This is part 11 in a free online tutorial for writing sales pages.

We’ve spent time looking at why your ideal customer would be interested in your offer. We’ve looked at the problem they have, the product you want to sell and the benefits it has.

But no sales page is complete unless you also explore reasons that might also make customers hesitant to buy.

Note though, that I’m only saying “hesitant”. I’m not saying reasons people wouldn’t buy your product. We’re not interested in trying to appeal to someone other than your ideal client, and your ideal client is of course, someone who wants what you have.

But in a world where consumers have more purchase desires than money to fulfil them, they have to inspect each one carefully. Any sign that it might not be quite what they need, they will move onto the next.

Understand your customer is worried

Even your ideal customer may be wary about buying what you have.

People have lots of different worries and niggles that come into their head when making a purchase.

• They worry it won’t work for them 
• They worry about looking silly
• They worry that the company isn’t reputable
• They worry that their friends / colleagues / boss will think them foolish

Everyone wants to feel important, and this is reflected in the purchases we make. Some people want to improve themselves and add knowledge to their beautiful brains while others want to catch the neighbours sneaking an envious peek at their new car.

The right purchase can make a customer ecstatic and it is the job of your sales page to promise and convince your customer that experience.

To do that properly, you have to address the concerns that might make them walk away and miss out on the purchase of their life.

You have to be a little psychic…

In copywriting there’s a saying that you need to be on “both sides of the counter.”  It means that you have to write your copy with the objective of selling your product, but you must stand on the customer side of the counter and see it through their eyes.

Your customer has a lot of questions when it comes to making a purchase. When those questions go unanswered, they turn into objections that can stop them buying from you.

Hmmm… I wonder if this course is set at my skill level? It doesn’t really say. It’s probably too advanced / not advanced enough for me.

Your sales page is a virtual sales person, but unlike a sales person who can respond to a customer’s questions when they happen, your sales page has to anticipate and answer them before they pop up in your customer’s mind.

28 questions that can turn into objections

To help you generate some ideas about where objections might stem from in your customer, here are some common questions customers ask when thinking about buying a product.

Work through them and write down any answers that apply to you and your product.

1. How do I know this is for someone like me? (hint, does it mention the target market)
2. How can I tell that this is really something aimed at my specific situation? E.g. does it describe a specific situation that I can relate to? One that either: a. Shows me where I am now (and why I want to change it), or, b. Shows me where I want to be
3. What is it exactly? Is it a course? A service? A physical product? What’s the one sentence that sums up what it is and what it is for?
4. Why has this product or service been created?
5. Why is it something that I should care about? (aka: what are the benefits?)
6. What proof is there that shows what they’re promising can be achieved?
7. How will it make me feel better than I do now?
8. What positive emotions is it going to make me feel if I take this offer?
9. What would I like about the experience, aside from the results?
10. How do I know I’m the sort of person this would work for? How do I know if it’s worked for other people like me?
11. Why haven’t I been able to achieve the promised results before?
12. How is this different to the things I’ve tried in the past that didn’t work?
13. How does it fit in with my values?
14. How much is it?
15. Is it worth it? Will I make my money back or see results worth the price?
16. What if it doesn’t work? Am I going to lose money or be embarrassed?
17. Am I going to have to explain myself if I want a refund?
18. How do I know I can trust this person – do they seem well known?
19. The company seems young / old / inexperienced / cheap / expensive / how does that affect the experience of taking them up on this offer, what are the pros and cons of this?
20. How do I know this person / company is an expert?
21. The results sound too good to be true – What’s the catch?
22. What’s expected from me to make this work?
23. Is it going to take me a long time to do it?
24. Will it be too advanced / not advanced enough for me?
25. Is there any other information I should know that would help me make a decision?
26. Why should I buy this now and not tomorrow or next week?
27. Are there any bonuses – if so, what are they and do they enhance the experience of the original offer or are they irrelevant and just used to “bulk up” the offer?
28. What happens when I do buy?

How to use your answers to eliminate objections

If you write out your answer so that it includes the question, you’ll find it easier to slot them into your sales page later on. For example, instead of writing it like this:

Question: Does it sound like the company can fulfil their promise?

Answer: “We have 25 years of experience and helped 1000s of people do this”

Set it out like this:

Answer: “We know that we can keep our promise to improve your fitness in just 6 weeks. We have 25 years experience working with [target market] and helped 1000s of people just like you achieve [results they want]

You will find then that when you create answers this way, you have some nice soundbite that will flow together, rather than simply a list of short snappy answers.

This article is part of a free online tutorial about writing a sales page. If you want some help writing your sales page, I recommend you start at the beginning and work your way through each section. You can find the first lesson here.