Ep #3 | Craft an Irresistible Offer and Watch Your Revenue Generation Soar

In this third episode of the Roadmap to Business Success series, hosts Kate and Sam explore the second part of the revenue quadrant: how to craft an irresistible offer. Described as the "engine" of your revenue generation model, an irresistible offer is about providing a compelling solution to a problem that people feel compelled to say "yes" to.

In this episode, you will learn:

• The Power of Specificity: Why your offer must solve a very specific problem for a very specific person to be effective.
• Selling the Transformation: Shifting your focus from "what you do" to the result the client achieves at the end of the process.
• Establishing Bulletproof Credibility: How to use social proof, Google reviews, and even "borrowed credibility" from mentors to build trust with sceptical buyers.
• Pricing for Value, Not Time: Why slashing prices is often the wrong move and how to price based on the emotional and financial value of the outcome.
• Risk Reversal: Using guarantees to shift the responsibility from the customer to the business owner, making the purchase a "no-brainer".
• Productisation and the Rule of Three: How to bundle services into three tiers to suit different needs and budgets without causing "choice paralysis".
• Genuine Scarcity and Urgency: How to use limited numbers or real deadlines to motivate potential clients to act now.

Kate and Sam also share their philosophy of "selling before you build," explaining how delivering a service as you develop it allows for vital market feedback and prevents the heartbreak of a "flat" launch.

Join the Workshop: If you need expert eyes on your offer, Kate and Sam are hosting a workshop on the 15th of April to help you tweak and optimise your strategy for maximum impact.

To learn more about our workshop and retreat dates, go here: https://www.thrivingbusinesspodcast.com/workshops 

Next Week: Tune in for the next episode where the discussion moves to taking your offer to market and the mechanics of marketing and sales.

Connect with Your Hosts:

Kate De Jong, PhD | Inspired Business 🌐 Website: https://katedejong.com/ 📱 Instagram: @katedejong.inspiredbusiness ✉️ Email: kate@katedejong.com

Sam Morris | The O8 🌐 Website: https://www.theo8.com/ 📱 Instagram: @the_o8crew ✉️ Email: sam@theo8.com

Thriving Business Podcast 🌐Website:   https://www.thrivingbusinesspodcast.com/ 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Scale your business without the burnout. This is the Thriving Business Podcast.

SPEAKER_02 0:08

Hello and welcome everyone to the Thriving Business Podcast. I'm here with my co-host Sam Melbourne. Hi, Sam. Hello, everyone. We are now into episode three of our 18 episodes series, which is about the roadmap to business success. We started off episode one was all about the framework as a whole. We walked you through what the next 18 episodes are going to look like. In the next episode, we dove straight into the revenue quadrant and looking at business identity, which is the foundation of everything, as we all know. And today we are on to the topic of how to craft an irresistible offer because that is the engine of your revenue generation model. Yes, you have to have something to sell. And that thing needs to be compelling, and people need to want it and feel compelled to say yes to it. If it's a problem they have that needs solving.

SPEAKER_01 1:04

And here's where people get tripped up is that creating this irresistible offer is not simply a matter of copying an offer that someone who is already successful in your industry is offering. It's not going to work.

SPEAKER_02 1:21

Yeah, this needs to be something that you're very, it's a problem that you're very good at solving, that you have the expertise and credibility and social proof in solving. And you and I were having a conversation about this beforehand around how it's really difficult in today's market to get people's attention and to get them to pull their wallets out to spend money with you. And you made a comment about the market used to be sort of lukewarm and then it's cooling off and now it's freezing cold out there. People need a lot of convincing or a lot of trust in you and your brand before they're willing to invest good money because we're all terrified. It's sort of that's the economic climate we're in, where we can't afford to lose money. If we invest money, we need to know there's going to be a return on that investment.

SPEAKER_01 2:09

Yes. And where we spoke about market research as part of your business identity and doing that work, when you're crafting your irresistible offer, this is where you need to do some market validation. And that's a different thing.

SPEAKER_02 2:26

Tell us the difference, Sam.

SPEAKER_01 2:28

So market research is about assessing the market for potentially how many people could be in your customer base and how big the market sector is of the industry that you're entering and who the competitors are, right? Yes, that kind of thing. Market validation is about ensuring that the market will actually buy what you have to sell. Yes. Yeah. There may be a market out there for soft drink, for example. And you know, that it's certainly a market that has dominant leaders in it. But just because I've created a soft drink doesn't mean the market that already buys soft drink will want to buy my soft drink. That's right. There may not be a market for hibiscus flavored fizzy water.

SPEAKER_02 3:22

And you don't know until you test the market and validate that yes, there is a need and people want it and will buy it.

SPEAKER_01 3:28

Correct. And too many people want to leapfrog over this market validation part and just get out there because they are really influenced by seeing so many other people. Everyone else is doing it. Obviously, there's a market for it. But there has to be a market for for you. That's right.

