132: How to market and sell high-ticket offers (part 1)
Selling high-ticket offers ($5K+) isn’t just about slapping on a premium price tag—it’s about speaking directly to the right buyers in the right way. High-ticket clients think, research, and invest differently, which means your messaging must reflect that.
In this two-part series, I’m unpacking what makes a high-ticket offer irresistible and the strategic shifts that help you attract, convert, and serve premium clients with confidence. We’ll dive into what works, what doesn’t, and how to position yourself as the go-to expert in your industry.
Topics We Cover in This Episode:
The key differences between high-ticket and low-ticket messaging
What high-ticket buyers really look for before making an investment
The biggest mistakes that repel premium clients
How to structure your sales process for effortless conversions
Simple copywriting frameworks that make selling high-ticket easier
Why less is always more when marketing to high-level buyers
There’s a lot to cover, so I’m breaking it into two episodes—tune in now for part one! And if you have questions about marketing and selling high-ticket offers, reach out to me on social media—I’d love to hear from you!
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Welcome to ill communication, copywriting tips and sales strategies for small business. I'm your host, Kim Keel. I'm a copy coach, sales strategist, and direct response copywriter. It's my mission to help women leaders and changemakers amplify their voices through copy. It's why I'm dishing out all the juicy tips, writing prompts, and sales formulas to help you generate more leads, book more calls, and get more high value clients on repeat. Sounds pretty good. It's time to ditch the overwhelm you might be feeling and find confidence in your copywriting, so you can get your message out there and attract more soul mate clients. Let's get started. Hello! Hello and welcome to episode 132 of the Ill Communication Podcast. Today we're talking about how to market and sell high ticket offers. Ever since I started my business, I positioned myself as someone who worked in selling high ticket offers, and over the last seven years I have been able to not just help my clients sell high ticket offers, but I have been able to command higher investments through that positioning. Now, attracting high ticket clients for premium offers, like anything, over $5,000 or over $3,000 can exponentially grow your business. But the kind of messaging that attracts and sells to a high ticket buyer is quite different from the messaging and copy you create for smaller offers or beginner clients. So over the next two episodes, I want to break down the elements of building a high ticket offer and selling it to high ticket clients.
[00:01:52]
You'll get some insights and examples on what to do and what not to do to attract those premium clients. So you'll discover how to position yourself and your brand as an expert and authority in your industry. We'll chat about who high ticket buyers are and what their buying behaviors are, what they're looking for in that premium service or offer. I'll share some important steps in your sales process to close high ticket clients. What kind of messages you need to share in order to attract more high ticket clients. And then I'll share some copywriting frameworks that speak to your next level client. And to make writing copy a breeze. And why less is more. With high level buyers, there's a lot of content and strategy to share, so I'm splitting it into a two part series over the next two weeks. So one of the best ways you can grow exponentially is by commanding higher rates for your offers. And when I'm talking about premium or high ticket offers, this can be anything around $5,000 and up. But let's be honest, because for many of us, me included, investing in anything around the 1000 or $2000 mark is a huge stretch and feels pretty high ticket. The reality is, today, a lot of beginner and starter courses and programs sit around that 1000 to $2500 mark. So the kinds of investments I'm talking about in this mini series are anything over five K.
[00:03:27]
Now, in my business, I've found it's actually easier to sell high ticket offers than low ticket offers. And there's a very simple reason why I don't have a massive following, especially when I first started out, I had zero following. So I was never going to reach my revenue goals. Trying to sell a 100 or $200 product when I don't have thousands of followers who are willing to buy from me. For example, if I wanted to make $5,000, it's easier for me to find two clients to buy two VIP days at $2,500 per day than it is to find 50 clients to buy $100 offer. It just takes more effort to make that kind of content, attracting that many clients and then compelling them to buy. I also prefer working with fewer clients so I can be more hands on and provide a higher level of customer support and copy. I can't possibly build a close relationship, or get to know the ins and outs of 50 different businesses at a single time. So it was a very strategic decision I made at the beginning of my business to position myself in that higher premium level space. I also had already almost a couple of decades of experience in frontline communications, marketing and fundraising, and I really had to remind myself that I was coming into this online space with a very good command of writing copy. Over the last seven years, I've sold dozens of 10-K, launch and email copy packages.
[00:05:02]
I've sold several 30 to $45,000, half a year or full year retainer packages. When I first started out, I even sold a $25,000 website copy package. Now, keep in mind that was for a 200 page plus corporate website with three divisions and personas and strategies. But I still had to show up on that call and sell a $25,000 package. Now, keep in mind I don't normally charge 25 K for a website. Most of the websites that I write today for clients are a fraction of that cost. But I've also helped my clients write copy that sells high ticket offers to premium clients, where they generate 150,000 to 500,000 from a single high ticket offer. So today, I'm going to share many of the lessons I've learned, the things I've discovered through my research about how to create and how to sell high ticket offers. So before we can talk about high ticket offers, I think it's important to talk about high ticket buyers. And I want you to think about the last time you invested in a high ticket or premium offer or service in your business. Think back to that time. What were you looking for? What was your decision making and buying process? What did you need to see in an offer? Or from the coach or consultant that made you say yes to what was probably a bit of a scary investment and a stretch before you create a high ticket offer, I think it's important to remember some of the thinking that you had to go through and the steps that you had to take in order to get yourself to say yes.
