First of all, get your mind out of the gutter — I said
“back-end”, not “rear-end”, O.K.?
You see, today I’m going to teach you about getting
“back-end” sales and why you must make them.
And, if you’re still struggling with your back-end sales,
and you can’t seem to nail down “what” to sell as your
back-end product, I’m also going to give you a unique
mind-set to use, so that by the time we’re finished…
coming up with a back-end product should be a cinch!
We’re going to talk about 3 things:
1. What is a “back-end” sale?
2. Some specific examples of back-end sales! And…
3. How to make a back-end sale even when you think you can’t
get one! (And why there’s ALWAYS a sale to be made!)
O.K., so without any further adieu…
What’s A Back-End Sale?
A back-end sale is, your “sale after the sale”. Meaning,
it’s what you sell one of your clients or customers, after
you’ve sold them you’re “main” service or product.
You see, most people are so possessed with just “getting” a
new customer, once your sale is made and your euphoria is
gone… you’re so excited, you just start thinking about
your “next” piece of business and you leave a bunch of money
lying on the table by not helping this new customer of
yours out, even more.
The truth is, you’re not finished with that first customer
yet — not by a long-shot.
What you should be thinking about, is… your “back-end”
sale.
In fact, you shouldn’t ever think of selling anything unless
you’ve got a back-end sale behind it.
Why?
Well, just think about it: What’s the toughest time to get
money out of someone?
The first time, right?
And what’s the easiest time to get money out of someone?
Either the same time they’re giving you money or after
they’ve given you money, right?
Back-end sales are the sales you make just after your
customer gives you money.
Listen, in business there’s very little “low-hanging” fruit
to pick off the trees. So please don’t leave one of the
few opportunities you have to make some “easy money” left
lying around unattended, O.K.?
And sometimes, the only low-hanging fruits you get to
stretch your arm out and snap off that beautiful bountiful
fruit-tree, are called a “back-end” sales or “upsells”.
Whenever you sell someone something, always think about
another logical sale you can make to your customer, either
at the same time (an upsell)… or shortly afterwards (a
back-end sale).
Just start getting yourself into that mindset —
re-programming, or re-training your thinking so this becomes
your “norm” — and over time you will become SERIOUSLY
wealthier because of it.
Let me show you some specific examples here so you can see
what I mean:
Here Are Your Back-End Samples:
A few weeks ago I took my older son to the Incubus concert.
Aside from having a fantastic time, sharing some quality
father-son “bonding”, we were able to teach see some solid
back-end marketing being done at the show.
For example, after forking over $70 bucks for the tickets…
once we were at the show, I also got the pleasure of
droppinganother $35 Dollars on a t-shirt for my son.
If I wanted, I also could’ve bought a $25 Dollar baseball
cap… a $15 Dollar program… and a $20 Dollar CD.
Lucky Me!
My point is… each of these related items being sold at the
concession stands are “back-end” sales to the up-front
ticket sale. And in actual fact, when it comes down to
it… the concert itself, is a back-end sale.
The original sale was made when I bought the Incubus CD in
the first place.
As an aside, you want to hear some curious differences
between going to a concert today, versus going to one in
1981, which was the year I graduated high school?
Well for starters, when I went to concerts at Madison Square
Garden, kids were passing around loose joints.
Now, they’re passing around their cell phones and capturing
pieces of the concert “live” to show their friends in
school tomorrow morning.
Another difference I noticed, was… I never had an
opportunity to sit in the “good seats” when I was a kid, and
so of course, back then I rationalized… “It didn’t
matter — I was there for the music.”
But you know what? The truth is, 4th row center really is
better than the nosebleed section!
Anyway, let’s take a look at a couple more “back-end”
examples.
Here’s one: Ever buy something online, and then a
week-or-so later, you get a coupon e-mailed to you, or a
notice about a sale on a “similar” item?
Of course, right?
Well, that’s your “back-end” sales pitch?
