How to Make Your Offers POP (A Framework)

If you're building your offers by deciding how many calls to include and whether to throw in Slack access, you're starting in the wrong place.

And weirdly, a milkshake can help explain why.

In this episode, I'm breaking down the buyer psychology behind Easy Yes Offers and the POP Framework I use to build them.

Offer Development Is Different Than Packaging

Welcome back to the Easy Yes Offers series. Today, I'm walking you through the POP Framework I use with my clients to develop their Easy Yes Offers.

One of the biggest lessons I learned during my years working in tech had nothing to do with technology. It came from working closely with product marketing teams. 

They taught me something that completely changed how I think about offers.

As service providers, we tend to start with ourselves: 

• What services should I offer?
• How many calls should I include?
• Should I add Voxer?
• Should I include Slack?
• What should I charge?

We build our offers from the inside out. We start with our expertise and then package it into something we hope people will buy.

Product marketers start with the customer in mind: 

• Who has this problem?
• Why does this problem matter?
• Why would someone decide to solve it now? 
• What progress are they trying to make?
• What alternatives are they considering?
• Why would they choose this over everything else available to them?

That's offer development, and it’s something most service providers have never really been taught.

You’ve learned how to coach, consult, write, design, recruit, photograph, or manage projects, but never how to think strategically about offers. So you throw together a package or do what everyone else in your industry does.

That's where Easy Yes Offers come in. Instead of packaging up your expertise and hoping people buy it, you're intentionally developing an entry-level offer that's easier for potential clients to say yes to and simpler for you to market, sell, and deliver.

The Easy Yes Offer Sweet Spot

Before we go any further, I want to talk about what I call the Easy Yes Offer Sweet Spot.

The best offers sit right in the middle of the work you genuinely want to do and the problems your clients genuinely want solved.

If you only build offers around your expertise, you'll eventually struggle to create demand.

If you only build offers around demand, you'll probably end up building a business that pays well but slowly burns you out.

Easy Yes Offers sit in that overlap.

They're solving meaningful problems your clients are motivated to pay to solve. And they're doing it in a way that's sustainable and enjoyable for you to deliver.

Why Would Someone Buy This?

Way before someone lands on your website, they've already started asking themselves questions.

Why isn't this working? Why does this keep happening? Should I finally do something about this?

That's buyer psychology.

One of my favourite concepts in product marketing is Jobs to Be Done. If you've never heard of it before, it’s the idea that people don't buy products or services. They “hire” them to make progress.

Harvard Business School professor Clayton Christensen popularized this idea and shares something called the milkshake example.

A fast-food chain wanted to sell more milkshakes, so they started thinking about the milkshake itself. Should they change the recipe? Add more flavours? Lower the price? Make it thicker?

They assumed they were competing with every other milkshake.

But when researchers actually spent time observing and talking with customers, they discovered something completely different.

A surprising number of people were buying milkshakes first thing in the morning on their way to work. The milkshake wasn't competing with another milkshake. It was competing with bananas and bagels! 

People were “hiring” the milkshake to do a very specific job. They wanted something they could eat with one hand while driving, and that was filling enough to last until lunch.

It’s a powerful example, as the same thing happens in your business. Your clients hire you to achieve a goal and get to a better place. 

Especially right now, as your clients are much more discerning and asking harder questions. So you need to do everything you can to make it easier for them to say yes to working with you.

This was the inspiration for the concept of an Easy Yes Offer and the POP framework I’m going to share with you. 

Easy Yes Offers are a gateway to working with you. They reduce the mental work your buyer has to do to decide whether you're the right fit.

The POP Framework gives you a practical way to apply what we already know about how people make buying decisions: 

• Positioning helps your clients recognize a meaningful problem.
• Outcome helps them believe in the progress they're trying to make.
• Process helps reduce uncertainty and build trust.

Together, they create an offer that's easier to understand, easier to believe in, and ultimately, much easier to say yes to.

P Is for Positioning

The first P in the POP Framework is Positioning, and when I talk about positioning, I mean something much more fundamental than standing out in the market. 

