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- THE COMMITMENT LADDER: HOW TO GET PEOPLE TO BUY EXPENSIVE THINGS
THE COMMITMENT LADDER: HOW TO GET PEOPLE TO BUY EXPENSIVE THINGS
How I got swindled into a new apartment by a 'commitment ladder' and why all marketers need to use them...
Niall Ratcliffe
August 31, 2025
Morning!
It’s 4 pm on Saturday and I’m sitting in the same spot as usual. A blank page in front of me, a bottle of electrolytes by my side, and a 6 pm deadline staring me down.
The couple behind me are chatting about their dinner plans, the man across from me looks like he’s come down here to escape his partner, and me… I’m here to write about marketing.
Last week, I told you that I’d just received this new red book in the post.
The book was called ‘Sell Like Crazy’ by Sabri Suby. It’s about modern advertising and how to increase the number of customers you convert. I’m only 50% of the way through it, but it crystallised something I've known for a long time.
Every business owner I meet is obsessed with getting people to buy immediately. They want the shortest possible path from stranger to customer.
But the businesses that actually “Sell like crazy” don’t try to compress everything into one interaction. Instead, they focus on increasing the number of interactions they have with each customer.
Their funnels are a staggered step process, not a buy-now process.
And today I’m giving myself 1 hour to convince you why your marketing funnel is probably too short, and show you exactly how the best craft theirs
Let's do it!
BREAKING DOWN THE STRATEGY
I am terrible at cleaning. I hate doing it. I am unskilled at it. But more than anything, I hate taking out the bins.
I know it’s meant to be my job, I know everyone does it. It’s a 6 metre walk to the shoot to throw the bins in. On paper, it looks easy. Yet I hate it and I avoid it at all costs (to my partner’s dismay).
But every so often, as my partner is cleaning our room, I’ll hear, “Niall, could you just grab a cloth from under the sink and some spray for me?”
"No worries,” I say as I trot into the kitchen unaware of what’s happening.
Then I hear, “Could you just wipe down the kitchen counter while you’re in there as well?”
“That seems fair,” I tell myself. So I get to wiping down the kitchen countertops.
“Oh and if you could hoover the floor in there that would be helpful.”
Fine. I’ll hoover up and then be done. So I get the hoover and start hoovering.
“You’ll need to take the bin out as well before you hoover the kitchen,” my partner shouts from the other room.
Damn it. She’s got me again.
All I did was commit to getting her a cloth from under the sink and the next minute I’d cleaned the whole bloody living room, kitchen, and taken the bins out. Fuming.
But what my partner does is the same tactic that all of the best marketers use. It’s a string of small commitments to get you to make a large purchase.
I’m going to call it a ‘Commitment Ladder’ and when you understand how it works, you’ll notice that they’re everywhere - especially in high-ticket sales.
So let me show you what the best Commitment Ladders I’ve seen look like and why they ALWAYS get you.
Starting with a commitment ladder that’s just got me signed up to an 18-month lease at our new apartment…
Our lease runs out in December, so my partner & I are currently looking for a new place in central Manchester. So, as you do, we began searching on Right Move and a few other sites to see what was out there.
After a few days, we found a place we loved and decided to book a viewing for this Friday just gone.
(I’ll note the commitments as we go so you can see them in real time.)
Commitment 1: Free Apartment Viewing
We turned up, met the leasing agent and started our tour of the apartment. It started with showing us the rooms and talking about how amazing it was. But then it pivoted to her telling us how in demand this particular apartment was and how quickly it would go.
She told us we were the first viewing and the last tenants only moved out two days ago. She then told us she had a viewing straight after ours and more later that day. She guessed it would be on the market for “less than 48 hours”.
Shit. We loved it. But we weren’t meant to move until December…
“Well, if you want, I can send you over the form to put in an offer. It’s free to put in an offer, but you can pay 1 week’s rent deposit to take it off the market too. Would you like me to send you the email?”
“Yes, please send us that email.” We replied quickly.
Commitment 2: Getting her to send the form to put in an offer
On the walk home, we agree that it was perfect and started to debate what we should do.
“Let’s just wait for the email first and put in an offer - we’ve got nothing to lose”, I say.
Then the email comes…
“Hi guys, here is the form to put in your offer. Just so you know, the couple immediately after you also said they were going to put in an offer and I’ll be sending them the email straight after this. If you really want the apartment, I recommend paying the deposit to take it off the market.”
“Shit. They’re going to take the apartment.” We panicked. “Let’s just pay the deposit so it’s off the market.”
Commitment 3: Pay a small deposit to take it off the market
Now, the last step in this process is for us to sign a contract that commits us to commit to sending them £40,000+ over the next 18 months.
We turned up just to check the apartment out and get a feel for what we wanted. Yet within 24 hours we’d made a small series of commitments - and climbed the commitment ladder - to pay £1000s.
