The following guest post is by Dmitry Perlovich.
A "Thank you" page is usually the last page in the sales process. Many online stores go to great lengths to optimize their category pages, product pages, and shopping cart. However, very few online stores realize that their "Thank you" page is a goldmine for generating new sales. By understanding the psychology of a sale and implementing some very simple techniques, you can turn your "Thank you" page into additional source of revenue.
Before we get into techniques that will turn your "Thank you" page into a marketing powerhouse, it is necessary to brush up on some basic principles of psychology as they pertain to the sales process. Many successful sales people know the two most basic principles: One - most people buy based on emotions and later justify their decisions with logic, and two- most people buy from other people or brands that they like and trust. As e-commerce professionals, we are all sales people and need to do a good job of convincing people to buy our products and use our services. People who arrive at the "Thank you" page are most likely happy with their buying decision and already have a certain level of trust. Therefore, this makes them an ideal customer ready and willing to buy again. Many successful sales people understand that the best time to make another sale is right after the original sale was made. Following techniques will help you turn "Thank You" page into a lead generation machine.
1) Implement Surveys
Ask your customers to fill out a survey and let you know the reasons that motivated them to buy from your e-commerce store. One thing to keep in mind is that your survey should be short, to the point, and include very specific questions. Another thing to remember is to give some kind of incentive for taking the survey. Remember, most people want to get something in return for their efforts. Therefore, providing a coupon code at the end of the survey or entering your customer in the contest to win a $100 Amazon gift card would be a nice tradeoff in return for their time spent completing the survey. Try to get as much actionable data as you can, and if you do it right you might see some clear reasons why many people choose your product or service rather than that of your competition. You can use this data to create a highly profitable
2) Give them an offer they can't refuse
The goal of any e-commerce store is to have loyal customers who later come back again and again to buy more of your products or services. Since most of the people who arrive at the "Thank you" page are already in the state of trusting you and being happy with their decision to buy, why wait until the next time for them to come back to buy more? Suggest to your customers some products at a discount, or more products that are related to the one that they just purchased. For example, your customer bought Digital SLR Camera from your online store so suggest a camera case or warranty at 20% off. Present your offer in a way that all the items will be shipped in the same box and they will get 20% OFF and not pay for shipping when they buy next time. To you, as an e-commerce store, there is a benefit also; you sold more products and the volume of sold items will compensate for 20% off in the long run so you are actually gaining profit even when offering steep discounts.
3) Ask for Referrals
Most successful sales people know that referrals are one of the best leads and have a high conversion rate. It takes a lot of effort both financially and physically to generate a quality lead. However, by properly cultivating existing leads it is possible to get more quality leads that could result in sales. People who have completed the sales process and arrived at a "Thank you" page are perfect candidates to ask for referrals. We as e-commerce professionals go to great lengths to understand why a certain visitors complete the sales process while others don’t. We spend a lot of time, marketing dollars, and effort to analyze and understand how to get more people to the site that are able and willing to buy with the highest conversion rate possible. As I mentioned previously, people buy on emotions and validate their buying decisions with logic. What happens after the sale is that most people are excited and want to show off their purchase to friends and family. Ask your customer to share their recent purchase on social media platform of their choice,
When you are looking for additional sources of revenue for your e-commerce website, take a serious look at your "Thank you" page and think of ways that you can use it as a tool to generate additional sales. Asking people to fill out a survey, showing additional products, and asking people to share on social media are just few powerful ways to gain more exposure for your product and generate more revenue for your e-commerce store.
Dmitry Perlovich is an e-commerce marketing expert. You can connect with him on twitter or LinkedIn.
