Category: Selling

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Little Post about selling techniques

The book “The psychology of selling” is really interesting when it comes to protecting yourself from sales tactics or using them yourself. In the following I will briefly summarize two areas worth mentioning:

Three points to show your product in a targeted way

First things first: The salesman must be aware of why he is selling something. For this, it is helpful to write out the five to ten most attractive features of the own product and to scale them according to importance. Then it helps to ask the following questions:

  • why should anyone buy my product at all?
  • why from our company?
  • why directly from me?

In the second step, it helps to understand the needs of the customers. Which ones are served by the product? What advantages does the product have from the customer’s point of view? What’s in it for your customer, rather than someone else’s product?

It is important to work out your attractive features and benefits for the customer. When you know these, you can create a table with left the features and on the right side the linked benefits. Important: What comes out for them! They/We don’t buy features, they/we buy benefits! they don’t buy products, they buy solutions for their problems.

Third and essential: What are you offering what no one else can. What is your unique selling point?

4 keys for a successful sale

  1. Specialization: What will the product do exactly for your customer. Which market and which benefits.
  2. Differentiate: Why are you better than your competition. What can you offer no one else can. Where are you better than 90% of the market.
  3. Segmentation: We don’t want to put energy into selling to anyone. What customer base is the target.
  4. Concentration: when you have found your customers. Don’t make the mistake in serving them all. One big whale that feeds you for a month is better than 100 little fishes.
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Discord Marketing #2 – Example Server

 

The whole levelsystem I have mentioned in my last post, is based on a discord plugin: Mee6 Level System.

The levels control the roles of the server. For example, a role can give access to a new channel by sharing more exclusive information or accepting new commands like !getkey, which will send you the Beta Key automatically. Thus it can be directly controlled by the level which users have which permissions and get which information. Brilliant!

My curiosity is raised. How long does it take to build my own comparable server?

 

How to start your own level server

Just import this MEE6 Discord Bot to your Discord Server.

 

If you don’t know how to create a server, check the discord manual.
I did set up a test Server for this case. You can find my Test Server here: https://discord.gg/JS3VJbY

After setting it up you have access to your Dashboard. Here the magic happens. Check the levels Button and you are ready to go.

 

 

The basics are set, Users can Level now. One Message per Minute will be counted and EXP will be added. My “test” Messages you see below generate EXP, and via the “!rank” command I can see my current level. Two test Messages generate one time 17EXP and 21EXP.
The goal is to engage your users to talk about your product and use the techniques we learned from the “psychology of convincing” book.

 

 

Level System is ready to go. But how do we control user behavior through the levels? The Answer: permissions in separate channels.

Channels

The various rewards can be controlled via individual roles. If a user reaches a specific level, he or she is automatically assigned a role. (see Discord Manual)

These roles give access to the different channels in which different commands are accepted.

In channel one, for example, you can only level. In my case channel, two will be unlocked after reaching the first level. Here could be new information for the users. From level two on, the user in my channel gets direct access to the giveaway and an automatic message referring him to the humble bundle webpage.

The FAQ section can be viewed directly by everyone. It should be readable by everyone right from the beginning. (Exampletext)

In the picture above, you can see that the rank command is hidden in some channels. This has the simple reason that the normal chat is not disturbed too much by the recurring bot level messages. In the picture below you can see, that the “!levels” command is open for everyone and not connected to any specific role. But also banned in the communication channels.

 

The server is ready to use

In this Server, there are two channels which are locked for beginner players. In the rules and FAQ channels is writing blocked for anyone except the admin. There is information written down for everyone. In the other channels are either writing or command spamming allowed. Only the chat channels give exp.

How this could be used as Marketing Strategy

Hopfrog is using this concept just great. They first advertised their game through  “Day of the Devs” on steam and through “Humble Monthly bundle”.

They don’t publish exact numbers, but they got loads of beta users and a whole bunch has donated the $20+ for steam key access on release. Although there are currently over 1200 patrons on their Patreon Account and thousands on their discord channel.

