Is Getting Customers Like Herding Cats?
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The answer is, yes! Getting customers can be a lot like herding cats.
Let’s define what herding is. Herding is trying to force someone or something to do what you want. Like cowboys herding cattle in the old west.
If you have ever dealt with cats you know that cats do what they want to do and if you try to force them into something they will probably just get mad, hiss and be done with you.
Customers are the same way. Don’t try to force them to do something. Just like cats if you try to force them to do something they will do exactly what they want and it probably won’t be what you want them to do.
For example, there are a lot of people that will tell you to put a squeeze page in front of your sales page. I know I am not alone in this but if you try to force me to go through a squeeze page just to see a sales page 99% of the time I won’t sign up to your list or buy your product and I definitely won’t promote your product if I have to send people to a squeeze page instead of an information page about your product.
The way I see this is, what are you hiding? Is your product so bad that you have to get me on your list because you know I won’t buy it? Why should I sign up to buy something? If your product and/or your sales page is any good you will get me as a customer and then I will be on your list as a qualified targeted buyer instead of someone that isn’t interested in your product but only signed up to see the sales page and unsubscribed with the first email you sent.
Yes, you can build your list by setting up this squeeze page but you really need to test this and see how many sales you might be loosing. I can guarantee that you are loosing sales because of this. Customers are just like cats and they don’t like to be herded.
Instead of trying to force people to do something you are much better off enticing them to do something. For example if I try to chase a bunch of cats in to a corner, how much success do you think I will have? Just imagine cat cats jumping over me and each other trying to go anywhere else than the corner I am trying to force them into.
Now tell me what happens if I take the same cats and open a can a cat food and place it in the corner. Guess what? I just got all the cats in the corner because that is where they wanted to be.
Customers are the same way. If I really need something and I have two sites to choose from one site has all the information readily available and at the other site and I have to sign up to get some information then guess which one will get my business? That’s right the one with the information and not the one with the squeeze page.
Don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of good uses for a squeeze page, if you are an affiliate marketer they are a must, but this situation you are trading information for the sign up, you are not forcing people to signup to see a product you are selling. If you are selling a product don’t try to force me to do anything before you give me some information on the product you are selling or I (and others) will be like those cats and jumping over people to get away from your site.
If you want to get me on your list then put an opt-in on your sales page or have it float in and offer me something of value to join your list but DON’T MAKE ME SIGN UP TO SEE A SALES PAGE! You will loose me as a customer and a joint venture partner and I am sure, I am not alone in this feeling.
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March 24th, 2008 at 9:27 am
Great insight on how to develop a positive relationship with potential customers. No one wants to be bulldozed.
March 24th, 2008 at 3:46 pm
I definitely agree that a forced customer is really no customer. Thanks for putting that idea into words. I am one of those that often leaves a squeeze page blank!!
March 24th, 2008 at 4:53 pm
I knew I wasn’t alone in this!
Also if you want to recruit the JV partners with a big list forget having a squeeze page before the sales page.
March 24th, 2008 at 11:53 pm
Hi Randy,
Anything that has to do with cats, I definitely like. If you are offering a real nice freebie that you are making available to your visitors, perhaps they think giving you their email address is necessary. If they don’t like your freebie, you may have lost them. Don’t you think it also may have something to do with your copywriting skills and how you exercise them. I am not sure on which side I would vote because I have been brainwashed to just giving up the information and then unsubscribing later. Is that bad? I definitely don’t want to be on everyone’s list.
March 25th, 2008 at 6:49 am
Hi Pat,
Remember there is a distinct difference between building your list and selling a product. If your product is good you will have the best list there is to have a list of targeted, known buyers.
If you are selling your own product you will loose buyers at the cost of getting people on your list that might not ever purchase your product. This means you have to decide which you want buyers or list members. I know for my list I prefer people that like my products and will buy them over people that want every thing for free. This is part of the reason I don’t get involved with a lot of the giveaway sites.
There are people out there that use loss leaders to build their lists. This is where they will actually loose money on either the initial purchase or they will pay their affiliates more then 100% commission. This is good because you are building a list of buyers but you better have an upsell or another backend product or you will go broke quickly.
Again remember that you will loose a lot of JV partners if they have to send their list to a squeeze page that means that you will be paying for most of your traffic one way or another. On the other hand because I have JV partners I make sales every day and I never pay for traffic for most of the sites. I usually only pay for PPC when the site is first starting out after I round up a couple of JV partners the site takes on a life of its own.
March 25th, 2008 at 3:59 pm
Yes, Randy, I can totally see your point about the lists coming from JV partners. I had forgotten about that. As you have said before, testing to see what works is important. I am looking forward to running a test to see what the impact is. Discussing the results would make a good article or blog post. Targeted buyers are a good thing. I sound like Martha.
March 26th, 2008 at 2:04 am
Really good tips, Randy, and perfect timing as I had just read this some where else and was a bit puzzled by it.
Thanks and keep ‘em coming.
March 26th, 2008 at 6:32 am
Hi June
Thanks for the kind words
Pat
Definitely test anything anybody tells you. I have tested this myself and the number of people added to my list verses the number of sales I made without the squeeze page didn’t pay. And before you ask yes I am including follow up sales to the people on the list that didn’t purchase. But again test for yourself because there are an infinite number of variables that can change the results including your targeted audience.