I’m starting to hear the budget wheels moving…only to tighten. You don’t have to listen too hard to find many business folks rumbling about smaller budgets…budget cuts and the like. And they are hearing it from their own customer base. Even if customers are good financial condition, the smart ones pull back on spending when times get tougher.
One way to combat the budget constraints and general purchasing wariness, especially on high ticket products or services, is to offer customers a trial offer. You see the trial offer used all the time in cases where the product purchase is significant.
A trial offer does several things:
- Gets wary customers interested in testing your product without the risk of purchasing first.
- Trial offers attract interest and can spread via word of mouth…especially if your product does what it says it does.
- A trial offer acts as a way to strengthen your reputation by virtue of the fact that you are putting it all on the line during the trial. A trial offer says, “hey, don’t take our word for how good the product or service is…you make up your own mind.”
- Builds sales where you would have none before. If a customer is in need of your product or service and the trail meets or exceeds their expectations, nine times out of ten, you’ve earned a sale.
Like the 100% no-questions-asked money back guarantee, the trial offer builds consumer confidence and sales.
