If you don’t know how to sell yourself, your customers never know the true value of what you have to offer as this next reconstruction shows…

It’s a typical company meeting in a boardroom. The CEO, dressed in his best jacket and jeans combo, surveys his employees. 

CEO: Okay gang, it’s a critical quarter. I need sales, so sell your ideas to me, let’s throw them up the flagpole and see what flies yeah?

Tom cringes a little inside at the cliche but looks down at the notes he’s prepared. 

TOM: Sir, I came up with a plan to turn single-use customers into people who buy from us more than once…

The CEO seems to be considering the idea and makes a half nod to urge him on when Tom’s nemesis speaks up…

NEMESIS: Sir… oh, sorry to interrupt, but… anyway, when I was the head of sales for 3 years working in Canada, we found that you had to first develop a marketing strategy and outline the sales objectives. In fact, we had a 7 step blueprint and when we used it, we actually increased sales. I can explain each of the 7 sections on the whiteboard if you’d like…

Tom sinks into his chair as the CEO hands the whiteboard marker to his nemesis.

Tom doesn’t get it. He has exactly the same experience as his nemesis, and his boss should know that, so how did he get set aside for a mouthful of waffle? 

So what happened? 

Well, if you haven’t already guessed, Tom took his own selling points for granted, and jumped straight into the solution. But what did his nemesis do instead?

• Mentioned his previous experience
• Mentioned previous results
• Talked about a proprietary process that sounded simple and structured (just 7 steps!)
• Offered to provide more details about each step
• Made a confident request (AKA a call to action).

It’s not really Tom’s fault, he assumed his boss would know he was a valuable employee and listen to his ideas…

Sound familiar?

Even though you are valuable, you can INCREASE your customer’s perceived value of you

Copywriting can be frustrating and time-consuming, especially if you’re already a very busy business owner.

And when it comes to writing sales copy, the tendency can be to think:

• Oh, my customer probably already knows about my experience, it’s written on my about page.  
• I don’t need to mention that customer testimonial again, I already featured it once on a blog post.
• They’ll know that if they come in for a massage that they’ll leave feeling relaxed…

Only… people don’t always think like that.

• Perhaps they’ve never read your about page
• Maybe they missed that blog post
• They might know they’ll be relaxed, but reading copy that beautifully describes this luxurious sensation will be more compelling.

In the past I’ve had a lot of people ask me about being too pushy in sales pages and marketing copy when in actual fact, most people tend to sell themselves short.

And when you don’t prove the value of your offer, people think your prices are too high, and your product isn’t worth it.

So, if you’ve ever been haggled on the price of your product or service, here are 20 tips to help. From me to you: (Short on time? Check out this 3 step copywriting plan for choosing words to instantly boost the value of your offer).

20 ways to increase your perceived value and make customers love your prices

1. Expand on the details

I know copywriting can be painful (it’s the reason I provide resources to make things easier). You’ve just completed your product and now you have to sit down and write about it in a way that is compelling.

Well, you have to do it, but trust me on this one: DO NOT SKIMP ON DETAILS.

If you want your customer to buy from you, they need all the details they need to make a buying decision. Providing more details also makes your product more valuable.

Instead of saying “get my online 6 part course” tell them what each module is. Trust me, it transforms your copy and makes your offer look great.

2. Tell them what you’ve achieved

Got previous results? Share them. Got stories of people whose lives have changed because of your product? Mention that. Got facts and figures and graphs about the performance of your product or service? Get them in there.

3. Don’t assume they know you

Always give people a little blurb about who you are. Even if you’re marketing to your hot list, you might have someone there who’s only just joined and hasn’t yet read all your blog posts or studied your site. People like to know who they’re buying from. So let them know who you are, what you do and why you created your product.

4. Link your experience to your offer

Having said the above, don’t go overboard. Don’t copy your full bio from your about page. Instead, make sure you’re listing things that are relevant to your offer.

Don’t tell people you won the chess championship award at primary school (oh to see that shield again), unless of course you’ve created a chess course. Instead, give them a little bit of info, followed by “this / which means…”

I managed to start a business while being in full-time employment and looking after my family, which means if you’re in a similar position, you’re going to love the tips I can share about keeping your sanity.   

5. Have your praises sung

Testimonials, testimonials, testimonials. Gather the up, scatter them in, use photos where possible (and here’s a tip – consider using a title soundbite before the testimonial, almost like a headline. You can see examples of this on my copywriting services page – plug plug!)