SPEAKER_02 3:47

And I get people coming to me quite often with these great ideas. A recent example was a clothing hire company, not just for dresses, but for general wear. I said, Well, I looked at your competitors in the field. And she said, Well, there are none. No one's doing this, which this person thought was very exciting. And it could be an untapped thing in the market. But I said, My first question is, why are there no other people out there in the market? So we've got to take a really good look and validate this idea. It's great that you're staying up at night and getting all excited about the ideas you have and so on. But until we know that people are going to pay for this idea, you don't have a business concept, right? So how does one do that process? It's about developing a prototype, isn't it? And going out and testing the market.

SPEAKER_01 4:32

And you know, if you've got a product to sell, then yes, it's a prototype. If you're selling services, then it's a matter of offering those services. Usually that's at a reduced price. But here's the part that people forget it's not just about reducing a price. In exchange for that reduced price for my services, I'm going to want something additional from you in the form of a testimonial, a review, feedback so that I can improve this for you know going out to the broader market. There has to be that exchange.

SPEAKER_02 5:08

That's right. Like that whole process of actually you and I were talking about the chicken and egg thing. It's really hard for startups or new businesses in this world where the market demands social proof, credibility, a hundred plus Google reviews. People just want that confidence in a brand before they invest. And it's tricky when you're trying to build that social proof. So what you're suggesting is yeah, a great way for businesses to get started is go to market with a really compelling irresistible offer that we'll get into. And then yeah, do it at a reduced price. There has to be urgency and scarcity around that. For the first 10 people, it will be only, you know,$500, for example. After that, the price will go up to three times that or whatever. And in exchange for that, yeah, you're asking them to give you some social proofs, some reviews. Video testimonial is always great, but you know, building those Google reviews and so on so that you can start building that social proof.

SPEAKER_01 6:03

Yes, but that is how you validate the market. You've got to go out there to who you believe is your potential audience. I'm sure everybody has probably seen at one point or another in some kind of Facebook group or forum that new businesses are out there looking for beta testers. This is a really great opportunity for not only the person who needs the beta testers, but for businesses that may not be able to afford a full suite of services or products. It's really a great opportunity for them to get those services at a much cheaper rate.

SPEAKER_02 6:40

The risk, of course, is that the person is just starting out and can't deliver the full promise that they think they can. But generally, people that go out on their own are really good at what they do. And so you've got it, it is a great way to give people a chance and get that value at a reduced rate. But yeah, you're talking about the essential step of actually validating there's a need in the market before you go and invest lots of money and time in marketing or branding or anything like that. So if we start talking about the qualities of an irresistible offer, obviously we've got, you know, product businesses and service businesses. We will focus the discussion today, I think, around service businesses, just because they're a different beast. E-commerce and product, you know, selling products is a different space than service businesses. And I think the majority of our audience tend to sell a service. And even if it is a product, there's always the sort of the service around it, right? Yes. We will get into talking about productization, which is where you, you know, take a service that you have or services that you have and package them into products, service products. But if we first just talk about the qualities of an irresistible offer, people tend to sell, as we talked about last time in the last episode, what they do. Whereas what people actually want to know is what's the result you can get me. So if I work with you, where will I be at the end of that process? So rather than you selling me a six-session coaching program, I don't really care how many sessions or what format it is. What I want to know is what's the problem you're going to help me solve and where will I be at the end of that process? And it's our job to really clearly articulate that in an irresistible offer.

SPEAKER_01 8:30

Yes. And I think you and I have both worked with many, many businesses who really struggle to articulate that transformation.

SPEAKER_02 8:40

Yeah. Everyone seems to get stuck in this is what I do, and this is the process of how I work with you. But where is that person when when they come when you meet them? And where will they be after you've worked with them? That's what we call the transformation. And you have to get that so crystal clear. And backing up potentially, you know, it's an irresistible offer has to solve a really urgent problem that someone has. That's what makes it irresistible. The person can see clearly, oh my gosh, that's me. I have that problem. I have that very specific problem. And if you can get me that result, I mean, you know.

SPEAKER_01 9:23

Exactly, exactly. And even in identifying, and part of your market validation process has to be identifying, yes, people have this problem, but will they pay to solve it? Is the problem urged enough for them to part with money?

SPEAKER_02 9:41

Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. And I hear this a lot. You know, founders that come to me and say, Oh, I've researched 50 people, and they all say they have that problem and they think it's a really great idea. And it's like, great, but will they you ask those 50 people to pay you? And friends and, you know, people on the street, they'll nobody wants to disappoint you, you know, they'll say, that's a great idea. But will they actually pull out their wallet and hand over money to to solve that problem? And that's where that's true market validation. Is like, is anyone going to actually put money on the table to solve this problem?

SPEAKER_01 10:17

And until you ask the question, ask people to pay you for it, you're not going to get true market validation. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 10:27

Yeah, which is a really uncomfortable process. You know, you and I have been through it. We've launched many things where we're not sure if there is a market need, and sometimes there's not. Sometimes we've fallen short, right? In the past, if we offered a coaching program back during COVID, we sometimes we got it right and we'd have 30 people in the room or online at that time. And other times we thought, oh, this is what people really need. And we put out a really strong offer and no one would take it up. So you've got to get out of the mindset of, yeah, that failure is negative feedback. It's you've it's all research, it's all testing the market and seeing what works and what doesn't.

