One of the most common problems that people selling high ticket offers face is that they get a ton of applications from people who cannot afford high ticket.

But is it the applicants fault or yours?

You’re attracting them and you can only control YOU. So it’s safe to assume it your fault.

…I had this problem for years. In some industries still get shitty applications but over the years I’ve become better at filtering out the crappy applications.

I’ve been doing high ticket since 2016…. so a ton of experience under my belt. The most recent one has spent close to $110,000 and I keep ad accounts seperate. So this one is only for 1 offer and on 1 ad account.

Anyway, the approach that I have always used instinctively is breaking things down into elements or parts. This is how I broke down my problem into all the elements that affect the entire sales process:

I visually see most of the elements that affect my business and now that we have broken it down we can sit down and fix it.

The RED ones are CRITICAL and in most cases where the problem is.

Fixing Things: 1 Step at a Time

Ad Copy:

Is you ad using words that would imply things like cheap, free or something that is too general that could be the problem.

I’ll give you my experience, back in 2017 I had a brilliant product that went on to do multiple 6 figures but the sales call applications had to be filtered and we rejected almost 50% of the applications.

I couldn’t figure out why I was getting such crappy leads. But since the ad was working so well I didn’t look at the ad instead started looking at the sales video. I added a direct phrase in my VSL:

This is not for people who cannot invest to grow. Not for people who are okay with the same NO PROGRESS NO CHANGE life. I want to help you but I cannot do it for free. There are no free lunches in life….

….I feel for you and maybe you’re genuinely in a tough financial situation and I can sympathise but my calendars are usually jam-packed with qualified leads willing to work with me because we have one of the best success rates in the industry.

So it’s an opportunity cost for me. However, if you’re someone who wants to succeed and can invest I can get you results like I did for [THEN I INCLUDED CLIENT SUCCESS STORIES]

This did filter out some applicants automatically but that meant less applications made it through to me…. but they were A LITTLE better.

…I went back to the drawing board and starting thinking again because again the audience wasn’t really the best. I knew there were people making $300,000+ per month with offers in the same market.

Maybe it’s the ADS! AHA!

I didn’t even stop to consider that my ad was the problem. But when I opened my eyes it was pretty evident that the words spoken on the video ad was the main culprit. I said things like:

  • “How to build an email list for free” and
  • “Watch this free presentation”
  • “Book a free strategy Session”

You see the problem here…. so as soon as I changed the copy on these ads things started getting better. Infact the applications got better to the point that I removed the part in the VSL where I said “I cannot help if you’re broke”….

….I literally said that on the video and I know it might have pissed a few people but they were never my target audience so it’s all good.

So if you’re attracting bad leads fix the ad first, here are a few points to consider:

  • Focus on the outcome or solution of your product for people suffering through the problem that you help resolve.
  • Avoid using words like FREE, complimentary, NO COST. Replace them with exclusive, insider access, unique, NEW…
  • Quick Hack: Include testimonials from buyers in your actual ad comments (assuming FB). Something that would say “PAID for program and then the results). Basically something that implies that is a paid program.
  • Qualifying Sentences Like: For Serious Affiliates Only!
    “Only if you have an active funnel…”

Your Offers Pain Score:

Sometimes the ad is not the main problem the offer is. If the problem you’re solving is not painful enough you cannot charge high ticket.

It has the be a bleeding neck problem that needs to be solved NOW.

In the perfect world it’s hard to get there but anyone who can get a 10/10 on PAIN SCORE will make effortless high ticket sales.

Example:

If you need a heart surgery who would you go to? The expensive doctor who has the best recommendations and results or the cheapest one?

If you were almost certain that your partner is going to divorce you and you’ll lose your kids and property in just the settlement, not even talking about the time and emotional turmoil….

…and there is an expert who has a track record of helping couples on the verge of a divorce get back together and live happily. Would you pay $50K for this? (If you don’t it’ll cost you more in terms of money, time and emotions).

…it’s a no brainer.

So sometimes the PAIN you help resolve it the main factor…. that is what offers are – a solution to a pain!

Example: A hobbyist photographer is eager to improve their skills. They’ll happily buy a $30 photography book with tips and techniques. However, they wouldn’t consider paying $2,000 for an intensive, expert-led photography workshop, finding it too costly for a non-professional interest.

Now let’s bring it back to our marketing side of things…. so if you’re getting bad applications COULD IT BE YOUR OFFER? IS THE PROBLEM PAINFUL ENOUGH?

OFFER is really the most critical component in any business. If the offer is the problem no amount of good marketing can save you. Fixing the offer first is critical.

Market Feasibility

  • The market must be able to afford your offer.
  • They must be easy to reach on ad platforms like Youtube, Google, IG & FB.

If you’re trying to sell Rolexes to college kids GOOD LUCK! I’ll keep this section short because I think it’s pretty self explanatory.

Hobbies are hard niches to charge high ticket prices for.

Level of PAIN decides what you can charge.

Can Your Target Market Afford What You Have?

This is a common problem in the make money online niche or the home business industry.

People are trying to sell general information for high ticket prices (I’ve repeated this mistake many times).

The problem is you’re showing people how to make $100 per day as an affiliate and the only people you’re going to attract are people who are not making good money. And these are the people that ask for quick refunds, don’t implement and basically the problem people… they are operating out of desperation.

