This is something I just learned from The Foundation that I want to share.

The first part of an offer is to come up with an irresistible deal. It has to be a deal that's so good it gets someone off their couch to get their credit card right away.

An irresistible offer  speaks to the customer and answers everything they need, speaking to their hopes and aspirations. They're based on existing demand, and not made up.

Gary Halbert, the famous copywriter, explains how important it is to create a killer offer. See Part 1 and Part 2 on the archives of the Gary Halbert website.

The importance of sweeteners

After you have a killer offer, you have to think how to sweeten the deal.

The goal of the sweetener is to tip the scale in your favour, encouraging immediate action. If done right, they can have a lot of leverage.

Here's a list of ways to sweeten an offer, modelled after Halbert's suggestions, that I learned from The Foundation.

Note: this list can never "fix" a bad offer. But it can make a good offer absolutely irresistible.

This is the list below, categorised.

List of Sweeteners

Switching sweeteners

  • Offer an “we cover X cost” incentive. (e.g. advertising costs, moving costs, installation costs etc.
  • Offer a free ride / test / trial period.
  • Offer to deliver and install the product yourself.
  • Offer to take care of the next step that THEY were gonna have to do themselves.
  • Offer exclusive training on how to use (or benefit from) what you're selling.

Payment sweeteners

  • Offer payment over a period of time.
  • Offer lifetime pricing, e.g. $19/mo, $149/year, $249/lifetime (with other sweeteners thrown in)
  • Offer an authentic discount.
  • Offer bundle pricing
  • (Don't discount!)

Value sweeteners

  • Offer to take care of a separate problem that they have currently.
  • Offer to DOUBLE what they thought they were going to get for the same price.
  • Offer to give something at only half the original cost. (the word "half" alone is irresistible)
  • Offer to bundle two things for the price of one.

Product sweeteners

  • Offer early access to beta versions and new features
  • Offer first dibs on other offerings you will have in the future
  • Offer an add-on for something they really want, e.g. an integration into another system.

Guarantee sweeteners

  • Offer a money-back guarantee.
  • Offer a store credit guarantee.
  • Offer a success-only fee structure. (No cost if they don't get results).
  • Offer a % of current payment to be "rolled" into future purchases.