Why Customers Don't Buy: Fix These 4 Conversion Killers

Stop Blaming the Market

Four reasons why people do not buy from you. Before you blame the market, before you say social media doesn't work, nobody cares about your product, the product isn't good enough, or there's too much competition, we have to check something. Before you say they don't have any money, the economy is bad, or my niche does not work, look at these four things first.

Because in my experience, the problem is almost never the market. The problem is one of these four killers sitting inside your own marketing, and every single one of them is under your control.

Killer #1: They Don't Understand You

Reason number one they do not buy: they do not understand. They do not get what your product is all about. If people are confused, they do not buy. Confusion kills conversion. People have so many things presented to them every single day that it has to be crystal clear exactly how a product or a service is going to resolve something in their lives.

Here's what this looks like: your website is vague. It has too much information. You don't take them down a journey. You explain features instead of results. Your message is broad, and people ask, "What exactly do you do?" If they have to think too hard, they're gonna leave.

How do you fix it? Your message should be very, very clear. Make sure you can answer three questions: who is this for, what problem does it solve, and what result will I get? If someone understands in seconds, you're on the right track to getting that person to buy.

Killer #2: They Don't Trust You

No trust equals no sale. Especially on the internet. When somebody walks into your retail store, trust is easier because you have human contact. You can look them in the eye and answer their questions. But online, when there's no person looking at them, it's easy for them to walk out. That's why conversion on the average website in the USA is 1 percent. You have to bring 100 human beings to get one sale. Imagine that. One hundred people that don't fit in your house have to come to your store so one person buys.

What does the trust problem look like? No testimonials, no reviews, no case studies, no proof of results. You rarely show up. You know what made Amazon what Amazon is today? People trust Amazon. They don't trust you, they trust Amazon. The first thing anybody does on Amazon, you included, myself included, is look at the reviews. If a product doesn't have reviews, I don't trust it. I don't buy it. Reviews, Prime, next-day delivery, data about the product. That trust is the whole machine.

How do you fix it? Share client wins. Post testimonials. Show real examples. Teach consistently and be visible regularly. These things need to be part of your daily routine. If someone lands on your website and doesn't see the client wins right away, that website is not trustworthy, and you will not get the conversions.

I do this in my own brands. In my skincare brand, we see a lot of skin changes, so I consistently post before and after of the effects of the product. If I don't do this, it doesn't develop trust. With our NaturalSlim family brand, just last month we flew dozens of people to our island in Puerto Rico to talk about their success. We recorded content every single day for a few days and posted it across social media to show the world: hey, we actually get results. Because success is the one thing that shows the world your brand is the real deal.

Killer #3: They Don't Feel Urgency

Interested people still wait. If there's no reason to act now, they delay. If they don't need to open up their wallets right now, either to solve the problem now or to grab a special offer, people set it aside and never complete the purchase.

On our e-commerce brand, watch what happens when you click add to cart. Right then and there I create urgency. A pop-up offers supplements that solve other problems. There's a scratch-off. There's a timer. These are marketing elements that create an urgency for the now, and they need to be set up in your e-commerce.

Now, discounts are not always necessary. We actually stay away from discounts a lot, because we don't want to condition people to expect our products at a discount. But we do very special things, like free shipping if you order 30 dollars or more, and you can only get that right now. Give people reasons to complete the purchase now. Otherwise they abandon their carts, and I lose the sale.

Have you ever told a salesperson in a retail store, "I'm going to look around and I'll come back soon"? How many times did you actually go back? Close to never. That same phenomenon happens on the internet, except it's even harder to overcome because there's no person in front of them. So you fix it with a deadline, limited spots, a clear next step, and the cost of waiting explained. Only the next 10 people get this offer. Leave this page and you lose the free shipping. Remember this line: marketing is more about perception than reality. Your job is to make them really, really want that product now, because later usually becomes never.

Killer #4: They Don't See the Outcome

Last but not least, reason number four: they do not see a clear outcome. What is going to change about their lives, their situation, their problems, by making the decision to purchase your product? That needs to be clear. They don't buy services. You know what they buy? People buy results. They're looking for the outcome.

Most of us in the marketing game are trying to get them to look at the service, the product, the offer. Wrong target. Show them: this is how your skin is going to change. This is going to help you relax at night and help your metabolism. This is what's going to happen with your dog's digestion if you feed him this every single day. Go after the results, also known as the outcome.

If the results are clear, people will not hesitate, and they will go out there and purchase your product. Fix these four things, clarity, trust, urgency, and outcome, and at minimum you'll keep your conversion rate at a level that's acceptable to you. Then, and only then, are you allowed to blame the market.