First, a teaser. I’m working on a brand new training program on how to build an effective blog that generates leads, gets comments & builds an audience. Watch out for that..
anyhow – while working on it, I was thinking about the sales process that I created for my first product and wondering if there’s anything I can tweak to make it better.
THEN, I figured that many of you might be thinking about creating and offering a product of your own, SO… this is what this post is all about and I hope you find it useful.
The Anatomy Of An “Almost Perfect” Sales Process
Take note that the ONLY reason I said “almost perfect” is because I believe everything can be improved. After reading this guide on creating your own sales process, you can take it and tweak it however you see fit.
So with that said, let’s go..
The Source & Why It Matters..
The very first thing you might wanna consider when creating your sales process is where you’re gonna be getting traffic from. The source of your traffic may WILL affect the amount of people you convert into buyers.
For example, if you’re getting traffic from PPC then the visitors that you’re trying to convert into buyers PROBABLY don’t know who the hell you are, so they’ll be a bit more skeptic about what you’re offering.
As oppose to driving traffic from your own email list or blog, where conversions will be a lot higher since they know you and trust you (hopefully).
This is our advantage as bloggers.
We are constantly adding value to the marketplace, we are constantly creating an audience, and we are constantly building our list of targeted prospects.
If you’re thinking that the stuff you’re doing right now is a waste of time, YOU ARE DEAD WRONG!!
Everything I’ve been sharing with you about Creating Special Reports and creating an Ideal Lead Generation Process is all part of a bigger picture. I want you to KNOW (if you don’t know already) that you have something people will PAY YOU to learn – either one-on-one or through a training program.
If you continue adding value and building your blog TODAY, then TOMORROW you will have the resources, connections, audience and authority necessary to GET PAID for what you have to offer.
Yea.. I know I went a bit off-topic there, but I felt it needed to be said..
Let’s move on..
The Offer..
The next step in the process is to present them with an offer.
This is where a lot of people drop the ball, but luckily you won’t because you’re reading this :0)
There’s a lot that goes into getting people to buy your stuff, but I find that there are also some key principles that NEVER change.
1. Give them what they WANT – I know it sounds simplistic, but hardly anyone does this. Most people first create a product that they THINK people want to buy without doing their research and making sure anyone will buy it.
BIG mistake! – when selling ANYTHING, you want to come across as a “Giving Person” for lack of a better description. When you create something and then try to convince people to buy it, CONGRATULATIONS! – you’ve just become the annoying sales person we all hate.
2. Make them an offer they’d be CRAZY to refuse - It’s all in the OFFER.. forget Copywriting for now, forget whether you’re gonna use text or video in the sales page, forget what color you want the graphics to be, forget EVERYTHING and craft an offer that provides 10X more value than the price and people will buy. (assuming it’s something they want)
Next!!
The Process + Some “Little-Known” Secrets..
Since I know you all love these graphics… I made this just for you.
Right under the image, you’ll see an embed code that you can use to put it on your blog if you wanna tell your readers about the process.
<em><a href=”http://www.inboundpro.net/articles/anatomy-perfect-sales-process” target=”_blank”><img src=”http://www.inboundpro.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/sales-process.png” width=”550″ height=”200″ border=”0″ /></a></em>
Secret #1 – You might be wondering, “why are you capturing the contact information after the see the offer page?” – Two words. CART ABANDONMENT.
Not everyone who clicks the ADD TO CART button is going to buy, (that’s a shocker isn’t it?).
This is called cart abandonment, but you can reduce the amount of people who don’t buy right away simply buy adding an opt-in form before they purchase. If they don’t go through with the purchase, a simple email reminding them that the “payment is not yet complete” might give you an extra small boost in sales.
If you’re using Amember like me, then this is done automatically – however, if you don’t have any member management software, then I suggest placing a regular autoresponder opt-in form between your offer page and your payment page.
Secret #2 – After the payment is made, I highly recommend sending your new customers to a separate list of Buyers. This is great to do, because when you release new products, services or reports, you know where your valued customers are so you can give them special discounts and first dibs on free stuff.
The Download Page..
This is why I love Amember.
It gives everyone who buys, their own Username & Password so that I can have a protected area to place all of my downloads. Security is very important when creating your sales process.
So, whenever you’re ready to get into creating your own digital products, you should consider investing in a members script like Amember for increased security.
That’s about it.. I hope you got a lot out of this post.
On my last long post Terry Tiessen said, “…You are certainly correct when you said it would be a highly valuable post, I have got less in paid reports...”
I want to recreate that many times over, and there’s more to come.
972 words later.. I want to ask you to please retweet this post, and share it with your friends on facebook using the buttons on top. & leave me your comments below..
Questions..
Are you thinking about creating a product soon?