They mainly host it as a way to give back to those who want to be part of the community. The users get rewards at level milestones: Such as the comic at 20, a beta key at 30, coloring book at 40 and a loot pack at 50.
A more detailed questioning of the admins and we get some numbers: One person has reach 50, almost 50 are at Level 30. So…. 50 persons reached the beta key. That’s damn less for thousands of users in discord. Maybe many of them buy the key, instead of farming exp. And spamming the same things will be banished directly by the Bot with the following message:
11 Messages – :dynoSuccess: USER#3576 has been warned.

Conclusion

Many users will try to get the free key, but few will make it. But nevertheless: a server is quick in its realization and users have the chance to get more information about your product.

Here you can find other resources which can be helpful:
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Discord Marketing #1 (EN)

As a game developer, it is often not easy to get your hours back. Platforms like itch.io or HumbleBundle allow the developer to upload his game and collect some money for his demo or his small game according to the “Pay what you want” principle.
But what if these platforms are used to make potential customers aware of the game, give them a foretaste and finally encourage them to buy the game a few months later at a voluntary full price?

Through Discord, a level system (find a manual here) and Patreon, a payment system, this is possible.

 

 

Attract your customers’ attention to your game

First of all, the customer has to be found, the product has to be pointed out. The pages mentioned in the introduction offer indie developers the chance of a comparatively large reach without a lot of money. (Example)

The goal is now to let the users play the trial version of the game. Without ever having seen the game he already has the possibility to buy the game here, but only very few of them are willing to accept this offer, after all they are here to be convinced by the demo.

One or two hours later the game is over and now the customer has a taste for it. He wants to continue playing. So far nothing new. Where other game developers now ask for a donation to buy the full price game, this method only begins. There is no expectation to sell the game directly. Instead, the Beta Key, which can be worked out, is pointed out dearly and nicely. In addition, the player joins the Discord Community and earns points by writing with other players. With other players who are also interested in the game.

Points for interacting with other customers

Here we are now. Write with other users to get the free beta key with enough points. But not the full price game. That still has to be bought. With increasing number of points the level increases. In this case a Beta Key could be requested with level 30:

Level 30 – Get a FREE itch.io key for the Closed Beta of Forager! :forager:

 

A closer look at the FAQ reveals that it can take quite a while until this level 30 is reached:

:regional_indicator_q: How long does it take to reach level 30? :regional_indicator_a:
About 2 weeks if you chat in the server for 5 hours a day. Use !rank to check your current xp and rank.

Of course, there are other small favors like access to the concepts of the game or own emoticons. Free according to the philosophy of giving, giving, giving and only then taking. The user should be encouraged that it is not far to the free key and small successes should keep the motivation above.

In order to get points, the messages are counted per minute and added to an account. Every message no matter which character length counts to it. With a command the current level and the progress can be determined at any time:

After half an hour of chatting, I reached level 2, but a small analysis shows that my efforts to write every minute and gain experience meet an exponential function. The following data comes from other players who, like me, have displayed their current level in the public chat above. User Josie writes: ” [I] have been here for some weeks, but only lvl 23.”

Time or money – in the end, money

Many books on sales on this blog talk about consistency and commitment. Once decisions are made, which can also be wrong, they tend to be self-sustaining because they are able to ‘take root’.

So, along with thousands of others, they are now competing to write about the game and other topics. There are extra rewards when screenshots of the game are shared or even fan arts you have drawn yourself.

Once the user has put a lot of effort into collecting, he can see his achieved levels and all the others who have already made it. This makes him believe that it is possible after all. If necessary, you can still abbreviate to the payment method patreon. Since the beta key isn’t simply released, reaching it is, of course, an even nicer feeling.

If you like the game, you have to buy it in the end, because the beta is not the perfect game again…

 

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Discord Marketing #1 (DE)

Als Spieleentwickler hat man es oft nicht leicht, seine geleisteten Stunden auch nur im entferntesten über ein eigenes Spiel rein zu holen. Plattformen wie itch.io oder HumbleBundle ermöglichen es dem Entwickler, sein Spiel hochzuladen und nach dem “Pay what you want” Prinzip ein wenig Geld für seine Demo oder sein kleines Spiel einzusammeln.
Was ist aber, wenn diese Plattformen genutzt werden um potentielle Kunden auf das Spiel aufmerksam zu machen, ihnen einen Vorgeschmack zu geben und sie schlussendlich ein paar Monate später zum freiwilligen Vollpreis Kauf zu animieren?

