I just tweeted this pet peeve, but it’s big enough (to me) that I need more than 140 characters to really vent about it. I’ve titled this blog post #1 because I’m sure there are bound to be more pet peeves that pop up along the way and I couldn’t leave it unnumbered and then be stuck for a completely new post title next time around. See, I think ahead.
Ok, so my first pet peeve has to do with the video sales letter. I get that they are all the rage and that they work, but I personally don’t like them. I’ve mentioned this fact before and I know I’m not alone as I’ve read many other posts from people who feel the same way. But the video works and so people will keep using them. That’s not the annoyance for me.
My pet peeve with the video sales page are the ones that you can’t control. You can’t fast forward to skip past the “personal story” that is probably a big fat lie anyway, and more importantly, you can’t skip to the PRICE. THE only important factor for me at the moment.
I don’t care if you’re selling a money printing machine, if the price is out of my range, I’m not buying. Twice last year I forked over more money that we could really afford because of a hyped up sales letter promising to make me rich. And these days, nearly everything I come across sets my bullshit meter off, so unless you can give me a price right off the bat, or allow me to fast forward your video to find out, I’m not going to spend what precious time I have looking at something I most likely won’t be able to afford.
So yes, while the video sales letter might work, I personally switch off as soon as I see that I can’t fast forward or even work out how long it’s going to be. If I’m just one person, then nobody has anything to worry about, but you have to ask yourself, am I the only one that feels this way?
I agree. I’ll just close the page as soon as it loads. What gets me is they think thier time is more valuable than mine. Why would I spend 5 to 20 min. watching something that in all probablity I won’t be interested in, let alone pay for. My time is valuable.
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I share your thoughts on that pet peeve. My workaround is to mute the sound, open a new tab, and search the forums for info on that particular offer. By the time I get back, it’s finished and I can see the price, but usually know by then if I want to look into it further. I would like to share my pet peeve. I totally get the standard procedure for asking the person if they really want to leave the page or stay when they go to close the tab/window (as long as it’s only once), BUT, what I find annoying is the fake chat window that often pops up with a picture of someone with a headset on (why a headset, I don’t know–this is the internet, not a call center), and they say something like, “Hi, this is Beth, and I’m authorized to discount the price of this product from $47 to $27 if you act now.” I feel bad for those people who trusted the original pitch and paid full price. It teaches us as potential customers to NOT trust the original pitch and close the page just in case we can get a better price. And a related pet peeve is telling me the price was originally $1997 and some people even paid $5000 for this info (yeah, right). Now it’s $197, but wait, I’m feeling generous today and for you, only $47. And if you try to close this page, I might even offer you a lower price… OK, I feel better now. Thanks for letting me share my pet peeve(s).
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Melani Reply:
June 21st, 2010 at 9:35 pm
Thanks for sharing Ken! There’s a lot of people out there with pet peeves about some IM business practices – a lot around the price marking down. Nothing like seeing a product claim it’s *worth* $x,xxx amount, but today you can get it for just $xx
And yes, I’ve seen those fake call center ones before. Took a while for me to realise they were actually fake too.
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