How do we know that a Sales Funnel is complete? Is it at the Upsell or down-sell? Or, after we’ve offered a 2nd and 3rd Upsell, is that the end? The answer is, well, yes and no.
Having 2nd and 3rd Upsell is stretching it. We can make big profits from those two Upsells. And with down-sells, we’ve rescued a few sales that would’ve gone to waste. So, these Upsells and down-sells are elements that complete the sales funnel. Now, can we go even further than the last Upsell or down-sell? Of course, we can with Backend products.
What Is A Backend?
A Backend offer is usually a high-ticket deal sent to the customers a few days after the purchase. It bears resemblance with the Upsell concept but with a few key differences.
One of the key differences between a big-ticket Backend offer and an Upsell is that a Backend does not capitalize on the ‘buying trance’ that the customers are in when they make a purchase. Instead, it depends on a few key elements that we will explore later on in this module.
A big-ticket Backend offer is priced substantially higher than the front-end product and also higher than the Upsells. With Upsells, each level offers a higher price than prior deal. Hence, a Backend offer also follows that pattern even though it is not in immediate connection with the Sales Funnel.
Backend offers are usually sent three to seven days after the customer has made the purchases from the vendor. The offer is, of course, sent via email. Even though this is the case, it’s technically still a part of the Sales Funnel.
The Concept Of The Big-Ticket Backend Offer
A Big-Ticket Backend offer is a product of a very high price. Not many (if there were any at all) would be committed enough to purchase big-ticket Backend offer on a whim.
For the big price tag that a Big-Ticket Backend offers, the prospects would need serious consideration. This is why it wouldn’t work as an Upsell; the customers would disregard it right away.
Nowadays, with well-founded refund policies, buyers rarely hesitate before making a purchase, knowing that they could easily get their money back should there be discontentment in the product so vendors can depend on the product to speak for itself.
This is exactly why we wait three to seven days before offering the customers the big-ticket Backend deal.
The gap between the last Upsell and the big-ticket offer is so that the customers can evaluate the products they’ve purchased from you, the vendor. During this time, you have to let your product speak for itself. If they were happy with it, then it will make the selling of the big-ticket Backend offer easier.
Your reputation as the vendor is crucial. No one would invest a large amount of money on an obscure name that makes promises on the Internet. In order for them to buy your expensive product, they should have faith in you. How are you going to prove yourself?
Some would say that you have to prove yourself as an Internet entrepreneur first. In a lot of ways, this is true. Only established names can pull off the big-ticket Backend sales.
For someone who is new in the business, it would be an uphill battle.Imagine if you were a customer, would you willingly invest a huge sum of money on a product from someone you’ve never heard of?
This is another reason for you to wait a few days before offering them the big-ticket Backend deal and let them build trust first. Is the trust established from those few days enough to push them into buying the product from you?Maybe not.
There are other things you can (and have to) do to boost the chances of making a sale like preparing an advertising copy or video, which we will explore later on in this module.
Another important element is to have the right product. Not all products can sell as a big-ticket Backend offer. Most products just don’t really cut it. So, what products are good enough to be a big-ticket Backend?
Big-Ticket Ideas
The Big-Ticket products have to be of a very high value for the customers, and also able to generate huge profit for you as the vendor. Here are some ideas of products you can sell as a big-ticket product. If you don’t wish to sell them, perhaps they can spur inspiration in you.
Coaching
The first of the products that prove to be a profitable big-ticket offer is coaching. This is more of a service rather than a product, really but it is a high-ticket offer, nevertheless.
Coaching is where you, the coach, offer guidance to your customer, or client, in the field of your expertise. If your expertise is startup business, then you have to guide them and give pointers to them through the whole process of opening up a business.
It is a very profitable and rewarding way of making profits but you need to actually be an expert in something before you can teach someone.The adage, “Those who can’t do, teach” does not apply in the Internet world.*People want to see proof that you’ve been successful before you can establish yourself as a coach.
(*This point is made more concrete by the constant demand of, “Pic or it didn’t happen” that the Internet loves so much these days, which translates roughly:An event doesn’t happen without photographic proof. As you can see, trust in the Internet world is something that is not really easy to gain.)
As a coach, you also need to be a confident speaker. How would you be a coach if you were not an outgoing person that is full of energy and enthusiasm? Perhaps, this program is not for everyone. Like I said, this is best if you’re an experienced expert in your field.
Also, remember that all your clients and customers are from different parts of the world. They might even be directly from the other side of the world from where you are. This doesn’t pose a problem if you were selling a product that doesn’t require interaction other than addressing a few enquiries through emails.
Coaching requires interaction. And even though communication nowadays is made easier thanks to the Internet, but you need live interaction in a coaching program. Therefore, even though you can communicate via Skype or Google Hangout, you need to find the right time to do so.
Your clients are from different parts of the world with different time zones, so you have to be prepared to follow time zones that are not of your own.
The price range for a coaching program is from $500 to $5,000. Usually, a coaching program would be in the 4-digit range as it is considered as one of the most valuable things on the Internet. As you can see, with price range like this, it is a perfect fit for a big-ticket Backend offer.
Group Coaching
Group coaching is similar to coaching. The only difference is that, as the name implies, coaching is a one-to-one affair whereas a group coaching is done in groups.
So, in a group coaching engagement, you are interacting with more than one individual at a time. Just like coaching, you would need expertise in a field before you can go on promoting your group-coaching program. It’s easier to get clients and customers if you were an established name in the business.
