What Makes People Want to Give You Their Money? The 7 Words That Close a Sale
Seven words that make people want to buy: make your offer possible, plausible, protecting, payable and pressing, then push and pull.
There are 7 words that actually make people want to give their money to you.
- 1Possible
- 2Plausible
- 3Protecting
- 4Payable
- 5Pressing
- 6Push
- 7Pull
Make it sound possible
The solution has to be within their reach, and they can experience the result within a time frame. They need to see that they can replicate the same result you promised them.
Two ways to do that
- 1
Other customers' testimonials
Those from people with the same background as your customers are even more powerful. These social proofs make it possible for them to experience the same.
- 2
A step-by-step guide
Simply show Step 1, 2 and 3 to replicate the result. Make each step as easy as possible.
Make it sound plausible
People buy because of the feelings they want to receive, but they still use logic and reason to consider the purchase. That's why your product or service has to sound plausible.
Plausible means two things
| What it means | |
|---|---|
| Proven | Someone has used your product or service before, so new customers can feel confident. |
| Probable | Your customers can expect a similar kind of result within a certain time frame. |
Again, past customer testimonials and social reviews play a major part here.
Make it protecting
By default, people will do nothing unless it's safe to do so. So you need to offer some level of protection for your customers. This is the risk reversal.
“What happens if I don't like the product? What happens if the product doesn't work for me?”
Have one of these in place
- A refund policy
- A guarantee
- A trial period
- Make it clear upfront, and as close as possible to the checkout
Make it payable
Unless it's free, there has to be some way for you to take money from your customers. The easier you make that process, the more likely they will pay. The more transparent you make it, the more likely they will buy from you.
Consider multiple buying options
- Pay in instalments
- Pay in their preferred currency
- Lay-by
- PayPal, which offers some level of customer protection as part of its platform
- A subscription, which makes it easier for people to repeat their purchase regularly
Tip
Payable also means affordable
Your pricing needs to be reasonable, and customers need to be able to afford it.
Make it sound pressing
Even when people want something, they can always decide later, and later often becomes never. So give them a real reason to act now.
Keep the reason real
Do
- Use a real deadline, such as when the offer ends
- Be honest about limited stock or places
- Tell them what they keep missing out on while they wait
Don't
- Run a countdown that resets
- Say “only 3 left” when it isn't true
- Say “last chance” and then run the same offer next week
Push and pull
These last two work as a pair. Pull makes people want it. Push helps them decide. With only pull, they admire your offer and leave. With only push, they feel sold to.
What each one does
| Pull | Push | |
|---|---|---|
| Its job | Makes them want it | Helps them decide |
| How it sounds | “Picture your life once this is sorted.” | “Book your spot today.” |
| What to use | The result they want, stories and photos of it | One clear button that says exactly what to do next |
Tip
Pull first, then push
Make them want it, then ask them to act. And do ask: a good offer can still lose the sale if you never ask for it.
About the author. Bach Ly is a software engineer with 17+ years building websites and applications for teams at Cochlear, CommSec, Pepper Money and ResMed, and now builds web applications and online integrations through KoalaDigital. More about Bach.
