Creating A Winning Order Form That Makes The Sale

Most people don't pay enough attention to their

order forms (or worse, they have no order form).

The majority of sales are abandoned online at the

order form or the shopping cart page. Translation ñ

tons of lost revenue. 

Thatís why right now Iím going to give you some

simple tips and a few examples to try and squeeze

out more profit for you just by making a few simple

changes.

Your order form needs to reassure the prospect

they're making  a wise decision, restate all the

benefits and the irresistible offer, plus be

extremely simple to fill out. Your order form needs

to make such a compelling case for your product that

it could stand on its own.

You want to think about your order form as a ìmini

pitchî for your offer. In fact, that's the way I

would judge an order form. Step back and consider

for a moment if somebody just clicked on the "order

now" link, would they be compelled to order? If not,

rework your form with more compelling copy. But on top

of copy changes there are some basic elements that

I see missing in the majority of sites I review.

So letís start at the topÖ

Order form mistake #1: Calling it an Order Form.

Gee, how exciting. Think headlines ñ your order

should also have a headline. In the past Iíve

successfully usedÖ

* "Risk Free Trial Action Form"

* "<Product Name> Acceptance Form"

* "100% Risk-Free Activation Request"

Order form mistake #2: No assurance of security.

On our order forms right up top we use a ìsecure

keyî graphic so people wonít feel nervous about

giving their credit card information. Yes, some

people are still a bit nervous about handing over

their credit cards online even though millions of

transactions are run per day ñ but only if someone

gets their credit card data hacked does it make

big news.

Iíve also seen secure certificates, Hacker-safe,

BBB Online, etc. all used to help alleviate

concerns about safety and security.

Order form mistake #3: Not written in customerís

own, excited voice.

I use a very similar order form format as mail order

advertisers have used for decades usually starting

with the word "Yes" (which is a very powerful

selling word!). Then I use the prospect's own

voice to restate the offer and the guarantee. This

helps solidify the order in their heads.

Order form mistake #4: Making it too hard to

order from you.

Iím sure youíve 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 donít get me wrong ñ ask for a home phone

number if you are going to use it. Itís 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 ìcontinueî? Will

they have to give their credit card information to

Paypal? Whatever the case is, donít 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 ñ let me also give

you a few optional elements you can considerÖ

1. 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.

2. Checkboxes. I havenít tested this ñ 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.

3. Photos of the product.

4. Upsells. This is huge and usually overlooked by

most people. This little ìmagic trickî 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. Theyíve got their credit

card in their hand and theyíve already made the

commitment.Make the upsell something that goes

hand-in-hand with what youíre selling and youíll

see a nice increase in sales. Even the ìbig boysî

do this. Try buying a book on Amazon and youíll

see a couple recommendations that automatically are

featured. I guarantee youíll be surprised by the

results of a good upsell.

Hereís a little order form ìcheat sheetî 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 ñ but see what works best for you.

Bottom line ñ 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.

==========================================================

Yanik Silver is recognized as the leading expert on

creating automatic, moneymaking websites...and he still

doesn't know how to put up a website.

He is the author, co-author or creator of several best-

selling resources including - http://www.InstantSalesLetters.com

==========================================================