Motivating Buyers Into Action

Here's a harsh reality every business must face: All the marketing in the world isn't much good if the buyer fails to act. If you had a dollar for everyone who intended to call you but didn't, you'd be far richer than you are right now. So how do you motivate your customers to pick up that phone?

There are a lot of ways to harness the 'power of now' (to borrow a phrase). Reply cards, self-addressed stamped envelopes, toll-free numbers, offering a gift with purchase, coupons that set a time limit or an offer limit... the list goes on. Motivating action can take a lot of forms, but setting a deadline, creating an incentive, limiting an offer, and guaranteeing satisfaction are four of the most powerful.

Setting a deadline is simple. You must act before October 1 to qualify for these prices. Deadlines are important to our very basic psychology. From tax attorney to tea shop, it is possible and desirable to create deadlines.

You know those pe ople who say, "We'll plant a tree if you buy this from us"? They are offering an incentive. Now, only you know the kind of incentive that will motivate your customers, so offer one, and see what happens.

Limiting the offer means offering it to only the first 20 people who come in, or the first 100 people who call. Or even something along the lines of 'limited quantities, first come, first served.' Limiting the offer encourages people to be first, and motivates them to act, so they don't miss out on whatever incentive you're offering.

Guarantee satisfaction. This goes back to credibility. Showing that you are so super confident in your product that you're willing to offer a satisfaction guarantee pushes your credibility through the roof!