How To Make Your Ecommerce Offer Irresistible

WARNING: If They’re Not Buying, Your Offer Isn’t Irresistible One of the most valuable lessons I learned from my mentor, Dr. Eli Goldratt, is that when we try to reduce our own risk as solution providers—by adding “fine print” or limiting conditions—we often make our offer less compelling. He called a truly irresistible offer a “Mafia Offer”. It must be a win for both the buyer and the seller. If there’s any resistance from buyers or from your internal team, it’s a clear sign it’s not yet irresistible. But all “mafia” offers have potential downsides for the Supplier. If it did not, everyone else would be doing it. Trying to derisk offers to get internal buy-in can dilute a great offer. To avoid this mistake, here is Dr. Goldratt’s advice: Two Critical Questions to Test Your Offer 1. Does it remove a major constraint or solve a big pain point for the client? • If not, it’s just an ego trip. You might get a few buyers, but it won’t be a breakthrough. 2. Did you add conditions to protect yourself that weakened the offer? • Sometimes, in avoiding downside risk, you make what was once thrilling into something ho-hum. Real-World Examples of “Mafia Offers” Gone Wrong 1) The Car Dealership’s 100% Money-Back Guarantee • Original Offer: Eliminate buyer’s remorse with “Buy any car, and if you don’t love it, return it within 30 days for a full refund.” • Where It Failed: They added hidden conditions like mileage limits and mandatory inspections. Customers felt tricked, not reassured. • How CarMax Fixed It: CarMax introduced a no-questions-asked, 7-day return policy—no fine print. Buyers felt safer, and CarMax grew into a market leader. 2) The Online Shoe Company That Almost Failed • Original Offer: Zappos let customers order multiple pairs, keep what they loved, and return the rest. • The Mistake: Internal teams got nervous about shipping costs and made customers pay to send items back. They struggled to convince their dream customers to order shoes online. They were not profitable and not growing. • How Tony Hsieh Fixed it: When Tony invested in Zappo’s, he restore free shipping both ways. He used a simulation modeling to validate that there was enough margin to absorb the additional shipping cost. It worked; Zappos eventually sold to Amazon for over a billion dollars. How to Create Your Own Mafia Offer 1. Identify your dream customer’s constraint, or a big problem your product/service can solve. 2. Design an offer that uniquely solves that constraint or problem without any downside for the dream customer. 3. Ensure it is also a win for your co. , But avoid over-protecting yourself with conditions or fine prints that kill the offer’s appeal and make it highly resistible Make your dream customers feel they’d be crazy to say no. Make your competitors feel you are crazy to offer it. The more you try to guard against every minor risk, the more you sabotage the big win for BOTH sides. #irresitableoffers

Are discounts hurting your brand’s image, and performance? Before you start tossing around discounts just to get customers to buy, take a step back. Are you building a discount brand, or do you want to retain that premium image? I often see brands “train” their customers to only shop with them during heavy discount periods. This is NOT a winning strategy. Often times this dilutes margins and pulls revenue forward at the expense of predictable and stable 30/60/90 days sales. You also attract a different type of buyer (discount shopper), who usually has lower CLV and churns faster. Here’s how to get creative with your offers without slashing prices: 1. Test the Wording Instead of defaulting to percentage discounts, experiment with more strategic language in your offers. For example, if you’re a subscription business, try a "double hit" offer, where customers can bundle two subscriptions to save on shipping or receive a slight added value. This approach keeps the offer compelling without lowering your brand’s perceived value. Wording like “Double Your Order, Save on Shipping” gives the feel of an exclusive offer while still protecting margins. 2. Offer Freebies Instead For premium brands, offering a freebie can be far more powerful than offering discounts. At MANSSION, for example, free ring sizers are provided with each purchase, which adds value without devaluing the product. This approach makes customers feel they’re getting something special and unexpected. This tactic works especially well for building brand loyalty, as customers associate the “extra” with your brand’s generosity. 3. Escalate Offers for Retention Rather than immediately offering a discount to customers who haven’t repurchased, consider using a tiered incentive system. Start with a small offer, like free shipping or a minor add-on, and gradually escalate only if they remain inactive. This gives you a retention lever without conditioning customers to expect discounts right away. It also preserves the brand’s premium positioning, rewarding patience with stronger offers over time. 4. Focus on Value, Not Price Instead of simply lowering prices, focus on delivering additional value. Consider bundling products at a slightly reduced price, offering loyalty program perks, or providing exclusive early access to new products. The goal is to give customers a reason to keep buying from you without eroding your brand image. When value is defined by unique experiences or exclusive access, customers perceive your brand as generous and premium—not discounted. Key Takeaway: You don’t have to race to the bottom with discounts. A well-thought-out offer that preserves your brand’s integrity is far more powerful. Remember: Value > Price.

