Customer Service Techniques

“Offer Waste” Reduces Sales

When developing a new sales program, finding the right offer is always a challenge.  Overly generous offers leave value “on the table” while overly stingy offers jeopardize the economic viability of the program.  At the InsideSalesLab we methodically test offers, among other things, to determine the optimal offer.  InsideSalesTrak, our proprietary sales testing software, simplifies this task because it is the only sales CRM specifically designed for head to head testing.

Recently we were reminded of the pitfalls of “offer waste.”  Offer waste refers to the portion of the delivered value the customer perceives they cannot use.  Even when the overall offer makes good economic sense to the prospect, offer waste can prevent the sale from closing.   In these cases the desire to avoid waste overwhelms the value proposition and no sale is made.  Rebuttals to overcome offer waste are rarely effective.

For example, one of our clients offers a 30-day free trial which normally spurs prospects to try the service.   Quite perversely however, the reverse occurs during the holiday season – the 30-day trial reduces sales because prospects do not want to “waste” their trial period during a time when they are not working.  They request a call back at a time when they can fully utilize their free trial period instead of enrolling.

Our sales and call center consultants are accustomed to resolving sales obstacles and this proved no exception.  We repositioned the offer to end at a specific date which flipped the waste around – by signing up later, the prospect was “wasting” their free trial period.  Logjam solved!

How have you solved the offer waste problem?