Are you stuck on What To Create? – let me know, and I’ll try my best to help you out..
Talk soon
. . . . . . . . . . . .
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Hey Hector,
You just hit this post out of the park! It took me a long time to find a process like this. I have to say that you just saved atleast a week of researching. Thank you for taking the time and putting this together and for the resources.
Chat with you later…
Josh
PS. I’ll be back to syndicate this content.
Josh Garcia´s last post ..Are You Ready to Find Out the Favorite Plugins for WordPress
No problem bro.. glad you enjoyed the article
Thanks for the comment and the share
talk soon
Hi Hector,
thank you for offering great deal for us to learn great, I think and sure that wherever a beginner may be if he may have access and comprehend such post one day he might become great network marketer. You one extra hard worker, thank you one more again.
Yours Rawi Saeda.
Rawi.. glad you liked the post. I appreciate your comment
talk soon
Hi Hector,
Cart abandonemnt…yes, I am familiar with someone saying they will buy then pulling back. A simple reminder email is a great ideas to gain a few more sales that are wandering out there without a subtle nudge. Never underestimate the power of suggestion.
As you noted never go with the aggressive sell. Whatever you chase, flees.
Thanks for sharing your sales process insight
Ryan Biddulph
Ryan Biddulph´s last post ..4 Oversights Which Prevent Readers from Seeing Your Blog
Ryan, “whatever you chase, flees” – that’s a great point and that’s why you REMIND them that the payment wasn’t completed yet..
thanks for sharing bro
Hector
This is a great tip, and I’ve been doing some further research since I read your article.
What I’m wondering is if adding an email optin before redirecting to the sales page would stop some sales. I mean, it’s one more step that the user has to do before purchasing.
Anyway, I’ll give it a try and see how it goes. Do you have any suggestion of what copy to use when sending the reminder email? I plan to send one after one day and another one after 4 or 5 days stating that “we saved your shopping cart if you want to continue with the purchase” or something like that.
Javier, that’s a great question and the best thing you can do is to add a bar at the top that says, STEP 1 of 3 so that it looks like it’s part of the process.
Some autoresponder services require you to tell them they’re being added to a list – but, I think you can fly under the radar (you didn’t hear that from me)
Well.. as far as the copy, something simple like “I noticed you didn’t complete the payment. It was probably something wrong with the cart. Everything should be working smoothly now. Click here to finish payment”
Hope that helps..
That’s what I was planning. Clickbank allows to put a custom header, so if they approve the image I can place progress bar there.
Plus you can pass the email to the Clickbank’s order form by adding ?email=yourname@email.com at the end of the URL, so that should make the process of optin invisible to the user.
Thanks for the copy suggestion
You can try that Javier.. that’s a great idea. Hopefully they approve that image.
Good luck
This is a great resource! I was thinking about making an eBook once I’ve reached the 1,000 subscribers mark. This page is getting bookmarked. I would have never thought about having the page redirect to a goodies page once the reader has made her purchase. Sounds like a good idea!
I checked out the program that you mentioned. What kind of membership page are we talking about? It looks interesting and must be valuable if it’s so expensive.
Christina Crowe ( @CashCampfire )´s last post ..Do You Feel Tied Down to Your Goals
Christina.. glad you liked the post
Amember is KNOWN to be a membership site script, but it can be used for ONE TIME payments as well. The reason I use it is because it allows me to create a secure page that can only be accessed by customers. I also use a separate plugin called amProtect that connects my amember script with wordpress – so I can have a wordpress blog be my members area.
It’s all technical mumbo jumbo, to be honest, you can easily get an accunt at e-junkie and sell thru their system (which I haven’t used myself) – I just know that one day I’m gonna have a membership site and I’d like to have a script that can do that..
hope that helps.
Thanks for the response, Hector. Sounds interesting. I’ll have to check it out.
I could probably use it to sell my eBooks once they launch. I was also thinking about creating a membership forums years down the road. Would they handle forums as well or just membership blogs?
Christina Crowe ( @CashCampfire )´s last post ..Finding Web Content Jobs- What to Look For
Hi Hector,
Has anyone ever told you that you are really awesome as far as step-by-step tutorials on how to do something. The visuals are terrific too, especially for us “visual” people who love books with pictures
Great job!
Ilka
Ilka Flood´s last post ..Building Your Network Marketing Business is Not a Sprint – It’s a Marathon
Ilka, I think you’re the first to ever share that with me.. so THANK YOU :0)
glad you liked the visuals
talk soon
Hector good luck with your new training program on how to build an effective blog that generates leads, gets comments & builds an audience.
As always great post and feedback!!
Maria Eves´s last post ..Secret Wealth
Hey Maria, thanks I really appreciate that..
thanks for your comment
talk soon
Great post Hector! I love the way you crush this post
also the idea of creating another list for new customers is the best. Thanks for sharing! Take care.