SPEAKER_01 11:05

Yes. And this is why I I beg people to not go full stem ahead and create something without seeing if people want to pay for it first. Because otherwise, you're pouring your heart and soul into a lot of work. Sometimes hundreds of hours just set up a program with course materials and all the rest of it, only to find out that you missed the mark.

SPEAKER_02 11:32

That's right. And people get terrified when we say this. We say, pull together a sales page, define the curriculum or whatever the product is or the service you're selling, get really clear about the outcomes that they're going to get, and then sell it. And if people buy, then you start building it. And that freaks people out.

SPEAKER_01 11:49

Yeah, that yeah, it absolutely does.

SPEAKER_02 11:51

But it is the only way because as you say, I've known people, I still know people that are spending hours trying to perfect this program to get it 100% right with all their IP, and they don't actually know if people want it. Sadly, often when they do go out to the market, people don't appear to want it, you know, in the format they're selling it or pitching it. And yeah, it is heartbreaking, and it is really scary to put yourself in that position. But we've done that back. Remember what back when we launched Future Fempreneur, we were targeting women who had a business idea but weren't ready to launch yet. And it had really quick uptake. Yeah, it did. And it was the right price point, it was the right transformation. We got really clear, this is what you're gonna come out with. And then, of course, the next I think it was a six-month program, every week we were trying to build the content for the next week. But it's a great way. Yeah, every week it was like, oh my gosh, we've got to get the next workbook ready. And because the students, well, the people, the clients had paid the money, we had to, you know, deliver these workbooks, show up, do the coaching. And it is a great way to develop a product or service very quickly because you the clients then the paying customers hold you accountable to delivering.

SPEAKER_01 13:07

So also, you know, you're getting feedback every week as to whether you're heading the right direction because you know you might have the full thing mapped out in your head, and you this is a thing that we might know what people need, yeah. But people don't buy needs, people buy wants. That's right. So you might know 100% that they need to turn up to coaching every single week. They may not want to, and that's gonna stop them from buying. That can be, you know, and that's an example for a coaching service, is that the cadence of the coaching could be a deterrent until you've actually worked with some people to validate this audience needing my help, it's going to need my help in this way. It doesn't have to be one-on-one coaching every week, can it be group coaching? Yeah, there are so many different ways in which you can offer services, yeah. But that offer of how you do this has to align with the want people have.

SPEAKER_02 14:18

Yeah. And so selling something and then delivering it as you go, you're 100% right that we used to hear what they wanted and needed. And we actually pivoted our approach along the way to give them what they needed. And I think in the end, it was a group coaching program, that particular one, and we ended up offering one-off private sessions because some of them just needed half an hour one-on-one to talk about their specific problem or business, and then they quickly, you know, took that up as well. So, yeah, it is a great way to be delivering and getting market feedback and market information as you're doing it. And it might, it doesn't follow the linear model that our brains think we should do as a business owner. You need to build and bundle the service, get it all ready, then launch. But we both know that launching can fall flat and often does. In fact, I remember when we were doing the Matt Church Thought Leaders, we had him on our podcast a couple of years ago, and he was saying you've got to expect a 50% failure rate. So anything you put out into the market has a 50% chance of failing. And I remember that giving me such freedom, but they actually factor that in, and they work in clusters, right? They come up with irresistible offers based on one market need, one solution, and one method of delivery, which is what an irresistible offer actually is. But they worked on the basis of launching one cluster every three or six months. I think their model was you launch one every three months. So by the end of the year, that's four, but only two will stick and the rest will fail. And that's their process of figuring out which ones actually work. And so that can be really liberating rather than pouring your heart and soul into something and then the stress of thinking this has to work and people have to buy. And that never works, as we know, energetically. People feel the desperation. Whereas when you can go to market to market with something you know solves a genuine problem that people will pay for, it takes all the stress out of it, and you can just show up and very confidently say, Hey guys, if you have this problem, we can solve it.

SPEAKER_01 16:26

So, Kate, let's talk about the essential components of an irresistible offer. I'm gonna throw number one into the ring, and it's a word that I wrestle with, and this is really embarrassing because I can never say it properly. Everyone's got that one word. Here's my very public attempt at I have to make my brain concentrate. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 16:53

Well, that's the first time you got it.

SPEAKER_01 17:00

What does specific mean? It has to solve a very specific problem for a very specific person. And later on when we get to talking about marketing, it'll really sink in how very, very important this part is.

SPEAKER_02 17:19

And so can you give us an example, Sam? Perhaps with the with you know the8.com. Your brand. Yeah. What's the specific problem for the and what what's the specific kind of person that has that problem?

SPEAKER_01 17:35

Okay, so please don't look at my website right now, Kate, because I've just been building out a sales page for a new a new service that we're going to start offering.