[00:06:37]
It's important to understand what high ticket buyers are looking for and what they value, and how they make decisions. So high ticket buyers are looking for quality and value. That's going to lead to a return on investment, and that return on investment can be a return on their on their investment of time, of energy and of course, money. And the higher premium level buyers are often looking for a higher payout. But again, that return on my investment of time is very critical for high ticket buyers. They're also looking for exclusivity and access to you. So if you're thinking of putting together a high ticket coaching or consulting container, maybe a group program, you're going to want to offer some level of exclusivity. Either it's a very intimate program. Only ten seats or 20 seats are in here, or you want to work in some access to you as the expert some time, one on one time with them, or in a very intimate experience with you. High ticket buyers, at the end of the day, want to. Problem solved. They have problems and they want you to fix them. For me, the problems that I solve is many of the clients I work with are becoming a bottleneck in their business.
[00:07:50]
Their business has grown, their teams have grown, and they can't get to all of the copy themselves. Major projects are stalling. Like they're not going through launches. They're not updating their websites because it's either taking too long to go back and forth in the editing. They don't have time to sit down and do the research and write the copy themselves. So they bring me on to take that off their plate for them. That's one of the problems. The other problem is that they have sluggish sales. Sales have stalled or plateaued, and they know it's probably time for some refreshed, research influenced copy strategy and messaging. So I'll come in to optimize a sales page, sales email funnels, and maybe add a pre-launch sequence to help boost revenue. What you might have heard through there is that high ticket buyers are looking for strategy. They're looking for new ways of doing business, or new techniques or new approaches to how they run their business or live their life. They're looking for a level of mastery, and they're looking for thought partnership. Sometimes when I'm on a sales call with a high ticket buyer, I will actually drop that phrase. I bet you're looking for a thought partner. Or I can become your thought partner, because I know at that higher level, it's very hard to find someone who can easily converse back and forth with you about that.
[00:09:09]
So they're looking for thought partnership. They also don't want to have to tell you what to do. They want you to bring the expertise, the strategy. Look, they already have a million decisions to make, and they don't want to have to micromanage someone else. So if you think about how that high ticket buyer about what they want, then you can reverse engineer the kind of packages and experiences that you create for them. High ticket buyers are also looking for outside the box thinking. So if you can demonstrate how you've helped people in different industries or different sectors, and you can bring that experience and provide some innovative outside the box thinking, that's a plus. They're also looking for their level of peer group or higher. They're not wanting to work with newbies. So if you're hosting a group program and maybe you do have a variety of different people at different levels, then maybe you want to actually separate some of the beginner folks from the more advanced folks, or create that next tier offer where those people are amongst their peers, because it's super annoying when you're in a program and people are asking very basic beginner questions. And I know this from experience. You want to be at a certain level, and you want to have trust that that offer is going to bring you in at that certain level. And really, what high ticket buyers want is your confidence and your maturity.
[00:10:35]
I have found that when I show up on sales calls where I'm feeling very confident and I can display my level of maturity and mastery, those sales calls go much better. But anytime I have sort of a niggle of doubt or second guessing, and I'm maybe not as confident those sales calls tend to not go as well, so they are looking for someone who has that level of confidence and maturity in their marketing, messaging and expertise. High ticket buyers generally follow similar patterns and behaviors through that decision making process. Now I'm going to make a lot of generalizations here. And of course everyone is different. But what I have found is that high ticket buyers trust referrals and recommendations when they are looking for a service or a product or a coach. They will ask their peer networks for those referrals. And those referrals are basically like handing you a gig on a silver platter. They really trust those referrals and recommendations. High ticket buyers also tend to be lurkers, like they may be connected with you on social media, but they're not necessarily going to be liking your content, commenting, engaging. But when they reach a point where they need the service that you're buying, then they will binge your content. Then they'll go and listen to your podcast. Then they'll go and read your articles and see what you've got on your grid, or go check you out on LinkedIn.
[00:12:03]
So you still want to have content up there for that type of buyer, but you just have to know that they're not going to be the ones who are liking and engaging and commenting. High ticket buyers, although they're kind of lurking in the background, maybe not really engaging. They will do that research to make sure you're the best person for them, so they'll binge your content. They may also ask for a test project or a small project. Side note I know a lot of people balk at that, but I have unlocked literally hundreds of thousands of dollars in my business by doing a small test project at the beginning, and then developing a long standing relationship with several clients that has paid out over the long run. When they've done that research, or if they have come to that sales call with everything that they know they want, and on the sales call. They know that you're going to deliver, that they will make fast decisions. So when the time is right, they've done their research. Boom. They're going to make that decision very fast. High ticket buyers are also very sophisticated. They can see through a lot of the bullshit. They can see through the false veneer of lambos, private jets, Louis Vuitton bags, all the makeup, lights and camera and action. Although that kind of packaging does appeal to a certain type of a buyer, they are very interested in that imagery.
