When it comes to making sales, the secret lies not just in what you sell but in how you position it.

Whether you're a marketer, entrepreneur, or business owner, understanding why people buy can make or break your success. In this week's episode, we’ll uncover the three critical buyer triggers that influence decisions – time to results, effort required, and likelihood of success – and how ignoring them can stop your sales in their tracks.

Get ready to transform your approach and create offers that buyers can’t resist!

Want to get more sales from your email marketing?

Before we get started with today’s episode, we’ve put a little something together for you.

It's really cool and it's FREE (yes, it's cool and free – we're nice like that). We all know that subject lines are important to get right and are a leading measure of your open and click rates – but writing them can be a challenge.

That's why Kennedy has spent months training an AI to write powerful subject lines that is beating top copywriters' subject lines 80% of the time in A/B tests – and you can get access to it here.

The Clock Is Ticking: Time to Results

Picture this: you’ve just signed up for a lawn care service.

It’s not about just spending money – it’s about results. You want to know exactly how long it’ll take until your lawn looks like a lush, green football field.

This is the first buyer trigger: time to results.

People are impatient by nature. Whether it’s achieving a business goal, enjoying a pristine lawn, or learning a new skill, they want to know how quickly they’ll see the fruits of their investment.

Here’s the kicker: many businesses fail to communicate timelines clearly. Your customers are left guessing how long it will take to experience results, and uncertainty breeds hesitation.

To fix this, give your customers a clear timeline with milestones along the way. For instance:

• 7 days in: Your lawn will start to show initial improvements.
• 30 days in: Noticeable greening and thickening of the grass.
• 90 days in: A lawn so perfect, your neighbors will turn green with envy!

It’s not just about the end result; it’s about reassuring buyers they’ll see progress throughout the journey.

Add those checkpoints to your product or service and shout about them in your marketing.

How Much Effort Does It Take? The Reality of Buyer Commitment

No one likes hard work – unless it’s worth the payoff.

The second buyer trigger is effort required.

Think back to the lawn care example. The company handles everything for you, requiring no effort on your part. They even leave a little note saying, “Your lawn was treated today,” so you know they’re delivering value without you lifting a finger.

Contrast that with something like a gruelling fitness program such as Insanity. It requires maximum effort, but the intensity is sold as part of its appeal. People buy into it because they’re promised incredible results, and the challenge itself becomes a badge of honour.

How much effort does your product or service require? This is where you need to be honest with your customers. If it’s low effort, market the ease and convenience. If it’s high effort, sell the rewards and the sense of achievement.

Either way, manage expectations:

• Low effort example: “Set it and forget it. We do all the work for you!”
• High effort example: “This program will push you to your limits, but the results will blow your mind.”

When buyers know what to expect, they’re more likely to commit and follow through.

Can I Succeed? Addressing Buyer Confidence

The final and most critical trigger is likelihood of success.

Buyers ask themselves, “Can I really do this? Will it work for me?”

This is where doubt creeps in. They think about past failures and whether your solution will be any different. Maybe they’ve tried a similar product or service before and didn’t get the results they wanted.

Or they doubt their own abilities – “I once killed a cactus. How can I maintain a lawn?”

As a seller, it’s your job to remove these doubts. Build their confidence by showing proof of success:

• Testimonials and case studies: Share stories of people just like them who succeeded.
• Frameworks and support: Provide step-by-step instructions, templates, or coaching to guide them.
• Set realistic expectations: Be transparent about the effort required and the timeline for results.

For example, when selling an email marketing course, don’t just promise “$10,000 in 30 days.” Instead, explain the process and provide mini-wins along the way:

• Week 1: Learn the basics of email segmentation.
• Week 2: Write your first high-converting email.
• Week 3: See a boost in open rates and engagement.

By showing them a roadmap and breaking the journey into achievable steps, you increase their belief in their own ability to succeed.

Why These Triggers Matter

Let’s face it: buying decisions are emotional. Logic comes second.

By addressing these three triggers – time to results, effort required, and likelihood of success – you tap into the emotions that drive purchases.

When buyers see a clear timeline, understand the effort needed, and feel confident in their ability to succeed, they’re more likely to say “yes.” On the flip side, ignoring these triggers leaves them stuck in indecision.

Here’s the golden rule: these triggers aren’t just for your product development. They’re marketing tools too. Highlight each one in your emails, social media posts, and sales pages.

For example:

• Time to results: “See results in 30 days or less!”
• Effort required: “You’ll need just 20 minutes a day—no experience needed.”
• Likelihood of success: “90% of our clients double their revenue within 60 days.”

Every time you communicate these points, you’re removing objections and building trust.

Turn These Triggers Into Sales

The next time you craft an offer, ask yourself these questions:

1. Time to results: Can I speed up the timeline or add milestones to show progress?
2. Effort required: Can I reduce the time, energy, or skill needed to see results?
3. Likelihood of success: How can I prove that buyers will achieve their desired outcome?

Once you’ve nailed these three triggers, integrate them into your marketing strategy. Dedicate individual emails, ads, or videos to each one. For example:

• Email 1: “How to see results in 7 days or less.”
• Email 2: “Achieve more with less effort—our proven system explained.”
• Email 3: “Why 90% of our clients succeed (and how you can too).”

By focusing on these elements, you’re not just selling a product or service—you’re selling certainty. And certainty sells.

Conclusion: Stop Ignoring What Matters

Your buyers want results, simplicity, and confidence. When you address these triggers head-on, you transform your offer from “just another product” into a no-brainer decision.

The real question is: are you ready to implement these strategies and watch your sales soar? Don’t let these buyer triggers kill your success – start using them to your advantage today!

Subject Line of the Week

This week's subject line is… “Here's 8”

Great for a launch or whenever you're introducing a new product, this subject line went on to talk about 8 different ways that customers are using and implementing the product.

Give this a shot in your next launch!

Useful Episode Resources

Related episodes

How Do You Get Your Customers To Buy And Buy Again? 

How To Get Back On The Email Wagon When You Fall Off (Back To School Edition)

How Can I Personalise My Emails To Increase Conversions?

FREE list of the top 10 books to improve your email marketing

If you want to write better emails, come up with better content, and move your readers to click and buy, here's how. We put together this list of our Top 10 most highly recommended books that will improve all areas of your email marketing (including some underground treasures that we happened upon, which have been game-changing for us). Grab your FREE list here. 

Join our FREE Facebook group

If you want to chat about how you can maximise the value of your email list and make more money from every subscriber, we can help! We know your business is different, so come and hang out in our FREE Facebook group, the Email Marketing Show Community for Course Creators and Coaches. We share a lot of training and resources, and you can talk about what you're up to.

Try ResponseSuite for $1

This week's episode is sponsored by ResponseSuite.com, the survey quiz and application form tool that we created specifically for small businesses like you to integrate with your marketing systems to segment your subscribers and make more sales. Try it out for 14 days for just $1.

Grab The Email Hero Blueprint

Want more? Let's say you're a course creator, membership site owner, coach, author, or expert and want to learn about the ethical psychology-based email marketing that turns 60-80% more of your newsletter subscribers into customers (within 60 days).

If that's you, then The Email Hero Blueprint is for you.

This is hands down the most predictable, plug-and-play way to double your earnings per email subscriber. It allows you to generate a consistent sales flow without launching another product, service, or offer. Best news yet? You won't have to rely on copywriting, slimy persuasion, NLP, or ‘better' subject lines.

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