A launch flop can feel like the end of the world when it happens. Not getting the sales you wanted – or even any sales at all – can take a hit to your confidence. But launch-flop happens to everyone.
It is the season of launching. Even your next-door neighbour seems to be launching a new product at this time of year. Whether it’s a whole new service or re-launching an existing one – I love this time of year as it feels like a fresh start and there is so much juicy goodness being served in the world.
In this episode, I’m taking you through the three biggest mistakes to avoid a launch flop. I share the biggest pitfalls from people I’ve worked with and from what I’ve seen online.
Listen to this week’s to find out what you can do to avoid that launch flop and make your next launch the best it can possibly be.
Use the player above or read the blog below.
3 Big Mistakes to Avoid a Launch Flop
Firstly, I want to say that launch flop happens to everyone. Do not take the lack of sales to heart. It really means nothing. A launch flop doesn’t mean that you are any less brilliant at what you do. It does mean that you haven’t done something right in the launch process. You are not the first person to do this.
There are successful people out there who have had great launches and then gone on to have a launch flop. Again, please do not be disheartened. However, there are some ways to try and avoid launch flop and make your next launch the best it can possibly be.
We want to do things in the easiest way possible but sometimes the path of least resistance is not the most strategic. By not doing certain things in a launch it makes it far more difficult and likely to fail. Avoid this with these truthbombs.
1. Have a big fat niche sorted
If you have a niche but the product and service that you’re about to sell aren’t niched enough, not solving a particular problem to help them reach a particular goal then you will not get off on the right foot. It is so important that you are useful and that you articulate this.
Sometimes we can get caught up in what we want to sell versus what is useful for our clients. And then the messaging can get lost in translation. We might start talking about what they get inside of the programme and this may not matter as much to the person who you want to sell to.
Get your niche sorted first. Talk about what your ideal client wants – put yourself in their shoes. Think about what is the urgent issue for them. Is it to overcome a problem? Achieve a particular goal? If you do not have anyone, in particular, you are serving, then your launch will not hit well.
People want to buy specialists. They want a service that hits them like a glove and that you’ve appeared at the right time for them. So if you are articulating that message to them, you are going to be articulating all of the boxes and they will be happy people. People want to buy from you rather than trying to convince everyone. You need to be specific in your messaging in order to make this a successful launch.
If you have nailed this – you should not be launching.
2. Not being bothered with warming people up
This is when you hope you can simply ping it out on Facebook and everyone will see it and buy. That is not usually the case. If you have a great sales page, then this might get some sales for you. However, this is not where the bulk of your sales will come from and you will struggle if you rely on an algorithm for your sales.
What you need is an audience of your own. You can audience build at the same time as launching. By this I mean you can hook an audience in with a certain type of freebie. I recommend not just a PDF checklist as this is a way to get people onto your email list but not to warm them up.
People cannot be bothered to hot people up and this will not make a successful launch.
Give them you
I get my clients in Elevate to deliver carefully scripted masterclasses to warm people up and push the right buttons. Give them value and new revelations to shift their mindset which also helps them buy into the product.
However, if you’re hoping a series of emails and posts will get people to buy your product, you are going to be disappointed. I suggest a trigger event – you create something to bring people together to experience your gold. They have a taster of what it’s like to work with you in some way. A masterclass is a great way to bring people into your world. And it is the shortest route to cash as you’re able to demonstrate your products.
Your prospects will get to know you, engage with you personally and this will lead to far more sales. Unless you are an experienced launcher and have a load of credibility behind you then you may be able to launch with less of you in it. However, until you reach that market leader level you will need to put in the hard work. Even at the market-leader level – do not leave out this part.
Just doing a Facebook Live
I get asked: “Can I just do a Facebook Live?” There is nothing wrong with putting out this kind of content and including your call-to-action. The issue with popping it out on Facebook – people are not engaged there. They will nip in and out. You have no way of controlling the sales process and communication. It is always best to get their email address so you can control the communication.
You could do some sort of PDF checklist and go back to invite them onto something else like a challenge or masterclass to get them excited. You can sell by email but it needs to be a really well-thought-out email sequence. It also needs to connect and resonate with people.
It takes a lot of effort. You need to overcome objections, allay fears, take questions, offer a call to chat with you. If you offer a call for questions and get people to talk to you it will increase conversions.
Getting as close to you as possible is a way to bring in more sales. If you don’t do this part and leave it to chance, you only have yourself to blame.
If you are running a masterclass or webinar, it needs more email sequences to go with it. You need to be doing the content and promotion for that masterclass.
There is a lot that goes into a course. But once you create this content, you can reuse it and breathe new life into it.
Launches are hard work and anyone who tells you otherwise is a liar.
Consider who is already hot
When thinking about hotting up clients, think about who is already warmed up. You may have existing clients who can benefit from your new product. Or there may be clients who have just left you and need bringing back in again. These are your hottest buyers. You can get into the trap of thinking ‘new people’ all the time. New people are hard to come by and are expensive.
You should breathe new life into your audience. But the people who already experience your awesomeness are more likely to buy into your stuff again. If it is suitable – get it in front of them. Don’t be afraid of offering people your product, if you know it will help.
3. Don’t create urgency and keep up with the frequency of selling
Set your launch period and remember that you need to keep up your energy for this length of time. If you have four weeks of launch you will be knackered. Think about when your cart opens. Warm people up before the cart opens. Promoting your trigger event for this. Think about your timelines for this and how you create urgency to get people on calls.
Calls are a great way of selling. Don’t avoid calls. Not only for conversions but to make sure you have the right people in your programmes.
There are several ways to create urgency. Pricing is a good way by using early bird offers. Expiring bonuses are also useful. After a week or a few days then the juicy bonuses disappear. Your bonus needs to correlate with your programme. Sometimes people buy the product for the bonus and this is something to consider.
Use different sprints. Having the cart open and then it close does not build enough urgency. You will find that when you run launches, you get the majority of sales on the last day because we are all procrastinators at heart. Give people deadlines and build in urgency. You will make far more sales by doing so.
Do not be afraid to remind people
If there is only an hour left until the doors close, remind people. It doesn’t matter if you’ve already sent an email, let them know. People send daily emails as a thing. Do not worry about frequency. If someone does not want to buy what you are selling, they will unsubscribe. You haven’t missed out because they did not want to buy anyway.
I am the person who wakes the next day and realise that I’ve missed it but would have bought had I had the reminder. There are people out there who do the same things. If I find your content valuable and I’ve not been followed up with then I get annoyed. You do not realise how it feels as the customer to not get the follow up.
You need to follow up. Frequency and urgency are key to get people to take action because we need deadlines in our lives.
Useful links:
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Send your emails to jen@jen-hall.com
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