SPEAKER_02 17:48

Well, that explains because I did just look it up and it did come with a it's not live at the moment, right? Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:54

No, no, it's not live. It will be by the end of the week. But the people that we are working with, Gen X business owners, families. Right. The family composition is elderly parents and young adult children. And we don't even know if this is a saying or whether it's just been made up by us. But we are talking to an audience of Gen X small business owners who are in the family sandwich. Like trying to run a business and juggle all the things, trying to help and support young adult children who are at the point where it's like, you know, when we were their age, it was moving out of home, thinking about buying a house, all of those sort of things that are pretty much off the table for for most of the early 20-ish. And also we're at the age where our parents now, you know, are needing care. They need to go into facilities and things like that. And they're insanely expensive and generally involves having to, you know, sell the house that you may have grown up in because your parents are still living in it. And it's a lot of pressure to sit on these Gen X business owners. So what we are focusing on with our new service, which is kind of like an introduction to working with us before our bigger program, it's helping them sort out their money. And it is to help them. We've created a dashboard which I use, and it's a done for you service. Right. And this is really hard for people to get off the ground. So we set up their dashboard, we plug in the numbers that they give us, and then we can give them an action plan of what they need to go and do.

SPEAKER_02 19:51

Right, to increase profit.

SPEAKER_01 19:54

Or just take away the stress of managing money because most of these business owners are doing well, they've got revenue, but they have two cents to rub together. And they just the money's going.

SPEAKER_02 20:07

So it's the classic thing where the money's coming in, but there's none left to pay, you know, none left over.

SPEAKER_01 20:12

Each door and out the other.

SPEAKER_02 20:13

Yeah, right. And then because I know the 08, your brand was originally set up as well to help harness AI systems for efficiency and so on. Is that part of this?

SPEAKER_01 20:21

Or is that part of our bigger program?

SPEAKER_02 20:24

Yeah, okay. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 20:25

So when we talk about bottlenecks in business, the the most urgent one usually is money. Yeah. The one that our audience struggles with the most. That's right. We are addressing that with a smaller offer.

SPEAKER_02 20:38

And how much is that offer? This is an important point that we talked about before, which is that you called it SLO, which stands for Well, this isn't an SLO because this is quite a comprehensive service that we're offering.

SPEAKER_01 20:50

But yes, we will talk about SLOs later. We don't have one, but but yes, so we what we set up is it's a one-off setup fee to have us do all of this and create their report of what they've got to go and do. But also then they there is a monthly fee if they want to take up an option where we will do the maintenance and keep this working until they're until they've got the confidence to run it for themselves.

SPEAKER_02 21:17

Right. So if we were to take that, that's a really clear specific market. That's a really, you know, you guys are very clear on these are the people that we're targeting, extremely busy, don't have time, but they're leaking money in their business. They're making lots of money, but have the feeling that they're not holding on to any of it. They're not saving or building any of it into wealth, or they can't take holidays. And so that's the problem. And people will pay to solve that because there's nothing, you know, more horrible than well, I'm sure there is. It's a horrible feeling to have a leaky, leaking bucket, right? To know that you're bringing money in, but you're just leaking it out the side. So that's a really specific problem that people would pay to solve. And what's the transformation, Sam, in this? Case.

SPEAKER_01 22:00

The transformation is going from being panicked about money to having to plan.

SPEAKER_02 22:07

And feeling in control and comfortable and that you're growing and building wealth and you can take holidays.

SPEAKER_01 22:11

Yes. Knowing that when bills come in, you can pay. Like having financial confidence. Yeah. Knowing that you don't have to worry about meeting payroll or you know, if that magical tax bill lands on your desk. And this has happened to everybody. Like I don't know anybody that hasn't had an unexpected tax bill.

SPEAKER_02 22:33

I've had payment plans because I wasn't prepared.

SPEAKER_01 22:35

So that that's what we're digging into. We're gonna we help them set up. We've created this machine, we help them set it up, and we're gonna do the work for them until they're in a position where they can do it themselves if they want us to.

SPEAKER_02 22:48

Which is great, because that your that specific market is too time poor to learn how to do it themselves and implement it. So the delivery method there is is in tune with what the market needs. And for those are it, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:00

We're talking to, you know, anybody out there who is going to market to an audience that is already stressed and overwhelmed.

SPEAKER_02 23:08

And they need to invest time to get the outcome, they're not going to do it.

