The customer knows best... that is, until they don't

Ok, you’ve convinced me!

Those were my client’s words when she gave me the green light to give a little downsell experiment a try.

Her instinct was to sell a low-ticket challenge to reengage non-buyers in her offer, to get them to finally make a purchase (no matter how small), and to open the door to future sales.

And she’s a savvy, multiple business owner with a long history of online courses under her belt, so she knows a thing or two about strategy.

It’s not a bad approach, and many marketers and copywriters would have suggested it. But I felt we could do better. I felt there was something else going on thanks to a throwaway line she'd said on a call with me.

“So many people message me and ask to buy the personality assessment by itself. They don’t understand that can only get them so far..”

The course the customers had passed on used an in-depth personality assessment and group coaching to give kids a clear direction in choosing their future college and career.

Many parents believed they could take a shortcut and save themselves a lot of time and money, so weren't willing to invest.

That all they needed was the assessment—that everything would fall into place and they could figure things out on their own.

And while you could shift that belief with a persuasive email sequence or a powerful sales page (after all, that’s what I do best), sometimes it’s much more effective letting customers figure it out on their own.

To give them a peek behind the curtain.

To realise that without the coaching and guidance my client offered, their kids were even more confused and were even further from their dream future.

So, we took a leap of faith and sold them the personality assessment.

Which was just what the parents thought they needed.

But it also gave them a taste of my client’s teaching and coaching style.

It teased details of what the rest of the course could do for their kids and thier career prospects and included video testimonials of the success other kids had achieved with her guidance.

It gave them a glimpse of what their child’s future could look like.

Then we watched. And waited. And then came phase two:

A one-off chance to upgrade their purchase and access the course they’d previously passed on, along with credit for the money they’d already paid so they weren’t out of pocket.

And wouldn’t you know it, it worked.

Ten people took the downsell in the first week of offering it—ten people who hadn’t bought the course at first.

Because the thing is, your customers are on a journey with you, and there are forks in the road.

And every now and then, they might take a wrong turn.

Sometimes, it pays to sell your customer what they want, even though you know it’s not what they need.

Because, in time, what they need very quickly becomes what they can’t live without.