Episode 44 | What is Your Irresistible Offer and Why is this Important?

Sophia Noreen: Hello everyone, welcome to another fantastic episode of the Boss It Podcast. My name is Sophia Noreen, and I am going to be your host for today. I am super excited about this episode because we are going to be talking about something that is extremely important for you as a business owner.  It doesn't matter if you are a product or a service-based business owner, this is an extremely important point that I think many people actually miss. It's all about how to create an offer out of the services or out of the products that you are selling. Trust me, I was really confused about this topic until recently, and basically an offer is more than just your product or your service.

An offer is everything that you are going to be providing to your ideal customer.  If you have not had a chance to check out our previous episodes, we have many episodes on your ideal customer and how important it is to know who you're speaking to and what you're trying to tell them, and the value that you're trying to provide to your ideal customer. But it won't go into your ideal customer today because I really want to spend the time to really understand how we can all get into understanding what is the ideal offer that our ideal customer will want.   

I'll share a couple of stories from our product-based business, Also Sophia, just to highlight why an offer is different from a service or product when it stands alone.  The first example I'll give you to start off is the product-based business, Also Sophia, sells products.  We sell cultural products for minority festivities in North America and Canada, and we started off with our Eid and Ramadan line for Muslim festivities. 

Basically, I noticed that there were a few testimonials that came through which were incredible. I was so happy with this year's testimonials. People were raving about the products, but they weren't just raving about the products, they were also raving about the customer service that was provided to them with the actual product or service.   The reason why this is so important is because they actually said in their review of the product and the testimonial for the product,  they actually said, "The reason why we purchase from this company was because we knew they had great customer service even though their prices were a little bit higher."

I know it seems funny because our customer, our ideal audience is a price shopper. We know that, and so we are very cognizant of this and that is the reason why we're priced at a pretty, I would say, competitive rate for most of our products but we still have not gotten all the competition. We're not the lowest, right?

Obviously, it's very difficult to compete with drop shippers.  If you're in the product- based space and you're familiar with the term "drop shipping," then that's great. For those who are not, I'll just quickly give you a blurb with what drop shipping is.   

Drop shipping is individuals who are selling a product before they have it in hand, so for example, a product on my website, but I actually don't have the product. Then I'll go to another website and make sure it's purchased, and that person who actually has the product on hand will then ship it directly to you. So I actually never touched the product.

There's a ton of websites out there that are drop shipping websites, and we're not drop shipper, we're a manufacturer. We manufacture our products, and so for us to compete with drop shippers, it's very difficult.  My guess is that the individual who left the testimonial saying that they went to us for our customer service and for the price of the product even though the price of the product was more expensive, they still came to us.

Sophia Noreen: The reason that's so important is because we were able to beat the competition, not based on price, but based on the offer. Now, there are many other examples of an offer which I'll share with you next, but I want you to take a minute and think for yourself about your product or your service.

Yes, you have your product. Yes, you have your service. Now, how are we going to combine it with the experience that they will get when they come to your store? What is the experience that your customer is going to have or your client is going to have when they experience your service? It's not just a photograph that they're going to get, or it's not just the cake that they're going to get delivered to them, what else are you providing them as the experience that will contribute to the offer? Do you see where I'm going with this?

We have to be really cognizant that it's not just the product or the service that they're purchasing. It's actually the entire experience that they're purchasing, that's why you'll notice many stores put so much effort into the way they greet their customers at the front. That's the reason why when we were doing brick and mortar,  it was really important for Costco is a great example. 

Sophia Noreen: Costco has that whole experience of walking through the store and sampling the products. That is part of the experience of Costco, and that could also be considered the offer of the Costco membership. Costco has a membership, and they basically say that this is your annual rate for your membership. Only our members can shop with us, but our customers who have the membership also get all these other perks such as the samples and great prices, and our returns are for a year.   

They basically say, "Money back guarantee." So if you're not happy with the membership or any of the products, they have a great return policy.  Now, I want you to think about your product or your service, and think how can I make it into an irresistible offer? For you to be able to provide that irresistible offer, you need to know your customer to a T. 