Durch Discord, ein Levelsystem (Anleitung) und Patreon ist dies möglich.

 

 

Mache deine Kunden auf dein Spiel aufmerksam

Zu allererst muss der Kunde gefunden werden, auf das Produkt aufmerksam gemacht werden. Die in der Einleitung genannten Seiten bieten Indieentwicklern die Chance auf eine vergleichsweise große Reichweite, ohne viel Geldeinsatz. (Beispiel)

Das Ziel ist es nun die User die Testversion des Spiels spielen zu lassen. Er hat ohne das Spiel jemals gesehen zu haben schon hier jetzt die Möglichkeit das Spiel zu kaufen, auf dieses Angebot gehen jedoch nur sehr wenige ein, schließlich sind sie hier um sich von der Demo überzeugen zu lassen.

Ein bis Zwei Stunden später ist das Spiel vorbei und nun ist der Kunde auf den Geschmack gekommen. Er möchte weiter spielen. Soweit nichts neues. Wo andere Spieleentwickler nun um eine Spende bitten, das vollpreis Spiel zu kaufen, beginnt diese Methode erst. Es wird gar nicht damit gerechnet das Spiel direkt zu verkaufen. Stattdessen wird lieb und nett auf den Beta Key hingewiesen, der sich erarbeitet werden kann. Dazu schließt sich der Spieler der Discord Community an und verdient sich Punkte über das Schreiben mit anderen Spielern. Mit anderen Spielern die das Spiel auch interessiert.

 

Punkte für das interagieren mit anderen Kunden

Hier sind wir nun. Schreiben mit anderen Usern um mit genug Punkten den Gratis Beta Key zu erhalten. Nicht aber das Vollpreis Spiel. Das muss nach wie vor gekauft werden. Mit steigender Punktzahl steigt das Level. In diesem Fall konnte mit Level 30 ein Beta Key angefordert werden:

Level 30 – Get a FREE itch.io key for the Closed Beta of Forager! :forager:

Ein genauerer Blick in die FAQ verrät, dass es eine ganze Weile dauern kann, bis dieses Level 30 erreicht ist:

:regional_indicator_q: How long does it take to reach level 30? :regional_indicator_a:
About 2 weeks if you chat in the server for 5 hours a day. Use !rank to check your current xp and rank.

Natürlich werden kleine andere Gefälligkeiten erwiesen wie der Zugang zu den Konzepten des Spiels oder eigene Emotikons. Frei nach der Philosophie geben, geben, geben und erst dann nehmen. Der User soll bestärkt werden, dass es doch nicht mehr weit ist bis zum Gratis Key und kleine Erfolge sollen die Motivation oben halten.

Um Punkte zu bekommen werden die Nachrichten pro Minute gezählt und auf ein Konto addiert. Jede Nachricht egal welcher Zeichenlänge zählt dazu. Über einen Befehl kann jederzeit das aktuelle Level und der Fortschritt ermittelt werden:

Nach einer halben Stunde chatten erreichte ich immerhin Level 2. Eine kleine Analyse ergibt jedoch, dass meine Mühen jede Minute zu schreiben und Erfahrung zu sammeln auf eine exponentielle Funktion treffen. Die folgenden Daten entstammen von anderen Spielern die wie ich oben ihr aktuelles Level im öffentlichen Chat haben anzeigen lassen. Userin Josie schreibt: ” [Ich] bin seit einigen Wochen hier, aber erst lvl 23.”

Zeit oder Geld – und schlussendlich doch Geld

In vielen Büchern über Verkauf auf diesem Blog wird von dem Konsistenzprinzip und dem Commitment gesprochen. Einmal getroffene Entscheidungen, welche auch falsch sein können, tendieren dazu, sich selbst aufrechtzuerhalten, da sie in der Lage sind, ‚Wurzeln zu schlagen‘.

Gemeinsam mit tausenden wird also nun um die Wette über das Spiel und andere Themen geschrieben. Extra Belohnungen gibt es, wenn Screenshots des Spiels geteilt werden oder gar selbst gezeichnete FanArts.

