[May 8th, 1999]

See Also   How to Build a Web Store for FREE   How to choose mailing list management software   How to Grow Your Web Business   How to Accept Credit Cards without a Merchant Account   How To Develop Online Products That Sell   How to Change Your Web Hosting Service (ISP)   How to Deal with Disgruntled Customers   How to Get Top Search Engine Positioning   How to Beat Credit Card Fraud   How to Design an Affiliate Program   How to Accept Credit Card Payments   How to Choose a Shopping Cart

[This is the second part of a three part article. The first part can be read here].

=====LETTER #2=========>

I am really frustrated with Ken Envoy. He has written an article on designing a successful Affiliate Program. Along with the article he has a banner inviting people to try out his book, so I clicked on it and started reading. He just kept going on and on and on...

It was so frustrating! He just wouldn't stop talking! I was sold about half-way through the first page, but he had to keep talking. I was interested enough that I followed his chatter for (I believe) three or four pages, expecting a closing statement any time now...but it didn't happen!

Finally, he stopped and proposed that we download his chapters. I was expecting some ordering procedures here, but he didn't close here either! I could see that this man was trying to prevent me from buying his product so I persisted. I downloaded his (now being seen as "stupid" chapters). I expected that one of the files would be clearly marked so I could order his product, but again it was not there.

Unfortunately, after downloading the pdf files, I found that I could not open them up in my computer for some reason. I don't know enough about computers to fix the problem, so it looks like I am stumped! Mr. Envoy has succeeded in preventing me from buying his book.

Congratulations Mr. Envoy! I have never seen someone so afraid of asking for the order. If you really believed in your product you wouldn't be so afraid to close. For a good example on how to close, close, close, take a look at any of the weekly newsletters produced by "sellitontheweb".

Please forward this message to Mr. Envoy if possible. He may know how to design web sites, but he certainly is not a good copywriter for ads.

Neeraj Vxxxxxx

=====RESPONSE #2=========>

Thank you for an excellent e-mail. It brings up some terrific issues. Let's start with your initial comment...

-->
I am really frustrated with Ken Envoy. He has written an article on designing a successful Affiliate Program. Along with the article he has a banner inviting people to try out his book, so I clicked on it and started reading. He just kept going on and on and on...

It was so frustrating! He just wouldn't stop talking! I was sold about half-way through the first page, but he had to keep talking. I was interested enough that I followed his chatter for (I believe) three or four pages, expecting a closing statement any time now...but it didn't happen!
<--

Mr. Vxxxxxx, I write to please most people who visit my site -- it is impossible to write to please everyone. *Most people* require more than half a page to make a purchase decision. If I was to "ask for the order" after half a page, my conversion rate (sales divided by unique visitors) would plummet.

However, I take some good *and* some bad from your comment...

The site *does* seem to be doing a great job of *pulling you through* -- Make Your Site SELL! ("MYSS!") discusses exactly how to do pull customers irresistibly through a site.

Your "talking" and "chatter" statements also show we're doing something right. To sell most goods or services, a Web site must achieve that comfortable feeling of being "talked to." MYSS! explains how to do this.

But now for the worrisome part...

It seems that you did *not* see the ORDER button. When we did usability testing, this never happened. We had considered a subtle animated glow on the ORDER button, but decided it was not necessary, because everyone saw it during testing.

I need your help, Mr. Vxxxxxx. I would REALLY love to know -- did you see the ORDER button, or were you in fact *not quite sold*? After all, you did see the FREE DOWNLOAD button, which is immediately to the left of the ORDER button. Please let me know -- this is an important point.

(To thank you for your time and to apologise for your frustration, I'd like to offer you a free download of the book. Please include your full name, physical address, and e-mail address where you would like to receive the download instructions for the full version of MYSS!.)

OK, on to your next comment...

-->
Finally, he stopped and proposed that we download his chapters. I was expecting some ordering procedures here, but he didn't close here either! I could see that this man was trying to prevent me from buying his product so I persisted. I down-loaded his (now being seen as "stupid" chapters). I expected that one of the files would be clearly marked so I could order his product, but again it was not there.
<--

This is rather harsh. Too bad. Feedback is always useful, but it's nicer to keep discussions on a high plane.

Regarding your point about ordering from the trial download...

No one would order from the ReadMeFirst.txt file -- after all, they have just downloaded. They want to see what's in those Adobe Acrobat PDF files first. That's why the main "free chapter" PDF file *DOES* in fact end with...

o an invitation to join the affiliate program by linking directly to the affiliate page from the Adobe Acrobat PDF file

and

o an invitation to order now by *linking directly to the order page* from the PDF file.

It's slick and it has been extremely effective. But unfortunately, it turns out that you could not open the Adobe Acrobat PDF files! :-(

Which brings us to your next comment...

-->
Unfortunately, after downloading the pdf files, I found that I could not open them up in my computer for some reason. I don't know enough about computers to fix the problem, so it looks like I am stumped! Mr. Envoy has succeeded in preventing me from buying his book.
<--

This is a really important point. I'm sorry that the end result has frustrated you so much (evident again in your tone).

On the free download page, there is a section that says that you need Adobe Acrobat Reader 3 (or higher) to read the free trial. I assume that you do not have this software. We knew this would often be the case, but the huge advantages of Acrobat outweighed offering the book in any other format.

So we clearly mark in many places, wherever the customer is about to download or order, that they need Adobe Acrobat. We include a link directly to Adobe's free download page.

Hundreds of people have taken our free download. You are the first to verbalise this problem. But there must be others who have not written, so I take it seriously.

As a result, we have already improved both the Mac and Windows download pages to reduce this occurrence closer to zero -- the "Acrobat Notice" is much more prominent now. Please return to the site and let me know what you think...

>> http://helpmy.sitesell.com/

Thank you for bringing this to my attention, and sorry for your frustrations. Again, to thank you for taking the time to help us out by replying to my questions back to you, and to apologise for your frustration, I'd like to offer you a free download of the book. Please include your full name, physical address, and e-mail address where you would like to receive the download instructions.

-->
Congratulations Mr. Envoy! I have never seen someone so afraid of asking for the order. If you really believed in your product you wouldn't be so afraid to close. For a good example on how to close, close, close, take a look at any of the weekly newsletters produced by "sellitontheweb".

Please forward this message to Mr. Envoy if possible. He may know how to design web sites, but he certainly is not a good copywriter for ads.
<--

Ouch! This hurts. I do agree that Paul Lang is a great closer.

But in our defence...

Our site's conversion rate (sales divided by unique visitors) is over 5%. One Web marketing guru has already called our site, "by far, the most persuasive selling site on the Web."

And the feedback to MYSS! has been more than strong -- it's far better than even I could have hoped. People will succeed on the Web because of MYSS!, and that's a tremendous feeling.

One final point. You could be right that the site is too long. Who knows? --> Maybe we could achieve a conversion rate of 10% if it was shorter. That's why we are currently developing two other sites, each with its own domain and a completely different approach. This is another important point of Make Your Site SELL! -- test, test, test.

To summarise...

1) I hope this letter helps you see that I am not doing everything I can to avoid the order! :-) I write a site to sell MOST people, and most people need more info before buying.

2) You have pointed out a couple of important usability issues (ORDER button visibility and visibility of ADOBE ACROBAT warning). They have caused you some painful moments. They have also caused us to improve the site.

Thank you again.

All the best,
Ken Evoy, M.D.

More: Ken's top ten tips for dealing with disgruntled customers