$10 for a big bag of berries – no problem that’s cheap!
$15 for a big bag of spinach – sounds pretty affordable to me!
Everything seems like a great deal at CostCo!
As soon as you walk in to CostCo you see the most expensive items on display: LCD TVs. This sets up your frame of reference for all you will see next. After seeing a $1,500 price tag, a $10 bag of spinach seems really cheap.
Free Trial and the Buy Now Button
Why buy something when you can get it for free? I’ll take the Free Trial please. The “Free Trial” button seems more appealing to click on when it is right next to the “Buy It Now” button. All of a sudden the “Free Trial” looks like a great deal and something worth doing. In a recent case study done by Visual Website Optimizer and GetResponse.com the number of “Free Trial” sign ups increased by 158% when placed next to the “Buy Now” button. Best of all, the total number of “Buy Now” sign ups didn’t even decrease.
Show Your Top Package First
Almost all service professionals do this. Internet SaaS companies, wedding photographers, consultants, upscale restaurants, and anyone else that knows what they are doing when it comes to sales.
For SaaS companies they first show you their highest paid package first. SaaS companies will show you their highest priced plan on the left hand side of the page (in the USA people read from left to right so the left-most package is naturally read first).
I recently went to a nice restaurant and they had 2 options. The full dining experience for about $100 or an a la carte menu where you can pick and choose what you want (and get something cheaper). I wanted to get the $100 deal but it was to steep for my budget. So I didn’t feel so bad when ordering $60 worth of a la carte items. But I probably would have spent more like $30 if I hadn’t seen the $100 option.
Get The Customer and Start a Relationship
What I’ve learned the most about down-selling is always try to please the customer. Sometimes they really want to use your services but they just can’t afford it. The goal is to get a new customer in a budget that works for them. Offer high but let them go low 😉
Good stuff Rishi!
We’re isn’t the midst of planning a membership website with a few different levels. This makes me think we should borrow the SaaS style of showing the most expensive option on the left.
You should absolutely do that. Show the highest on the left. Excited about your membership site – keep me posted on that.
You’re so right! Engaging with a customer and getting them to use your product is paramount! Hopefully it will make them realize they can’t live with out you and then start paying you 😉 Plus, with down selling the customer feels like they’re getting a deal. And who doesn’t love getting a deal?
I love getting a deal. I can’t believe I thought I was getting a deal at $60 – still a pretty expensive dinner!
Awesome case study. I actually never thought about a “Free Trial” like that. For example at the grocery store when they are handing out free samples I was go crazy for them – but after I buy it and bring it home I don’t really eat it.
Damn that’s subtle. Glad I now have the heads up on this when I look into future services.
Huge problem with your plan though…what about Arabic people? Won’t they see the free icon first and not ever get to the priced plans? Just food for thought 😛
I just swallowed your food for thought. Arabs who are on an English-language website will read left to right. They can’t make much from a blog that is called: “emosewA eroM gnitteG”, don’t you think?
It’s a basic psychological concept called anchoring. To test it somehow work a high number into a conversation (50,000) and then ask How many Starbucks are in the United States. You’ll get a higher number back than if you anchored them on a low number. It is also the reason, despite conventional wisdom to the contrary, it is smart to be the first person to make an offer in a negotiation. It starts the negotiation at that number.
Hi Sanjay – Awesome comment! That is so very true.
The always say “the first person to say a number usually loses”, but that isn’t the case when you start with a high number.