© 2005 Dream Merchant Dream Merchant • 2309 Torrance Bvd. #104, Torrance, CA 90501 (310) 328-1925 email: Jkm316@aol.com WHY AM I GETTING PRODUCT RETURNS?
Have More of Your Products Been Returned Lately? The Reason May Have Nothing to do With You. ©2005 by Dennis Hessler Did you know that most people who return your information product are not unhappy with it? And most likely there weren't failures at the opportunity or skill you explain. The truth is MOST PEOPLE WON'T DO ANYTHING WITH IT.
It's true. I call it the "Inertia of Inaction."
What this means is it takes a great deal of effort to get anyone--me included, probably you, too--to do something. Anything. People prefer to dream. And wait. Why do they wait? Lots of reasons, but let me give you one big one from my experience.
I sell international trade information. Running your own international trade business isn't as easy as falling off a log, but it's not rocket science, either. In the material itself, my customers learn the specific challenges and hurdles they must leap to find success. I feel I have the responsibility to provide all the facts to my customers. Otherwise, I'm simply cheating them.
And sometimes an enthusiastic buyer reads/views/listens to the material and discovers that THERE IS SOME WORK INVOLVED. "Oops. I hadn't expected that. I'm not sure I want to do this anymore."
And that's when the returns start coming in.
I guess it's only human nature to expect something for nothing. We hear it all the time on television and see it in wildly-phrased business opportunity pitches in magazines and newspapers. So when your buyer finds out he has to make phone calls or write letters or (gasp!) meet and talk with people, he says, "This is too hard" and he never does anything else. Except one thing.
He returns your package.
When I accepted returns I learned that most people would simply tell me, "This is more involved than I thought it was. Please issue a refund." I'm an optimist and assume the best in people, so I figured they were being honest. Of course, they might have been ripping me off, too. That's why I don't accept returns anymore.
But I learned that many people just refused to get started. Even those who kept my products. I had one guy purchase a big package and then two years later, purchase the exact same thing again, saying that "this time," he was going to get started. I never heard from him again, so I can't say if he really did or didn't.
What I DO know is purchasers of business opportunity information love to dream. They like the idea of being a successful international trader. They see themselves attending trade shows in exotic locales and doing most of their work from a cell phone on their yacht.
But when I throw the cold water of reality at them--and remember, I believe this is my responsibility--they lose heart.
You know, that's the real secret to success in business. And nothing is harder to do. You've got to stick with it and refuse to accept defeat. Boy, that's easy to say, but hard to do. That's why it's important to inspire and encourage your buyers that they CAN do what' you're showing them.
My experience is that whether they actually do carry through with the project or not, they will make a serious effort to try.
And they won't be returning your products.
Dennis Hessler is an international trade consultant and publisher who runs his own home-based trade and information company, Spyglass Point Productions. You can learn more about Dennis' international trade information products, including how-to-books, videos, software, newsletter and consulting services by contacting him directly of visiting his website.
Spyglass Point Productions PO Box 13141 Pensacola, FL 32591 Phone: 850-438-5527 http://www.spyglasspoint.com Dennis@spyglasspoint.com
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