Your positioning has to start with a specific problem that a potential client already recognizes, feels, and is motivated to solve. That's incredibly important because people don't buy solutions to problems they don't believe they have

Think about how many things in your own business you know you should fix. Maybe your website needs an update. Maybe your systems are a mess. Maybe your bookkeeping is held together with duct tape and a prayer.

Knowing something isn't ideal doesn't automatically mean you're ready to spend money to fix it.  The problem has to become important enough that you're motivated to act.

So when you’re defining the specific problem your offer solves, you need to understand why someone would be motivated to solve it right now. Why this problem? Why today? Why spend money fixing it instead of living with it for another six months?

Answering those questions may feel a little challenging as you are likely see your client’s problems through the lens of your own expertise. You know the problem exists. You know why it matters. And you can see six steps ahead and understand exactly what will happen if someone doesn't deal with it.

But your potential client may not be there yet.

You can't assume they understand the problem the way you do. And you definitely can't build an offer around a problem only you recognize and then wonder why nobody is buying it.

Your positioning needs to meet people where they are. It needs to articulate the problem in language they understand and connect it to the impact they're already experiencing. The goal is for the right person to hear you describe the problem and think, “That's exactly what's happening in my business. Help.”

There's another important question your potential clients are asking at this stage, and it's one service providers often overlook: “Is this actually for someone like me?”

They want to recognize the problem, but they also need to recognize themselves. They need to understand who you work with, where your offer fits, and whether you understand the specific context they're operating in.

A generic problem for a generic person creates a generic offer, and generic offers are really damn hard to make an Easy Yes.

This is also where your credibility starts to matter. Your prospective clients are looking for signs that you understand this problem beyond what you read in a book or learned in a weekend certification. They're asking whether you have the experience, expertise, or perspective to help them solve it.

So when I talk about Positioning in the POP Framework, I'm really talking about three layers of recognition: 

• Does someone recognize the problem? 
• Do they recognize that the problem is meaningful enough to solve? 
• And do they recognize themselves—and you—in the solution?

But that still isn't enough to get someone to say yes. They need to believe that solving it will actually get them somewhere they want to go.

And that's where Outcome comes in.

O Is for Outcome

Once someone recognizes the problem, is motivated to solve it and sees that your offer is for someone like them, the conversation they're having with themselves changes.

They're no longer asking, “Do I have this problem?” Now they're asking, “Is solving this actually worth it?”

This is where Outcome comes in.

One of the things we know about buyer psychology is that people don't make decisions based solely on what they're trying to avoid. Loss aversion may help explain why a costly problem gets our attention, but that's only one part of the buying decision. We're also motivated by what we're working toward.

Your potential client may be frustrated with where they are today, but that frustration alone doesn't make an offer compelling. They need to want what comes next. They need to see a future that's meaningfully better than their current reality and decide that making the change is worth the time, money, and effort involved.

In psychology, there's a concept called mental simulation. Basically, our brains like to picture the future before we get there. We imagine what could change, what might happen, and what our lives could look like on the other side.

That's incredibly important when you're developing an offer because your potential client is doing exactly that. They're trying to picture what their business or life looks like after the problem is solved. They're asking themselves, “What changes for me if I do this?”

The more specific the outcome, the easier it is for them to picture that future.

For example, if I tell you I'm going to help you “grow your business,” your brain has to do all the work. What does growth mean? More revenue? More clients? A team of 25 people and an office with a ping-pong table? That outcome could mean a hundred different things to a hundred different people.

But if I tell you I'm going to help you develop one Easy Yes Offer that's easier to market, refer, sell, and deliver, you have something much more tangible to work with.

You can start picturing what that would change in your business. You can imagine sitting down to do your marketing and knowing exactly what offer you're leading with. You can imagine someone asking what you do and being able to give them a specific answer. You can imagine getting on a sales call without explaining 88 different ways someone could work with you.

For your clients, the easier the future is to see, the easier it is to believe it's possible and to understand the progress your offer can help them make.

Remember the milkshake example from Jobs to Be Done? People weren't buying the milkshake for the milkshake. They were buying what it did for them. Your offer works the same way. Your clients aren't buying the deliverables. They're buying the progress those deliverables help them make.

