It's Gonna Be a Tough Sell Without These

You can sell services or you can sell offers.

Selling a service straight up vanilla with no thought to packaging and positioning usually devolves to who can do the service the cheapest. 

When there’s little to no reference to value (outside of “good value” which ech, boring! meaningless!), and the deliverables are similar, the only point of differentiation is price. You end up relying on a “we really care about our clients” type of hook for marketing—which is no hook at all. 

When you package a service into an offer with compelling proposition, you’re able to compete on value (or sometimes not have to compete at all), position around your expertise, and in most cases charge more.

Doing so takes the perception of your work way beyond a commoditized activity/task that is indistinguishable from others in your space doing similar things.

A lot goes into putting together a solid offer. 

There’s the structure of the offer itself, as in what you’re trying to communicate about it and the order in which you do.

There’s positioning the offer relative to other options. 

Then there’s promoting and presenting the offer and the entirety of the conversion process which might span across a phone/zoom call, proposal, sales page, pitch deck, follow-up conversations and emails, a contract. 

And let’s not forget about testing and tweaking the offer as you continue to put it in front of people!

Going back to the structure of the offer…

Here’s a breakdown of the 9 elements of an offer so you can understand the different pieces involved and think about where you're at with each when it comes to your own offer:

1. The Promise – the outcome (vision) your service/program is designed to get for ideal clients

2. The Problems to Solve – the obstacles (villains) standing in the way of their achieving the vision 

3. The Path and Payoffs – how they’re going to get there and what they get along the way (short-term gains

4. The Pains – the emotional, mental, physical, financial costs of being in the gap between where your ideal client currently is and where they want to be

5. The Positioning – how your offer compares other options your prospect has tried or might be considering

6. The Particulars – the logistics, format, timeline

7. The Proof – credibility, credentials, stories, testimonials, case studies

8. The Price

9. The Peace of Mind – risk minimizers like trials and guarantees, FAQs

Of these 9 elements, the most critical and also the hardest ones to pin down from a clarity and language standpoint are #1-3: the Promise, the Problems to Solve, and the Path and the Payoffs.

They also have the biggest impact on emotional connection, perception of value, and readiness to buy.

But once you know what #1-3 are for your offer and you get some words around them, you’ll be in a much better position to sell effectively.

Plus, you’ll use these parts of your offer copy everywhere. 

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Here's how we help coaches, consultants and creative pros leading for-profit and nonprofit businesses increase their visibility, income, and impact—in case YOU or someone you know needs: 

STRATEGIC BRAND COACHING

Get clear on your positioning, ideal client, and customer journey. Understand how to package, price, and present your offers.

MESSAGING + COPYWRITING

Develop or evolve your brand messaging—and get the literal words you'll need—for heart-centered, high-converting online and in-person communications.

MARKETING STRATEGY

Move your client-attracting words to your website and everywhere else. Take marketing actions aligned with your biz model, resources, and style for your version of success.

MARKETING FUNNEL BUILDS

Get done-for-you website design, email marketing campaigns, and client attracting resources to build your lead generation and conversion engine.

We have lots of free and low cost resources to get you started. Explore what's available here. 

And when you're ready, schedule a no-cost, no-obligation chat with Lisa.