The psychological tricks businesses use to make customers spend more

Everywhere you go, whether online or off, there’s a good chance someone is trying to sell to you. And while some techniques are quite straightforward, others are a little trickier. With our list of psychological tricks businesses use, you can find out which ones you’re already falling for – and which ones might help your own business make a little extra profit.

The time-limited exclusivity ruse

For everyone other than the most iron-willed of us, when an item has limited availability, it becomes much more desirable. That limitation is sometimes in terms of sheer numbers – as Apple has allegedly done with their products – but it can also be time-limited. For example, some retailers will hold flash sales whereby a particular product is on sale for a very short amount of time – maybe a day, maybe even an hour. This little bit of trickery can convince the hardiest of us to part with our cash, simply because we don’t want to ‘miss out’.

The mid-range trap

This one is not so much a trap as a sales technique. There’s an old maxim that says you should never buy the cheapest, or the most expensive, but the one in the middle. Retailers and manufacturers know this as well as consumers do – and they can use it to boost sales of specific products. Naturally this won’t apply to very high-end goods, but for day-to-day products, it’s easy to position a product in the mid-range in order to make it look more appealing. Give it a premium look and people will be convinced they’ve nabbed a bargain.

The impossible discount technique

Here’s a technique that’s being leveraged more and more by the group buying sites: the ‘impossible’ discount. Naturally, these savings aren’t really impossible, they’re simply much larger than you’d normally see. It’s not unusual to see retailers slashing up to 95% from their prices in order to encourage faster movement for certain products. And if these savings are bundled in with group deals, you may see those discounts get even bigger. Of course, there’s always a reason that these savings are so large – so be sure to read the small print if you’re tempted.

The unattainable decoy

Have you ever been walking through a shopping centre and come across a high-end luxury sports car just sitting there? The answer is probably yes, and the reason is always the same: to grab your attention. The truth is that having a very high value item in a place where it wouldn’t normally be will always pique people’s curiosity, and businesses use this to their advantage. The so-called unattainable decoy can help manoeuvre buyers into a position of purchasing a product (or entering a competition) that they wouldn’t have done otherwise. It’s a smart tactic, and it really works.

Has your business tried out any of these techniques before? If not, keep an eye out for them. And when you find a technique that works, be sure to check out the AutoVu CRM platform. It makes managing a growing client book easier than ever before.