A few weeks ago we were on holiday in Sydney.

We took a few hours to enjoy a walk around the Rocks before our flight. It was a beautiful warm Saturday, about 26 degrees, which in early August is very welcome, and there were big crowds wandering around.

We wandered first through the Saturday market, we looked at chilli sauces and then, at the end of the market, was a fascinating stall – it was a gourmet chocolate shop. And they had taste testers. They had a chilli chocolate one, that was eye catching and very nice. They had an amazing lemon myrtle (I think it was) white chocolate, that was also beautiful.

Their prices were fairly reasonable - $4 - $6 for a fair sized bar of chocolate. But I was fascinated when he told me that his chocolate was free from added sugar. No way! Chocolate, especially dark chocolate, is meant to be quite good for you itself, it is the things they add to it, such as sugar, that bring it down. But I would also say that these things help it taste good. So, yummy sugar free chocolate? We ended up buying some, and kept going.

Down by the steps above the harbour was a young lady who had a big crowd gathered around her. She was about to put herself in a glass box. A small one too. It looked to be about 40 cm square, give or take 10 cm. So we paused to watch.

She got herself a volunteer from the crowd who was to shut the lid on her and then help her out again. Then she put one leg in the box. Then she stopped and hopped out of the box. Her next words went something like this:

‘This is a pretty difficult thing I am about to do. I am about to put myself in a small glass box. I am one of the only female contortionists in the world. I am not paid to be here, I earn my living from doing this, because kind people donate. So after this performance I am going to pass around my bag and I am going to ask you to put something into it. Now you might be wondering how much is a good amount to give. $50 is standard. Just kidding. Five dollars is standard and ten is great. But even if you only have a gold coin please throw it in. Thank you. And thank you for being such a great crowd. Now I am going to put myself in this box.’

Which she proceeded to do.

But it was her speech that fascinated me. As soon as she started it, people began to walk away, with this certain look on their faces. I am pretty sure you know the look I mean. It is a kind of resigned, uncomfortable look and it basically means, “I knew there was going to be a catch, let’s get out of here”. Why do we respond to street theatre people like this? Because most street artists I have seen recently do this same speech. What is it about the money speech that makes us uncomfortable? We stopped to watch, we were entertained. And I imagine that they all ask because they get more money if they do. And she was especially careful to establish the price of her product.

Her speech incorporated elements that we are told are good sales practice in business and especially on a website – establish the reason for the price of your product (“I am the only female contortionist”) and then ask for the sale! Issue a call to action. But although these principles are held up as good sales practice, do they work? A lot of people walked away having enjoyed her product for free.

Now back to Mr Sugar Free Chocolate. He also established his price, and although I said it was reasonable earlier, I could have bought two Cadbury’s blocks for the price of his stick of rocky road. So where was the value in it? He had established his value well by giving his customers something they wanted – chocolate that tastes fabulous and is hand made and sugar free! Wow. Healthy and decadent all at once. What’s in it for me? A taste I love with less than usual health ramifications.

What was in it for me with the street theater girl? Well, I’d already seen her show. I was going to get nothing out of paying but the feeling that I had shown my appreciation for her effort. She was in a sense relying on our altruism but I think that her possible problem was that we had already received the product, and there is a fairly strong perception in Australia that you can see street theatre for free and pay if you feel like it. It is almost a sense of ‘they’re doing it because they want to’ and payment is a bonus, if we thought it was really excellent and we felt like dropping in a buck. In fact, I think sometimes we feel that we have been set up by street theatre artists. It is a public walk way, they have gone out of their way to deliberately attract our attention and then they tell us that we have to pay for that distraction. (I am not anti street theatre by the way, my personal favourite are young people playing the violin REALLY well)

How does all of this translate across into something useful for our websites?

A successful website should

Ask for the sale,

It should establish the reason for the price, by letting the customer know what’s in it for them. And this ‘what’s in it for me’ element should be as powerful as possible, linked to emotions if it can be (like chocolate and health).

If possible it should remove customer risk – Mr Chocolate offered us samples before we bought, you can offer a guarantee on your product, you can also offer samples – preferably something that costs you little and helps establish the value of your product. For example a free ebook in your area of specialty.

A successful website does not endeavour to sell something that is easily available for free unless it has a really good USP. Water is an example of this. Water is available for very little in most western countries, but millions of dollars of water are sold by people who have established to our satisfaction that bottled water or a water filter is better for us. Good USP on a readily available product. This was partly the contortionist’s problem – we felt somehow that her product really was available for free and she was trying to charge. We don’t think twice about paying to see someone do the same tricks in a circus or theatre, so it was not her product, but where and how it was delivered that devalued it.