Some of your future best customers are using competitors today. Here's how to get them to come to you instead. Step 1: Conduct Buyer Research Interview at least 13 current or former competitor customers. Don’t overdo it with more interviews than you need, or you’ll risk diminishing returns. You'll book these quicker if you can incentivize $50 - $100 per interview. In the interview, figure out your buyers’ goals, pain points, and their experience with your competitor to see if you can identify strengths and weaknesses. Step 2: Craft Compelling Messaging Take what you learned from your buyer research and build a message that would make those buyers say, “I want that.” • Keep it simple • Speak their language • Don’t be self-centered (nobody cares about you) • Solve, don’t sell (i.e. explain how your product would make their life better or easier) OK, but how do you bring up the competitor? Lavender 💜 has a great cold email template that lays it out like this: • Acknowledge the competitor • Ask the recipient if they’re happy with it • Compliment the competitor • Highlight the competitor’s shortcomings • Open up a dialogue with a question related to the shortcomings Step 3: Choose Your Campaign Strategy Once you’ve figured out your messaging, it’s time to pick the channels to reach your audience. Map out the flow—when and how will you deliver your message? Some possibilities: Inbound: • Google Ad ➡️ Comparison Landing Page ➡️ Free Trial • Organic posts on LI ➡️ Competitive Webinar Registration ➡️ Dedicated Follow-Up • LinkedIn Ads ➡️ Long-Form Comparison Blog ➡️ Demo CTA Outbound: • Get a list of companies that your competitor shows on their site ➡️ reach out to them • Pull all closed lost opportunities from your CRM that mentioned the competitor ➡️ reach out to the companies if it’s been longer than 6 months to see how things are going Step 4: Offer Irresistible Incentives Switching to a different tool is hard. You’re essentially asking people to change processes, migrate their data, re-integrate with their tech stack, learn a new platform… so be sure to recognize this and account for it when you’re working a rip n’ replace opportunity. Unless your product is truly 10x better than the competitor being used, consider these additional incentives to make a switch to you a no-brainer: • Buyouts (ask for testimonials or case studies in return) • Free trainings (assure your prospect that their team will know how to use your product) • Free migration, implementation, and integrations to remove as much friction as possible TLDR: get creative and think outside the realm of discounts (although, those can help too). Step 5: Test, Measure, Evolve Challenge yourself and your team to put something together in under a month. See what happens. Iterate. Rip n’ replace campaigns are plays that most companies should learn to get good at!

💰 How to build the perfect product offer using psychology: In this thread we'll cover… 1. The 2 biggest offer mistakes I see brands make. 2. The only 3 offers your customers really want. 3. How to use psychology to reverse engineer your offer. Let's get into it… …….. 1 / The 2 biggest offer mistakes I see brands make: I've worked with 100's of brands, and almost all of them struggle to generate good offers because they: - overemphasize logical value - neglect psychological value Here's why this is a brand killer: Focusing solely on the logical benefits of our products restricts us to only what can be numerically explained. When we prioritize psychologically satisfying benefits, we open the door to converting customers WITHOUT having to lower the price.💰 Which leads us to... 2 / The only 3 offers your customers really want... Customers might tell you they want more colors, more variety, or more options, but in reality shopping behavior is based on just 3 core needs: 1. Convenience 2. Exclusivity 3. Value Here's how they work: 1. Convenience: customers crave seamless experiences that fit easily into their lives. Quick delivery, user-friendly interfaces, and easy returns are a huge part of the decision-making process, but the most important thing is MENTAL ease... Make it easy to say yes and you'll win. 2. Exclusivity: fostering a sense of belonging and distinction among customers is the easiest way to tap into their psychological needs. We're headed into the "participation marketing" era. Customer-to-brand interactions are how we satisfy that need for recognition and involvement. 3. Value: this goes way beyond price tags. Value is about the *perceived* benefits of a product (relative to cost). Delivering quality is only half the battle. The secret to creating offers that scratch our customer's psychological itch is using all three elements together... 3 / How to use psychology to reverse engineer your offer: To build a psychology-based offer, you'll need to start from where you want to end up and work backwards. Ask yourself the following question: "After our customers get our product..." 1. How are they using it? 2. Where are they using it? 3. Who are they using it with? 4. Where are they storing it? 5. What do they struggle with when using it? 6. How are they feeling when they use it? 7. What time of day are they using it? Once you have a good idea of how your customers behave, ask yourself: “Based on what we now know about [insert behavior here] how can we make the offer…” 1. More convenient? 2. More exclusive? 3. A better (psychological) value? 🏆 Do this every time you make a new offer, and you'll completely change how your customers see your products, your offers, and your brand! …….. If you're interested, I write about: - Consumer psychology - Behavior science - Brain-driven brand building - Creative frameworks Give me a follow 👍

Here’s why your offers aren’t getting the attention they deserve. It’s not because your product isn’t good enough. It’s because your message isn’t landing. Most businesses focus too much on what they’re selling. But here’s the secret: It’s not about your product—it’s about your customer. What’s in it for them? How will it make their life easier, better, or more exciting? Your copy should be so clear, so compelling, that your audience feels like you just get them. Here’s how you make your offers irresistible: 1) Lead with emotions, close with logic. People buy with their feelings first. Then they justify it with facts. 2) Speak their language. Skip the jargon. Use the words your customers would use to describe their problems and dreams. 3) Highlight the transformation. Don’t just tell them what your product does—show them how it will change their life. 4) Create urgency. No one moves without a reason. Give them a reason to act now. 5) Remove the risk. Make saying “yes” feel easy. Offer guarantees or risk-free trials. And remember: Good copy isn’t about being clever. It’s about being clear. It’s about showing your audience why your offer is exactly what they need—and nothing less. What’s your biggest challenge when it comes to writing copy? Let’s chat in the comments 👇

Want to create an offer that your clients can’t say no to? I remember working with a client who had a fantastic service, but their offers were falling flat. They weren’t making the impact they expected. Why? Because their offer lacked the right ingredients. I helped them craft an irresistible offer using this simple framework: 1. Clearly define the problem: Understand exactly what your audience is struggling with. 2. Present a solution: Show how your product or service solves their problem. 3. Create urgency: Offer limited-time bonuses or discounts to prompt action. 4. Add value: Give more than they expect, extra resources, personalized support, or exclusive access. 5. Make it easy: Your offer should be clear, simple, and easy to take action on. The result? They went from uncertain to booked out, Simply by providing an offer that resonated deeply with their target audience. PS. Is your irresistible enough to make clients say, "I need this now"? #Entrepreneur #Business