Is it the greeting? The service? Timing? Could it be the advertising? Or the price? And, in a broader sense, does good advertising trump mediocre ones? Or, conversely, can good advertising rescue so-so ones?

These are all intriguing questions. And I have strong opinions about each one. But—and that’s a big but—we miss the whole point of the discussion about what constitutes powerful voice broadcasting if we fail to include these two words: the offer.

To have any chance of success, a voice broadcasting campaign must have a great offer. But how do you know which offer is best for you? What are your options? What are other businesses doing?

In my capacity as a voice broadcasting provider I’ve dealt with practically every type of offer you can imagine. Each one has its merits, and it’s hard to point to one particular offer and say that it’s a winner in every situation.

I have here a rundown of several of the offers in use today.

1) 2 years for the price of 1. Many businesses are testing this offer. Some state it as “One year free” or “Two years free.” Why does it work for some camapaigns and not for others? Some think it’s a matter of how you graphically present the offer, such as using bold headlines and in-your-face design elements shouting “2 years free.” Others feel it’s not so much how the offer looks, but rather how it’s discussed—the story behind the offer. “We begged management to let us give you this great offer—and they finally said OK,” or “We’ve cut our price to the bone to give you our best rate of all time.” Unfortunately, there’s no clear consensus on exactly which angle works best.

2) Yes, No, Maybe. Here’s an offer that was all the rage about ten years ago, but I’ve noticed it making a comeback recently. It’s basically a clever way of presenting the standard soft offer—”Try a free product and if you don’t like it, return the bill marked ‘cancel’ and owe nothing.” The order form features three distinct blocks: one labeled “Yes,” the second “No,” and the third “Maybe.” The “Yes” block is a statement of the standard soft offer. The “No” block says something to the effect of: “No thanks, I don’t want a free product, send it to somebody else.” (The implication is that the recipient will return the order form without even placing an order.) The “Maybe” block is actually a restating of the “Yes” block, but with a first sentence like: “I’m not sure, but send my free product anyway. If I don’t like it, I’ll return the bill marked ‘cancel’ and owe nothing.” The very fact that you’ve given the recipient a “maybe” option—even though it’s the very same offer as the “yes” option—seems to raise the comfort level enough to generate a positive response that otherwise may not occur.

We shall continue discussing more offers that are being used today tomorrow.