SPEAKER_01 23:12

There's a disconnect there. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 23:15

Yeah. And for everyone listening, we are going to get into this juicy stuff that Sam's talking about in the second quadrant when we talk about profitability and keeping the money you earn. So we're going to be doing a deep dive into Sam's approach, which is based on the profit first model, which I've been using, and it's it is a game changer. So it's taking that money and plugging the holes in the bucket to make sure you keep it and put it where it needs to go. So hold on to that thought. In this case, when we're talking about irresistible offers, so it's you've got a very specific market, a very specific problem that they have, and a very specific result, which is to go, and the transformation is going from panicking, stressed, anxious, we've got all this money, don't know where it's going. It's like sand through your hands. And then we're going to take them to a situation where they feel in control, they're keeping the money, they're spending it where they want to, they're building profit and wealth, and it gives them calm and a feeling of peace. And, you know, if I always say with an irresistible offer, if people can make an emotional connection to that end result that you're presenting to them, they will pull their wallet out. If they can see themselves having that result and getting to that end point where that is the truth for them, they will invest. The only catch is they need to know that you have the credibility to get them there. Yes. Whereas irresistible offers, that would be another quality. So if we were to say the first one that you mentioned is to be specific, it has to clearly identify the transformation. Where are they now? Where will they be after working with you? That has to be really compelling to them and that and emotive for them. An irresistible offer has to show credibility that you are that you have the smarts to help them get this result. And I've got a really good example of this recently where I have mentioned to the client that spent$60,000 on a marketing campaign without a single sale. When I went in, I was looking at a TikTok channel, and it was very clear that people just didn't trust that she had the qualifications and the experience to deliver the promise that she was saying she could.

SPEAKER_01 25:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 25:23

It was a credibility issue that she had. And she actually had a lot of credibility. She just wasn't showcasing it. She had over 150 Google Plus reviews that she wasn't putting anywhere, and people couldn't see the social proof. So if you want to make an irresistible offer, it has to include all that credibility. You have to establish yourself as an expert that knows what you're doing and that can get them that transformation that you're promising. Because her transformation sounded amazing. People were interested, but as soon as they asked questions about her credentials, she didn't think that was important. So she wasn't addressing it properly and losing sales as a result.

SPEAKER_01 26:00

And look, there is more than one way to establish trust and credibility. It's albut and well, you know, like how amazing that she has all those Google reviews to fall back on. But for anybody that doesn't have those already, there are ways that you can demonstrate credibility. One of them is borrowed credibility. It's where you talk about the people that you've learned from, the people that you align with, because you know, Simon Cynic's like they've got to believe what you believe. And you know, then there's that connection there. So when we talk about Simon Cynic, anybody that knows him and aligns with what he teaches will then be looking at you and I saying, okay, we're getting a little bit of sense of of what kind of people Sam and Kate are.

SPEAKER_02 26:54

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, that's true. And borrowed credibility is one. If you can do that prototype or beta, get a beta tester and they will give you a video testimonial that's very powerful as well. If you have a sales page where this person says, I worked with them and they did this for me, it's amazing, highly recommend. Yes. That's another good way. And interestingly, this client of mine who had all the positive reviews, it was connected to a clinic that she has, a naturopathic clinic. And because this was a separate product and a separate brand that she was launching, she didn't think she could use all the Google reviews from her clinic. Yeah, so a lot of people do think that their past is not connected to their current situation, if you know what I mean. So I was speaking to a lady who is a such a good counsellor and helps people through really tough life transitions, because she's branched out on her own and in this new business, doesn't think she has the street cred, doesn't have the confidence or the street cred, even though she reached senior management in government, used to run change transformation workshops and was really highly regarded in the field. And because she stepped out to do something slightly different, she's discounted all that experience that she's had.

SPEAKER_01 28:10

And that's part of her story. That's part of why. Because everything she has done has led her down a pathway to what she's doing now. So even when, you know, and this is such a good example, Kate, because how many businesses start where people have a massive shift from what they were doing to something very new and they don't feel like they're qualified. I was in that boat. But everything you've done led you to the reason why you changed in the first place. So you have to lean into that.

SPEAKER_02 28:43

And there's a lot of transferable skills. So I guess the message in this part is if you are doubting yourself or you don't have the street cred, you can draw on your past experience, even if it's in a different profession, it doesn't matter, you know. So you've got to find ways, and people feel especially women, get uncomfortable with showcasing their credibility and expertise. But you've got to, unfortunately, when it comes to an irresistible offer, you have to show bulletproof credibility and expertise to deliver what you're promising. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 29:12

If you're heading to a seminar or a workshop or doing it some kind of training, you need to flex on that. You need to post that on social media to say, like I said, borrowed credibility. This is who I'm learning from. And you can't pay that person because they're$10,000. But this is what I'm bringing, and I'm learning from them. So there's a little bit of them coming with me. If that's what you're looking for, you can get me for$1,000, you know.

SPEAKER_02 29:40

I know a lot of coaches that write off the back of their mentor, like the Grant Cardoni method or the action coach method, they're all using that as their credibility, the borrowed credibility. Yeah. So that's what else is there, Sam? We've talked about the specificity, we've talked about the transformation, pricing, we should touch on as well, and then productization. So pricing is a tricky one, and we are going to do a deep dive into that one when we get into quadrant three, which is about grow, like how to grow, how to price for growth. So we will do a deep dive on that, but we kind of need to talk about it in terms of irresistible offer because it's important. And if the price isn't right, people won't say yes.