Did we want the apartment? Yes. But we never would have committed like we did 24 hours before.
But this apartment's leading agent wasn’t some marketing or sales genius. These commitment ladders are everywhere.
The same thing happens when buying a car…
Commitment 1: Browse cars online for free
Commitment 2: Free tour of the showroom
Commitment 3: Free test drive of the car you love
Commitment 4: "Let me just check what your current car's worth as a trade-in"
Commitment 5: You let them give you a price for the car if you traded in your current car. Including the financing agreement. “It’s only £400/month”.
The next minute you’re driving home in a new car.
And the same thing happens with insurance…
Commitment 1: Get a free quote online "just to see how much you could save"
Commitment 2: Phone call from advisor to "explain the coverage options better"
Commitment 3: "Let me see if I can find you any additional discounts while we're talking"
Commitment 4: Set up the new policy and cancel your old one
Even look at Alex Hormozi (who we talked about last week), he made all of his money through these same commitment ladders.
With his original gym business he used commitment ladders to sell out his gym locations…
He started by running ads for a 6-week weight loss challenge where you got your money back if you lost the weight.
A very old Hormozi ad
Commitment 1: Sign up for a weight-loss programme.
Then he’d reach out to everyone who signed up and explained that if they really wanted to lose 20 lbs, then they needed to focus on their diet. Luckily for them, he offered them a completely free nutrition and diet consultation.
Commitment 2: Free nutrition consultation
During the consultation, he’d highlight the major issues with their diet and then sell them a meal delivery plan that would help them lose the weight they wanted to lose.
Commitment 3: Buying a meal plan
Then once they’d gone through the program, had success and lost the weight they wanted, he’d offer them a 12-month gym membership to continue on.
Commitment 4: 12-month gym membership
They went from "I want to lose weight" to paying for a gym membership and a meal plan.
Hormozi then went on to implement an almost identical ladder into his Gym marketing business, GymLaunch
He started by offering gym owners a free book called "Gym Launch Secrets" where they just had to pay for shipping.
Old GymLaunch Ad (a tad blurry)
Commitment 1: Get free book (pay shipping only)
Then everyone who ordered the book would get an email with an invitation to a free strategy call to help them implement what was in the book.
Commitment 2: Free strategy call
On the strategy call he'd diagnose their gym's problems and show them exactly how his system could fill their gym. Then he'd sell them his 15-week "Gym Launch Intensive" program for just £1000 down.
Commitment 3: 15-week program for £1000 down
In week one of the program, he'd offer everyone a free course on how to increase their revenue by 30% through selling supplements.
Commitment 4: Free supplement sales course
Then he'd sell them supplements in bulk so they could implement what they'd learned in the course.
Commitment 5: Bulk supplement purchase
They went from "I'll grab this free book" to spending thousands every month on his training and supplements.
GymLaunch ended up selling for $42M largely based off growing through his simple commitment ladder.
Now that is pretty crazy.
But while these are only 2-3 examples, in my prep for this essay I found 100s of different examples of these commitment ladders. So I want to finish this by showing you what they all have in common.
1/ They all start with giving something for free
Whether it's Alex's free book, an estate agent's free valuation, or a car dealer letting you browse without pressure. There's never any risk in step one.
It's always positioned as "no strings attached".
2/ The second commitment is always offered immediately after
As soon as you've said yes to the first thing, they hit you with step two while you're still in "yes" mode. The estate agent books the viewing before you leave. The car dealer suggests the test drive while you're still looking. Alex sends the strategy call invite straight after you download the book.
This is consistent across all successful commitment ladders.
3/ The commitments increase dramatically from start to finish, but in tiny steps
Look at the gap between Alex's first step and his last step.
Free book → £3000 monthly spend.
Or mine with the apartment…
Free apartment viewing → £40,000 lease commitment.
The total jump is massive, but each individual step feels trivial. £7 shipping after getting a free book. One test drive after browsing cars.
Each rung of the ladder is just high enough that you'll step up, but not so high that you'll walk away.
4/ They create urgency at every stage
"Other people are interested", "this offer ends soon", "limited spaces available".
There's always a reason you can't think about it too long. The apartment viewing agent had other viewings that day. The car dealer mentions the sale ends Sunday. Alex tells you there are limited spots on the call.
5/ The last commitment leans into sunk cost
By step 4 or 5, you've already invested time, given information, built a relationship, and made several smaller commitments. So the companies always lean into that.
They make it feel like walking away now is like wasting everything you've already put in.
It’s almost like, “You’ve already committed now, just take one more step.”
The beautiful thing is that most people genuinely want what they're buying by the end. The estate agent found you a great flat. The car dealer got you a car you love. Alex helped gym owners fill their gyms.
But you never would have committed to the big purchase on day one. The ladder made it feel natural.
Who knew ladders could be so interesting?
Right, hopefully you learned something there because that’s all I’ve got for you for today.
Until next Sunday!
— Niall
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