selling more products

Why Our Prices End With 99 Cents

A buddy of mine
will buy an item priced at
$19.99
much faster than
an item priced at
$20.00.

Why?

Because 1 is much less than 2.

That first digit
in the price
makes a huge difference to her.

It makes no d@mn sense.
It is only a penny cheaper.
Yet many of us
think the same way.

It is called
left-digit bias.

As Jeff Haden explains
“the leftmost digit of a number
disproportionately
influences decision-making.”

We perceive
prices ending with .99
as being bargains
and we buy more.

Researchers estimate
“ending every price with .99
would boost profits
by as much as 4 to 5 percent.”

End your prices
with .99.

Make Decisions Based On Reality

I told a COVID-safe buddy
that I bought
another personal air purifier
to take with me
when I eat in restaurants
or attend events.

She told me
if the restaurants improved
their ventilation,
I wouldn’t need that air purifier.

Sure, but that isn’t reality.
I have to make decisions
based on reality,
not the best case scenario.

Right now,
I suspect we all want to base
a decision
on a best case scenario.
(I am definitely included in this.)

Like…

Everyone who bought
product 1
will buy product 2.

One of our posts
will go viral
and thousands of people
will discover our business.

That big problem with our product
will no longer be seen
as a problem
with prospects and customers.

These best case scenarios
COULD happen.
I could also win the lottery
tomorrow.

But the odds are against that.

Base your decision making
on reality.

For Their Health

A buddy in the the travel business
told me
they are seeing an increase
in bookings for vacations
for ‘mental health reasons.’

The world is a mess.
People are under
a lot of stress due to that.

They are searching
for ways
to decrease that stress.

Does your product/service
decrease stress?

Does it offer an escape?
Does it take some of the workload
off people?
Does it make their lives easier?

Stress that
in your marketing material.

Encourage prospects
to buy your products/services
‘for their mental health.’

There’s a growing need
for that.

Include The Buy Link

Yes, I know
your products are available
at a variety of places.

Yes, I know
if you set up a page
with links to all those places,
you will likely
forget one.

Yes, I know
it is simpler
to tell prospects
to search for
your product name
at their online store of choice.

But most people
won’t search
for your product name.

That is too much work
for them.
(I’m included in that group.)

They won’t buy your product.

Add a buy link
to social media posts.

If you forget
an online store
on your website’s product listing,
add it.

But please send customers
somewhere.

Not Everyone Is Online

I’m online every day.
I prefer to handle
everything
online
and not see
anyone face-to-face
or talk to them on the phone.

It is easy for me
to think
EVERYONE is like me
because so many of the people
I deal with
are also heavily online.

But that’s a tiny percentage
of the world’s population.
Heck, it is a tiny percentage
of America’s population.

Print book sales,
for example,
consist of 66.69%
of total book sales
in the US.

The majority
of readers,
some of the most educated,
wealthiest people
in America,
read offline.
They don’t read on their phones
or other devices.

Remember this
when
setting up systems,
crafting marketing campaigns,
deciding where
your products or services
are sold.

Only a small fraction
of people
are consistently online.