If you want to build a business in 2023, you need to overdeliver.
You need to create products or services that are more valuable than ones of your competitors…
Far more valuable than the price tag on them…
And so valuable that they absolutely blow your customers away, turn them into raving fans, and make them feel like working with you is the best investment they ever made.
Now, it doesn’t matter if you’re selling a $5 e-book…
A $997 online course…
Or a $25,000 mastermind.
The principle of overdelivering is the thing that can make or break the conversion rates of your offer…
That can cause your customers to work with you for YEARS (or never work with you again)…
And help you charge premium prices (because your customers know they’re well worth every penny they spend with you).
But how do you do that?
How can you craft an offer that’s truly irresistible and delivers tons of value to your customers?
“Value” can seem like such a vague word, and just creating 17 bonuses with a (fake) “value of $3493” doesn’t do the trick.
And creating a gigantic offer that takes 50+ hours to go through doesn’t work either in most markets* (because the follow-through rates of such offers are typically 1% or lower).
*I say most markets because this CAN work when you’re selling “professional training” that’s delivered live – like a 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training.
The answer lies in a framework I discovered recently, called The Value Equation.
Alex Hormozi does a great job of illustrating this framework in his book $100m Offers:
As you can see, the equation has 4 key elements:
Dream outcome:
This is the biggest believable outcome you can promise your customers (i.e. lose 20 lbs).
Now, this isn’t actually a part of the equation I would optimize, because:
- Anyone can make a big claim nowadays
- There’s a thin line between an irresistible claim and a “too good to be true” claim
- You’re not really getting a competitive advantage by creating a “bigger and bolder claim”
So pick an outcome that’s exciting, and believable and you have the proof to back it up… And move on.
It’s perfectly ok if this part of the equation is the same as your competition’s (i.e. get a six-pack, never feel back pain again, learn guitar in 7 days…).
Perceived likelihood of achievement:
This part is all about how likely your customers THINK they can achieve the promised outcome after reading your copy.
To optimize this part of the equation, you can do 3 main things:
- SHOW your prospects in the copy why your approach actually works (and how it’s better than what they’ve been doing so far)
- PROVE to your prospects that your product works (by providing your own results and/or the results of your clients) – the bigger the claim, the more proof you’ll need
- DEMONSTRATE why you are the go-to person to solve this problem for them – the more credibility markers you have, the better (media placements, books you’ve written, conferences you’ve spoken at, value you’ve provided in your free content)
Now, you might be surprised to hear that this is still the second least important part of this equation.
Because today, everyone is a “bestselling author”, “was seen in X Y Z media”, and “has these amazing testimonials” (and, unfortunately, nowadays far too many people just make these up or pay for them)…
This means that even if you do all of these things right, there’s still a large possibility that you aren’t standing out in a crowded market.
This brings us to the bottom part of the equation – the part where you can really make a difference in your business.
Time delay:
This is where many of the world’s biggest companies focus their attention, and you should too.
Just think about it…
- If you bought a MacBook or iPhone a few years ago, the experience would be so much more seamless and effortless than buying a PC or an android phone (no need to spend hours installing Windows/apps, it just works out of the box)
- When you buy a Kindle e-book on Amazon, you can buy it in a single click and get it delivered in seconds (no need to wait 3 weeks to get it delivered by snail mail)
- You can watch thousands of movies and TV shows on Netflix instantly (no need to rent DVDs, go to the movies, or record them on VHS tapes)
Now, of course, making things “instant” takes a lot more time and effort than just changing a headline from “lose 10lbs” to “lose 20lbs”, but it’s also where the magic of your competitive advantage happens.
If you can find a reliable way to get your clients results faster (in hours/days/weeks instead of months/years), you’ll increase your follow-through rates, get more testimonials and raving fans, and gain a huge advantage over your competition.
So, when you’re developing your offer, always try to find new, better ways to get your clients results faster – then use that to your advantage in your marketing.
Focus on getting your clients incredible results within 1-7 days, and you’re well on your way to an irresistible offer.
Effort & Sacrifice:
Finally, let’s think about why liposuction costs thousands of dollars, yet you can get a gym pass for as little as $20 a month…
Because getting liposuction requires practically no effort on the client’s side, and going to the gym, sticking to a diet, and losing 50lbs is a whole lot more difficult.
In between, there’s hiring a personal trainer/nutritionist/chef, that does most of the work for you, which is why the above services are also far more expensive than a simple gym pass and a few months’ supply of rice, broccoli, and chicken.
So when you’re designing your own offer, especially if you want to charge premium prices, the majority of your attention should go towards minimizing the effort & sacrifice your clients need to put in…
Or, in a single word, making things effortless.
You can do that by identifying parts of your products or services where your clients “get stuck” or that take them far too much time/effort (I call these Sticking Points), and minimizing the required time and effort.
You can do that by:
- Doing the work FOR them (i.e. creating a meal plan, or, even better, delivering food to them that’s in line with their meal plan)
- Creating templates, checklists, cheat sheets, spreadsheets, or automated services/apps
- Finding new, creative ways to help them solve their problems without the hassle
Now, in the marketing world, a lot of people make fun of “magic pills”… But there’s a reason why the supplement industry is worth more than $150 billion – people are happy to pay for quick, effortless solutions.
So, if you focus your attention on actually developing a solution that works as close to a magic pill as possible, you can again gain a competitive advantage that will be tough to beat, and easy to scale.
That’s it for today – think about today’s framework and how you can apply it to your own products or services…
And watch the magic happen.
Hustle hard,
-Primoz
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