Packages
Every business selling a product or service designs and markets them in an intentional way. That way is your sales package. Understanding the psychology of how your customers decide to buy from you, and what can hold them back, can help you optimise sales in your business. In this blog we share practical ideas and tips for creating compelling sales packages.
what is a sales package?
Sales packages are about more than bundling or having eye-catching design. Importantly, the goal of them is not to get the customer to buy more of something they don’t need! What they are is a toolkit of everything you need to effectively communicate your value proposition and guide your customer through their buying journey.
What we are therefore aiming for in a strong sales package is something that:
Makes it really clear what we are selling
Shows what problem it solves for the customer
Does it in a way that is compelling compared to the alternatives
If we can make it easy for our customers to see that our product or service does these things, and simplify the decision to buy, we are on to a winning combination.
what influences a customer’s decision?
There are so many factors that influence our purchasing decisions.
Our perceptions and beliefs about the world
The influence of other people
Our personal circumstances
The way we process information
Inertia - our tendency to want to keep doing the same thing
Of these, it is the last two that we can tap into as part of our sales process.
modes of thinking
In his book “Thinking, Fast and Slow”, author Daniel Kahneman categorises the way we process information into two systems.
System 1 thinking is fast, automatic and intuitive. Like answering the question ‘what is 2 + 2?’. Our brains are dominated by this type of thinking when it comes to routine purchases, impulse buys and decisions that don’t need a lot of involvement. An example is deciding what milk to buy when you are in a shop.
System 2 thinking on the other hand is slow, deliberate and logical. It requires you to stop and think about what the right answer is. Like answering the question ‘what is 471 x 501?’. When a decision is complex, involved or something we do infrequently, this type of thinking dominates. For example, buying a house or deciding where to go on holiday. There are lots of criteria to meet meaning the decision is not straight forward.
In reality, these two systems are not separate, they interact. The way they interact is that system 1 normally proposes a choice (based on an initial emotional connection), and system 2 will then endorse it (providing the justification for the choice). What you then find is:
Well designed packages appeal to both systems
Tapping into system 1 thinking and generating that immediate appeal and connection are vital, regardless of the type of product or service you sell
‘system 1’ sales packages
To tap into System 1 thinking, our sales packages need to create a sense of urgency and have emotional appeal, making the decision to buy instant. Below are some ideas that you can apply to your business. Not all of them might seem immediately relevant, but I encourage you to glean a nugget of an idea from as many of them as possible!
‘system 2’ sales packages
To tap into System 2 thinking, our sales packages need to simplify complex information, show that your solution is comprehensive and meets a variety of needs. It needs to reduce the perceived risk of the purchase in the mind of your customer and make sure there is a robust justification for the service and the cost.
What three things could you try?
