Launch
A while back I purchased a book from Jeff Walker called Launch: An internet Millionaire's guide to selling almost anything.
I read it and the techniques outlined felt quite scammy to me. Are they effective yes. I feel that I would cross the line if I took that road with my internet marketing.
Today, I was listening to a Realtor that we are going to hire to sell our home and his pitch seemed very familiar. I'm thinking that he has read this book. Now, in this particular setting the techniques don't feel the same. He was talking about a pre-launch before the house is put on the market, a custom website specifically for our property and building buzz all to get people in the door when the house goes on the market and for the open house. This hopefully will create ready buyers and generate a bidding war to drive up the final selling price.
In this setting, the techniques work. Well, we hope they work.
Missing from this though is the upsell, this is the part that Jeff Walker promotes. This is the part that feels scammy to me. This is also what WA does. One single paid product and no upsell. Once you are in the Premium level, that's all you will need.
What do you think about upsells, do they feel scammy to you?
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It seems to me that there is an implicit attitude that "bait and switch" on a higher scale is the process of "upselling"...in reality, I see it as "extended marketing", if you will..."would you like fires with that order?" is a legitimate inquiry and maybe even what the customer wants...we are merely suggesting what might already be on the customer's mind...all Walker wants is for us to get the most out of our sales capabilities...the customer is there for a reason and perhaps has a myriad of things racing through her/his mind...it is "upselling" that helps sift through it all to zero in on something which is a possible sale for us...I see nothing wrong or unethical with it...it is "extended marketing"...
My view has changed a bit on this issue. If I go back 2 years ago, I considered all upsells to be scammy and anything that had upsells to definitely be a scam.
These days my view has softened a bit. I think it depends on the product and the amount extra the upsell would cost.
For something to be legit, the main product needs to be entirely satisfactory on its own. It needs to stand on its own so that someone could get exactly what they were looking for just from buying the main product. Also, the price of the upsells needs to not be a huge amount more than the main product.
So if the main product does not fulfil the requirements, and you need to buy the upsell(s) to make it work properly, then it's a scam. And if it's a very cheap main product followed by lots of expensive upsells, it's a scam.
Weathy Affiliate does have an upsell, though: Jaaxy.
Also, it could be argued that the premium WA membership itself it an upsell. When you consider how many affiliates promote WA as being free, then they get the upsell of the premium membership.
It's a complex issue, I think, and there are degrees of severity.
I like the idea of an add-on. Not an upsell. The classic upsell methodology is to get someone in and then hit them with a higher priced product that will really do what they want.
I think the initial product(at whatever price) should deliver on the promises made. My problem with the general Internet marketing approach is that they get them in the door with promises that don't pan out until they buy the higher priced product. They don't deliver on their initial promise with the original product.
Yes, and they justify it by saying it's the same as a fast food restaurant asking if you ant fries with your burger. It's not.
A better analogy would be if you were to buy a burger, but the burger is only the size of a small coin. Then to get a normal sized burger you have to pay another $50. Then they ask you if you want fries with it, but they will cost you another $100. Then if you want a drink too it will cost you another $200. Then if you want to eat your food in the restaurant you have to sign up for a $149 per month membership.
I used to work at a bagel place where I was taught to upsell.
What I was trained to do there is that anytime someone ordered a drink, I'd ask if they wanted to get a bagel with it for a reduced price. If he said no, that was it. He'd get his drink and be on his way.
The same thing happened whenever someone ordered more of an entree item, like a bagel dog. I'd say "did you want some dessert with that? We offer our new pumpkin bagel bites for X dollars". If that person said no, I'd give them their food and they'd be on their way.
In a similar vein, most convenience stores have their popular snack foods right there next to the counter. When you purchase gas, since the candy bars are right there, sometimes you just grab a candy bar, too, even though you originally never intended to get that candy bar. This is called an "impulse buy", and happens pretty often, especially if you offer a deal like "2 for 4" on a drink or "2 for 1" on a candy bar.
Upselling, in my opinion, is the verbal equivalent of putting candy near the front of the store. You are letting them know that they can get something else, and, if done in a non-intrusive, subtle way can be a good source of income without being scammy.
Now, many websites go far beyond that and pressure you into buying things that you never wanted by pushing it on you at every opportunity.
A good example of this are those annoying micro-transactions in mobile phone games. They make the game much harder in some levels, even unfair, and as a result you run out of lives or chances or hints or what have you. This frustrates you, and puts you in a situation where you either have to wait a long time to try it again, or you purchase more lives and get through it right then and there.
That's how Candy Crush and Bubble Witch and all those dumb mobile phone games made them rich--by frustrating their players and forcing them into a mental corner with seemingly only one way out; paying for something they don't want.
I hate programs which work with upsells, it feels like buying a car you can sit in, but before you can start driving it properly, you need to buy the wheels, but that makes it a Flinstone car, so you need to buy the motor, now it can drive in one, but to go faster you need to buy the gear, and for more comfort, a radio, a open roof, electric windows, all upsells
Those that master the art of "up-selling", do it in a way that is not easy to detect. If it sounds like... or makes you feel it may be a "scam"... it was not done correctly.
Up-sells are very important to the success of both online bricks and mortar businesses. :)
Excellent post.
."..and would you like fries with that?"
We live with upsells in our day to day life. Sometimes it takes us by surprise, but we learn when to draw the line and how to take a stand.
One thing I truly appreciate about WA, is the fact that the costs are up front. Another thing that amazes me is how inexpensive WA is! The services, education, training and support that come with the monthly fee is unbelievable.
I, like yourself, don't like upsells; however, they are all around us. When you find a company like WA that does not continually ask for additional funds, it is like a breath of fresh air.
Susan
I prefer upsells to be more gradual and perhaps only when one reaches a certain milestone. Imagine paying for initial startup fee and the next 1 page is all about sales booster, traffic boosters etc.... I have been through one and it immediately kills the fire in me.
So far, I agree WA did excellent in this aspect. It's just starter and then Premium. Kudos to WA for that!
They are necessary in marketing because a buyer will rarely go for the cost of the whole enchilada up front. When it is metered out a little at a time the sale is more successful. They are not scammy if defined openly up front.
WA has been sensibly designed. You still have to incur normal progressive costs that aren't upsells such as Jaaxy premium, domain name acquisition and website hosting.
It depends on the situation.
In online marketing, upsells are often scams. They offer a cheap "appetiser" and then push you to buy one or two more product that will make it soooo much easier.
In ecommerce, I think upsells are ok.
As long as you recommend things that could be interesting for the buyer.
They are in buyers mode already and you offer them a real choice. No pressure. Just additional options.
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In a phrase "it all depends." It is the up-sell (s) that determines the success of our business unless the initial product is offered at or close to the up-sell price. I would rather sell 3 $100 products than 30 $10 products. Secondly, it depends on the motive (s) of the seller or the amount of time the seller needs to put in to help the buyer become successful. If the motive is sinister or a key piece is left out of the program and only available in the up-sell that to me is a scam or a gross manipulation. On the other hand if I offer a a DFU product, need to spend a lot of time setting the program up and teaching the buyer how to use the product to become successful I have no problem with a more expensive up-sell.