Your client doesn't wake up wishing they could buy six consulting sessions. They wake up thinking about how to get more referrals or how to generate more revenue. They're thinking about the problem they're trying to fix, the goal they're trying to reach, and what will help make that happen.

Your outcome connects the problem your potential client wants to solve with the progress they want to make. Positioning says, “Here's what's happening and why it matters.” Outcome says, “Here's what could be different for you.”

But your words alone aren't always enough to create that belief.

This is where proof becomes incredibly important. Client stories, case studies, testimonials, and actual metrics help potential clients see themselves in the story.

That's why Outcome in the POP Framework isn’t just about a promise. It's about helping someone understand the specific progress your offer is designed to create and giving them enough reason to believe that progress is within reach.

But even when someone recognizes the problem and wants the outcome, there's still another question standing between them and saying yes.

“Do I trust you to get me there?”

That's where Process comes in.

P Is for Process

Process may be the most misunderstood part of the POP Framework because service providers often conflate their process with their deliverables.

When I ask someone to explain their process, they'll often tell me we meet twice a month, there's Slack support between calls, they'll get a workbook, or I'll send them a strategy document at the end.

Those things may all be important parts of your offer, but they're not your process. They're how you deliver your service.

Your process is how you get someone from where they are today to where they want to be. It's the path from Point A to Point B. It's your approach to solving the problem and creating the outcome you've just spent all this time helping your potential client believe is possible.

And process matters because buying a service comes with uncertainty.

There's a well-established concept in consumer behaviour called perceived risk, which is the uncertainty someone experiences when they're making a buying decision.

Every purchase involves some level of perceived risk, but the intangible nature of services poses a particular challenge because your potential clients can't fully evaluate what they're buying before they do.

You can try on a pair of shoes. You can take a car for a test drive. You can pick up a product, look at it, compare it to another product, and, in many cases, return it if it doesn't work for you.

Your potential client is being asked to invest in something they can't fully see or experience until after they've said yes, which understandably creates uncertainty. 

Being able to articulate your process reduces that uncertainty by making the path visible. It shows there's a thoughtful, proven way to get from the problem your client is experiencing today to the outcome they want. The more clearly someone understands how you'll help them make that progress, the less they're being asked to simply trust you. 

Think about the questions a potential client may be asking before they hire you:  

• What happens as soon as I say yes? 
• What's the first thing we're going to do? 
• What can I expect during the process? 
• How are we actually going to solve this problem? 
• How do we get from where I am today to the outcome you've promised? 

They’re looking for evidence that you know what you're doing, so you need to make your expertise tangible. 

This is especially important for experienced service providers because so much of our expertise becomes almost invisible to us, and we undervalue it. 

Your process is helping to make your approach and thinking visible.

When you can clearly explain how you approach a problem, why you take clients through specific steps, and how those steps connect to the outcome, you're demonstrating your expertise instead of simply claiming it.

There's a huge difference between saying, “I've been doing this for 20 years, trust me,” and showing someone how 20 years of experience has shaped the way you solve their problem.

To recap: 

• Positioning helps your potential client recognize the problem and see that your offer is for them. 
• Outcome helps them desire and believe in the progress you're promising. 
• Process reduces the perceived risk of hiring you by making your expertise and your path to the outcome more tangible.

When Positioning, Outcome, and Process work together, your Easy Yes Offer becomes a winner. 

How POP Creates an Easy Yes for Your Clients 

When I first started sketching out the POP Framework, I realized that Positioning, Outcome, and Process don't exist in isolation. They're constantly reinforcing one another, and the relationship between them is where the framework gets really interesting.

Think of POP as a triangle. Positioning, Outcome, and Process each sit at a single point, but what happens between them matters just as much as the individual pieces. When they're all working together, your offer becomes more desirable, more distinctive, and more credible.

Positioning + Outcome = Desirable 

Your positioning helps someone recognize themselves in the problem. They think, “That's exactly what's happening in my business.” Your outcome helps them picture what they want instead. They think, “Yes. That's where I want to be.”

Together, Positioning and Outcome create desire.

Your potential client understands what's not working, what it's costing them, and why they don't want to stay where they are. But they can also see something worth moving toward.

You need both.

