If you understand and execute on this step, you’ll be ahead of most of your competitors. Remember, our first goal is to increase the number of customers. So far, we have only generated leads through the Lead Magnet. We still haven’t generated new customers. The Tripwire offer is made to those that have displayed interest through the Lead Magnet.
The Tripwire is an irresistible, super low-ticket offer (usually between $1 and $20 that exists for on reason and one reason only… to convert prospects into buyers. In markets selling high-ticket products and services Tripwire offers as high as $500 can convert well.
The goal of the Tripwire is to fundamentally change the relationship from prospect to customer. The conversion of a prospect to a customer, even for $1, is magical. The key is to make a Tripwire Offer that leads are unable to resist. The most common way to make the Tripwire irresistible is by selling it at cost and, in some cases, at a loss to you. You are not trying to make a living from selling Tripwire Offers. You are trying to acquire buyers because there is nothing more valuable than a list of buyers.
When you understand the process of an optimized sales funnel, you will understand how the Tripwire Offer is the single most powerful addition you can make to your business — even though you make no direct profit from it.
A classic example of a Tripwire Offer comes from Columbia Records,
Columbia House took over the music market by making an absolutely irresistible offer (13 records or tapes for $1) because they understood that acquiring a list of buyers is the name of the game.
Types of Tripwire Offers
From physical books, Ebooks, pieces of software, Tripwires are all around us. It’s the ridiculous flat-screen TV deal at Best Buy. It’s the rock-bottom price of a Kindle Fire. It’s the $20 for $50 worth of Mexican Food Groupon offer. And lastly, an a la carte service like a deeply discounted teeth whitening session from a dental office or a ridiculously cheap domain registration service works wonders at acquiring customers…
The strategy behind the Tripwire is simple: Convert the maximum number of Lead Magnet leads into paying customers, even at the expense of your profit margin, with the understanding that acquiring a paying customer will deliver profit through the next steps of your sales funnel with your core offer and upsell.