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By Yanik Silver
Order form mistake 4: Making it too hard to order from you.
I’m sure you’ve been frustrated more than once
trying to fill out an order form and just said, "Screw it" and left. Use a clean layout for all fields (name, address, email, etc.). Another thing to keep in mind is how much information you are asking for. Typically the less information you ask for, the easier it is for customers to purchase. But don’t get me wrong – ask for a home phone number if you are going to use it. It’s better to have data and not use it than to wish you had it later on.
Also, pay attention to giving explicit directions to the customer. Will they get a password immediately? Will they need to hit “continue”? Will they have to give their credit card information to Paypal? Whatever the case is, don’t leave them guessing. The biggest secret to a user-friendly order form is to have a few friends and colleagues try your order process and tell you what they think.
On top of the four main mistakes – let me also give you a few optional elements you can consider…
Testimonials. Sometimes I like to include an extra testimonial or two on the order page. This is another small help to push fence-sitters over to whipping out their credit cards.
Checkboxes. I haven’t tested this – but one prominent online marketer found an increase when he made customer manually check the box next to "YES." You can also let them check off boxes next to each bonus to build up the "yes" momentum.
Photos of the product.
Upsells. This is huge and usually overlooked by most people. This little “magic trick” can instantly increase your profits 20-66% even without getting any additional business or website visitors. It works great because your prospect is all hot and heavy and ready to buy. They’ve got their credit card in their hand and they’ve already made the commitment. Make the upsell something that goes hand-in-hand with what you’re selling and you’ll see a nice increase in sales. Even the “big boys” do this. Try buying a book on Amazon and you’ll see a couple recommendations that automatically are featured. I guarantee you’ll be surprised by the results of a good upsell.
Here’s a little order form “cheat sheet” for you:
• Assurance of security and safety.
• Affirmative excited, first-person voice.
• Restate guarantee.
• Restate bonuses.
• Necessary elements like (name, address, etc.).
• Specific instructions.
• Possible checkboxes.
• Possible photo of product.
• Possible additional testimonial.
• Possible additional upsells.
Now the last thing is when should you write your order form? Some people tell you don't save the order form for after you've created your sales letter because by that time you'll have run out of energy and excitement. And for a good order form you really need to muster up all the excitement and energy you can! Or the flip side is creating your sales letter and then take the best elements and include in your order form. Personally, I create my order forms after the sales letter – but see what works best for you.
Bottom line – your order form needs to make it as easy as possible for people to give you their money and now you know what to include.
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