You need to know who you're talking to? What do they need? How are you going to add value? How are you going to serve them? I'll give you a few more examples from our service-based business, Boss It Club. We offer educational courses and programs and mentorships for our students who are in the business space, who are in the entrepreneurial space, who are looking to level up their business.

Right now, we are offering Influencer Marketing Made Easy, which is a course, a program. The reason why it's such a great way of highlighting that we've put together an irresistible offer is because we have really considered who our customer is and what do they need. So most of our customers, most of our students are startup entrepreneurs who are either bootstrapping their business on their own with their own money, their own capital.

They are likely a parent. Most of our students right now are mothers, and they either have a full-time career or they're a full-time stay-at-home mom and this is a passion business that they're doing that is bringing a little bit of cash.

So that is who our customer is. Now, what does our customer need? What does our client need? They need a few other things to make them successful. One thing they may need is they may need additional team members to help them really elevate their business, because they're busy people, they have multiple things going on  so we've added a bonus to the enrollment of Influencer Marketing Made Easy. 

Sophia Noreen: The bonus is for, how to hire your first team member?  We give tips on how you can go about doing this, and we have strategies and tips because I'm a manager. I've hired multiple people,  how to do that successfully and then also how to train them successfully, to maybe another great bonus that I'll add in the upcoming seasons of Influencer Marketing Made Easy. Another great bonus we added for our students is your best productivity, which speaks entirely about how to become productive in your home environment, in your work environment, and the reason why we've added this bonus is because again, we know who our student is.

They're busy, either a student, they're a busy mom. They have a couple of things going on, and this business is their passion project that is hopefully going to generate some great cash on the side. Basically, we have now added a second great bonus that is serving them and adding value. So there you go, there's two great additions to Influencer Marketing Made Easy, the product that is helping us make that irresistible offer. We have a couple more, so we know that when you're going through and you're developing a business, we know that when you are creating a campaign, you need support. You need a community, you need to have mentorship, and we want to make sure that we support our students and we help them go on this trajectory of success without too many hiccups. 

We've also included a bonus where they have live Q and A's, live sessions where they can speak to me or one of our team members directly, and the community's there too. They can also help problem-solve on how this individual can go about their campaign, and how they're able to negotiate with influencers? How they're able to problem solve if there's something that comes up that they were not expecting?  What should they add to their contract? What should they not add to their contract? And then we also have a Facebook community, because we know that you will be more successful when you have a great community behind you.  So there you go, there's another addition to the product, Influencer Marketing Made Easy, the Facebook community, and the Q and A sessions that are occurring weekly. that's our third addition, helping us make an even more irresistible offer. 

Now I have one more. You're probably thinking, "Oh my gosh, what's going on?" The reason why we keep stacking this up is because we want to make this offer as irresistible as possible, and you may or may not have come across this before, but you'll notice that many times when you're being provided something for purchase and it's new and novel, you'll have additional perks. I'm sure if you've seen the shopping network, you'll notice that they always have these "And we're going to give you this, and we're going to give you that, and we're going to give you this."  That's because they're trying to make it, so it's really difficult for you to say, "No, I don't need that" because even if you're remotely interested in that product, if you know you're getting a ton of gifts for free,  "Yeah, heck yeah," I'm going to go grab that irresistible offer.

For Influencer Marketing Made Easy, we have a fast-acting bonus which is currently one session with me per month and we give one month for free. One session per month,  30 minutes mentoring session, and then individuals have access through Voxer with me for the month so we can problem solve any obstacles that they run into. We also have accountability club and we have co-working sessions. 

Accountability club basically is where they're able to team up with other members and stay accountable to their goals. We create SMART goals, we've spoken about SMART goals in the past. Remember, if you have not had a chance to listen to one of our episodes regarding SMART goals, SMART goals include the attributes of being specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time- bounded. We won't get too much into SMART goals but they're extremely important because it's not very impactful for you as a goal setter to put something down on paper that's not specific. I want to know exactly what I'm doing when I'm doing it. I want to be able to measure its success. I want to make sure it's not too big of a goal so I can actually complete it, which is attainable.