6. Show them the change

Before and after photos, or tell a story about what they can do after that they couldn’t do before. Make it descriptive, and sensory rather than just relying on the facts. If you sell a massage chair, your customer doesn’t want a chair, they want relief from aches and pains, and improved movement to help them get around and play with their grandkids. Sell the transformation.

7. Save them time

If you save them time, or can find a way that your product saves them time, either through shortcuts, improved efficiency or a useful tool, let them know.

8. Save or make them money

As above, be explicit about this and if you can put a figure on it, do. (Or include a range of possible figures, e.g.: Save, $10, $50, or even $100 on your…)

9. Use special terms

Developing your own language can add to the allure and value of what you offer.

For example, instead of: “You’ll discover 10 ways to help you map out your marketing” doesn’t sound as valuable as:

“You’ll leave with your personalised copy of the 10 Step Niche-Marketing Blueprint for Success”

A little cheesy I know, but you get the picture. Name your processes and products to increase their perceived value.

10. Back up your promises

Making a promise? Give them proof.

Wherever possible, when you tell them WHAT they will be able to do or achieve, explain WHY this is so:

“You’ll feel more relaxed… because our deep tissue massage gets right to the core of those knots…”

11. Show off your medals

Qualifications, awards, accreditations… get them listed to boost your value.

12. Be a celebrity

Mentioned in the news? Product used by a celebrity? Don’t be shy, even if the story is old to you, it might still be new to your readers and customers.

13. Mention the fans

Already helped / sold to 100s, 1000s or 100,000s of people? Make sure you make that known. Customers are pack animals and like to feel safe in numbers. If other people are using your product, your customer will feel it has value.

14. Tell them THEIR story

I’ve talked about this before in more detail here. But you build value in what you have to offer, if you can show your customer you understand their problem. Talk about the situation they’re in, the trigger that caused them to look for a solution, and always be specific.

“If you want to feel less stressed at work, you’ll enjoy…”

If not as valuable as:

“If you feel your workload is causing you stress, but don’t know how to set boundaries and expectations with your boss, you’ll love…”

15. Compare your product to others…

…that aren’t as good as yours of course. If you have a live seminar, tell people why it’s better than a book on the same subject. If you’re offering bite-sized, self-paced training, tell people why it’s better than an intensive course where they’d need a day off work to complete it.

I call this the “until now technique.”

16. Make bonuses count

Bonuses should AMPLIFY your offer, not overwhelm or detract. So make them count rather than digging around and seeing what you’ve got, make sure your bonuses add value to your original offer.

For example, if you’re offering a recipe book for sale, a menu plan or shopping checklist is a good bonus. A 100 page time management book is not so good.

17. Split up your offer

Let’s say you’ve written an ebook or put together a course. Can you split up sections of your offer so that you are giving your customer multiple, separate products?

For example, your ebook is about how to become a life coach. The early part of the book focuses on coaching techniques and the latter part is about marketing your business. Give them it as two parts:

In this package, you’ll receive 2 ebooks including:

• Advanced Life-Coaching Techniques
• The Marketing Plan for Life-Coaches

Much better than simply saying you’ve got an ebook that covers advanced coaching and marketing for life-coaches.

18. Give them some science

If there is science at play with your product, give your customer a hint of it. Whether it’s sophisticated algorithms for a software product, or a blend of particular ingredients for a body cream, provide the science and been seen as an expert with a valuable product.

19. Provide a logical explanation

If you don’t have any science behind your product (but if you dig I bet you’d find some) you can always use logic to add value to your product.

This works particularly well if you can provide a rational outline of WHY they problem exists and WHY you can therefore solve it. Though we buy on emotion, we do love logic to justify our choices.

E.g. With content marketing being relatively new, most advice is based on rehashed theory or short-term results. We have more than 20 years of content-marketing experience, which means you get training that tells you what’s working today, as well as what’s always worked (or not worked) well. 

20. Play with the pricing

There’s already so much psychology behind pricing, why $49.99 seems so much cheaper than $50 etc.

So shifting the numbers in your offer can also affect your customer’s perception of value. Think of offering a payment plan, compare your product to something similar (but more expensive), or talk about how much the cost equates to per day. These are all ways to talk about the price of your product.

So there you go, 20 ways to make sure your customers are knocked out by the value you’re offering. Did I miss any? Let me know in the… you know where to go…:-) Oh, and if you’re not already on the newsletter but enjoyed this, you can sign up here.