Facilitating client acquisition: Use entry-level products

What is an entry-level product? And how can they help with facilitating client acquisition?

An entry or gateway product is the first product a client buys.

But it is more than just that if you handle it right.

For your clients, an entry-level product is what platform nine ¾ is like for Harry Potter: The entrance to Hogwarts – and a great future.

O.k. that is a bit of an exaggeration.

The reason why entry-level products are facilitating client acquisition is not only due to direct sales.

The bigger benefit of how entry-level products help your business is with your future sales.

Let me explain.

Dan Kennedy defined the term Future Turnover or Future Money. His philosophy is to see every new client regarding the future value he can deliver to that person. And in terms of the turnover he earns with that client.

This strategy alone can give you an increase in income.

Because acquiring a first-time client is more expensive than making further purchases with existing clients.

Depending on the study you are using or the industry you are working in, it costs five to 25 times more to attract a new client than to keep an existing client. But it goes further.

Such clients can significantly contribute to your business success.

A study by Frederick Reichheld of Bain & Company shows that a 5% increase (Client Retention) leads to a rise in profit between 25% and 95%. If you get dizzy trying to calculate that: Yes, that can be a considerable sum that you make.

And it is one of the points that belong to the category don’t leave money on the road anymore.

So, if you are not just focusing on new clients but maintaining your current clients, your business tends to be more well-positioned than if you don’t.

The question remains:

How should entry-level products be that are facilitating client acquisition?

There are a few points that you should consider for this type of offer to lead to Future Money. Not every product is suitable for entry.

Before Mike & I understood the value of smaller products, we put a lot of time and effort into extensive courses.

Monoliths, as one client called it. And precisely, this flattering little statement was the impetus for us to rethink. (And today, we are still very grateful for the remark.)

Here are the main six points of how entry-level products help:

# 1 – Make your entry-level product ridiculously affordable

Think of your buying behavior. Do you spend two, three, five hundred or more bucks with a stranger? (The new shoe shop does not count.). Rather no.

And you can probably assume that the same applies to your clients.

Even if you have already experienced high investments off the cuff, there usually is a good reason for it—a recommendation. Or someone searched for solutions to a problem for a long time, really engaged with the content intensely.

And it resonated with her.

For the majority of your first-time clients, you should make it as easy as humanly possible, which includes a price that is paid without having to think twice.

There is something I would like to add, though:

Depending on your industry, a price range can be so low that you may attract customers you don’t want to attract.

So, the term “ridiculously affordable” should be linked to the prices of your other services.

# 2 – Make an irresistible offer

You know the concept of urgency in marketing. Urgency can tip potential clients across the buying edge in a good way. People usually have a lot to do. And do not want to take risks.

Everything can be a risk, because hey, do we know what the world will be like tomorrow?

Urgency becomes an incentive to act now because it simply is “too good to be true.”

The urgency will not look the same for every industry. In complex, high-priced advisory services, speed often has more of an aspect: what happens when nothing happens? So, show how much speed is possible.

But no matter what industry you are in, ask yourself what it is that is so important to your clients that they act now.

A few examples:

• Offer a special price for a particular time in your sales funnel. Forty-seven dollars is more convincing than 97 dollars.
• Special, reduced offers for newsletter subscribers: The “summer special” for our online planning days was top-rated.
• Put additional consulting services into a package. These other components must be something that your client wants and that can tip them over the edge, especially if they were long thinking about it.

And your message does not have to say: This is cheaper. Buy now, or you will regret it.

It is more about making your client feel like they are doing the right thing (she has procrastinated for a while). And because of this special offer it is the perfect time to go for it.

That is not entirely trivial.

And you will be rewarded in any case if you do it right.

# 3 – Make your entry-level product rapidly consumable and available

Don’t deliver content over a couple of weeks. Nothing that belongs to the category piece by piece or gradually given.

Today’s clients are not patient.

And this is even more true for a first-time purchase.

Yes, clients want to feel appreciated even after their 10^th and 15^th purchase. However, after these (many, good) experiences, they are much more willing to be patient if it takes a little longer.

With the first purchase?

Not so much.

# 4 – Make the benefit of your entry-level product specific and tangible

This point is self-explanatory. Ask yourself what services are your ideal clients looking for?

What has repeatedly appeared in your conversations with clients, and where do clients have a big question mark in mind?

For us, one of the questions was:

How should I be visible as a small business if I cannot clone myself (and can not afford to pay 10 people)?

This is why we created the product: “10x – the strategy to increase your visibility tenfold without working 10x more.”

The benefit of this product is specific. And tangible.

And the implementation is very easy, as we added checklists, examples, and templates.

# 5 – Make implementation a breeze

In marketing jargon, there exists the term of consumption. To put it in simple terms: If someone does not consume (and as a result implement) what they buy, they stop buying at one point.

And you probably know this about yourself, too.

If you do not have some kind of success with the product within a specific timeframe, you go to another vendor.

The same is true for your clients. They no longer read or listen and buy additional products from you. Which does not have to be your fault. This is simply how business is.

Note: Consumption is good for business.

# 6 – Make your purchase process ridiculously easy

It may already start on your sales page, where your customer learns what they are buying, why this is essential for them, how it works – and how they get it.

Like, physical to them on the desk.

Think again about your buying behavior. You find this smoothy-maker you were looking for so long.

But is it good? Will it mix frozen bananas the way you want it? How long will it take to get it? What happens if it does not come? What if it does not keep what it promises?

And what are those hieroglyphs in the shopping cart? Am I buying another year’s pack of wipes here?

And. So. On.

Your purchase process should be straightforward, especially for an entry-level product.

Visually appealing, yes. And so simple that a five-year-old would understand what she gets and how.

Summary

So, there you have it. The most important reasons why entry-level products are facilitating client acquisition. They reduce fears, worries, or concerns a prospect has.

And that can bring them from spectator-land to client-land without much effort.

Which is a good thing.

Let me know in the comments – do you use (or want to use) entry-level products? And what are your experiences with them?

What could you do now? How about reading this …

5 things you need to know if you have ADHD on your team