Yes, that’s exactly how the process makes people feel. It isn’t about “don’t sell me anything else”, it’s about “prove to me that I can trust you, and I’ll be glad to look at more offers”.

Thanks so much for your comments! It helps a lot for marketers to see for themselves what people are experiencing.

I just spent a large amount of time reading a pitch page for what sounds like a great ebook product from an Internet marketer that I actually trusted; and I decided to buy their ebook. I went through the purchase process, gave them my credit card number and eagerly waited for download instructions.

To my dismay up pops another lengthy pitch page. I begin to read it because I am looking for download instructions. Of course this page turns out to be another huge investment in reading time and I am encouraged to read the entire page and warned that I will never see this page again and I may never find this offer at this low price with these bonus products again.

Meanwhile I am thinking,
Where is the product I just bought and why is this annoying page in my face?

Thank’s

Jesus Rodriguez

By assuring your customer that they already got what you’ve promised they would get when they trusted you with their credit card, you may THEN feel free to give them valuable offers and special discounts at that point.

Great thinking, Tian!

This is Tian Yan from Malaysia…

I have given this a lot of thought ever since we talked
about this. For this discussion, I’m using your definition
of “upsell hell” which is… “holding your credit card hostage
while bombarding you with additional offers, and refusing to
give you what you originally paid for until you’ve seen all the
upgrade offers”.

If I must use upsells, this is how I would do it…

First, taking the credit card information first is paramount
in order for the upsells to work. I want my customers to
commit, so they can be consistent to their previous action
when presented with the upsell.

Second, the process will be different. While I think there is
value in multiple upsell pages to fatten the unit of sale, I
will craft tightly related offers and probably won’t push it
too far and be called a “product prostitute” for a lack of a
better term. (Test everything, of course)

But here is the difference… after the credit card information
is given, the immediate upsell page that appears will have the
following message in the beginning:

“Congratulations, you made a wise decision. Your download details
has been emailed to you. You may download your product by
checking into your inbox, confirming your email address, and then
start downloading…

… and because you’re a special customer, you qualify for the following
discount if you act now… [benefit + reason why]”

See… this way, I assure my customers that the product is on
it’s way, I’m offering an opportunity to invest further, but also
the opportunity to say ‘No’.

I see no problem in offering multiple upsells this way, but only
AFTER I deliver the product and give them the opportunity to
walk away from the upsells.

This is an idea that I took from the informercial world. When you
call in to place your order, you know that your order takes time
to arrive… and so you’re willing to participate in the short upsells.

But because digital products can be downloaded immediately,
I provide the download details via email (deliver the goods) but
still bring their attention to the upsell.

What do you think, is this a better solution?

Be Well,
– Tian Yan

By using the Upsell Hell process, marketers may see an initial increase in revenue, but a steep decline over time, as well as a destruction of relationships and trust with their customers.

Thanks for saying this, Lois.

If I do a transcript for the video, I’ll send a notification letting you know about it. At the moment, the transcription team is swamped, so it will need to wait. But I’ll keep it in mind.

Still got the “twirly”– shut it off after about 3 min. I have been able to view videos from other sites, so it’s not just a general “video viewing” problem.

Re: “video” vs “print”. I prefer print. Slide shows vs print– I prefer print. Movies vs books– I prefer books. I guess I’m a dinosaur, but I get more out of the written word than I do out of most audio or video “lessons”. There are fewer distractions to take away from the message. The only exceptions, would be videos of something that requires demonstrating movement– like dance, gymnastics, mechanics, etc., or audios of music and other sound demonstrations.

Furthermore, HTML loads a whole lot faster than videos. And, it’s easy to go back and check if you seem to have missed something or ant to review a section.

I’d suggest giving it another shot, and see if it works for you.

Q: Do you typically have problems watching web videos? Like, for instance, the videos on MarketersBoard.com or is it just that one?

Curious, because most people prefer the video style, and I’d prefer doing videos anyday. I may consider getting it transcribed, but I’m reluctant to do that, since so many have told me they prefer video.