Once you have people’s attention how do you get them to want what your business is selling? How do you build desire in them?
Once they have to have your product, how do you get them to trust you enough to hand over their hard-earned cash?
That’s what we are going to explore today on the second step in the DFL Money Flow Framework.
Ron, why do you keep doing this to yourself? You know Desire and Trust are WAY too big a topic to cover in just 5-7 minutes. Just like attention was last week.
Once again, folks, I’ve picked a topic that means all I can give you is a very high-level overview.
Building desire is called by a lot of names in the business. It is the core of marketing and the heart of sales.
It is personified as copywriting. Psychologist, con-men, and pickup artists call it the art of persuasion.
So what am I going to tell you? I’m going to break it down into three questions.
One of the ideas behind the Money Flow Framework is it is customer-focused. This is how your customer’s money flows through your business.
It is not how you should build your business. The building process is informed by this framework, but not ordered by it.
These questions are what your customer is asking you. What is going on in their head as they interact with your desire building content.
What is this thing?
Or another way you may hear it is, “What are you trying to sell me?” Normally followed almost immediately by “How much does it cost?”
That question we’ll address next week in the Buy stage of the framework, so make sure you subscribe if you haven’t already.
At someone point you have to tell the customer what your product is. There is no two ways about that. But there are two big mistakes I see people do when they answer “What is this thing?”.
- Starting with this answer.
- Ending with this answer.
Let’s say you’ve capitalized on an attention opportunity and sent some interested people to your website. Right to the landing page for your product.
I’m going to use some friend’s new business as an example because they made both these mistakes. Their business is called Frisky Fridays, and it is a subscription box service for couples. If you want to check it out, I’ll put a link in the description.
When they first got started their website went something like this:
We make a box full of stuff for couples and send it to you every month.
Then there was a buy button.
That was it.
They started with what the product was, and they ended with what the product was.
How many sales do you thing that made? Not many. Because they were doing nothing to create desire. The only people who might buy were those who came to the site because they already had a desire for the product, probably because the owners had done some in person selling.
Don’t start by describing your product. Instead first answer the next question they have.
Why do I want it? Or in other words, “What problem of mine are you going to solve?”
Desire by its very nature is wanting something you don’t have. What is it that your customers wants that they don’t have?
It isn’t a product they don’t have. It is solution to a problem, or a desired emotional state that they lack. Probably both.
You see people don’t want your product, they want what it will do for them. They have some problem they are looking to solve.
What is the problem your product will solve?
Let’s go back to the couple’s subscription box. What problem is it going to solve for the couples who buy it?
Hopefully it is going to create greater intimacy, connection and love in their relationships.
It might also solve a problem of boredom or lack of creativity for couples.
It can also solve a time crunch problem. People want to do fun creative things with each other, but who has time to come up with ideas, source the materials, and then plan the activities.
Those three solutions are powerful. Heck when I wrote them out I started to feel desire for the product and I’m already subscribed.
That’s the reaction you want from your customer. You get it not by telling people what is in your box. You get it by telling them what they are going to get from your product.
Benefits not features
A big mistake people make at this stage is listing features. They want to tell you all the things the product does.
Instead, turn those features into benefits. Why is that feature in the product? What is the customer going to get out of that feature?
For example one feature of a subscription box is it comes every month.
OK. So what? Matter of fact if I start thinking about, I ask new questions.
Is it once a month enough? Is it too much?
What is the benefit of it automatically coming every month?
Every month my wife and I will have something new and exciting to do together without having to remember or plan. It will just automatically show up. It will be like getting a frisky present every month.
So what are the features of your product? What problem does that solve for your customer? That’s what sells.
Problems solved do more than make something happen. It changes people emotional state.
Emotion
Desire is an emotion. Emotions are what gets people to act, not facts. Rarely, and at best, facts invoke emotion.
Benefits should be stated in a way that invokes emotion.
In our example above I could say “the box just shows up without you having to think about it.”
OK. That’s nice.
But if I say “The box just shows up every month without you having to worry or stress about it.” I’ve invoked emotions.
Negative emotions I want to avoid.
And avoiding negative emotions is probably more powerful than getting positive ones.
But when I add “It is like getting a frisky present every month.” I’ve added happiness, joy, excitement and anticipation. All things I like to feel.
Now you’ve got people wanting your product,
Because of all the wonderful things it will do, and the positive ways it will make them feel.
But before they are going to hit that buy button, they are going to ask.
Are you for real?
This is the trust part of the process. Your potential buyer is going to start wondering if you can and will do what you promise.
If they are part of your audience, or if they have already bought from you, then they already have some trust in you. This is why it is easier to sell to previous buyers.
If they are new to you, they are first going to look for
Social proof
People look for social indicators something is popular. They want to know other people are buying as well. Especially when uncertain, people will look to the actions and behaviors of others to determine their own.
Testimonials are a powerful way to do this. Another is showing how many other people have bought.
But they don’t really know if that’s real, or that the product will work for them.
So they may wonder how much you believe in your product. This is where a guarantee comes in. If you really think your product will do all you say it will, then why wouldn’t you give a tangible promise?
Too often people don’t want to give a money back guarantee because they worry about being taken advantage of. But in most cases, the additional sales will make you much more money than any losses due to returns.
Try before you buy it. Another way to prove your product does what you say it does is to let them try before they buy. This can be a sample or a trial period.
There you go. The tip of the iceberg of building desire and trust.
If you’ve considered all of these factors and successfully built desire and trust in your customer, the next step is relatively easy. Getting them to buy. Which we will talk about next week.
Question of the Day: How do you build desire and trust?
