Let’s talk about the sales monster out there. Sneaky and sleazy sales tactics make me squirm. If I see them in use by someone I follow or subscribe to, I unfollow/unsubscribe immediately.
I don’t like them as a customer. I don’t like them as a business owner, and I refuse to use them myself. These examples are a few of the tactics I’ve come across in the years I’ve been running a business. I bet you’ve come across some of them too.
Fake scarcity and urgency
Urgency and scarcity can be real, or they can be fake. If I use any urgency, it’s real. If an offer has 1 more day, then there’s one more day until it ends. If I tell you there are only five left, there are only five left. Plain and simple.
Guilt games
Guilting people into buying is never good. Unfortunately, I’ve seen emails where someone says “if you don’t buy this you don’t want a business”, and similar things. That’s a definite unsubscribe for me, and something I would never do myself.
Pushing paint points
I definitely don’t like the tactic where they prod and poke at your pain and make you feel miserable for then to present their product as the only good solution for that pain.
Inflated benefits
Blowing the benefits out of proportion, like “go from 0 to 6 figures in 5 weeks” or “lose 10 kg in two weeks without diet or exercise”, is bad. I’ve seen a lot of business owners do this. I prefer to only make promises that I can keep.
Copying other people’s successes
There are a lot of copycats out there. You’ve probably seen some of them. There are a lot of websites that use almost the same language and design. I don’t copy and paste like that, and I bet you don’t either. It’s just wrong and it won’t work for you in the long run.
Some do these things because they don’t know better, but some do these things even though they know it’s not right. It’s up to the consumers and other business owners to show them it’s the wrong way. To unsubscribe, unfollow, say no.
Please pin this one 🙂
I could add more to this list, like fake vulnerability, fake compassion, fake transparency, saying there’s a sale when the price isn’t lowered, pretending to be more successful or someone completely different than they are, and other forms of dishonesty…
One way I do sell, is by showing what I create, sharing my information and products, and building honest relationships through engaging with you. I want honesty, transparency, and a lasting relationship. I want you to be happy with the service or product you pay for, and I want what I do to feel right to me, to feel like me. I don’t want competitiveness and dishonesty. So I do things my way. I trust you enjoy that more than the examples above.
What are your pet peeves when it comes to sales tactics?
Let me know in a comment below
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