“The switch:” What makes buyers finally say “Yes!” to your offer
In this blog post, you’ll learn:
Why customers switch from one solution to another (yours)
How to use buyer psychology to sell your offer
What stops buyers from hitting the buy button
If you’re a coach or course creator, the “switch” is one of the most powerful marketing tools you can master!
If your potential customer needs your service but they’ve got some hesitations that prevent them from hit that buy button, you need to figure out what’s going on.
So in this post, I’ll answer questions like:
“What’s stopping my customer from buying my offer?”
“How can I show them I’m the exact right solution?”
“How do I use buyer psychology to make me the easiest choice?”
Let’s get into how “the switch” neutralizes your potential customers’ anxieties so they naturally choose you to solve their problem.
THIS is how “the switch” works in real life
Picture this:
Every week, you and your partner split the same Crispy Chicken Sandwich from your neighborhood farm-to-table café.
It's a lick-your-fingers-good sandwich, with the right amount of sweet 'n savory sauce.
Worth going back for every week!
For months, the Crispy Chicken Sandwich is part of your routine.
There's no reason to consider other items on the menu, even though they're likely to be equally good.
In fact, there are risks to your trying out another sandwich:
What if it's not as tasty?
What if it turns out to be a waste of money?
What if your partner doesn't want to try something else?
Until one day...
maybe you're just a little bit bored with routine.
Maybe any kind of change, even a small change, would help you feel refreshed.
So the next time you think about ordering from your café, you look at the menu. The Apple Smoked Bacon Sandwich could be worth a shot, you think.
That weekend, when your partner has other plans for lunch, you order the Bacon Sandwich--and it's exactly as yummy as you thought it'd be.
Finally, after months of sticking to the Crispy Chicken, a new sandwich finds its way into your lunch routine. Success! 😋
(Shoutout to Summer Kitchen Bakeshop in Berkeley--and their delicious sandwiches--for the inspo behind this story.)
Why “the switch” is your most powerful marketing tool
The above story illustrates a concept called “the switch” from Jobs-to-be-Done methodology.
(Jobs-to-be-Done, or JTBD, refers to a group of concepts about why people buy. Because it delves into deeper reasons behind buyer psychology, it's THE most handy resource a business owner can have in their belt.
JTBD was created by Bob Moesta, entrepreneur, and Clay Christensen, Harvard Business School professor, and you can find Moesta's breakdown of JTBD on his Re-Wired Group website.)
According to the concept of “the switch,” every time someone buys something, they're switching from their current solution to a new solution.
(In the above story, you're switching from a chicken sandwich to a bacon sandwich.)
The switch is one of the most powerful marketing tools you can master!
Because if you can figure out why people switch from another solution to your solution...that's marketing gold.
What exactly IS “the switch”?
The switch is made up of four forces:
1) Pushes of the old
2) Pulls of the new
3) Habits of the old
4) Anxieties of the new
The first two propel change while the second two block change.
Check out the diagram to the right!
How to overcome your customers’ habits and anxieties so they make the switch to you
👉 Now, let's return to our sandwich story, which features the two forces that I want to dive into today--the ones that block change, the habits of the old and anxieties of the new.
Habits and anxieties are important to understand because, for anyone to switch from their current solution to buying from you, they need to:
1) Break their habit of using the current solution
2) Neutralize their anxiety of trying the new solution
To put habits and anxieties in terms of our sandwich story:
The habit is the chicken sandwich, and boy is it a strong one.
That's not surprising because habits are strong.
What breaks a strong customer habit?
Think of all the times your family goes to your “go to” brunch place on weekend mornings because it's your thing--even though there are other restaurants nearby, even though you may have wondered about trying them.
The thing that breaks the habit in our story is boredom from the routine of getting the chicken sandwich.
Meanwhile, for 80% of people, bad customer service is the number one reason buyers switch from one brand to another, according to this article by Qualtircs.
But boredom alone isn't enough to try the bacon sandwich.
And bad customer service alone may not be enough to try a new solution.
To win the business, we first need to calm real, palpable anxieties.
