Traffic Conversion Secrets Lesson 8 - Use Their Natural Greed

Greed is a human trait, and maybe we'd like to ignore it
because it's not very pretty, but it is a fact of life.
People do get greedy and when they do, they tend to lose
all sense of reason. That's actually a pretty good time to
use this human weakness to help you trigger the impulse to
buy your products. 

In sales, greed isn't just about charging people the most
money you can get out of them, although that is definitely
one aspect that marketers use. It's also about providing
the trigger so that your buyer believes they are getting a
steal, either because of a price differential or the cost
versus benefits preview. It's a great way not just to make
one sale, but to close on a variety of items.

Closeout and bargain hunting are a form of greed even
though it's viewed as frugality. It all depends on if the
buyer is buying bargains because that's what they
practically need in their lives or whether the impulse to
buy is spurred more by overactive greed glands that can't
turn down anything resembling a steal of a deal. So,
placing these types of deals on your website can help you
start to develop a sales strategy that attracts a wide
range of buyers. 

The Technique

It may surprise you to know that the disposable income
level of your sales prospects actually define what a good
deal is, not the actual value of the product or service you
are offering. That's because greed is relative to your
economic prosperity, even though high income wage earners
are not immune to greed, it just takes a slightly different
form. 

For instance, when you are trying to sell an item that
might be worth $60 to a very well-heeled client, you might
want to up the price to $100, and highlight the features
and quality of the product, and see if they bite. The
reason for this isn't just your own greed, but also the
understanding that price to value is relative based on your
disposable income. 

For someone making over $100,000/year, an extra $40 is not
seen as a lot of money and they may be used to paying
higher prices due to the markets they shop. They might not
even question the price. However, they will assuredly
question the quality and want to make sure that the
purchase reflects their station in life. The greed here is
more about status than money.

On the other hand, if you were to do the same with a person
making less than $25,000/year that $100 set point may be
enough for them to do some comparison shopping and they'll
pretty soon find out that they can buy the same item from
your competitor for $40 less. You not only lose the sale,
but you lose future sales too from that customer. So, using
greed to price your products is tricky. You have to
understand your target demographic, and specifically the
income level of most of your customers. Then, you can price
accordingly.

If you are not sure of the income level, you can always
start using this strategy by offering a more expensive
option first and then presenting a much less expensive
option second. The difference in prices and a clear
explanation of the differences in features can be enough to
make the greed glands in any demographic start to salivate.
It appeals to the high income earners because it triggers
their status greed in elevating the higher priced item as
the must have product, not just because of additional
features, but precisely because it is more expensive. It
triggers the lower end crowd because the less expensive
option will be seen to be a minor sacrifice in features for
a large reduction in cost.   The Secret

Where does greed come from? It's said it is one of the
original seven deadly sins, but it's probably more a
survival instinct. When human beings lived at the mercy of
the elements and environment, there were wide disparities
between times of prosperity and harsh times when drought,
famine, or disease might invade the security of the home.
So, the instinct to hoard things and try to get a bigger
share than someone else was basically an innate fear of
survival because the future was so uncertain. That's why
even people who are very well off are not immune to greed.
It is inbred in our species and helped us, as a species, to
survive very bad times, albeit at the expense of others at
times. But, the instinct to try to get a very good deal,
even one you don't need immediately, is something that
appeals to everyone, even if the tactic to implement it is
different according to your demographic. 

In marketing, the skillful manipulation of price is what
triggers this dynamic. Value is something that the buyer
determines in a capitalistic system, so that it can
fluctuate from person to person. So, the way to engage a
perception that your product is a steal is by manipulating
the price in relation to the perceived value. Let's be
clear, the price itself is viewed as a fixed commodity to
the buyer, it is the value that is fluctuating from person
to person. If the price is low when compared to the
perceived value, even if the price is actually
quantitatively high, then it is considered a steal by that
potential buyer and the greed glands will kick into high
gear.

