WOW! The firestorm from my article on discounting continues. This blast comes from reader/author Jamy Bechler…
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Coach Bru, you hypocrite!!
You talk about not discounting but then I see on your website that you have a “one penny plus shipping” offer for your book The Coach Approach. WTH??
BTW, What about presale discounts? Everybody’s doing it. What are your thoughts on these?
-Jamy B.
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Pay close attention, my response to this young Jedi also contains a lesson for you and your business as well…
Mr. B,
Slow your roll son. What you’re calling hypocrisy is actually strategy. A powerful strategy at that and one everyone should apply in their own business.
My penny plus shipping book deal is exclusively a lead generation and pre-qualifying tool not a “deep discount”.
Since Jan 1st, the only way to get on my eNews list is to crack open your wallet and buy a copy of that book.
Why is that the case?
It brings me people who have already pre-qualified themselves as actual buyers.
It eliminates the freebie seekers who just opt in to a list to get a free eBook (or whatever “ethical bribe” the person is offering for subscribing) and then quickly opt out. Retailers, call these folks “tire kickers” or “window shoppers”. Stockbrokers call them “pikers”.
In years past, I used to allow anyone interested in my work to join my list. What happened? I amassed a list of tens of thousands of non-buyers. Folks would opt in, get my free goalsetting eBook and then you know what they proceeded to do? NOTHING.
They’d never buy a single book, much less hire me for coaching or speaking.
People like to brag about the size of their list and social media following (almost as much as guys like to brag about the size of their… nevermind.)
It’s a stupid measurement because list size or readership has nothing to do with engagement. And even less to do with actual sales.
And since you pay your email service based on the number of subscribers you have. All those subscribers who don’t read your stuff, buy your stuff or engage with you in any meaningful way are actually costing YOU a bunch of money. You’re essentially paying for them to be in your ecosystem doing nothing.
I want quality not quantity and I want buyers not tire kickers and freebie seekers. So should you. Which begs the question for everyone reading this, How are you applying a filter to qualify and separate the PWMs (players with money) from the freebie seekers?
Now to answer your question:
“What about pre-sale discounts? Everyone’s doing it. What are your thoughts?”
Presale discounts work but they attract the wrong kind of buyer in my opinion. People who are value-minded instead of investment-minded. If they want a “deal” and if the only thing that moves them to take action is a discount they won’t be good customers in the future because they will nickel and dime you over every single thing.
On the flipside…
People who are investment-minded gladly pay full price knowing they will not only consume the product but also APPLY the wisdom in a manner that enables them to get an exponential ROI. Those are the only people I want in my world. And in my humble but highly accurate opinion they should also be the only people you want in your world.
Answer your questions?
- Your’s Bruly
The last thing Jamy mentioned in his question was “everyone is doing it”. Whatever “it” is in your industry, the fact that everyone is doing it is the very reason you shouldn’t. This is a subject I go into great detail on in the June issue of my all-new Yesterday’s Underdog newsletter.
Doing the opposite of what everyone in my industry is doing has served me incredibly well over the years. Inside the June issue, I break down precisely why and how you should be a contrarian and buck trends in your industry in order to elevate and separate yourself from YOUR competition.
You can subscribe here: http://www.YesterdaysUnderdog.com
Warning: There’s no presale discount and if you’re waiting for it to go on sale… it won’t. Ever.
But there are 3 BIG fast-action bonuses that go away in 9 hours. Tick, tock…