2 builders who never spoke to each other · contested
Let them hold it before you ask them to buy
A trial, a sample or a no-friction return makes giving the thing back feel like a loss, which is a stronger motivator than gaining it was. It is not a fix for a buyer who does not want the thing at all.
Where this splits
One member treats temporary possession as the lever that converts; another offered the product to a dozen institutional buyers at no cost and every one of them went silent.
1 claims against 1
Katelyn Bourgoin
Let them hold it so returning feels costly
- 01Give the product away temporarily, through a trial, a sample or returns with no friction, so giving it back becomes the loss.
Giving it free will not close unwilling buyers
Offering to work for free is not a way past a buyer who does not want the thing. If free does not close them, price was never the objection.
What it returned
Some car dealerships now run overnight test drives, on the logic that a couple of days in the new car makes going back to the old one harder.
A dozen colleges took a first call with WePlate and every one of them went silent after being offered the product at no cost.
Sources
- Perceived Ownership - Why We Buy 🧠Katelyn Bourgoin · customercamp.co · Let People Try Before They Buy · undated
- Building a Nutrition B2B SaaS That No One DemandedAlex Hu · failory.com · When did things start to go in the wrong direction? · undated · dissenting
the second source
Three plays a week, for the phase you are in
No roundup of links, no news. Three tactics more than one builder arrived at separately, with the numbers each one returned and the disagreements left in.
More in sales
- Charge for it before it exists6 unconnected
- Book the buyer calls before you write any code6 unconnected
- Package more of what you own into sellable slots6 unconnected
- Interview customers when sales stall, not buy traffic5 unconnected
- Borrow credibility from the customers you have5 unconnected
- Keep a named list of dream accounts and work it5 unconnected