Samuel, yes.. you definitely want to segment your buyers list
glad you enjoyed the article
talk soon
Awesome Hector! You always over deliver on the value. Thanks for sharing.
J
The Cartoon Coach
Carstarphen´s last post ..Another 2K Mobile success story…
Hey Carstarphen..
Glad you liked the post – thanks for your comment man
talk soon
Hector
Hi Hector,
amazing blueprint. I especially embrace the idea of creating a product that people want rather than convincing them that they need my fancy new product.
Thanks for sharing.
Take care
Oliver
Oliver Tausend´s last post ..Lessons From Robert Kiyosaki’s “Cashflow Quadrant” For MLM Network Marketing Pt 6
Thanks Oliver,
Exactly.. that’s how it needs to be done. Or else you’ll be stuck with something no one wants. :/
thanks for your comment
talk soon
Hector
Thanks for publishing your process Hector. I’m in the middle of researching these exact things to apply for my own blog. This information will be ideal for me to use as a starting point.
Stephan
Stephan, no problem man. Let me know how that goes for you.
Thanks for stopping by
talk soon
Hector
Great information! I’ve been looking for something like this for a while now. Thanks!
Glad you liked the info
thanks for your comment
talk soon
Hey Hector,
Thanks for letting us “cheat” off of ya, my friend. This is the first time I have heard of “cart abandonment” – quite a funny term methinks, along the same lines as “buyers remorse” Thanks for letting me know about Amember too. I’ve been looking for around for a membership website service.
Take care,
Wayne
Wayne Wu´s last post ..No Leader has ever Built to the Top without This…
Wayne.. no problem man.
Yea those are weird names, but those things need to called something in order for us to understand them, right? :0)
Amember is a cool script, I recommend it to anyone. Let me know if you need help with anything bro.
Talk soon
Hi Hector,
I’m still counting the number of words used in here. Ooops, I lost count. I have to count again.
Hahaha
Ronald Redito´s last post ..Quirino Grandstand Hostage Crisis – Live Telephone Conversation Before the Bloody Incident
Hey Ronald.. still counting?? :0)
Hey Hector,
I love the “cart abandonment” picture, it gets you thinking that many people start thinking they need something but then did not finish their thoughts on why….or maybe they did. Who knows, each person is a little different. Thank you for the great step by step post.
Hi Hector!
Awesome, awesome, awesome post! I’m in the middle of creating another product right now and I got so many great nuggets out of your diagram and guide. I’m absorbing your Funnel Secrets program now too!
Thank you for ALL the awesome information!
Heather
Heather C Stephens´s last post ..New Ann Sieg Video on Marketing to Women and the 10 Simple Laws You Must Not Break!
Hey Hector,
This is what I call pure awesomeness!
I have made some changes with my blog and this is exactly what I need to help with generating leads to my blog.
Thank you!
Tommy D.
MLM Prospecting Hero
[WORDPRESS HASHCASH] The poster sent us ’0 which is not a hashcash value.
Tommy DiPietro | MLM Prospecting Hero´s last post ..MLM Sales Strategy For Your Home Based Business Top Five Ways To Have An Impact in Forum Marketing
Almost perfect?? I would consider that to be about as close as you can get!!
I use http://www.instantblogsubscribers.com for blogging because of the extra exposure and http://www.powerlistmarketing.com for cloaking links – and creating instant capture pages –
I hope some find them useful in conjunction with Hectors words.
Cheers
Walt
Thanks for your Comment Walt
Talk soon
Hector
Hi Hector, the things you mentioned here are eye openers for me!
I agree I am also guilty on clicking the Add to Cart button even if I will not be buying, but I did not know that it was called Cart Abandonment
Thanks also for letting us know about Amember. I wasn’t aware of it before.
Felicia @ No Deposit Poker´s last post ..2010 WCOOP- 62 Events and 50-000-000 in guaranteed prize pools!
Felicia.. I’m glad you enjoyed the post.
Yea, it’s a weird name for it – but that’s what it is :0)
thanks for you comment
talk soon
Another awesome post, Hector! Love your step-by-step tutorials – very good!
Thanks for sharing the golden nuggets. Look forward to your next post.
All the best,
Mavis Nong
Mavis Nong @ Attraction Marketing Online´s last post ..FeedBurner Is Stealing Your CommentLuv Backlinks!
Glad you enjoyed the post Mavis..
I’ll be sure to make the next one even better :0)
talk soon
Hector
I really loved your suggestion of sending “cart abanders” to another opt-in form. I think it’s a brilliant idea, considering that they might still have a strong interest on what you have to offer, just might need some time.
Great post, Hector.