SPEAKER_01 30:25

That is true. But the natural thing that people do is when their offer isn't selling, what do they do? The first thing out of the gate is slash the price. Yeah. Probably the worst thing that you can do if you've priced something to what you think it is worth as far as value goes, then before you start adjusting pricing, you need to look at other mechanisms that might need adjusting. Yes. So it may be that you are underpriced and people think that's too cheap for what you're doing, so you can't be good.

SPEAKER_02 31:03

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_01 31:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 31:05

Yeah, that's right. So there's always, I find a tension, you know, between mindset and limiting beliefs that we have. And I struggle with this too. When I when I, you know, you and I are trying to price our retreat at the moment. And it's like, do we there is a price that the market will pay for things? There is a tolerance. A price tolerance. So you can price yourself out of the market where people are just like, oh, that's out of my reach. But then there's the opposite of that you said that you underprice it and people think, oh, well, that can't be very good. They're not very confident in themselves if then only charging that much. There is a tension between what the market's willing to pay and what you think you can charge. So it's a tricky one.

SPEAKER_01 31:52

Yes. But you've got to think of it in terms of the relationship between your product, your irresistible offer, your service, they're all interchangeable as far as this conversation goes. But you've got to think about the relationship between what you're offering and the audience that you're trying to sell to. And I'm going to use handbags as an example. Like if I've got a cheaply made, you know, Bali special that I'm bringing over into Melbourne trying to sell, I'm not going to be able to sell my Chanel knockoffs for Chanel prices. You just can't. So, you know, the people that are going to buy the knockoffs are going to tolerate a certain price because it's not the real deal. So that's not to say that I can't sell handbags for you know$25,000, but you've got to have the right one to sell to that particular audience. The people that are paying$25,000 for a handbag aren't going to be looking at my marketing and they're not going to appeal to my hundred dollar barley versions.

SPEAKER_02 33:02

That's right. So it is about right price for the market. You've got to know your market and what their price tolerance is. And then you also have to price it in a way that we talk about charging for value, not um time. Yeah. And value is all related to that end result you can get for them for that transformation. So if you can get that transformation from someone, they will pay good money to get that result. But if you're trying to sell them, you know, consultation sessions or something, and you know, they think, oh gosh, she's 550 an hour. Oh my gosh, who would pay that? You know. But if they know that you can get them this result, then time becomes irrelevant. It's about, you know, and money that the pricing becomes irrelevant. It's about how much do they value that end result. And just as an example, Sam, I thought we could use our Bali page because I thought you did a good job for our Bali retreat. So, you know, it's it's the price isn't confirmed yet, but it's going to be between four and five thousand dollars for this transformational retreat. And yeah, it on our page, you say, let's put this in perspective for you. A business consultant charges$300,000 to$500 an hour typically. You get three days of focus strategy, facilitation, and implementation at that rate. If you did, that would cost you about$12,000 to get that time with a business coach, because we're talking about three full days of group and individual coaching. And that's without the accommodation, the meals, the community, or the accountability structure that keeps you working after you leave, all of the transformational results that you'll get. So the average business owner who doesn't understand their pricing, their systems, or their strategy is leaving between$20,000 and$50,000 on the table every year, not through bad luck or through not knowing what they don't know, but three days in Bali fixes that. So yeah, it's like, what are you willing to pay to be able to increase your revenue by$20,000 to$50,000 a year minimum? Is it then worth spending$5,000 on three days to actually get a really clear strategy to do that?

SPEAKER_01 35:15

Yes. And we do have to shift the perspective. And this is where this marketing conversation that we will have coming up in another episode is so important. But this is the basis of our irresistible offer for the Bali retreat. It's the transformation we can deliver in three days.

SPEAKER_02 35:32

And we know we can because we've done it before, you know. Yeah. We have. Collectively, yeah. There's something about the group environment as well, isn't it? When you dedicate time just to step out of the ret race, be immersed in a beautiful physical environment, and just focus on your business. And you've got a lot of space and free time, the inspiration drops in, the clarity drops in. Yes. So it is a transformational thing. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 35:58

Yes. Yes. And what I've learned is that it doesn't all just happen in those three days. There's some big ones that can drop in those three days. Absolutely. But it's it's the recurring little bits and pieces that fall into place in the weeks and months after it. Yeah. That you know, you've got to consider that this is something that the transformation continues long after the three days in Bali. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 36:30

Yeah. So what price do you put on that? If you come out and what price do you put on that? Yeah, maybe you were earning a hundred thousand and you come away from the retreat and you can earn two, three hundred plus, you know, the the if you have that level of clarity and yeah, smash through some limiting beliefs or and I know Kate at your last retreat, you know, we were witness to, you know, people's minds being very much open to possibility where they came in really, really closed off. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, that's right. It's a beautiful thing. Yeah. So pricing needs to reflect the value of the thing you are, you know, delivering for the person, not the time that you put into it, or although that's got to be factored in because you don't want to underprice and undersell, you know. But the yeah, if you get away from thinking I'm selling my time, I am selling something of value, and what price does the market put on that? What value does the market give that result? And how much is it worth to them?