And it works because you have a tendency to “want” in
droves.
For example, if you buy some bodybuilding supplements,
chances are you’re going to be very open to buying some more
“amazing new” supplements or some “unique inside secrets
the Russians have been hiding about their strength
training”, soon after that.
Make sense now?
This all has to do with the 3 Magical Elements you should be
using to nail down your offer list, but we’ll talk about
that next week.
Another example would be when you buy retail items,
especially when your sales person gets paid a commission, as
opposed to… let’s say an hourly department store
employee, where you’re lucky if they’re even conscious or
civil.
When you go up to the counter, don’t the best sales people
try to accessorize your outfit?
Scarf with your blouse ladies? Handcream with your perfume?
Tie with your shirt fellas? Appetizer with your frozen
margaritas?
Each of these items (the scarf… the handcream… the
tie… and the appetizers) are all upsells to your original
purchase.
Are you starting to get this concept here a little better?
Good.
And what about when you buy a book or a CD on Amazon.com?
You know how, once you put your book into your shopping
cart, they show you “people who bought this book also
bought…” and then there’s a bunch of titles listed?
Well, that “pitch” is a back-end pitch, and it’s following
all the rules:
They’re pitching to you when you’re already agreeing to pay
them some dough…
They’re pitching you a similarly-priced item…
And, they’re pitching you a relevant item! If you bought a
book on parenting, they’re not going to recommend something
that has to do with the history of rubber tires in lower
Slovenia. They’re going to recommend another book to help
you raise your little guys.
Think those back-end pitches don’t work?
Au contraire…
Let me tell you a little story about those Amazon back-end
pitches.
Back in 1988, Joe Simpson wrote a book called “Touching The
Void”.
Joe was a British mountain climber and “Touching The Void”
was his story of the near-death experience he had, while
climbing up the Peruvian Andes mountains.
Now even though Joe’s book got pretty good reviews, it
didn’t really sell very many copies, and in fact, 10 years
later it was nearly out-of-print.
O.K., now roll the clock forward 11 years later to 1999.
Jon Krakauer writes “Into Thin Air”, another book about a
mountain-climbing tragedy — this time about a climb that
took place in 1996 along Mount Everest.
(And by-the-way… did you know Mount Everest is located in
Nepal, which is a small country about half the size of New
Mexico, just in between India and China? I didn’t know
that.)
Anyhow, for whatever reason, Krakauer’s book becomes a hit.
All of a sudden, from out of nowhere… Joe Simpson’s 11
year-old and for all intents and purposes, “dead” book
“Touching The Void”… starts selling again.
But this time it’s selling…
Like Hotcakes!
How well did “Touching The Void” start selling this time
around?
It sold so well, Random House (the publisher) had to crank
out a whole new edition, just to keep up with the demand for
the book.
Then because of all the new online activity, offline
booksellers began a flurry of new in-store campaigns… and
before you know it, it’s on the New York Times Bestseller
List…
For 14 Freakin’ Weeks!
Not bad for a book that was all but written off 6-months
earlier, is it?
And how did this happen?
The answer is simple: Amazon.com recommended “Touching The
Void” as a back-end sale to people who bought “Into Thin
Air”.
Incredible, huh?
The moral of the story is… back-end sales and upsells may
be the easiest money you’re not getting if you’re not doing
this right!
You must start training your mind to always think of
selling, like a “1-2” punch from a heavyweight boxer.
You tag ’em with your jab, and then immediately afterwards,
send ’em an solid uppercut, like this: “Front-end,
back-end… front-end, back-end… front-end, back-end.”
O.K.?
Lastly, let’s take a look at…
How to make a back-end sale even when you think you can’t
make one!
(And why there’s ALWAYS a sale to be made!)
There are some professions where you think, “Hey, I can’t
get a back-end sale here — I can only get one sale because
nothing’s “left” after that.”
