Why would you want to introduce uncertainty in your sales message? It doesn’t make sense. Isn’t the idea of sales copy to instill a level of confidence and certainty so potential buyers are motivated to purchase?
We want to believe we are motivating buyers to purchase. Veteran copywriters will tell you it’s more about the persuasion to purchase. There are some who object to using persuasion techniques. It’s their belief a purchase decision is being manipulated rather than reached by logic and reasoning.
Think of persuasion as influencing a change in beliefs with some form of information and motivation as the possibility of acting on that persuasive information.
One of the early challenges online marketers face is being viewed as a credible “expert.” They may even consider themselves a fraud. Subsequently, their view of their potential success is limited. However, seasoned marketers and coaches will assure them, they can build their expertise as they build their business.
The Certainty of the Expert
Our general belief is that we want to buy from “experts” because they offer compelling information – facts, figures, features, benefits, and experience. This gives them a quality of “certainty” which helps to address our doubts and increases our sense of trust.
In terms of persuasion research, we are more likely to be motivated to purchase, because we have been persuaded by a source that has a persuasive certainty and conveys trust. (Remember this is a behavior generality and does not apply to everyone and all circumstances.)
One way to overcome the objection of not being an expert is to promote your product or service by referencing the work and words of someone who is a recognized expert. It’s also a subtle way of increasing your trust factor.
The Certainty of the Non-Expert
Dispelling the myth of certainty by experts, persuasion research by a Harvard Business School marketing professor, Uma Karmarkar, indicates non-experts can also be credible convincers. However, they need to express a high degree of certainty to motivate positive outcome.
This is why when you add testimonials to your copy they are so effective.
A person providing a testimonial is a non-expert because they are not rating or comparing your product or service from the viewpoint of expertise. Instead, they are providing a value judgment based on personal experience. Their level of satisfaction is supporting a level of certainty and also enhancing your trust factor.
The Flip-Flop from Certainty to Uncertainty
When an expert changes an opinion or endorsement, two possibilities occur. First, there is a natural drop in certainty, credibility, and trust. In the mind of a buyer, you’ve just introduced a level of unexpected uncertainty.
When you put it in a brain perspective, the brain wants to respond as quickly and effectively as possible based on previously stored patterns of certainty information. When it suddenly encounters uncertainty, it has to reconfigure what was previously acceptable. This creates as increased level of distrust (a psychological ploy well used in political strategies).
Consider, how you feel when a fellow marketer promotes an affiliate program which you purchase based on their recommendation (level of certainty). You invest your time in learning the new program and you’re up and running.
Then, several months later, they are promoting a similar affiliate program from someone else that is touted to be better. Do you feel betrayed? Where is your level of certainty and trust for this marketer? The level of uncertainty for this marketer, and maybe others as well, increases and any future purchases are viewed with skepticism.
The second possibility is the brain’s sense of curiosity. To have a question of “why” go unanswered keeps the internal gears spinning until it can find an answer. So, when a marketer suddenly switches allegiance or promoting something completely different, the spectrum of curiosity is raised.
Both possibilities give a marketer a chance to offer an explanation and credible reasons for moving from one position to another. If a buyer senses their best interests are not being protected or their curiosity satisfied, uncertainty then becomes a greater obstacle to overcome.
How to Use Uncertainty to Your Advantage
It would seem obvious that one way to address uncertainty is to provide more information, include more testimonials, and learn the art of the long sales page.
But, the best counterintuitive approach is to include uncertainty. Uncertainty does something more effectively than certainty. It engages the brain with curiosity. It gets attention and engages thinking before acting.
Whereas with certainty, we suppose a buyer is more inclined to act. What we forget is their experience is also predictable. They’ve already been exposed to the compelling vocabulary and reasons from other marketers. And, they already know the formula leading them through the buying process.
To a certain extent buyers may act to get a product or service, but then not follow through or fail to get all the benefits of an offer. They’re not dissatisfied buyers, but rather buyers who cannot vouch for the success of your product or service.
Where uncertainty is valuable is getting a potential buyer out of acting mode and into thinking mode on the value of engaging with you.
Buyers will naturally approach an offer with some level of cautiousness, skepticism, and uncertainty until convinced this is right for them. What we naturally do as marketers is to overcome a buyer’s uncertainty rather than placing uncertainty on us.
When you the marketer is uncertain, you create an interruptive reaction in the buyer’s mind.
“What do you mean I might not qualify or have access to your program?”
Now you’ve got their attention and they start thinking differently about you and your offer.
Uncertainty That Can Work to Your Advantage
Restricting Access
- Request they submit an application to determine if they qualify for your program or level of training.
- Ask to complete a questionnaire for meeting the criteria of the clients your work with.
- Give them a survey to complete to determine if they have the abilities, skills, or level of commitment.
- Limit signing up for this program only to those who have already completed your free, basic program. Then, you can provide a link to access the free training and notify them you are placing their name on the wait list for the next scheduled offer.
Be Upfront with Uncertainty in Your Sales Copy
- “This might not be for you but I thought I’d give you a chance to ….”
- “I’m not sure you’re ready to move to the next level of success training, but if you think you might be …”
- “I understand you’re not ready to commit now to your success, but I would like to offer you this …”
- “Why you shouldn’t buy my training, until you …”
- “I’d love to work with you but I only work with those who are …”
Do you see the advantage of including an element of uncertainty here?
You’ve switched roles. No longer is the buyer holding the total decision power to buy. It’s been replaced with your uncertainty. They now are curious and want to engage with you as to why you are uncertain about them.
It can also increase the likelihood of a purchase and the need to prove you wrong. They want to show you that your product or service does work for them. It also means that it is incumbent upon you to provide everything you promised to sustain their trust is getting the most out of what you’ve offered.