So, you can either raise or lower the price to stimulate
greed, it's that simple. That's the tool you have at your
disposal. However, always do it in comparison to your
understanding of the customer's perceived value of the
product.   How to Make it Work You may be scratching your
head a bit confused about raising a price to stimulate
greed. There is a strategy that you can use which shifts
the perceived value in the buyer's mind while you do it. It
is quite a bit more subtle that lowering a price to
stimulate greed, but it can be done, especially for luxury
or high-priced markets. Remember that as long is the prices
is low in comparison to the perceived value, even if it is
quantitatively a high dollar value, it's still considered a
steal. Here is how you might try to implement the greed
factor in a high-priced market.

Say you are selling collectible fine china. You have
several sets that are obviously worth hundreds of dollars
and you are interested in getting a stampede of buyers to
your door to generate interest in the product. So, you
build a marketing campaign and you talk about how the value
of the price of this fine china has increased over time
substantially and how rare it is becoming. Now, you're
attracting the demographics of luxury buyers who are
interested in not only quality goods, but they have a nose
for great deals too.

So, you say that in another five years, their investment in
the fine china may be worth twice as much again. Be careful
with the wording and be sure that they understand that past
performance of an investment is no guarantee of future
returns. So, here we are very skillfully changing the
perception of this product from china to collectibles and
an investment, not a household purchase, and we've even
shown how the value might potentially increase after the
purchase. So, are we going to sell it for the actual value
of the product? No way! We are selling an appreciating
asset, not a household item. 

So, now the value of the product has increased tremendously
in the buyer's mind and we can command a higher figure than
the actual present day value. But, wait! That's just the
start of our greed enhancing program. Now, you say, that
while it's true that the china is a great investment and of
quality and high value, you can offer the public a great
deal by offering it at a discount because you are either
going out of business, having an end of year sale,
celebrating your business anniversary or whatever! Make up
an excuse and make it somewhat believable. Then, cut the
price of the set from the higher price to a lower one, but
one still substantially higher than what the product's
present day value is worth. 

Another way to do this is not to cut the value of one set,
but offer a discount on volume buying. This would work
perfectly if you are selling place settings and you don't
know whether they want four, eight, or twelve place
settings. However, they may think it's too expensive to buy
twelve, until you offer them a discount for buying eight or
more. You trigger the greed, and they will start to justify
the reasons why having extra sets on hand are a good idea. 

Finally, lowering the price of items is always a sure-fire
way to attract greedy customers by the boat load. And, you
will soon discover that the amount of attention and
enthusiasm you get for your sales is completely
proportional to the difference in price drops. The lower
the price, the more you sell, in other words. The only time
when you can't make those sales is when the product is
obviously junk and no one wants to buy it, but for the most
part if you continue to persuade your customers of the
innate value of the product and lower the price, you can
spur them into action to close the sale.

This is a strategy that can be used even before a customer
shows up to your website! Yes, that's right, you don't have
to wait for them to show interest in your products, you
don't have to wait for them to sign up to mailing list, you
can do it as a mass advertising tool to bring customers in
who will be attracted by your specials.

This is an excellent tool for people in direct mail and
retail sales. You know that when you put out a special in
one of those newspaper inserts or ValuPak envelopes, that
you are practically, guaranteed new customers as long as
the offer is enticing enough to convince them to drop by.
Well, on the Internet you don't even have to convince them
to gas up their cars and make the trip, you can simply put
your link out there and invite them to click on it. You'll
want to include your offer in various third party forums
and comment on in discretely where ever you can. Be careful
not to span people, but you do want to advertise it on
other places besides your own site.

In order to get the widest exposure, you can offer to give
key people in the same niche as you the deal for free, if
they review it and write about the value. While that may be
a sweet enough deal for some, others will want to get a
commission off each product they promote and sell. Then,
you can also set up an affiliate program for that special
so that they are not only able to promote a great deal to
their visitors, but they make money off the deal too.
That's the true meaning of greed, when you butter the palms
of everyone involved in the deal and make it a win-win-win
for everyone. 

These types of offers are best as either introductory
offers or close-out sales, or end of season sales. There
should be a reason why you are able to offer these offers
so that people don't become habituated to receiving only
sharp discounts from you and get offended when you put up a
product at a regular price. And, don't forget the luxury
market too when you want to implement this strategy, but
instead of money, opt to hype the perceived value so that a
lowering of the price still keeps the initial price high. 


To Your Success,
YOUR NAME

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