SPEAKER_01 37:36

Particularly when you can reverse engineer it and work out what it costs them not to.

SPEAKER_02 37:42

That's right. What's the cost of not doing it? The other thing we do need to touch on is risk reversal. It's really important.

SPEAKER_01 37:49

Oh, yes, I've got that one cat. That's the very next point I've got noted here, okay?

SPEAKER_02 37:55

This is because the market is really skeptical. They don't trust anyone. Like they need to see not just see the credibility, but they also need to see that if they do invest this money, there's a way for them to either get a refund if it doesn't work, or there's a guarantee of some kind. And I know coaches that do this where they say, work with me and I will guarantee a two for one return on your investment minimum. So if you spend$3,000 a month with me, I will make sure you're making$6,000 additional to, you know, to cover that. So then it's a no-risk, there's no risk for the buyer basically in that situation.

SPEAKER_01 38:32

That's right. Yes. The the responsibility has definitely shifted off the customer and onto the service provider on the business owner now, which is something that we haven't seen before. You know, it used to always be buyer aware, but it times have very, very much changed. Yeah. So, you know, for anybody that is having a heart attack right now, thinking about all these, you know, rip-off customers that are going to come to them and get a transformation but then ask their money back. These risk reversals have to be very carefully crafted. Yeah. Because you might offer a money back guarantee, but particularly in the coaching space or you know, it when you're providing a service, there have to be caveats to that.

SPEAKER_02 39:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 39:19

Because you can't just expect one side to do all the heavy lifting unless that is their promise. But, you know, for example, using the example of a coach, you can't expect a coach to promise a deliverable and then you sit there and not do anything.

SPEAKER_02 39:35

So they have to prove that they're actively engaged in the coaching process, that they show up, that they do the actions that are assigned to them. You there have to be some terms and conditions around, you know, and most of that's how a lot of these, especially in the health industry, they make guarantees. You know, if you don't see a difference within two months, we'll give your money back. But then you have to be able to show them a log of where you've actually taken it every day or you've done everything they suggested every single day. So it's very hard to get the refund back, even if you want it. So in that case, sometimes they feel a bit gimmicky. But I do think risk reversal does show that you're willing to take responsibility for the outcome and that you're so confident in your ability to get that outcome for them that you will offer them two for one or you know, for every dollar invest you invest with me, I'll make sure you get two times that in terms of revenue and return. Because this is about creating a relationship with somebody.

SPEAKER_01 40:29

And relationships need two parties to be actively involved. So the risk reversal of providing a refund has to be about I know that I can help you, but you have to step into this wanting to also help yourself. You need to step into it and listen to what I'm telling you and do what I say. Or it's not going to work. And that can't be on me, that has to be on you. Yeah. It's on me if you do it all and it doesn't happen for you. Yeah. That's then on me. That's right.

SPEAKER_02 41:03

And so I guess if you're a service business, what could you offer in terms of a guarantee or a refund or something that you can say, I'm willing to put skin in the game here and back myself and say that I can get you this result. And if not, you know, this is what I can offer you. So yeah, have a good think about how you could reverse the risk, is what they're saying. So typically the risk is with the buyer, but you've got to reverse that risk for them so that they feel literally that there's no risk in investing with you. They're going to be safe. Their money that they spend will be a safe investment.

SPEAKER_01 41:35

It is one of the psychological elements to creating an irresistible offer and making it a no-brainer for them to say has been easy. But it has to be that the buyer feels like they have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 41:52

And what you said is true across all of this. It's all psychological elements, isn't it? That people need to tick off in their brain. Is it safe? Is it credible? Am I going to waste my money? You know, will I be able to get my money back if it doesn't work? It's addressing all their fears and concerns.

SPEAKER_01 42:08

Yes. People do not want to be wrong.

SPEAKER_02 42:12

Yeah. That's right. They definitely don't want to be burned. There's a lot of really skeptical people out there, including myself. Yeah, it takes a lot for me now to pull my wallet out and invest in someone's product or service. Because I, yeah, I guess we we do get burned and we want to make sure that the money we spend is is a is a worthwhile expense.

SPEAKER_01 42:30

Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 42:31

And the last few minutes before we need to wrap up, we just will touch on productization, which is when you have a service-based business. How could you put your services into different bundles that people pay for? And, you know, we we used to do this in coaching. We'd have a very basic program, which would be just one session a month to keep people on track for 12 months, and they'd have access to a few other things. The middle tier would be two coaching sessions a month, which we know creates more traction, more momentum. So they're meeting it with us every two weeks, and then they'd have some other advantages around that. They'd have access to the group coaching and a whole bunch of other things. And then there was the VIP, the highest tier, which was for those that really want to go hard, fast, and that was meeting weekly and really intense one-to-one coaching. And some people want to pay the premium for that, they want the results quickly and they'd invest$20,000 up front because they want that intensity of getting where they want to go. So it's about having products that suit where someone is at in their journey. And we always say the psychological element is three. Don't have too many offers because that's confusing. The confused person never buys, but have more than two because you don't want it to be a yes-no answer. Three is just you you see it on every single website, right? There's three options.

