What are your thoughts?
We live in a society where the choices seem to be unlimited. But
when it comes to persuasion and having your prospects make a
choice, it's often a better strategy to offer a limited choice.
Ever browse the supermarket aisle in search of a new product?
When confronted with the choices, it can be daunting: Small,
medium and large; no fat, low fat and regular fat; low sodium,
regular sodium; flavored, unflavored... the list goes on.
The fact is, that when faced with an abundance of choices, we are
actually less likely to make any choice at all. We get stuck in
"paralysis by analysis." This is why it's so much easier to shop
after we've chosen the brands and products we like; then we just
pick those same ones every time without thinking.
If we can make the choices simpler for our customers and clients,
we'll usually get a better overall response to our marketing. Let's
look at a place where we're asking our prospects to choose - on
our web sites.
How to Limit the Choices on a Web Site
If you look at your web site through the law of limited choice,
you'll start to notice how a visitor confronts choice when browsing
your site. This is especially true for someone coming to your site
for the first time when they are not familiar with it.
Remember, you don't just want someone to visit your site and
then leave. You want them to DO something. Ideally you want
them to make the choice and take the action of giving you their
name and email address. Nothing is more important, as it's the
follow-up emails that build relationships and make sales, not the
initial visit.
The limited choice you want to give is, "Visit this page to get a
free article or report and in the process, sign up for my eZine."
That should be the very first link a visitor encounters on your site.
How many links do you have on your home page? It's not unusual
to have half a dozen or more. And just like making a choice in the
supermarket, your visitor becomes intimidated. "Where should I
go first? I don't want to waste my time or make a mistake." The
feelings of frustration and confusion grow.
And then your visitor clicks off your site, thinking, "Maybe I'll
come back later when I have more time." But they rarely do. So
by offering too many choices of where to go, you've lost a
potential client - perhaps forever.
If you narrow your choices down to one or two, the first one being
to get some valuable free information, a much larger percentage
of visitors will click on that link. Then when they get to your "Free
Stuff" page what do they see?
It's not unusual that they'll encounter a long list, from articles
and reports to audio recordings and videos. Again, it's confusing.
There's too much choice, and overwhelm is triggered. "What
should I get first? I don't have that much time!"
On your "Free Stuff" page you need to narrow things down just
like you did on your home page. Offer one (or at the most two)
valuable things that they can get right now in exchange for their
name and email address.
This is the "most wanted response" on your web site. To expect
someone to buy something on a first visit is simply unrealistic
(not to say that it never happens). But by giving them one simple
choice for some valuable free information, a relatively high
percentage of visitors will respond to your offer.
Examine the Choices You Offer
Where else do you give too many choices to your prospects?
Where could you narrow down the choices? Here are a few that
I've noticed in working with clients over the years.
1. Speaking Engagements - Giving several topics for talks when
you approach an organization. Just give one. It makes the job
easier for the program director. Also go into more depth about
the topic and it will be much more persuasive than a list of
several topics with brief descriptions.
2. Choice of Services - It's not unusual for Independent
Professionals to list half a dozen or more services on their web
sites - each with a brief outline about each service. As with the
list of speaking topics, make the list shorter and go into much
more depth about each of the services.
3. Options for Meetings - When we encounter a prospect who
shows interest in our services, we are sometimes to eager to say
we are "open anytime" in the hope of making an appointment.
This not only smacks of desperation, if makes the choice hard for
the prospect. Instead, offer just two available times. It makes the
choice much easier.
Take a look at your marketing and where you are asking your
prospects or clients to make a choice. Are you making it too
complex, confusing, or difficult with too many options? How could
you make it simpler and easier with fewer choices? Think,
"Simplicity of choices equals better persuasion."
*
The More Clients Bottom Line: Carefully think through the choices
you offer to your prospects. Give them one to three choices, not
five, six, or more. Make it simple for them to choose and they will
actually take action instead of delaying action or never acting.
By Robert Middleton of Action Plan Marketing. Please visit
Robert's web site actionplan.com for additional
marketing articles and resources on marketing for professional
service businesses.
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