Get more of this, to sell more 3D prints

This week I want to build on just one of the factors that can help us build that value and communicate the worth of our 3D prints (or anything we’re selling, for that matter) to other people.

With more of this, which we’ll talk about in a moment, we can comfortably charge these higher prices, and customers are more than happy to pay it.

But, why?

Because whenever there is a transaction between two or more people, the fact is one person is always taking on more risk than the other party.

It’s just how it is. Every single transaction ever made in history has an element of this.

Sometimes the customer, sometimes (if they’re smart) it’s the business. Sometimes it’s only slight, but there’s always one side taking more on than the other.

So if you can reduce perceived risk before a sale, people will pay more for that piece of mind.

For that certainty.

Imagine you walk past a stall on a busy street, and there’s a lady selling cherries. You want some cherries, you show some interest. But ultimately, at this point you don’t know how good the “deal” is.

These cherries could be terrible. So if you buy some, you won’t know until you have the cherries if they’re any good. That’s the perceived and real risk before purchase.

This is causing some friction to the sale.

Now in the instance of cherries, obviously it’s pretty likely the lady at the stall is going to give you a couple to taste. This does two things; her confidence in the product puts you at ease and you actually get to taste them yourself.

In fact, if you didn’t get to try the cherries first, you might even be wary.

It also does a third thing, called the law of reciprocity, which we’re not covering today - but essentially states you’re significantly more likely to purchase something after you’ve been given something for nothing first.

Full disclosure: That’s kind of what we do with our content at the Institute of 3D Printing - we make it good, people consume it (like this email you’re reading) and maybe one day you’ll become a member or a client. That way you already know that we know what we’re doing before coming on board - thus building goodwill and removing friction.

I digress! Back to the cherries - it’s why you’re here, isn’t it? Don’t worry, we’ll get to the 3D printing business bit soon (I always do, don’t I?)...

So we can agree in this instance it’s very easy for the cherry seller to reduce perceived risk before the sale with samples first. But what if you can’t offer samples of the product?

Or you’re selling online, where there’s distance between you and the customer?

Or the customer has never seen you before and doesn’t believe your claims?

Enter: “social proof”.

It’s the one thing you can never have too much of in business.

Regardless of what business you’re in - if a customer can see you’re fulfilling other people's expectations, they’re half-sold already.

And there are many forms of social proof. There are more subtle ways, and more overt displays of social proof.

In the cherry stall example it can be very organic. Just seeing other people buying cherries can be enough to pique your interest as a customer; “Everyone else is buying them, they must be good…”

Especially if they have a queue outside and you hear people walking away saying how good the cherries are and smiling.

And here’s the thing, when they have enough social proof like that, customers might not even need to taste them before buying. That’s how powerful social proof can be.

Even when it would be easy to verify themselves first (like simply eating the cherries).

But how do we create this friction-less buying frenzy for our businesses online? Surely it’s just about getting reviews on your website, right?

Kinda is, and kinda isn’t.

Now honestly - there’s enough to write several solid books on social proof alone. Why certain forms work best in certain environments, how to use it, how to collect it, how to maintain it.

Even what to do if it can work against you, if used incorrectly (or fraudulently…).

So what I’m going to do here is try to give you enough value without being overwhelmed and going beyond the scope of these emails.

What I will do is outline the most relevant formats you should be collecting for your business right now (before your competitors work this stuff out).

With social proof, the earlier you get started, the better.

So whatever you’re selling, wherever you’re selling it - you need more social proof. Often, just a combination of one or two of the following used well, can work wonders.

So don’t try “get them all” - just focus on one or two of the most powerful ones and work on building up those first so that you stay focused, and not try to do many different things.

The importance of each of the following is in no particular order, because they vary depending on the platform you’re selling on. For example if you’re selling on Amazon, you’ll be 80% focused on Product Reviews.

If you’re selling on Etsy, you’ll be focused more on Seller Ratings.

If you’re planning to create your own website then you’ll need a combination of 3-5 of the following.

Just one of the many reasons I recommend people never start out by building a website.

Now, here’s that list. Remember, you don’t need to focus on all. Pick the one most relevant to what you’re doing or where you’re selling and focus on collecting that from as many people as you can, first.

Product reviews; these are the star ratings you see on a product listing on sites like Amazon and most other ecommerce stores.

Seller ratings; these are regardless of the product (not specific) but focus on the service of the seller. Like shipping time or resolving customer satisfaction disputes etc.

Certificates / Badges; this is where you prove your professionalism with certain qualifications or quality standards. Like the Institute of 3D Printing’s certification course, for example.

Google-able mentions: This is where people might turn to Google and search for your business name to see what others say about you.

Big name site’s mentioning / Associations; This is when you get mentioned in papers, influencers speak about you or reviewed in industry specific online magazines, for example.

Low stock warnings; Ever wondered why you always sell inventory much faster when you’re running down to your last 15-20 items? It’s because if people can see others are buying up fast, they don’t want to lose out. (OK this is more scarcity based, but the trigger is the same).

Customer review photos; This type of User Generated Content quickly snapped on their phones is powerful because it’s “raw” and clearly hard to fake.

Algorithm positioning; When you hit search on a site like Amazon, do you know what makes the algorithm choose your search result product listing higher or lower than someone else? Often people trust this a lot and the top results get the lion's share of the sales. It’s extremely important to know all the factors that help you “feed” the algorithm and be rewarded with higher rankings (and therefore, higher sales).

Case studies; Can you talk about other customers or clients in similar positions to your potential customers, and the results or experience they got?

There are many more forms of social proof than these of course, including many “algorithm affecting” indicators (I mean the stuff the algorithms are looking at with your product listings that they use to decide where you should sit in the search rankings - not to be confused with Search Engine Optimization).

But this list is the most relevant for small batch manufactured ecommerce products like the prints you may be looking to sell.

They’re all factors that when done correctly, will remove friction to potential customers looking to buy your prints and even support your prices that may be higher than they were used to.

So make sure you’re asking your customers for reviews (after providing value upfront, of course - remember that law of reciprocity), or talking to them so you can collect case studies.

And don’t be afraid to show your customers that other people are clearly looking to buy, or already using your stuff, or have enjoyed your stuff in the past.