« Download This Free “Need To Know” Marketing Training Ebook | Home | Tips For Avoiding A Scam, Ripoff, Misleading Offer »
Taking The One-Time-Offer Burger Analogy Even Farther
By Tim Gross - Internet Business Blog |
Michel Fortin wrote a very good blog post denouncing the “churn and burn tactics of aggressive one-time upsells. Read his article first, then I’ll expand on his analogy (including tainted meat, bad-tasting burger, and more.)
Here’s Michael’s real-world analogy of one-time offers:
A burger? Sure, that’s $3.00. (You hand over a $20 bill.) The server, holding your burger in one hand and your $20 in the other, continues:
Now that you’ve given me $20, how about fries with that? No? How about an apple pie? No? Then how about an extra burger for only half off, and you better decide now because this is the only time I’m making you this special offer!
Remember, you’re hungry. You paid for the burger. You see the server holding both your change and your burger, almost taunting you. Naturally, you’re getting annoyed by now. Just when you think you’re finally getting your food, the server quips:
OK then, I know you’re hungry, but before I give you your burger and your change back, may I interest you in our burger-of-the-month club?
From personal experience, I can take Michel’s analogy even farther:
- “You know that burger you just paid for and haven’t even received yet? I told you it was awesome, but I kinda lied… I highly recommend you buy this second burger in addition to the first, because it’s made with Kobe beef…
And the same jackass soon after the sale:
- “That burger you bought and haven’t even received yet may have Mad Cow Disease, wait a couple weeks and we’ll send you a better one. What? No, as the order form stated, there are no refunds on this product. Yes, I know you haven’t even received it yet and this is all OUR fault, but that’s policy…
…And this all from an apparently respected Internet marketer. I did get a refund after a brief argument, and will not be doing business with him in the future.
And that brings me to two points:
- Is the upsell(s) relevant?
- Attitude/Likeability Is Everything
1) I previously documented the 6 upsells for the Bedazzler. At least they were all relevant to the initial purchase. If you’d just ordered a Bedazzler, you dang-well might want extra rhinestones, pre-printed patters, iron-on extras, and all the rest.
But with some of these Internet marketing one time offers, the upsells are unrelated, or inappropriate in that they damage the enthusiasm for the initial sale.
Trying to upsell fries after a burger purchase is one thing. Trying to upsell a bicycle to ride home on and a pre-paid cell phone that you can use to call in your next burger order in advance is another.
2) In adherence to “reason why” advertising, you can have legitimate reasons to offer a one-time upsell, and it can be done in a friendly way that minimizes customer annoyance. It’s a fine art, and frankly a lot of people can’t do it. That’s what leaves customers feeling used and abused.
Topics: Marketing, Oops (Bad Move), Z Info | Trackback URL