You got them to the webinar. Well done! But if you want more attendees to become customers, itâs gonna take more than just your sparkling personality.
I mean, youâre gonna need that, too. But youâre also gonna need a little sales strategy.
As I mentioned last week, a 15% sales conversion rate for live webinars is realistic. Weâve seen even better reported averages, as high as 19% depending on the variables. But Iâve never seen a credible analysis that went below double digits.
If you havenât hosted your first webinar yet, or you have, but arenât seeing those delicious numbers, letâs fix that. I use a 5-step system thatâs straightforward, not salesy or manipulative, and gets the job done. Itâs a play Iâve run hundreds of times to build WebinarNinjaâs user base and to sell other products like courses.
First, Though: Respect Your Live Webinar Attendees
Before we do anything else, we have to establish one thing about sales webinars: they canât only be about sales.
Before you ask, you have to give.
That means the majority of your presentation should be informative, not a strict pitch. As I like to remind everyone whoâll listen, Teach, Donât Sell. Even the most warmed-up potential customer is coming to your webinar to learn something, even if that something is whether or not they should buy your thing.
If you really want live webinar attendees to buy, there needs to be a clear line between where the lesson ends and the offer begins.
Make it clear from the outset: Iâm gonna teach/show you x, y, and z. Then, Iâm gonna make you a sales offer. Establish this at the beginning, rather than ambushing your attendees with it. To do otherwise is disingenuous, scammy, and murders trust with a rusty pair of hedge clippers.
Be upfront about your intentions.
I usually start my webinar slides with a little âtable of contents,â so to speak. It lays out exactly what Iâm going to show/teach, broken down by subtopics, as well as the special, valuable, in-webinar-only exclusive sales offer that follows, and finally Q&A. No surprises.
But what, you might ask, if people are primed to buy? Shouldnât I get to the offer as fast as possible?
No. Because a) most of them arenât ready to open their wallets just yet, or they wouldnât have put aside an hour of their life to investigate your product further. And b) making sure that your audience understands why and how your product works is key to lowering your churn rate, the rate at which you lose your hard-earned customers.
You donât want a premature decision, even if it puts money in your pocket in the short term. You want people to click âbuyâ knowing exactly what theyâre getting and how to use it to get the results they want.
Put that time in up front, and youâll have satisfied customers, not just customers.
Ok, on to the steps. FirstâŠ
Step 1: Define Your Webinar Offer
The easiest, best way to start crafting your offer is to answer the following questions. In the answers to these lie all the elements and information your offer needs to convey:
- Whatâs the problem? Start with your attendeesâ pain point, and how your product addresses it.
- Whatâs the difference? How does your product solve the attendeesâ problem more easily than they could on their own, or with a competing solution? Why is your way more efficient, effective, easy?
- Whatâs the investment? Which is a more constructive way to refer to the cost. âCostâ implies loss. âPriceâ implies only an exchange. But âinvestmentâ implies gain.
- Whatâs the ROI (Return on Investment)? In dollars and cents (or Euros, or Pounds, or Rupee), how much value is your customer getting in return for their investment?
This is the golden rule of sales: people buy things only when the perceived value is wildly greater than the price. So if your product costs $1,000, you need to be able to honestly make the case that your customer stands to gain $5,000 or $10,000 from it in profits, savings, or other costs avoided. - Whatâs the rush? There has to be a reason to buy on the webinar, rather than sleeping on it. Naturally, the reason you can provide is a special discount or bonus thatâs only available on the webinar.
Once you have those answers in mind, you can move to the next step.
Step 2. Objection Overruled
âObjectionsâ are whateverâs stopping your webinar attendees from pulling the trigger. Most people only have one objection each, but your offer has to address them all â or as many as possible.
For some, the objection is the lack of information that your webinar provides before you even make the offer. Problem solved. But for others â for most â something else is keeping them on the fence.
Your job is to anticipate what those objections are, and refute them in the offer. Objections will vary from product to product and person to person, but there are a few âGreatest Hitsâ that apply to most:
- Price, of course. Every attendee whoâs hung around for the offer is sold on your product in principle. But remember that aforementioned Golden Rule? They still need to feel like theyâre getting a steal.
A note on price though: donât try to be the undercutter as a small business. âWho can charge less?â is a game youâll never win, especially when thereâs competition. So when in doubt, donât lower the price â raise the value. Find ways to package your knowledge that are low-overhead for you, but high-value to the customer -- like an e-book or course. - Complacency. The most ironic obstacle to sales? The fact that your attendees donât currently have your product.
Theyâre alive. Theyâre breathing. The Earth is still spinning on its axis â all without the benefit of what youâre selling. When someone doesnât buy something, itâs not the end of the world for them, because theyâre just exactly where they started.
You have to show them whatâs wrong with where they started.
This isnât about making anyone feel inadequate or creating phony urgency. Itâs about showing people whatâs possible by showing them whatâs missing. Is your product business-related? Not having it leaves you with a disadvantage against competitors. Is it personal, like life or health coaching? Not having it leaves you at less than your highest potential.
Itâs crucial to do this from a place of supportiveness. You want the best for your audience. They want the best for themselves. The status quo is just ok -- but they deserve better than just ok. - Overwhelm. Starting a course, learning software, or getting coached can seem likeâŠa lot. People often arenât ready for the effort necessary to implement your solution, so they donât buy. This is where some more of that supportiveness comes in.
Your job is to reassure.