You can describe someone's problem so accurately that they feel like you've been reading their diary, but if the outcome isn't something they genuinely want, they're not going to buy. On the flip side, you can promise an incredible outcome, but if someone doesn't recognize the problem or believe your offer is relevant to them, they'll keep scrolling.

Outcome + Process = Distinctive

Lots of people can promise the same outcome, but spend five minutes online, and you'll find 400 people promising some version of the same result.

The outcome alone isn't what makes your offer distinctive.

Your process shows how you approach creating that outcome. It's your thinking, your methodology, your experience, and the choices you've made about how to solve the problem. (Which is what I’m literally doing in this episode!) 

Two consultants can promise the exact same result and take completely different paths to get there. One approach may feel overly complicated, and I just don’t get it. Another may make immediate sense because the way that person thinks about the problem aligns with how I want to run my business.

That's where distinction comes from.

When Outcome and Process work together, someone moves from “I want that result,” to “I like how this person is going to help me get there.”

Positioning + Process = Credible 

Positioning says, “I understand your problem,” while process says, “I know how to solve it.”

Together, they create credibility.

Your potential clients are also looking for evidence that your expertise is relevant to THEIR specific problem.

I've been in business for more than 20 years. That's a credibility signal. But if you need someone to help you build a TikTok strategy, my years of experience don't mean shit. I'm not your person.

Experience only becomes relevant when it connects to the super-specific problem someone is trying to solve.

Your positioning demonstrates that you deeply understand the problem. Your process demonstrates that you have a thoughtful way of solving it.

Your potential client starts thinking, “This person understands exactly what I'm dealing with, and they clearly know what they're doing.”

That's trust.

Ultimately, POP is about what Positioning, Outcome, and Process do for your potential clients and how making your offer easier to understand, want, and say yes to helps you book more of the right clients.

I didn't just pull three words out of thin air that happened to spell POP. This framework takes decades of buyer psychology and product marketing and turns them into something service providers can actually use to build better offers, starting with their Easy Yes Offer. 

The Domino Effect of Having an Easy Yes Offer

As we wrap up this episode, I want to remind you that your offers don’t exist in isolation.

The reason I’m so obsessed with offers is that the right offer creates a domino effect across your entire business.

Having a well-designed Easy Yes Offer makes your marketing simpler because you have a specific problem to talk about and a specific person to talk to. You know what they care about, what's motivating them, and the progress they want to make.

In turn, that makes referrals easier, too. People know exactly who you work with, what problem you solve, and the results you help create. Instead of needing a presentation to explain what you do, they can immediately think, “You need to talk to Maggie. This is exactly what she helps with.”

Your sales conversations get better because you're not explaining a menu of offers or trying to build something on the fly. You can focus on the problem, the desired outcome, and how your process will help them get there. 

And delivery gets simpler because you're not running in different directions. When you solve similar problems repeatedly, you see patterns faster, strengthen your process, and create systems around how you work. 

That's the domino effect.

Having an Easy Yes Offer doesn't just make it easier to book clients. It makes your entire business easier to run.

It's Time to Make Your Offer POP

To wrap things up, I want to come back to what an Easy Yes Offer actually is.

An Easy Yes Offer is focused. It solves a specific problem your potential clients already recognize, feel, and are motivated to pay to solve. It gives them a specific outcome they actually want and can believe is possible. And it gives them enough insight into your process to trust that you know how to get them from where they are today to where they want to be.

That's POP: Positioning, Outcome, and Process.

When all three are working together, your offer becomes easier for your potential clients to understand, trust, and say yes to. And on your side, it becomes simpler to market, sell, and deliver.

That's the whole point of an Easy Yes Offer. It's designed to make things simpler on both sides of the sale.

That's how you build an Easy Yes Offer. And that's how you make your offer POP.

And if you're listening to this thinking, okay, I need to POP my offer, this is exactly what we're working on inside the Staying Solo Squad in August.

The Squad is officially open for new members from July 20th to 30th, and we're spending August focused on Easy Yes Offers. You'll use the POP Framework to strengthen your positioning, sharpen the outcome, and build a process that makes your offer easier to understand, market, and sell.

If you want my help applying everything we talked about in this episode to your actual offer, come join us.

Head to the sales page to get all the details and join the Staying Solo Squad.