How You Can Influence Your Customers To Buy (And, Buy More!)
The sweet smell of cinnamon rolls reliably drags pedestrian passersby into bakeries like a siren song; just a little preview is enough to convince them that today is definitely the day to ruin their diets. An on hold message works the same way for your business – it sets the tone, allowing shoppers (callers) to get a taste of your wares before they even see them.
The decision-making process for consumers is anything but straight forward. There are many factors that can affect this process as a person works through the purchase decision. The number of potential influences on consumer behavior is limitless. Savvy marketers who understand those KEY influences, custom tailor their marketing efforts to take advantage of these influences in a way that will satisfy the consumer and the marketer!
If your sense of taste is offended, you can spit out an unappealing food. You can pinch your nose when an awful odor overwhelms you. To shut out offensive images, you can simply close your eyes. But since you have no ear-lids, your sense of hearing is often assaulted without your permission. With that said, how do we influence our customers so that they want to buy from us? How do we successfully compete for their time and attention?
People make decisions quickly, based on the information they have available, be it sound, sight or smell. Like the baker who strategically has a little pastry scent onto the sidewalk, using an on-hold message helps your customers get a better feel for business. Why not give them one more clue about the brand they’re about to do business with? Giving callers the right music on hold and message, played at the just the right time, and those sweet sounds may turn a prospect into a customer and increase your sales revenues.
Since we’re trying for the sale in the first place, why not try to sell them even more? Successful up-selling needs to be at the core of every business as it can instantly multiply your profits. Very few business owners proactively offer customers another deal before the final point of sale. When done successfully, you can cross-sell other products or services that in combination, will give the customer a greater, richer, and happier outcome. Not to mention, you’ll love the extra revenue generated! On-hold marketing can support your promotions, and help you sell more while creating the right atmosphere for your business.
It’s the subconscious that drives buying decisions. For the last 50 or 60 years, market research as an industry has relied on an understanding that people make decisions based on rational conscious thought processes. However science turns that believe on its head, as most decision making happens at the non-conscious level.
People often buy things on impulse. Highlight a companion product to the customer, or draw attention to related products, and once the connection is made, the more difficult it is for them to backpedal. For example, let’s say you own a camera store. Your on-hold advertising should explain how the prospective buyer can help protect their investment with a accompanying camera bag or lens cover! What about letting them know of special discount or package deals that can also include needed accessories such as memory cards, batteries or photo paper? It is one thing to get the sale, but it’s even better when you can super-size that sale.
The ability to influence others is not only an art, but a science. There are a multitude of factors influencing buyers, some are within our control and some are not. You can win-over today’s tough customers and get results faster if you successfully build some of these influence triggers into your on hold message script content. This is one of the most powerful influencing strategies and techniques for getting more sales and customers, and to encourage those spur of the moment purchases.
