InsightfulStory

You're Leaving Money Behind by Doing THIS

Dan Martell Daily

The speaker explains a pricing strategy called 'make the upsell the downsell' where a high-priced front-end program (e.g., $10K for 90 days) is followed by a lower-priced ongoing continuity program (e.g., $500-1500/month framed as a 1-year commitment) to maintain client engagement and conversion rates. The approach is illustrated through a chiropractor's case study where stretching a 90-day program into a year-long offering with integrated coaching increased client results and eliminated the need for constant customer replacement.

Summary

The speaker addresses the concern that extending a service from 3 months to 6-12 months might reduce conversion rates. The solution proposed is to 'make the upsell the downsell'—a two-tier pricing structure where the initial investment is front-loaded and high ($10K for 90 days), with most value delivered upfront when clients value it most. The back-end offering is positioned as a lower-cost continuity program ($500-1500/month) framed as a '3-year program with a 1-year commitment' rather than an open-ended service. This language trick reframes the long-term commitment as commitment to a defined program rather than indefinite service.

The speaker illustrates this with a case study of a successful chiropractor who initially offered 90-day intensive programs but discovered clients were overwhelmed and couldn't execute everything in that timeframe. When he stretched the delivery across a full year by adding coaching calls between content modules and allowing rolling enrollment (rather than cohort-based), outcomes dramatically improved. Clients felt more supported, the community grew, wins multiplied, and the business benefited because it no longer had to replace customers every 90 days. The key insight is that the extended timeline wasn't about making the back-end product more expensive—it was about providing the right support structure so clients could actually implement and succeed, turning them into long-term customers rather than one-time buyers.

Key Insights

  • Most value in information products is delivered early, which is why customers value the initial phase more than ongoing support, making the front-end program the ideal place to charge a premium price
  • The back-end ongoing program should be positioned as a longer commitment (e.g., '3-year program with a 1-year commitment') rather than month-to-month to reduce perceived friction while maintaining lower monthly pricing
  • A chiropractor's 90-day program had poor results because clients were overwhelmed and couldn't execute all deliverables in that timeframe, but stretching delivery to a full year with integrated coaching calls solved the execution problem
  • By converting from cohort-based 90-day programs to rolling enrollment spread across 12 months, the business eliminated the need to constantly replenish customers every 90 days and instead built a sustainable, growing community
  • The upsell-as-downsell model frames the lower-priced back-end as the natural progression for 'most clients' rather than an optional add-on, creating perceived continuity in the customer journey

Topics

Pricing structure strategyFront-end and back-end offersConversion rate optimizationContinuity and recurring revenueCustomer lifecycle managementProgram design and deliveryClient onboarding and support

Transcript

[0:00] How do I structure the prices so that I don't kill my conversion rate? >> Right now you sell a service, coaching, consulting, etc. That's 3 months, 12 weeks, something like that? >> Yeah. >> And you want to go from 3 months to 12 months, 6 months or below beyond, and you're concerned that if you do that, that it'll cut off the conversion of people buying. Does that sound about right? [0:31] >> Yeah. >> So, what I call this is make the upsell the downsell. So, what you want to do, cuz most people, especially when it comes to information, most of the value is early. And because it's early, they value it more in the…

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