Demonstrate the ease and painlessness of using your product. If applicable, highlight any customer support included with your product. Do whatever it takes to make it clear that they can do this, that itâs not that difficult, and that youâre in their corner. - External Approval. You may present to people who, themselves, are totally sold. They want to buy â they just arenât authorized to do so. They have to get approval from a boss, a spouse, etc.
The answer to this one is easy: risk reversal.
A free trial, free version, money-back guarantee, or ironclad return policy usually negates this objection. As long as thereâs no financial risk, thereâs no reason not to take advantage of whatever exclusive offer is included in the webinar. Worst case, they get their money back. - Bad timing. They like the product. They agree the value far exceeds the price. Theyâre in. They just donât have the time or space to take you up on it today.
Ask the rhetorical question: âWhen is the right time?â
Attendees are unlikely to be less busy in a week, month, or year than they are today. If thereâs an actual valid answer to this question, you can always follow up. But most of the time, âbusyâ is just an excuse. The best time to improve your life, yourself, or your business is always now â sometimes, itâs the only time.
Step 3: Plan the Transition
Remember how your lesson and pitch are separate? Well, you need a smooth, effective way to get from one to the other.
The key is to make the case that your product is the âfast laneâ solution to their pain point. Yes, you can lose weight, or learn to code, or host webinars without my product â but itâs gonna happen faster and easier with my product.
Then, get specific.
Describe the difference between tackling their pain point with you and tackling it without you. Move into your offer, and demonstrate exactly how youâll speed up and facilitate their ultimate win. This is very low-pressure; itâs a simple choice between a hard way and an easy way.
Step 4: Write the Webinar Offer Script
Yes, a full-on script. Not that I want you to read from it during your webinar (that will sound robotic and salesy). But you must outline the broad strokes, progression, and key phrases of your offer. The wording matters so, so much. Your words have to push certain psychological buttons and appeal to the right emotions. They have to lay out your argument digestibly, convincingly, efficiently.
In other words, you shouldnât improvise.
Your offer script should be about 100 words. If it takes any longer to say than that, itâs too much to process and your message will get lost.
Thatâs not to say you can only speak 100 words during your offer; itâs to say you should be able to summarize the offer in 100 words if you expect to convince anyone. Everything you say during your offer should be a variation, expansion, or clarification of those 100 words.
Trust me, you will sound way more competent if you organize your thoughts in this way, and youâll deliver the offer in a way thatâs succinct enough to be effective. Less. Is. More.
Use the language of pain points, empathy, and support. For example:
Itâs finally your time to break into the Pet Stylist industry! All you need is knowledge. Our $500 Pet Stylist Boot Camp Course maps out every step, from getting certified, to booking clients, to controlling high-humidity Labradoodle friz. Youâll also get:
- 2 free hours of coaching from Dr. Lloyd Braithwaite (founder of the Wisconsin School of Professional Terrier Fluffing)
- Our proprietary Iguana Formalwear Templates
- Our cockatiel-safe Feather Bedazzling Kit
Thatâs a total value of over $2,000.
The average stylist charges over $300 per consultation; at 5/week, you can make over $6k per month! This is your time â you just need the tools.
Hereâs a trick: by this point, most attendees whoâve stayed on the webinar suspect that your product is right for them. They want to trust you. So rather than using the language of persuasion â which comes off as very salesy â use the language of confirmation. People are always more likely to take action when they feel empowered to act on their own decision, rather than convinced to act on yours.
Step 5: Prove It
Social proof is just as important at the bottom of your funnel as it is at the top. In todayâs marketing, no matter how competent, honest, and convincing you are, you canât expect consumers to take your word for it.
So give them someone elseâs.
We live in the Reviews Era. Gather testimonials from happy customers, or anyone youâve ever helped with your expertise. Other consumers are literally the single most trusted source of information on a product â no offense, sales people.
If youâre totally new to business, and you donât have any existing customers, thatâs ok. Like I said, get testimonials from anyone youâve ever helped â even if youâve done it for free or in some beta version of your service. Whoever can vouch.
Thatâs it! If your webinar software has a solid âOffersâ feature, use your 100-word script and relevant images to create an attractive embedded offer, then pitch away when the time comes.
Other tips to get those sales webinar conversion rates up:
- Make a replay of your live webinar available. Statistically a solid chunk of your âattendees,â so to speak, will watch the replay â which means there are sales to be had after the webinar is over.
- For those who donât buy (which will be most attendees), follow up via email with either a final chance to get the original offer (something with a close, firm expiration date within 24 hours of the webinar), or a modified offer thatâs still better than the off-the-street deal.
- Automated or âevergreenâ webinars are an important part of your webinar marketing strategy. But live webinars will always convert better. Consider using automated webinars as âfirst datesâ where you give attendees a win (though you can still include an offer), but also convince them to attend a live webinar later. Use evergreen webinars to extend your reach, but rely on live webinars for the bulk of your sales.
- Choose a webinar software that smooths out the friction in your selling process. Make sure it has:
- Payment processing integrations
- Q&A timestamping for replay attendees
- Engagement tools (polls, chat, etc)
- Built-in or integrated email CRM
- Offer embed tools
I canât think of a single webinar software that has all that. Oh wait, yes I canâŠ
Seriously though, if youâre thinking about giving WebinarNinja a try, check out or 100% free 14-day trial:
Don't miss the next great post. Subscribe.
Want the best webinar guides, tutorials, and tips? We got you.