The Power of the Irresistible Offer

By Joe Polish
Two of the most important elements in marketing are the OFFER and the LIST.
Now, assuming you have a great LIST of people that have identified themselves as wanting something, or that are interested in a particular subject matter, then you need a way to give them what they want.
So, what’s the mechanism or means that gives people what they want? An irresistible offer.
But the question is: How do you create and set up an irresistible offer that delivers to the other person something they already want (and preferably something they’ve been looking for)? How do you deliver a solution to a problem someone has that you can solve with your product or service (even if the other person is unaware that you can solve it)?
Well, the simple way you do it is by setting up the irresistible offer in a way that makes it easy to get the solution you have into their hands and compels them to want to BUY IT.
One thing you need to remember is this: The number one question in a consumer’s minds is, “WHO can I trust?”
That’s the question everybody has. You have it. I have it. Everyone has it. For example, I’m not going to eat a restaurant if I think that eating there is going to give me food poisoning! So, if you have a product or service that will truly help people, then what you need to do is remove the fear and then the other person will buy.
The job of the marketer is to establish trust and rapport, and simultaneously make the other person feel comfortable doing business with you. And one of the best ways to do this while eliminating virtually all the risk is through a powerful and irresistible offer!
Let me give you an example: When I was a dead broke carpet cleaner, I had to think of all the things that people didn’t know that they did not know about choosing a carpet cleaner. How did I do this?
I used education-based marketing to educate them on why they should do business with me and to get them off the issue of price. I would use headlines like, “The Most Thorough Cleaning Ever Or It’s Free.” I would offer a free room of carpet cleaning up to 200 square feet without any cost or obligation of any kind. I would also provide them with a free carpet audit, where I would go into their home and evaluate the condition of their carpets.
Now, to this day, 20 years later, since I came up with that offer, it’s still the most powerful way for a carpet cleaner to sell a service that, frankly, nobody wants to buy. And the reason is that we offer to give people a demonstration so that they can try it for free, and then we give them an education on evaluating the condition of their carpet. It’s an example of an irresistible offer.
So that would be an example of making an irresistible offer that gives people something valuable AND educates them about how your product or service solves their problem. And this works for ANYTHING from carpet cleaning to the human brain!
One more important point: You can make your offers even more irresistible by adding a GUARANTEE. In addition to giving the other person a sample or letting them try your product or service, you can say, “and if you decide to hire us (or use our product), we even back it up with a 100% money back guarantee. There’s no risk or obligation of any kind and if you’re not totally satisfied, you get 100% of your money back.”
So here’s what you should do now:
Get out a yellow pad (or a piece of paper, or a word document) and think of whatever business you’re in, and try to come up with an offer where you can eliminate 100% of the risk, let them try your services as best you can, and educate them along the way.
Ask yourself:
1. How can I eliminate 100% of the risk?
2. How can I let the other person try my product or service?
3. How can I educate the other person along the way?
Remember: The best offer is an irresistible offer and one that’s totally risk free and educates the other person so that they can make an intelligent, informed decision.
If people can feel like they are confident in making an intelligent, informed decision AND you offer a 100% no risk guarantee. That is even more powerful. And then when you can back all of this up by identifying and showcasing people just like them through the use of testimonials or case studies that have used your product or service, that is one of the closest ways you are ever going to get to making an irresistible offer.