Ana Hoffman
Ana @ Targeted Website Traffic´s last post ..How To Use Google To Help You Convince Your List To Buy From You
That’s exactly the point Ana.. they thought about it and said “uuh, not right now..” but when you send them the reminder.. they might make the purchase.
Thanks Ana… for your great comment
talk soon
Hector
Great content Hector…so many great tips throughout. You should follow up with a post about “The Psychology of Cart Abandonment”…that could be very amusing!
Cheers,
Karen
Karen Newman´s last post ..Susan Boyle Sings Success
Thanks Karen.. I’ll add that to my Post Ideas :0)
thanks for your comment
talk soon
Hector
Very useful info Hector. It is so true that many folk try to sell what they like and think is good, without researching to see if people out there want it.
all the best
Charlie Holles
Charlie Holles´s last post ..Top MLM Companies – annual convention time
Hey Charlie..
That’s exactly right.. Business should always be market-based – they tell you what they want, you hand it over (with a price tag) :0)
thanks for stopping by
Hector
Thanks for the tips!
No problem David..
thanks for stopping by
hey, nice blog…really like it and added to bookmarks. keep up with good work
Hector,
As always great content!! I love how you break down the sales process and share some golden nuggets if you will.. Keep sharing and have an awesome weekend!!
Chris Bernardo´s last post ..How to Make 10-000 a Month Really!
Chris.. what’s happening man
Glad you liked the post
talk soon
Hector
Wow, you are really shelling out the real goods here. Yours is a truly informative blog and I use your posts like a text book, often referring back and referring MY students to read your stuff. Thank you and please don’t stop!
Terry Tiessen´s last post ..The Key To A Successful MLM Internet Campaign
Terry,
Wow.. I really appreciate your comment and the sharing your doing. Thanks for that. I’m glad you’re getting a lot out of the content..
talk soon
Hector
This is truly a great post from someone who have been there and done that! I’m adding you to my feed reader.
Chadrack´s last post ..Blog For Business- How Not To Start A Business Online!
Chadrack.. that’s why I’m here – I do stuff and then I show you guys how I did it..
thanks for stopping by
Hector
Excellent “how to” tutorial Hector!
Great advice on sending your new customers to a separate list of buyers. The idea setup is once they buy they are moved from the original opt-in list to another one that consists of “buyers”
Many marketers do not do this, or they only do it half way, that is they will add you to a “buyers” list but not remove you from the original list.
Thanks Hector for the tutorial.
Peter
Peter R Fuller´s last post ..Are You Making This Mistake When Setting Your Goals
Hey Pete..
Oh yea.. I forget to mention that in the post (I might go back and add that today)..
but that’s a great point. Many people make that mistake and start sending their customers twice as many emails because they’re on both lists.. (NOT GOOD)
thanks for you comment
talk soon
Hector
Great information. Thanks a lot!
I think a big part of it is being persuasive and meeting peoples emotional needs. Offers are only one part of the picture.
Mark´s last post ..Joomla Shopping Carts Worth Trying
you are really a good webmaster, you have done a wondeful job on this topic!
Hi Hector, WOW!!! your blog is GREAT!! I’ve only just started with mine (thank God it’s not naked!!!) and am working on creating a content pack to giveaway! I’d love your input since you seem very knowledgeable of what people actually want, not having any subscribers yet makes it hard to ask them!
Thanks,
Elle
Hey Elle, glad to have you hear :0)
Your blog looks really good and very professional. Now, about your giveaway – you’re not gonna like this answer but, it depends.
It depends who your target market is. Looking at your blog for 2 minutes I see that you’re about personal power and endless possibilities – but I also see that you talk about marketing and family.
It’s a good idea from the very beginning to clearly define WHO we’re going to be talking to – and you can figure that out by asking who will ultimately be buying your products and/or services.
When you define that, you can start creating content (blog posts and giveaway alike) that attracts that target market..
hope that helps :0)
talk soon & thanks for the comment
I might do a product but first want to get some readers regularly checking out my site so the product launch wont be a big bust.
Edwin´s last post ..Guide Goods Big Prize Contest
Great information. Thanks for sharing it.
mlm home based business´s last post ..Earn Money from Home
Can anyone share a checklist in setting up a online business especially about the step by step process that will create a good sales on my online business? I really wanted to know more about this.
kirsty´s last post ..Split Tests on Shopping Carts and Content Management Systems
Wonderful tips. To make great sales you have to establish a good relationship with your customers. You have to gain their trust so that they can also trust your products. That is why the people on your list can be such a good target for your the sale of your products.
This is so true! to have a successful and easy sale you MUST have a good product.
Very interesting post, I enjoyed reading it. By the way do you draw the figures in your post yourself? I found them professional, high quality and relevant.
Thor´s last post ..Internet, Computer, Mobile blog is born!