Ease your customer’s deepest anxieties so you know exactly how to speak to them
The anxieties of the new need to be neutralized before any purchase.
The anxieties in our sandwich story are:
Possibly not liking the bacon sandwich
Fear of wasting money
Wondering what your partner will order if you break your routine
The first two anxieties, which speak to the worry that the bacon sandwich won't be the yummy lunch you hope it will be, is a legit force to be reckoned with. The fear of loss (or "loss aversion") affects our decisions around avoiding risk—often, we prioritize avoiding risk over potential gains, according to this article by Decision Lab.
Now, when it comes to a $14 bacon sandwich, our fears are easier to neutralize: you can justify spending the money to try it even if you don't like it. (After all, you need to eat lunch anyway.)
As for your other anxiety about what your partner will eat, you wait until they have other plans.
Habits of the old and anxieties of the new are easy enough to understand in this example, so let's look at a more complicated one. ⬇️
“But Mimi, I’m not selling sandwiches! Can I see a serious business example?”
Not that sandwiches aren't serious business, but habits of the old and anxieties of the new are more complicated outside of lunch deliberations.
For one thing, you can't influence them equally in every business.
Let’s use my copywriting business (a service business) as an example.
In my own business, I have much less control over the habits of the old than anxieties of the new.
Here's what I mean:
The habits of the old for my audience of business owners include:
Doing their copy themselves
Templates from their business coach
Working with another copywriter
There's nothing wrong with these solutions.
As long as they work, my audience isn't necessarily going to reach out to me.
➡️ Even if they know who I am.
➡️ Even if they've thought, "Oh, she seems like she knows her stuff."
Habits are just such strong forces in our lives.
(That's why a billion-dollar habit-building industry exists!)
The critical moment you MUST understand before you address anxieties
When my clients come to me, it's because the solutions above no longer work for them.
They don't have time to DIY their copy anymore
The templates aren't personalized enough
They want a Copyhackers-trained copywriter, not the first copywriter they met
Some event has happened in their lives and they realize they need me. Not any other solution, but me, with the thousands of hours I've poured into becoming a strategist and copywriter.
The thing is…
I have little control over this event.
Other than finding out what it is so that I understand it better, there's not much I can do.
(Going back to JTBD, this occurrence is called a “trigger event.” Read more about trigger events in this blog post.)
How I address “anxieties of the new” and why it works so well!
On the other hand, I have much more control over the anxieties of the new.
Because I know that the biggest anxiety when working with a new copywriter is investing thousands without knowing how it's going to work out.
I intentionally created my Small Start, Big Win™ offers as a way to help neutralize this anxiety.
For as low as $1197, you get personalized assets from me that make your copy more client-attractive. (For context, my done-for-you offers start at $3500.)
And I plan on keeping the Small Start, Big Win™ offers at that price point for as long as I can.
Why?
Because I know from talking to my audience there's a real need to neutralize the anxiety of trying out a new copywriter.
Use your “switch” superpower to sell more of your offer
I've got two takeaways for you informed by “the switch:”
1) Look out for your audience's habits of the old.
Is there anything you can do about them?
Maybe there isn't, which is good to know--a better place to focus your attention could be on what event breaks those habits.
2) Look out for your audience's anxieties of the new.
What can you do to neutralize them?
Maybe it's creating a lower-tiered offer.
Maybe it's writing more content that builds their trust in you.
Maybe it's holding a webinar so people can interact with you live--or a combo of all three things.
Think in terms of what needs to happen for your audience to break habits and neutralize anxieties...and you're one step closer to closing sales.
If you’re thinking of working together
and want to dip your toes in…
My Small Start, Big Win™ packages allow you to do exactly that.
To get my conversion-focused eyes on your copy–without the full-on project price tag and wait time-- check out:
⚡ The Small Start, Big Win™ Copy Polish, where I optimize your web pages for sales
⚡ The Quick Clicks Email Polish, where I optimize your emails for opens and engagements
Here’s what clients have said about our work together in my Small Start, Big Win™ packages:
Questions? Want to chat?
