Cart opens on a Monday. By Monday afternoon the creator is answering the same six questions individually, on three platforms, while also trying to run the live sessions that were meant to sell the course.
Launch week is when a solo business is least able to answer and most needs to.
Step 1: write the FAQ before opening
Suitability for different levels, time commitment per week, what is included, payment options, when access starts and for how long, whether sessions are recorded, the refund window and what happens after the cart closes. This is an hour's work that saves the week.
Step 2: answer suitability specifically
The most common launch question is whether it suits someone in a particular situation. Publishing who the course is for, and equally who it is not for, converts the right people and prevents refunds from the wrong ones, as described in pre-purchase questions that stall online course sales.
Step 3: be exact about time commitment
Hours per week, whether sessions are live or recorded, when live sessions happen and in which time zone. International buyers need the time zone stated explicitly.
Step 4: publish payment options
Instalments, currency, whether business purchases can be invoiced and whether VAT applies. Payment friction at the final step loses buyers who had already decided.
Step 5: state access and refund terms
When access begins, how long it lasts, whether updates are included and the refund window with its conditions. These are trust questions, covered in refund, access and certificate questions for course creators.
Step 6: let it answer at any hour
SpideyChat for coaches and course creators answers from the launch FAQ during the hours the creator is teaching, asleep or in a different time zone from half the audience.
Buyer: I work full time. Is this realistic for me? Assistant: The course page sets out the weekly time commitment and explains that live sessions are recorded, with access for the period shown, so you can work through it around a job. It also lists who the course is designed for. The payment options and refund terms are on the same page.
Step 7: watch the questions as they arrive
The questions in the first day show exactly what the sales page failed to answer. Updating the page mid-launch, and the FAQ with it, lifts conversion for the rest of the week.
Step 8: handle the closing rush
The last hours before a cart closes generate the most questions and the most urgency. Having answers available at that moment, rather than in an inbox, is what captures buyers who were deciding right up to the deadline.
Bonuses and deadlines
Launches usually carry early-bird pricing, bonuses or a closing deadline, and the questions about them are relentless. Publishing exactly what each bonus includes, when pricing changes and the precise closing time in a stated time zone prevents the wave of messages from people worried they have missed something.
After the launch
Enrolment questions give way to access problems and onboarding, and the general approach is described in how to automate your top twenty support questions this week.
Product launches elsewhere
Retail brands face the same compressed surge, as covered in launch day questions when a DTC brand drops a product.
Setting it up
Write the launch FAQ, publish it, train the assistant on it and test it the day before opening. The guides to installing the widget and training your bot explain how.