Well ye of little faith… come hither… settle down… and
listen very closely to what I’m about to say… because
what you really need to do is just start looking at things
differently.
Sometimes, you need to look at your business, as a series of
little “mini-systems” all put together.
When one system ends, another one begins…
Each of your systems are going to have different
end-results, but the overall goal is always going to be…
To Stuff More Greenbacks Into Your Fat Little Piggy Bank!
Make sense? Comprende? Comprenez-vous?
Good. I was running out of languages to use.
Anyway, here’s an example of what you’d probably think is a
traditional “one-shot sale” kind of business, and how
you’re going to get a back-end product out of it.
I’m talking about the proverbial real estate broker.
Imagine you’re a real estate broker. You’re probably
thinking, “After I sell someone a house, what could I
possibly sell them after that?”
Well, you’ve got a few choices here:
If you look at your business a little differently, you don’t
look at what you can sell them. Instead, you look at “What
other sources of income can you get out of them?”
Like…
Referrals for example!
Let’s look at the numbers here to see what I’m talking
about.
If you sell a home or a condo for $200,000 and you split
your 6% commission evenly with another realtor, you wind up
making $6,000 Dollars, right?
Right.
Now what do most real estate brokers do after their
transaction is over?
After they help you buy or sell your home — if you’re LUCKY
— they send you a nice fruit basket that costs $50 bucks,
and then every Christmas after that, they send you a cheesy
calendar with their picture on it.
And usually when you get the cheesy calenday, you look at it
and then you toss it in the garbage.
(Or else you give it to one of your older relatives that
either lives in another country, or that you don’t really
like very much. True?)
But what if instead of doing this, you take 10% of your
commission, and buy your clients 2 round-trip airline
tickets to Las Vegas, or somehwere else they’d really enjoy
going?
And then, instead of the cheesy calendar you send out at
Christmas, what if you sent them a monthly newsletter called
“Craig Garber’s Low-Cost And Easy Two-Minute Tips To
Keeping Your Family Home Looking Like A Million-Dollar
Estate!” (except you’d put your name on your newsletter
and not my name, of course)
Don’t you think if you did these 2 things alone, you’d have
your clients endorsing you all over town emphatically,
each-and-every single opportunity they could?
These folks wouldn’t be clients, they’d be hard-core members
of your fan club, and ANY time they heard someone wanted a
realtor, they’d do absolutely EVERYTHING in their power to
make sure it was you.
Plus, what if you reminded them every month in your
newsletter, you’d pay them $500 Dollars for every person
they referred to you, who ultimately either bought or sold
a house using you!
How much of a raving fan would each of your clients be in
THAT case?
So you wind up spending $1,100 Dollars to get a new client
that’s going to put at least another $6,000 Dollars in your
pocket!
Sounds like a winner to me, doesn’t it?
And, these new clients will be much better than your average
run-of-the-mill clients, too. Remember, these clients
called on you for your expertise, and they don’t need to be
“sold” on anything.
They’ve already been “pre-sold” on you. You’ve been so
heavily endorsed by the people who referred them, they’re
going to do everything you tell them to do, including
working with you exclusively, and you’re going to love it.
And here’s yet another way you could make some back-end
sales. What if you had articles in your monthly written by
local people like designers… furniture store managers…
pest control operators… caterers… landscape artists…
insurance agents… accountants… and other people who
could help your clients.
And each of these articles contained a special offer, only
for people who read your newsletter.
Then, whenever someone called and used one of those coupons,
you’d have an arrangement with the vendor that says you get
“X” percent of the gross purchases, or a flat referral
fee, or free pest control, or whatever.
See the back-end potential of this “one-shot” business now?
Remember, with a little thought… a hell of a lot of
ambition… and a willingness to take action…
Everything’s Possible!
Now go sell something.
P.S. Check out all the prior archives you’ve been
missing, right here at:
http://www.kingofcopy.com/tips/tiparchives.html