Hat der User erst einmal Aufwand in das Sammeln gesteckt, sieht er seine erreichten Level und all die anderen die es schon geschafft haben. Das lässt ihn weiter daran glauben, dass es doch möglich ist. Zur Not kann immer noch auf die Bezahlmethode patreon abgekürzt werden. Da der Beta Key nicht einfach herausgegeben wird, ist das Erreichen dessen natürlich ein um so schöneres Gefühl.

Gefällt das Spiel, muss es schlussendlich doch gekauft werden, da die Beta wiederum nicht das vollkommene Spiel darstellt…

 

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A few tips for selling anything you want

This blog post is about the tricks the sales people use on us without us noticing it in the first moment. If we know some of them, we can look after them or use them for us.
Again: Thanks for your time!

The rule of reciprocity

Reciprocity rule or, to say it a little easier, here we call it the “as you do it to me, so I give it to you” rule. In this rule something is given with an attempt to get more in the end.

There are two basic tactics:

Door to the Face Tactic: Something is offered at an expensive price, waited for rejection and in the following suggest a cheaper price, which was actually intended. It is seen as a concession and the chance to sell it now will increase drastically.

Small gifts: It is often the case that small free samples are given away. The purpose of these is to establish a contractual obligation or at least to reduce the fear of making a mistake. At cheese stands it is often the case that free samples can be cut off before a body of cheese is chosen. This has an incredible effect.

Social Provenance

If a lot of people want something, it can’t be that bad, can it?
Not for nothing there are reviews at Amazon and Co. to show how many people have already made successful purchases. Ebay shows how many products have already been sold and how many are still available. The Google Playstore even goes so far as to show the total download figures. When I read about this rule, I went through my phone and noticed that I have a lot of apps, mostly games, just because they’ve been downloaded a lot or had a lot of 5 star ratings. I didn’t actually compare.

At the Tupper Parties all participants have to present the advantages of their free product to the assembled team and try to convince the others. Thus all participants see how great this bowl is.

Shortage in products

If something is available in smaller quantities, it is associated with more value. This became quite clear in an experiment with cookies.

The experiment was to evaluate the taste of a wide variety of biscuits. Group A1 got a plate with 10 biscuits, group B1 with 2 biscuits. In the second attempt, after a short time, the plate with 10 biscuits was removed from the A2 group and only 2 biscuits were left. Group B2 still only got 2 cookies. The result was clear. The people who had enough biscuits available before experienced a deficiency that was not present before. They gave a much higher rating than those that only got 2 cookies from the beginning.

As an example in Amazon, you want to buy the new TV, but you are unsure if you really want to buy it now or not a few days later. You’ll see there’s only three left. Zack, because it is directly considered as a scarce commodity and could be sold out in a few days. There is a chance that you would have chosen another, cheaper one, but this time to decide was taken.

Sympathy

We buy from the people we like. We’re not buying rationally. And who could do it better than a friend?
That is why Tupper parties are always organized by friends and held on their premises. We know our friend, who invited us, earns money on every piece. We buy it from her and not from the evil salesman we don’t know. This gives the whole thing the final push and is probably also one reason why Tupper has completely given up selling their products in shops.
If we don’t know the seller, it often happens that the seller was just so nice and even interested in the same hobby, so the product he offers can only be good. He has taken advantage of the principle of similarity.

Commitment

If we agree to a statement before a situation, we will hardly be able to deny it even if the situation occurs.
This is often used in electronics stores. It is waited for until a customer is interested in a product, for example, a coffee machine. He presses a few buttons or looks at the instructions for use. Exactly here comes the good-humored salesman into the play. He confirms that it’s a super product and this for a very good price. Unfortunately, the last model was sold to a couple just 30 minutes ago, and probably none is left. The buyer inquires whether there is another one in stock. And here is, where the trap strikes: “That could be of course, but do I see it right that they will buy the machine at this price if I can find another one?” The buyer gives his commitment, of course, there is still one in stock and both are happy.

Tupper Party example. Once there, we have already decided on a theoretical purchase. We have no direct target, but our inhibition threshold to buy something is lower. At the beginning of each Tupper Party, there is a small competition round, if you don’t win anything you can take something out of a sack. Noticed? There’s a little something free – a small gift.
It used to happen to me at Steam Sales. Even though I still had ten games that I hadn’t even opened yet, I was always looking for new ones, because they were on sale. Just browsing doesn’t cost anything… I’m so wrong!