Five buying triggers to accelerate sales, raise perceived value and enhance loyalty
Five buying triggers to accelerate sales, raise perceived value and enhance loyalty:
1\ Raise the buyer's social status
Increase the buyer's real or perceived social standing by leveraging their human desire for more:
- Power
- Respect
- Influence
- Recognition
Example:
Apple products such as the Macbook, iPhone or Apple Watch are equated with:
- Creativity
- Good taste
- Sophistication
- High performance
- Being on trend with current design & tech trends
Advantages:
- Can command a significant price premium since jockeying for social status is hardwired into all humans regardless of their ambition
- Generate strong buyer loyalty for the same reason as above
2\ Harness social proof
Leverage others' opinions to influence buying decisions
The higher the real or perceived status of the other person, the more effective this is
All of us have at least one area of life where we look to others to validate our choices / potential choices
Example:
For prospects, Amazon product reviews:
- Reduce perceived risk and doubt
- Give instant decision-making confidence
- Circumvent need to do the hard work of manual research
Advantages:
- Instantly builds trust
- Lets your customers do the selling for you
- Allows you to stack together dozens (if not more) 3rd-party validations of your product
- Perceived as more impartial (and thus, more truthful) than your sales material
3\ Leverage "Us versus them"
Create a sense of exclusivity and loyalty by encouraging buyers to identify with qualities valued by our in-group ("us") versus undesired out-groups ("them")
Example:
Slack vs Microsoft Teams:
- Casual vs formal
- Agile vs traditional
- Open integration w/ 3rd-party apps vs more of a "walled garden"
Advantages:
- Less likely to churn because of higher than average level of loyalty
- Strong word-of-mouth as mere buyers are turned into devoted, evangelical advocates
- Increased customer responsiveness to buying new products and services
4\ Exploit scarcity
Drive more and faster sales by limiting availability of a product to raise its perceived value.
We are especially vulnerable because we:
- Desire what we can't have
- Fear disadvantaging ourselves to others who successfully buy and use it
Examples:
- Rolex: strict control over annual production of watches so that demand always exceeds supply
- Starbucks: limited time seasonal drinks such as Pumpkin Spice Latte
- Expedia: shows the number of rooms left at a given price
5\ Tap into curiosity and novelty
Tap into our desire to seek out new and interesting things.
Also leverages our desire to discover more by "pulling back the curtain".
Examples:
- Apple: creates suspense for new products with teaser ads and cryptic news releases
- Taco Bell: "Mystery Item" campaign used suspense-laden 15-second trailers leading up to the 2016 NFL Super Bowl
Advantages:
- Creates powerful viral sharing from ongoing buzz and word-of-mouth
- Ignites higher than average exploration from consumers who "want to know more"
- Increases brand memorability by exploiting power of unanswered questions ("open mental loops")
6 \ Summary
Five buying triggers to accelerate sales, raise perceived value and enhance loyalty:
1) Raise buyer's social status
2) Harness social proof
3) Leverage "Us versus them"
4) Exploit scarcity
5) Tap into curiosity and novelty