[00:13:23]
And if that's the kind of person that you're wanting to work with, then lean into that. The folks that I tend to work with tend to be a little bit more academic. They're more intellectual, and it's less for them about the image that I'm presenting and more about just the sophistication, the level of expertise that I bring and sort of that confidence and mastery. So choose the kind of branding and imagery that's going to appeal to your market. High ticket buyers, of course, are very discerning. They have made high ticket investments before that have failed. So they're going to make really solid decisions, especially in today's market. But what's important to note is that high ticket buyers are typically action takers. They are forward thinkers. They are not people who get stuck in the struggle. That doesn't mean they don't have problems or struggles. It just means that they tend not to wallow in their and overly second guess. They are constantly in motion and moving beyond. And it's important to remember that when you're developing your messaging and marketing for those high ticket offers or the things you say on your sales calls because you don't want to wallow too much in those struggles because those people are not there. They know they have a problem and they're ready to move. I'll share more about that when we get into part two. Now let's take a look. We've talked about what a high ticket buyer is and some of their behaviors and habits.
[00:14:47]
Let's talk about the qualities of a high ticket offer. So again we said that there are around five K and up. They can be a group program. It can be a one on one coaching or consulting experience, or it can be a single white glove service or a consulting package. In general, they are quite specific and niche. They solve a particular pain point or problem. So I will be hired to write a website, to write a brand voice guide, to write weekly nurture emails. It's a very specific offer. If you are a life coach or a nutrition coach, you're going to be solving a very specific problem, creating a specific outcome. Or maybe you work with a very specific kind of client. That can be a great niche as well. It's important to remember that in high ticket offers, there is often less teaching. You may include access to course content, but high ticket buyers want strategy, innovation and access to you and your expert brain. Some high ticket offers do not include any content, it's just access to the expert. To have that one on one time to help you advance your problems or advance their issues even faster. Again, high ticket offers are designed for a specific audience or a specific client. For me personally, I work with very brainy, smart experts and coaches. I work with Gen Xers who have a ton of expertise that they're trying to convey to their audience, and it just can be very difficult to communicate that.
[00:16:30]
So that's sort of my sweet spot. Think about who your audience is or who your ideal high ticket buyer is. When you're developing your offer, and also when you're developing your messaging, you'll want a level of high touch or access to you and your team. So if you have a high ticket offer. Perhaps you'll bake in access to your social media team, and they can take some of that off of your client's plate. Or maybe you have a nutritionist. You'll outsource some meal plans. They'll get a custom meal plan from you or from someone on your team. They'll want you to be doing all of the writing or the researching. They'll want to have meetings with you. So think about how to build in some high touch or access to you or your team. For example, I am in a coaching program with Claire Pelletreau, and she has talked a little bit about how she has built in some more done for you access to my team services. So if you buy one of her offers, they will help set up your ads for you or build your custom audiences for you. They're taking that off of your plate so you don't have to do it. A few other elements include done for you or hands on personalized coaching or consulting.
[00:17:44]
High ticket buyers are also attracted to offers that are not for newbies. So when you're crafting that high ticket offer, make sure it's for someone who is beyond that newbie stage. They're not beginners. They are a level above. They've been in business or they've been dealing with this problem for a few years. It may help for you to have a proprietary methodology, or a framework, or a secret sauce that helps you stand out, and high ticket offers can be highly tailored and customized to the buyer. So a one on one consulting or coaching experience is very customized to the buyer. I can also create very customized services and packages that I can put together for a client based on what their specific needs are. So those are some of the qualities of a high ticket offer that would be highly sellable to a high ticket buyer. So in this episode, we reviewed what a high ticket offer is. We talked about what high ticket buyers want. They want that quality mastery strategy. They want thought partnership ship they trust, referrals and recommendations. They're going to like your content. They're not going to necessarily engage with you. They are forward thinking action takers and they want access to you. They want high touch. They want some elements of done for you. They're looking for a peer group that they can join. So these are all the elements that make up a high ticket offer, and the kind of high ticket buyer that you want to sell to.
[00:19:12]
In the next episode, I'm going to talk about where your high ticket buyers hang out, how you find those high ticket buyers. I'll share counterintuitive strategies to sell high ticket offers to premium clients. We'll review messaging and positioning, and I'm going to share some copywriting frameworks that will help you write faster and more effective copy to appeal to those high ticket buyers. This is a doozy of a mini series, so I'm going to stop it here and wait for next week to continue. But I'd love it if you would reach out to me with your questions about high ticket selling, marketing high ticket offers, fighting high ticket clients. And then I can include that in part two. So please reach out and share your questions with me. Bye for now. Hey, thanks for joining me for today's episode. But before you go, I want to make sure you've grabbed a new tool to help you assess the effectiveness of your sales copy. It's an easy to use tool that will help you identify what's working well, and what could be improved among all of the copy assets you have in your business. Grab the Sales Copy scorecard right now to find quick and easy ways to improve your sales copy and boost sales. Get your free scorecard over at. Scorecard. I'll be back next week with another quick tip writing prompt or sales hack for you. See you then.
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