SPEAKER_01 43:52

Yes, the rule of three it makes the brain very, very happy. You know, there's so many different parts of this where we involve it. Invoke the rule of three, but office is definitely one of them.

SPEAKER_02 44:04

Yeah. Yep. So give people three options. They typically end up going for the middle one. Or you know, when you go to a website and they say most popular or most recommended, you know, and it's always the middle one. But it's about having products that can suit people at different need levels and different budget levels. And so irresistible offers also tend to bundle things. So they're not just getting your time, but maybe they're getting something else to go with it, whether it's a free resource or a standalone course that they get for free. How can you bundle your products and services into? It's true for product businesses as well. If you can bundle your products into certain, you know, offerings, that also works. But particularly in service businesses, what could you bundle into three different products in your business? That's uh lower investment, medium, medium investment, and higher investment.

SPEAKER_01 44:57

Yes. And try and think outside the box of just adding more time. Because that has potential to fracture your business when you're just relying on time commitment. So you've got to think around other things that can support the work that you're doing, not necessarily the work itself. You know, so for example, as a coach, you might have templates that you provide to the customer. You may have an ebook, a guide, like all these kinds of, there's a lot of digital products that you could provide for support. Maybe it's access to a private community. There are lots of different ways that you can add value without adding time.

SPEAKER_02 45:38

And it does take time to develop those things up in business. So if you're starting out, sometimes it is just your time you're selling, but you have to think about bundling it in a way that's, you know, not going to leave you burned out and giving too much of yourself. But interesting that you said that term psychological elements. All the things in an irresistible offer are all the different psychological elements that you have to consider. Are there have we missed anything, Sam, before we wrap up?

SPEAKER_01 46:06

Oh, look, I think the only thing that we would add into the mix here is talking about scarcity. Now we've all seen those wretched timers. Yeah. No one trusts them. It's 2026. No one trusts the timer anymore. There is more trust around limiting numbers. For example, I can only take on three people this week. Yeah. Then get in before the timer runs out. And then, you know, a week later, the timer's still going. Yeah, that's right. It's like a lot different now last week.

SPEAKER_02 46:44

Gender and scarcity works well. Yeah, we can only take 10 people to Bali, for example, you know, so or 15, I think we decided to.

SPEAKER_01 46:51

15. We said, yeah, because there's two of us, you know, so we can manage to increase that a little bit because there are two of us. Yeah. And um, you know, we we know that with 15 people, we can still give them amazing attention.

SPEAKER_02 47:04

Yeah, that's right. But then it if you snooze, you lose. If you miss out, then we can't take more than 15, you know. So that's the genuine scarcity. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 47:13

You know, and in that situation for an event, a timer is also genuine. But, you know, for an evergreen course, you can't put a timer on that as and say it's scarcity.

SPEAKER_02 47:24

Yeah, that's right. And yeah, people are a bit wiser now to those mimic marketing gimmicks, you know, that's and look, scarcity is a really critical element because it does motivate people to move.

SPEAKER_01 47:36

It does. And sometimes they need that little cattle prod to get them to actually press the button.

SPEAKER_02 47:41

It works a treat. If there's an actual deadline and it's gone, that can work really well. Yeah. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 47:48

But only if it is actually genuine.

SPEAKER_02 47:52

Yeah. And so we've offered an early bird to the first five people that sign up for a retreat, for example. Yes, they have it's a really good way of getting people to act quickly and actually make the decision. Because if they don't, if they don't act early, they're going to end up paying another extra five, six, uh, hundred dollars plus to have the same experience, right? So things like that can work really well into and that's what urgency is. It's about giving people an incentive to make a decision now rather than thinking, oh yeah, I'll do that next week.

SPEAKER_01 48:22

Because next week they've forgotten the website that they were on. The algorithm knows what it's shown you, it knows what you've Google searched, knows what you've hung around and watched on TikTok and Instagram and Facebook. And so if you don't capture people's attention in the right way and encourage them that now is the right time to buy, the algorithm is going to show them 10 other businesses that are doing similar things to yours. That's right. You've got to stand out. This offer has to hit the mark.

SPEAKER_02 48:52

So if you need help with your irresistible offer, we are going to be running a workshop on the 15th of April. So come along and get our eyes on your offer, and we can advise you on how you can tweak it, optimise it, improve it, and get all your questions answered on that front. Yeah, next time we've covered off business identity, and today was the irresistible offer. Next episode will be about actually taking that offer to market. How do you then go and market this offer and get people to see it and hopefully say yes to it? That is the revenue generating engine. And then the week after that, we'll be discussing sales and how to sell. So stay tuned, everyone, and we hope you found today valuable. We will be back next week.

SPEAKER_00 49:37

You've got the strategies. Now let's build the systems. Whether you're joining our workshops or transforming at our barley business retreat, we're here to help you scale without the burnout. Visit Thriving Business Podcast.com to join our community. Until next time, keep building a business that thrives.