What is it that stops people from clicking the ‘buy now’ button, and entering their credit card details in your sales form?

The 6 reasons

There are 6 basic reasons why a person won’t buy a product or service. Each individual may refuse to buy for one or more of the following reasons…

1. The benefits aren’t clear
2. They have no need for the product
3. They can’t afford it
4. They’re not asked to buy
5. They don’t believe the product can deliver on the benefits promised in the advertising
6. They don’t trust seller

Benefits aren’t clear

A benefit is an emotional reward that the owner gets when he or she uses the product. For example, a man who buys a custom-tailored suit enjoys the pleasure that comes from looking as good as he can possibly look.

Most Internet advertising incorrectly focuses on describing the product itself, rather than the benefits of owning and using the product.

This is a mistake, because a person doesn’t set out to buy a collection of components. He or she is interested in what the product will do for them.

Every product has particular features, and they do need to be included in the ad. But a feature should only be included to support the benefit of using the product. It’s a product’s benefits that matter.

No need

Nobody voluntarily buys a product for which he or she has no need. It’s impossible to sell a person anything until he or she has decided they want what the product offers more than the amount of money required to obtain it.

Having said that, it isn’t necessarily true that a person has no need for a product. It may be that the person hasn’t understood what they’ll get if they buy the product. People don’t buy products. They buy the thing that the product promises to deliver.

For example, people don’t buy cars. They buy transportation, and/or status, and/or convenience, and/or thrills.

It’s highly likely that a sales page that doesn’t get many sales isn’t communicating what the product delivers. As a result, potential buyers don’t understand why they might need the product on offer.

Can’t afford it

Sometimes, a person really can’t afford to buy. In this situation, the solution is to find ways to help a buyer fund the purchase.

It’s more likely that the buyer can afford to buy, but has decided it’s not worth more to him or her than the money it costs. In this situation, the advertiser is almost certainly failing to describe the benefits of using the product in a way that excites the potential client.

For example, a Porsche 911 has several benefits. It will get you from point A to point B. It looks fantastic, with sensual lines and has the appearance of moving even when it’s standing still. It’s a very fast car, with superb handling and a solid reputation for bullet-proof construction. It’s also a very expensive automobile, and few people would pay the asking price if the company focused only on the ‘point A to point B’ benefit.

The phrase ‘can’t afford it’ may, or may not be true. If your product is expensive relative to the market, or involves a non-trivial amount of money, you need to focus on the more exciting things your product will do for its owner.

Not asked to buy

It’s such a simple thing, you’d think every advertiser on the planet would ask people to buy. In fact, amateurs seldom ask people to buy.

It’s more likely that an ad will end weakly, with the advertiser taking a ‘softly-softly’ approach in case the prospective client feels pressured to buy.

This is a mistake. Anyone who reads your ad through to the end is interested in your product, but hasn’t made a definite decision to buy at this point. Why not? Because most people try to avoid making decisions. Decisions involve commitment. Most people tend to avoid making commitments.

Likewise, most people tend to avoid taking action. When it comes to money, most of us have learned the hard way that it’s usually safer not to buy. Inaction is the natural state of your average human being!

An ordinary person, having read your ad, will not buy if you don’t ask him or her to do so. Advertising that doesn’t force the issue will end in failure. People will simply finish reading the ad and move on.

After asking a person to buy, you must now tell him or her what they need to do to physically make the purchase.

Don’t believe product will deliver benefits

An ad may well disclose all the benefits that come from owning and using a particular product, but if the potential client doesn’t believe the product can do all those things…the sale won’t happen.

Any advertiser that makes claims for a particular product must be able to back those claims up with credible evidence.

What constitutes evidence depends on the target market for a product. For example, an unsophisticated market will be happy to believe testimonial evidence. Such a person may accept that a health-product produced the results claimed for it by users of the product. A more sophisticated audience will understand the weakness inherent in such a claim and demand stronger evidence. A health product may have to show the results of peer-reviewed double-blind scientific testing.

You need to assess the requirements of your particular market, and provide supporting evidence that speaks directly to the expectations and experience of your target audience.

It may also be that the claims being made for a product are perfectly true, but the product is so far ahead of the rest of the market, the claims are totally unbelievable.

If you’re in this situation, you’re going to have work even harder to demonstrate the truth behind your claims.

Don’t trust seller

The 6th reason why people don’t buy is they simply don’t trust the seller. Some markets are less trusting than others, and you need to adapt your approach for the market you’re selling to.

You can increase your trustworthiness in a variety of ways…

• Build a relationship over time
• Join an industry body
• Obtain certification for your product
• Use a secure server with an up-to-date certificate
• Use a trusted 3rd party to process credit cards. This gives the client an independent way to get their money back
• Use a certified delivery service that allows people to track their order
• Publish client testimonials with contact details (having obtained the necessary permissions)

In my opinion, it’s the first of these that has the most impact. If you can begin the relationship with something that requires a low level of commitment from a future client (i.e. something free), you give him or her the chance to get to know you.

Whatever you do during this process, it should involve enough client contact for the person to get used to dealing with you. He or she should come to trust you enough that you answer the question ‘can I trust you?’ and remove it from his mind.

Then 6 became one

All the reasons why they don’t buy come down to one thing — doubt.

Doubt is the #1 sales killer, because it dampens excitement and enthusiasm. If you can overcome doubt, you make it possible for today’s jaded consumer to get excited about your product.

And once they’re excited, the sale is in the bag.

If you remove doubt that a potential buyer wants your product, you’ve taken a giant step closer to the sale. If you remove doubt about what the person needs to do to place an order, you’re one step closer to the sale.

If you remove doubt that the product can do what you claim it can do, you’re one step closer to the sale. If you remove doubt about the trustworthiness of your business, you’re one step closer to the sale.

If you remove all doubt…you’ll get the sale! But how do you remove all doubt? That’s the subject of part two.

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