While this may or may not work for your business, it’s another option to get potential buyers to engage and think more about you and your offer.
The question of the day: Can you think of a way of introducing some level of uncertainty into your sales copy?
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-upside-of-uncertainty/?WT.mc_id=SA_DD_20161108
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A good suggestion, I haven’t thought much about it in this way…but I certainly will now.
Glad that it’s got you thinking. It’s not for everyone, but you’ll be able to recognize when others use it.
Very interesting concept! Definitely a lot to think about! Thank you!
This doesn’t necessarily apply to everything, but it’s an option. And, it’s good to know that you will be able to recognize “uncertainty” when others use it.
I’m going to have to bookmark this post and read it again, Joyce. Tons of precious information about the psychology of selling, especially the uncertainty part. I find pre-qualifying to be one of the best both for the prospective customer and the service/product provider. And the caveats. I include them in my ebooks as well as part of my policy on my website.
An excellent idea Vatsala to have a prequalifying policy from the start. It sets you apart immediately as someone who takes helping people seriously.
Some intriguing insights regarding sales and marketing. My fave takeaway: “They now are curious and want to engage with you as to why you are uncertain about them.”
Glad you liked the take-a-way. In today’s world of overwhelming information, curiosity is an effective tool for getting attention.
Great point.. if we don’t believe what we are doing then how can those whom we want to hire us believe that we are confident in what we are doing?
So true, Kristen. It’s one of the keys to real success.
Hi Joyce 🙂
Great post and makes sense to include some kind of “uncertainty” in our sales copy 🙂 Loved your tips for how to do that! Thanks for sharing as I will try to utilize your tips in my next blog post….
Glad you found the tips helpful. We all have to watch out for anything that will help to advance our business.
The is powerful Joyce and love the examples you have given, going to use that with my upcoming program thank you
Giving examples always helps to make things more understandable and realistic. We’re all here to share.
Brilliant, Joyce, as usual. I love all part of this — quoting experts (and non-experts) and adding uncertainty in your own copy are two of my faves. The opinions of non-experts, as in testimonials and reviews, are key these days. Nearly 80% of people who purchase products and services do it based on not just the non-experts, but complete strangers. This is a 180 degree turn from the days when we exclusively talked to friends and family members for recommendations an ideas.
Yes, it’s a real turnaround from the old days. Testimonials are very important in adding credibility. They also take the pressure off the marketer to prove apotential buyer of the quality and value of an offer.
Fascinating article. As a seller of goods, I was thinking how marketers use this approach, and perceived value came to mind. Will be pondering this more.
Marketing is not as straightforward as we would like it to be. So, We have to get inventive and creative trying different options.
Thank you for the insights and the examples. I do recall coming across some of them in marketing that has reached me. Some of it ticked me off a bit when I read it but I do believe scarcity works.
Some of us like to have our information straightforward. Inclusions of scarcity or uncertainty do disrupt the brain’s processing of predictable format. Both can also heighten curiosity and increase engagement. Scarcity (real or contrived) is based on limitation. Uncertainty focuses more on selectivity or qualification. Either way, they are just available options if we feel comfortable using them.
I remember reading a blog post by Seth Godin just before we began writing my book jacket copy and this was exactly the approach I ended up taking…to introduce a level of uncertainty that would get the potential reader ‘curious’. We used, “This book may not be for you if…” and then listed several things that were in the book, that would pique the reader’s curiosity.
When it comes to experts, I see how many people have become very credible without having much of their own expertise. I think I’ve heard the term research experts and I see myself somewhat in that category. Research experts uncover lots of information, data and stats and include anecdotal stories that might be theirs, or might not be theirs. It’s a fascinating topic, Joyce and thanks for the interesting read. Like so many things in life, what works for one person, might not work for the next.
Yes, Beverley, not everything is going to work for everyone else the same way. Thank goodness. We have to find things that work for us and with certain projects. It seems that the uncertainty/curiosity approach was the best approach for your book jacket.
I like your examples of your sales copy sentences. Great tactics here, thanks so much for sharing this with us. This was my favourite bit:
‘You’ve switched roles. No longer is the buyer holding the total decision power to buy. It’s been replaced with your uncertainty. They now are curious and want to engage with you as to why you are uncertain about them’
Hi Sonya, As marketers, we’re always working from the perspective of trying to satisfy the uncertainty of the potential customer. It’s nice to reverse the roles once-in-a-while.
Joyce,
A great article and I loved the examples at the end . I really gained a lot of insight in selling products, and when I get to that stage this was very helpful.
Thank You,
Lori English
Thanks Lori for commenting. I’m glad you found the examples useful and helpful in getting ready to launch your first product.
I view the uncertainty you presented in terms of a takeaway or scarcity. In other words, present the opportunity as something they have to qualify for, or something that won’t be available for long or for everyone. That makes people want it more.
Hi Carol,
Yes, this has a quality similar to scarcity in getting someone to commit. However, scarcity is limited to availability versus uncertainty in not knowing whether you will meet the criteria to qualify or not.
I’m not really selling anything at the moment but I know these tactics are often the ones that will work for me as a buyer. We are bombarded with so many offers and it’s the one that makes me curious that I’m likely to investigate further and consider.
That’s very perceptive of you to figure out that curiosity is getting you to investigate some offers and not others. You’ll have great experience when it comes time to offer a product of your own.
I love how you include brain science here, Joyce. I do restrict access in my business. There’s only so much of me to go around, and that’s become a necessity. Funny thing–we’re all happier about it.
Great post!
I know that it’s hard for new entrepreneurs. They want that first sale and then an ongoing flow of customers. The idea of restricting clients would seem to be counterintuitive. But, that’s what we all should be working towards. It’s easier to help a small number of higher-paying clients who really want and appreciate what we do. Glad to hear you’re already there.