I want to make sure it's relevant, so for example, I'm not going to say I'm cleaning out my closet today when I should be working on my business. I want to make sure it's time-bounded, I'm going to make sure that I'm going to do my goal at 10 o'clock every day, and I'm going to finish by 11 o'clock every day. That's a quick high-level example of a SMART goal.  

Sophia Noreen: In accountability club, we are going to ensure that you set your SMART goals and you attain your SMART goals each month, and then, of course, the last big thing that we are offering is co-working sessions, where individuals can book some time and they will work in tandem with other individuals in the community. That way, they feel like they're working in an environment like you would if you were working in an office setting. 

So guys, that is the fourth bonus that is included in the entire offer that we're providing to our students for Influencer Marketing Made Easy. That's the service side of Boss It Club, and the reason again that I'm highlighting that is because I'm contrasting that with our product side where we just said, Okay, here's your product and we have great customer service," and then the service space side of the business has the course, and then it has four bonuses that come along with it. That altogether is the offer.  

That is the irresistible offer that we have curated for our students because we know who our students are. If you're in business and you're considering business, and you're considering how can I level up my game? How can I make my customers rave about me? How can I make sure that I bring my customers back each time? The goal for you then is to really not just look at your product as a product, not just look at your service as a service, but bundling it together with multiple layers to help serve your students, serve your customers the best way that they can be served.

I'll give you another example. Walmart Canada, Walmart US, we all know that chain of stores. Altogether, there's 4,000 something in the US, and in Canada I think there's 450-ish.  There's a mass quantity of those stores. We know that all Walmarts offer the lowest possible price, and we know that the customer's always right, so they will be able to return and all that. 

So think about it for a second. That is part of their offer. That is not just the product that I'm purchasing from Walmart, I'm also purchasing the convenience of it being on the shelf. I'm also saying that I can understand when I go into the Walmart, I don't need to price shop.  Walmart has provided an offer that's not just a product, but everything else that surrounds that product, being the lowest price and great customer service.

Again guys, I want you to think what can I do for my business? How can I provide an irresistible offer for my customers? It doesn't need to just be for services, it's also there for products. 

Okay, I've chatted a lot about this. I want to give you a takeaway. I want you to now get pen to paper or get on your Google docs, and if you're doing something else right now, no worries. Think about it tonight. Think about your product. Think about your service. Really dial down what will be your offer for your clients, for your customers, for your students? If you're in the digital space, what is your offer?  

Sophia Noreen: And now, the next phase is how am I going to ensure that I'm delivering that information to my client? Am I going to then put it somewhere on the website? Am I going to speak about it with them?  Am I going to show that I have great customer service? These are all things that you'll have to consider because it's not enough to just think it and put it in this book or put it on your Google drive, you'll now have to go and figure a great plan of how you can execute your irresistible offer.

Now again, for the product-based business for us, for Also Sophia, the offer is great prices, great customer service and generally, we have great time in regards to dispatch and delivery. Mind you, we do have some delays and there if we are in the middle of the pandemic, but generally our warehouse dispatches within a few days, if not the same day.

So think about that. We basically are showing our customers that this is what we can do, but then they go and they tell their friends, or then they go and tell their community through social media, or then they come back as returned customers. They're going to experience that offer. 

For the service-based business, we have been pretty diligent with telling our customers what they're going to get. We have put it together on our masterclasses or our training. We've put it together on our website. We send them emails, we tell them through social media, and so we have to communicate what our irresistible offer is over and over and over again. 

If you've been a podcast listener with us for a while, you've probably have heard me say this, that you cannot just tell your customer once, you'll have to tell them over and over and over again until they really understand or really hear you, and then take action. You cannot just say it once, you have to tell your customer over and over and over again, what is your irresistible offer before they actually take that leap and they convert over to a paid customer or client.

Guys, I've left you with a lot of details, a lot of thinking to do. So again, get pen to paper, get into your Google drive, go ahead and jot some notes down, and then again, make sure that you have a plan of how to communicate your irresistible offer and also a plan on how you're going to show and overdeliver with your irresistible offer. 

Okay guys, that's all for today. Thank you again for joining us. Remember, make a plan and take action and I'll see you guys again next week. Same time, same place. Bye for now.