It's similar to the pre-publication offer but with more urgency.

### Offering Services ###

These are ways to add a little extra convenience to your offer. The first, free
shipping, is currently one of the most popular offers on the Internet.

36. Free Shipping - People are used to paying extra for shipping and consider it
    a necessary evil. But you can offer it free as an unexpected and
    inexpensive incentive.

37. Gift Shipment Service - A customer sends you a gift list, and you send the
    gifts directly to everyone on the list for free or for a nominal charge.
    This offers your customer convenience and offers you lots of simultaneous
    orders.

38. Rush Shipping Service - You promise to ship an item overnight or within
    a shorter time period than normal shipping. As with gift shipping, you can
    offer this for free or for a small additional charge to cover the extra
    cost of FedEx, UPS, or other service.

### Offering Bribes ###

Sometimes an extra offer on top of your offer helps to push people off the
fence and take action. Some of these are pretty sophisticated, but can be
effective.

39. Free Keeper Gift - This encourages people to make the decision to try your
    product or service. You offer a gift and they can keep it even if they
    change their minds later on.

40. Free Gift with Payment - This encourages prompt payment, increases cash flow,
    and helps reduce no-pays. You can offer a gift for every paid order or for
    orders of a minimum value. You can offer one gift or multiple gifts.

41. Choice of Free Gifts - Here, you offer a choice between two or more gifts.
    While this seems very appealing, it often does not work as well as offering
    a single gift, since the choice may create indecision and inertia.

42. Stepped Free Gifts - You reward customers based on the size of their orders.
    The more they order, the more gifts they get or the higher the gift
    quality.

43. Two-Step Gift - The customer gets a small gift for a first step and a bigger
    gift for the next step. For example, you can offer a freebie for trying
    your product then another freebie for actually buying it.

44. Cumulative Incentives - This is a reward for customer loyalty, such as
    redeemable "points" for buying items or every 13th order free. This works
    best when the customer can see the value increasing. For example, you can
    provide a running total of points earned on each billing statement or order
    form.

## Offers That Increase Profits and Generate Inquiries ##

### Increasing Profit ###

In the long run, profit, not a high response, is your goal. Offers that
increase your total profit per sale can sometimes pay off better even if fewer
people respond.

45. Deluxe Version - You offer a second version of the same item with enhanced
    features for a little more money.

46. Good-Better-Best - This gives your prospect a choice of quality. It also
    subtly urges people to spend more than they might if you can demonstrate
    that the "best" choice is the best value. Ideally, you should show more
    features for higher-quality items.

47. Load Ups - In a continuity series, you send all the items in a series after
    the first few are paid for, allowing your customer to continue paying
    month-to-month. Or you might offer a certain number of items for a low
    price with a commitment to buy a certain number at the regular price within
    a certain time frame.

48. Membership Fee - You ask your prospect to pay a one-time fee to become an
    exclusive member of your club or organization in return for reduced prices
    and other benefits not available to the general public. The fee can be
    assessed yearly or it can be a larger lifetime fee.

49. Ship Till Forbid - This is often used with continuity programs, business
    services, or perishable products. Your customer gets the convenience of
    regular shipments and the option of canceling those shipments at any time
    while you get regular orders.

### Generating Inquiries ###

For products and services that you can't sell in one step, you need offers that
can identify prospects for additional sales efforts. This usually involves
giving away something.

50. Free Information - This is the ideal offer for identifying interested
    prospects, making two-step sales, creating a list, and initiating a first
    contact for a long-term relationship or sales cycle.

51. Free Samples - If you have a good product, it can sell itself if you can get
    a sample into a prospect's hands. You can offer a free sample or charge
    a nominal fee (which may encourage the prospect to actually try it).

52. Free Gift for Inquiry - You offer a gift as a reward for requesting
    information about your product or service. As you might expect, this can
    boost the number of prospects who inquire but lower their quality.

53. Sales Call - Your prospect asks for a someone to contact them and set up an
    appointment for further information. This produces high-quality leads, but
    much lower overall response. Generally those who want to talk are ready to
    buy.

54. Free Survey of Your Needs - You offer to analyze your prospect's requirements
    with no obligation. Then you show how your product or service can fulfill
    those requirements.

55. Free Demonstration - This is especially good for something that is new or
    complex. You offer to provide an exclusive demonstration not available to
    the public, which could be a video, a special version of the product or
    service, or temporary access to the item.

56. Free Estimate - For those who want bids or who analyze costs carefully, this
    a good first step for getting your foot in the door.

57. Free Subscription - You offer a subscription to a newsletter, journal, or
    other company publication to educate prospects and build your database. It
    should include valuable editorial material, not just promotional puffery.

58. Member-Get-a-Member - You give your customer a free gift for providing the
    name of someone else who may be interested in your wares. This is a good
    way to build your customer base.

In selling, everything comes down to offers. The 58 offers we've covered in
this series are just a few of the most popular and successful.

Keep your eyes open for new and exciting offers. Mix them. Test them. Improve
them. A great offer may be the easiest and fastest way to boost your sales.

source: copyblogger.com