14 Ways To Get Customers To Click, Call and Come In Your Door

If you want to get customers to click, call and/or come in your door, you need to give them a reason to do so – basically by making them an offer.

Offers are the secret weapon of smart small business marketers for generating response. An offer is not just a discount, free shipping or free gift. It’s a package of elements that work together to encourage action, differentiate you from the competition, build your brand, answer buying objections and encourage fence-sitters to jump off the fence.

Ideally, you want a “Godfather Offer”: an offer that the appropriate prospect or customer for you CAN’T refuse! There’s 2 key components to it:

1. Make your every communication actually ask somebody to do something
2. Inject new disciplines of selling and accountability into all of your communication with prospects, customers and the marketplace at large.

An offer is everything you are willing to give in exchange for a response – whether that’s a click, call or visit to your store. Remember: It’s more than your product, price or a free gift. It’s not getting “likes” and shares. It’s the proposition you make to your customer, client, or patient that motivates him or her to take action. It’s the answer to “What’s in it for me?”

Here’s a list of 14 offer elements to use in various combinations to create your own offer packages. Pick and choose the elements that address your marketing challenges.

1) Product: While your product or service is what you are ultimately selling, it takes more than a list of product features and benefits to stand apart from your competition. That’s where your offer comes in, so keep reading.

2) Pricing: How you position your pricing is part of your offer and can differentiate you from the competition. Examples include discounts and quantity, wholesale, direct from the manufacturer, premium and value-added pricing, to name a few.

3) Payment and Terms: If you offer the wrong payment options and/or terms – or don’t communicate what you do offer in the way of payment and terms – it can make a huge difference in response. Which of these have strongest appeal to your audience and their cash flow requirements? PayPal, cash, credit, debit, check, money order or electronic transfer of funds? Daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, semi-annually or annually?

4) Trial: Trial offers overcome the objection, “I don’t believe it – this sounds too good to be true!” How can you use a free trial, free sample, free swatch, free demo or free preview to bump response?

5) Guarantee: A strong guarantee is a must when prospecting. First-time tryers look for it as reassurance. A strong guarantee also differentiates you from your competition. Keep it simple and straightforward. Here’s a great example from Lands’ End: “Guaranteed. Period.”

6) Premium/Free Gift: A free gift or premium creates involvement and adds perceived value to your offer. Just make sure it’s related to your end sale. Here’s what I mean: Offering five free golf balls doesn’t necessarily generate qualified leads for financial service buyers, but it does identify golfers. If you’re trying to generate leads for insurance or financial planning, golf balls are not the right premium to offer. Bonus tip: Mention the dollar value of a free gift ($9.95 retail) to maximize its impact. Add intrigue by offering a mystery or surprise free gift.

7) Deadline: Deadlines create urgency. They motivate procrastinators and fence-sitters. Call attention to a deadline by giving it a name and providing and incentive, ex: “Early Bird Deadline – Save additional 20%.” Try a “Fast 50” offer that gives the first 50 to respond a special incentive.

8) Free Information: While this is probably the Number 1 B2B lead generation offer, offering free information can be dangerous. And boring. Here’s why: Does anyone really need more information? Information lacks value; it’s too general. What your customers really want are tips, solutions and ideas to help solve their problems or make informed buying decisions. Consider repackaging your free information offer with a new name that promises a benefit.

9) Yes/No: Marketers who use a Yes/No option often find that when they give prospects the chance to respond, “No, I’m not interested at this time, but please send me updates,” they increase both overall response and “Yes” responses.

10) Response Options: Even the options you give fore responding are part of your offer. They provide convenience. These options now include mail, email, QR codes with landing pages, texting, phone, fax (yes, some people still do use fax), walk-in, blow-in bingo cards and more. The key is not to confuse your customer by providing too many choices.

11) Bundling: Long before telecommunication marketers inundates us with bundled services, catalog and e-commerce marketers used bundling to increase average order size and profitably sell lower-priced, lower-margin items. Test offering a variety of bundles at different price points. You may be surprised by which is your best seller.

12) Gift Giving: If you offer gift-giving services and promote them only once or twice a year during peak gift-giving seasons, you’re missing an opportunity. Add a tab to your website, a mention in your catalog, a tent card at your cash register or a reminder in your outgoing invoices that you offer gift wrap, gift cards and other special gift giving services.

13) Continuity/Loyalty-Building Offers: Loyalty building/frequent buyer programs are now used by myriad marketers from dry cleaners, pizza parlors and coffee shops to airlines, skin care product websites and automotive service centers.

14) Customer Service: Your offer (everything you’re willing to give in exchange for response) includes how your phone is answered, the menus callers have to maneuver to place an order or get answers to questions, the demeanor of the customer reps they talk to and the ease with which they can use your website shopping cart. Don’t overlook the value of the service you offer, it can be a deal maker or breaker.

There you go . . . . 14 offer elements that get more customers to click, call and come in the door. Which one will you be implementing in your next marketing campaign?

About Stacey Riska

Stacey Riska, aka “Small Business Stacey” is a serial entrepreneur who is passionate about saving small business and rebuilding Main Street. She helps small and local business owners become a #SmallBizMarketingWiz by teaching them marketing strategies that get MORE: MORE leads, MORE customers/clients, MORE sales, and MORE money. Stacey is the founder of Small Biz Marketing Specialist, THE go-to place for marketing tips, techniques and strategies that get results. Stacey is also the creator of the Daily Deals for Massive Profits Training Program, an online video training program that teaches small and local business owners how to use daily deal sites like Groupon to skyrocket their business growth and get massive profits. In this program she teaches from experience, as it was the key strategy that transformed her coffee and smoothie business from being $500K in debt to a 7-figure profitable business. When not saving the small business world, she enjoys sipping red wine, eating chocolate (who doesn’t!) and spending time with her amazing husband.