How to Leverage the Fear of Loss to Sell More Stuff

“In less than 24 hours, this offer will expire. I wanted to keep it available for at least a week, but the demand was overwhelming.”

“I mean, who would have thought that the same handbag Jennifer Aniston carries would be under $100.00? Oh well, I guess we all can’t be fashion icons. Only 34 bags remain, and I’ve claimed two for myself, so that’s now 32. And there’s only 6 more left in red.”

“Shipping is a standard payment of $5.95, and the bag cost $89.95…….wait……..I was just informed that since we are under the 30 remaining mark, the bags are $79.95 plus FREE shipping!”

“Dang…I should have held off buying those blue and yellow bags! My loss I guess.”

“You can take advantage of my lack of patience, and call Jenny at 867-5309 and first, tell her Happy Birthday, she’s 25 today! Second, ask her to hook you up with the last remaining awesome handbag of the season.” Jenny thought she was the coolest one in office! She may be the youngest, but now that I have two of these sexy accessories, she’s been dethroned”

“I feel younger already!”

“OK! My staff is frantically packaging the bags for shipping, so I better help them out so we can get all the orders filled by midnight. Enjoy your bag!”

~Melissa, Lead Fashion Consultant to the Stars

P.S. “Your daughter might want one of these bags too! Just save it for after a bad break up. It might make her feel better”

“You’re a great mom!”

  END

Fear is one of the most powerful emotions. It causes our blood pressure to spike, heart rate to increase, and affects the way in which we process information. When it comes to selling a product, nothing is more compelling than building an offer around scarcity.

I’ve suggested impressing the “fear of loss” on those that frequent clothing stores. Imagine for a second that you’ve just seen the cutest blouse. You walk over to the rack and thumb through the sizes. The store owner was kind enough to display 26 of the same blouse, and 13 of them are in your size. Now you are a little short on spending money for the month, but pay day is only seven days away. You decide to wait it out, and since there are 13 on the rack, the chances are pretty good that there will be at least one left when you have the cash in hand. As you walk out of the store, you pat yourself on the back for exercising self control.

Great for you! But bad for the business.

Now let’s inject the Fear of Loss.

The scenario remains the same except that the store owner was smart and read Andy’s BLOG at http://BentBusinessMarketing.com. He learned about the Fear of Loss, and only displayed 12 blouses, 3 in each size. So now when a shopper’s eye is grabbed by pretty pastels, there will be no option to wait. With only 3 on the rack, the availability is uncertain, and that uncertainty will drive them to buy. There will be an exchange of goods for cash, and business is done. No waiting!

Instant gratification baited by the Fear of Loss.

Take a look at your business. Are you doing all that you can to “sexify” (made up word) a product, and speed up the purchase?

If not, it’s time to put your thinking caps on. Or just give me a call at 815.441.2219.

 

 

 

P.S. I limit my phone calls to 10 a day. And my voice-mail is full.

Good luck!

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Be sure to check us out on Facebook! It’s where the cool kids hang out ~Andy

photo credit: K嘛 via photopin cc
photo credit: Huzzah Vintage via photopin cc