…you’re going to attract a bad audience here.

On the other hand one of the offers that did almost $340,728 was an offer that helped people with building an email list and getting traffic.

This attracted a better audience because it wasn’t generic make money online training. It made sense only to people who knew list building and traffic is important.

…these are the top 30% of the people. Almost 70% will only ever buy shiny objects and then reject the idea of online money making completely. They never understood the game.

So see if you market is feasible or it needs fixing.

Sales Page or VSL

What words are you using on the VSL. Again if you remember the part where I talked about the ads attracting the wrong audience.

The same is with the VSL. Do not include words like FREE, NO COST excessively in the VSL.

Even if you do offer a free strategy call or whatever you want to call it. What I’ve found to be more useful is saying something like this on the VSL instead of calling it free:

If you’d like to do this there are 2 ways we can make this happen:
1. If you want to delay action and come back to it later, I get it not everyone is willing to step up at the right time. Whenever you’re ready you can go to this page and book me for a consultation which is $500 per 30 minutes or the second option is if you want to do it now.

I have a soft corner for action takers so what I’ve done is I’ve pre-applied a coupon that gives you this $500 call for $0.00 if you do it from this page before the date mentioned below the video.

So the way I see it, you should already know what you want. If you want to have __________, __________ and _________ without having to _____PAIN_____, _____PAIN_____ or _____PAIN_____ BOOK THE CALL NOW.

* For the date I just use a wordpress plugin and show the date as DATE+1 which shows tomorrows day in this format DD MONTH, YYYY.

* For the coupon I have the discount coupon conversion rate optimization hack script in the scripts section.

Competition & Perceived Value of Your Product

If your competition is selling a $100 product and you’re trying to sell a $3,000-$5,000 product in the same market it’s going to be a hard sell.

Mainly because before buying a product they are already in a state where they are actively looking for a solution. They are in the problem aware or solution aware stage.

So you aren’t the first person they looked at. If there are 2 almost identical cars in a showroom and one is $5000 cheaper – no matter what you do – you will be inclined towards the cheaper one for a bit.

Now… I know that the more expensive one will raise curiosity “Why is it $5K more?”. This can be used in marketing to differentiate yourself from the competition but then you have to be the ROLLS-ROYCE.

You can’t just raise prices and think people will buy (some will). You have to SHOW how you’re better.

So ask yourself: “What are my top 10 competitors and what is their price point?”

Process of Call Booking & the Form

The booking form is also another critical factor that determines success of a phone call funnel. Too many fields and you’ll piss off genuine good leads.

…too little and you’ll end up attracting crappy applications.

Use a simple 5-8 question form and have the form show up AFTER they pick the date and time. This is based on Micro-commitments.

….they have already committed to you otherwise they wouldn’t have gone through the Ad → VSL → Delayed Call To Action → Pick Date & Time → Questionnaire.

They have already shown a lot of micro-commitments by being on the application page. One thing that you should add that took my conversion rates higher is giving them a reason why you need to know what you’re asking.

Like my form used to say:

Q: What is your current business model? What do you promote?
Updated Q: What do you promote online? ….this helps us do the research before-hand to make the call a better experience for you.

Q: Confirm that you’re going to show up for the call – (followed by a YES NO checkbox).
Updated Q: Please confirm you’re going to show up by clicking YES or NO. Our calendars are usually booked so if you’re not sure please cancel so someone more willing and ready can claim the call.

  • Don’t have very long forms.
  • Do ask them about their financial situation (I’m not ready or cannot to invest, I can invest if it works for me for rapid growth and proven results, I have access to credit instruments to fund my business).
  • Send them a SMS to confirm the call and have an email follow up start 48 hours before the call.
  • Last 3 hours should send at least 3 reminder emails.

Price Anchoring

So this technique is something that I picked up from somewhere I don’t even remember. Basically the VSL I’m running is a blind VSL meaning I do not reveal the price on the VSL. The button is also delayed so they don’t even see it as a sales process till the first CTA.

Now when I don’t even talk about money I attract a bunch of newbie freebie seekers.

The solution? Reveal without revealing!

What I mean is I don’t tell them my prices but instead I tell them how the other competitors or comparative offers are priced. I always show the higher value products and then say “they don’t even do half of what we do and we have a ton more success stories because we get results!”

This establishes a rough price range for the product. And if the others are $8-10K and I’m $3K they are more likely to buy because before hopping on the phone the anchored price was around $8-10K.

Use this cautiously, I’ve not done enough testing on this one yet because the VSL I have right now is killing it and I don’t want to change it once again to add this part but the target market knows the price range in my case so in my case it’s not necessary.

[Conclusion] Most likely causes and prioritising fixes:

  • Fix Offer first.
  • Then the ad because that is what you use to attract leads.
  • Then VSL if need be because if the ad is attracting the RIGHT LEAD the VSL can be tackled later.
  • Track the conversion rate from VSL to Calendar/Booking Page and the booking page conversion rate. If it’s too low reduce the fields in the webform.
  • Follow the questions in the booking form with a REASON why you’re asking…. Tends to get better conversions.
  • The market must be able to afford your services, don’t try to sell Rolexes to college kids.
  • Solving bigger problems gets bigger $$$.
  • And most importantly FIX 1 THING AT A TIME!