Do I need a sales page or is my regular website enough?

0:00Hello, this is Mark Satterfield and welcome to the Velvet Rope Playbook. Tonight's chapter. Do you need a sales page or is your website enough? Rebecca Sloan had a beautiful website and a$35 ,000 service that almost nobody was buying from it. Rebecca was 46 and ran a private matchmaking firm for successful professionals in New York, Boston, and Palm Beach. She hadn't planned on becoming a matchmaker. She'd spent 14 years in executive recruiting where she discovered she had an unusual ability to understand what people were really looking for, even when they weren't particularly good at explaining it themselves.

0:39Then a longtime client jokingly told her, you're much better at finding people for my company than I am at finding someone for myself. Rebecca introduced him to a woman she knew. 18 months later, they were married. One introduction became several, and eventually Rebecca built a business around it. Her website was excellent. It explained who she was, described her approach and included discrete success stories. Then Rebecca introduced a$35 ,000 private search program for clients who wanted her to personally manage the process of finding a serious relationship. She added it to her website. Six months later, almost nobody was buying it.

1:20And that's when Rebecca started wondering, do I really need a separate sales page? I've already got a very good website. To answer that question, let me introduce you to Jonathan Mercer. Jonathan was exactly the prospect that Rebecca wanted. He was 57 and has spent most of his career building a software company serving the commercial real estate industry. He started with $70 ,000, two employees, and an office above a dry cleaner in Samford. 23 years later, he sold the company to a private equity firm and did extremely well. His marriage of 27 years had ended two years earlier. Jonathan had plenty of friends.

2:02He belonged to a golf club, traveled frequently, and had a very active social life. What he didn't particularly want was to become a 57-year-old professional dater. A friend told him about Rebecca. Jonathan went to her website. He read her biography, looked at a couple of success stories, and decided she seemed intelligent it incredibly. Then he left. He didn't contact her. Several months later, they happened to meet at a charity dinner. Rebecca told him about her private search program. Jonathan looked surprised. That's what you do? Rebecca laughed. It's on my website. Jonathan said, I knew you were a matchmaker.

2:38I didn't understand why someone like me would need a$35 ,000 matchmaking program. and that was the problem. Rebecca's website had done its job. Jonathan had gone to the website and answered several important questions. Who is she? What does she do? Is she credible? Would I potentially trust her? The answer to all of those was yes, but Rebecca needed him to answer an entirely different question. Should someone like me spend$35 ,000 on this particular service? That's a much bigger leap. And that's where a sales page can become valuable. Here is the simplest distinction. Your website sells you. Your sales page sells a particular decision.

3:23Jonathan didn't need more information about Rebecca. He needed to understand why someone like him would hire a private matchmaker in the first place. Jonathan didn't think he had a matchmaking problem. He could get dates. That wasn't the issue. He tried dating apps for about three weeks and hated them. Friends occasionally introduced him to women. He met people socially. He just wasn't meeting many people he wanted to build a relationship with. That's an important marketing problem. Your prospect can recognize the situation without recognizing the need for your solution. Jonathan wasn't waking up thinking, I need a$35 ,000 private search program.

4:02He was thinking, I don't want to spend the next three years doing this. That's where Rebecca needed to start. So she created a sales page, and it didn't begin with introducing our private search program. Instead, it began with Jonathan's world. You've been successful in almost every important area of your life. Why should finding the right person still depend largely on luck? Now Jonathan has a reason to keep reading. The page talked about people who had full lives, knew plenty of people, and didn't necessarily have trouble getting dates, but were tired of investing time in people who were never particularly good possibilities.

4:41Only then did Rebecca explain her service, how candidates were identified, how they were vetted, how privacy was protected, how much of the process Rebecca personally handled, what Rebecca needed from the client, who the program was for, and who the program wasn't for. That last part matters a lot. Rebecca wasn't trying to generate as many inquiries as possible, she wanted the right person reading the page to think, that's me, and the wrong person to think, this probably isn't for me. That's one of the things a good sales page can do extremely well. I mean, think about the conversation you'd have in person, and that's a simple way to decide whether you need a sales page.

5:25Imagine your ideal prospect sitting across from you. They already know who you are. They already think you're credible, but they're not convinced they need this particular service. What would you need to explain? You'd probably talk about their situation. You'd help them see something they may not have considered. You would explain how you approach the problem. You might tell a story about someone similar. You'd address the concerns that could keep them from moving forward, and then you'd suggest a logical next step. That's essentially what a good sales page does. It's a sales conversation that takes place when you're not in the room.

6:03So the question then, do you always need one? No. If someone visits your website, understands what you do, and simply needs to schedule a conversation, your regular website may be perfectly adequate. But suppose you're selling a particular $10 ,000,$25 ,000,$50 ,000, or$100 ,000 service. Maybe it's a specialized consulting engagement, private advisory program, comprehensive design service, wealth planning process, or some other expensive service that requires explanation? Then here's the question I'd ask. Does the prospect need to understand an argument before they're ready to take the next step?

6:44If they do, I'd seriously consider a dedicated sales page, because a description of your service isn't necessarily an argument for buying it. And here's a quick test for you. Go to the page describing the service you most want to sell and pretend you've never heard of your business. Can you quickly answer, is this for me? Why should I care? Why is this approach different? What might keep me from moving forward? What should I do next? If the page doesn't answer those questions, you may have found your problem. You don't necessarily need a new website. You may need one page that does a much better job of selling one thing.

7:24So what happened with Jonathan? Rebecca eventually sent Jonathan her new sales page. He read it and called her, but he didn't say, now I understand your service. He said, I think I'm exactly the person you wrote this for. That's the result you're looking for. Rebecca's website had helped Jonathan understand who she was. Her sales page helped Jonathan recognize who he was and why her service might make sense for him. A week later, he applied for the program. Obviously, a sales page isn't going to magically turn every visitor into a$35 ,000 client, but it can move the right prospect from this looks interesting to this is relevant to me to I want to talk to this person.

8:07And when you're selling an expensive service, that's an enormously valuable journey. So if you're wondering whether you need a sales page, remember this, your website sells you, your sales page sells the decision. And if you'd like more practical ideas for attracting affluent clients, positioning your services, and turning more interest into actual business, go ahead and visit getwealthyclients.com. There you'll find information about my books, my programs, resources, and yeah, the different ways you can work with me personally. That's getwealthyclients.com. And if you're enjoying the Velvet Rope Playbook, subscribe wherever you like to listen to podcasts.

8:45That way you'll know when I drop a new episode. And if you, of course, if you know somebody with a beautiful website that's not doing a particularly good job of selling, hey, pass this episode along to them because they may not need another website. They may simply need one page that has a much better sales conversation. This is Mark Satterfield. Thanks for listening to this chapter of the Velvet Rope Playbook. I'll be back at you soon with something new, but until then, bye for now.