The price range for group coaching, however, is lower than individual coaching as it’s a shared service. But you can still make profit, of course. The price range of group coaching is from $200 to $500.
But remember that you are catering to more than one person, which means the profit you make from group coaching, even though it’s cheaper than coaching. In fact, the profit might surpass the profit of an individual coaching.
Why this is so is because in a personal coaching, you give undivided attention to just one person, which is your client. In a group coaching, you are interacting with more than one individual and they have to share your time.
Like coaching, group coaching also has its challenges with time. Even when you are interacting with just one person from abroad, and you have to cater to their time, imagine what it would be like to cater to a group of different people from all over the world. It requires quite an effort to cater to everyone.
Licensing Program
Coaching program and group coaching program require commitment and takes a lot of your time. There is another way that you can make big profit without investing too much time and energy.
A licensing program is where you sell private label rights. In other words, white label contents where you sell off content produced by you to someone else who can use your content and sell them off as their own.
The closest thing to this would be ghostwriting. Ghostwriters, as you know, are not credited for their work. Instead they sell off their writings to someone else. That person who buys the work is the one who gets all the credit for the book.
You might think this is unethical or “cheating” but I assure you, this has been done since forever. It’s not stealing or plagiarizing because the deal is made from a mutual agreement. Stealing content is when someone uses someone else’s work without permission. It is illegal and unethical. This licensing program is from an agreement made between the producer and the purchaser.
In this engagement, you are the creator of the content and you have to give up the credit and ownership of what you produce. You must be ready to detach yourself from the project that you’ve done.
Because ownership and credit are given up, it is, of course, priced very high. This method wouldn’t be here if it weren’t.
The price for a licensing program, like a coaching program, ranges from $500 to $5,000.
It’s a great way to make profit, as it doesn’t require a real hefty investment like a coaching program or group-coaching program. It’s a far easier way to make almost the same amount of profit than a coaching or a group-coaching program. This is a great big-ticket Backend offer if you’re not building your name.
Promo Email For Backend Offer
To write about promo emails is a whole different scope. It has its own techniques, skills, and principles. It would be impossible to squeeze that aspect in its entirety into this book without trailing off into a whole other scope. However, I’ll write about the gist of it. It’s best to know more than just the basics, but for now, I’ll share you the essentials.
It is quite similar to all copywriting and promo email but here, we are talking about a big-ticket Backend offer. It needs a lot of effort in its promotion and also in its contents.
As mentioned, it must be sent 3 to 7 days after the customer makes a purchase.
This gap is so that the customers can use the products they’ve purchased from you and decide whether or not to trust you with a further investment. These products that they’ve purchased from you include the Upsells, of course. It wouldn’t be practical to be selling a big-ticket Backend offer to someone who doesn’t go even as far as the Upsells.
Again, this gap is so that they could use and evaluate the products you’ve sold.If they were not happy with the previous products they’ve purchased from you in prior engagement, then it would be impossible to sell them your product.
The general tone of the email should be a “hidden bonus” for the customers. This product that you’re offering as a Backend is especially for them. It’s not something that is entirely new for them. Like all elements of the sales funnel, this one has to be congruent with the rest, too. So, your approach should not be the same as like you’re approaching someone new.
Now, let’s get a little bit more technical.
First of all, you need to come up with an attention-grabbing subject line. It’s the first thing that they will see. The subject line will decide whether or not they will open your email. However, that’s not the only challenge. You also have to write a subject line that is less than 50 characters.
The reason for this is because beyond the 50th character in an email subject line will be replaced with an ellipsis. Therefore, they can’t really see the full subject line, leaving your subject line incomplete and untidy.
To write an attention-grabbing subject line, you need to play around with the cases of the characters, as well. It wouldn’t work if you were to write the whole subject line in a small case lettering.
For example:
- checkout this new deal
- this is a new product from me
They don’t look professional. So, you have to write in a proper casing.
Even if you wish to capitalize all the letters, you have to do so sparingly. You can’t write the whole sentence in capital letters.
Do not write like this:
- HEY, CHECKOUT THIS NEW DEAL
- THIS IS A NEW PRODUCT FROM ME
Even though they might be “attention-grabbing” (they do succeed in that) but they can also be annoying, as they sound like you’re screaming. Most people would ignore emails with these subject lines.
If you do want to use all caps, use it sparingly and only for the right words like so:
- *NEW* Checkout this new deal
- *HOT* New product from me
As you can see, the all caps words are only used to grab attention instead of hard selling.
The best is actually to use title case sentences where the first letter of each word is capitalized. For example
- Checkout This New Deal
- New Product From Me
It is easy on the eyes and not hard selling.
Another fundamental of promo email writing is the writing the features and benefits of a product. These elements are best presented in point form or a list so that it’s easier to read. Some people would skip flowing text and just jump to the bullet points where it is stating about what the product is all about.
Let’s take a random product and list out the features as an example. For this one, let’s go for a designing software program:
This program allows you to:
- Create multiple layers
- Convert files to different format
- Sync your work from different devices
As you can see, it is far easier to read, and also write, this way than to just talk about your product in one long seemingly cluttered paragraph.
Also, a very important part of your email, the link to the product page where they can purchase your product. These links must be visible and easy for them to find. You should place them in between paragraphs so that it’s easier for them to find.
