How Not to “Sell”

It is amazing how we, as individuals, do not like to be sold to. We don’t want to feel like we’ve been “had.”

Not in the least. When we are buying, we are “buying” into the idea you are offering, not the product or the service.

I know, it’s so funny when you think about it.

But it’s been like this for hundreds of years.

Think back to a cowboy movie, a western, a depiction of the “olden days” when carriages and stagecoaches, general stores and wagons ruled the life and landscape of the “snake-oil salesman”.

When people gathered around a wagon, where a fellow was selling his wares, be it cast iron skillets, pots and pans, elixirs for different ailments, the newest gadget, etc. they weren’t really buying the product based solely on its features, but also the promise of faster relief (or relief in general), easier and faster cooking, or better tasting stew even.

People buy the wares and services they buy for purely emotional needs. Ok, now and then you are buying the pots and pans because you actually need them, but really, each one of us could probably use the exact same pots and pans we bought for our very first home or apartment for the rest of our lives.

Unless you happen to burn them while boiling water or something equally silly…

But really, pots and pans last a lifetime. Yet, we still buy new ones, satisfying our emotional decisions of better, faster, and more delicious cooking. Based on what a guy says on an infomercial at 2 am. The next morning, as we cook our eggs in the same pan we’ve had for the last 15 years, we wonder why we bought those new pots and pans. As we are daydreaming, our eggs burn just a little. We just satisfied our emotional decision with a “rational” one. Obviously, the pan has a defect and needs to be replaced.

Focus on the Prospect

So, how do we get that chap (your prospect) to buy the pots and pans in the first place?

• You have to know him.
• And know him well. As if he lived next door to us and was our best friend. Yep, that well.
• You have to do a lot (and I mean a lot) of research to glean the golden nuggets of information you can use in your copy.
• You need to have a mailing list of the exact prospects you want to target.
• You have to figure out the unique selling proposition of your product or service.
• And you have to be able to write persuasively. Even if you don’t know how, you can learn to write benefit-oriented copy that sells your product and service.
• Besides being able to focus on your prospect’s self-interest, the word “you” allows you to single out your prospect.

Eye Contact is the Key

So how does it work?

I tried, but couldn’t come up with a better story than Roscoe Barnes in his book Direct Response Advertising Made Easy:

Take the factory worker who needed change for a dollar. “Go to the break room,” his boss told him. “Someone there may have it.”

The worker, a young man who was new on the job, walked into the busy smoke-filled room with his hands in his pocket. “anybody got change for a dollar?” he asked.

No one answered. So he walked over to a man who was munching down on a bologna sandwich. “Excuse me, sir,” the worker said.

The man looked up, at which point the new worker made ye contact. “Do you have change for a dollar?”

“Aw, let me see,” said the man. “Yep, Believe I do. Here you go.”

When there’s only one person, he listens, because you are speaking to the ONE person who is there. You’re making eye contact with your prospect.

When you use “you” you are speaking directly to your prospect. It is vital and it is the best way to not sound like that sleazy salesman in a polyester suit on the car lot.

Classical or Charismatic Copy?

Classical

The classical approach to in direct-response copywriting relies on delivering the benefits of the product and service to your prospect. It’s straight-forward benefits, testimonials, and interesting tidbits of information and facts. All with a story sprinkled in. It might even include some features.

Charismatic

Charismatic copy features the salesman who gets you to buy his product because he actually just talks you into it and you are charmed. You feel a sense of intimacy with him, he was kind, and his personality was likable. It’s always good to take the charismatic way in marketing.

Most of the time, it is wise for a newbie copywriter to use the second person, the YOU when writing copy. It makes it more personal to your prospect. You want to sound honest and sincere. If you aren’t, it will show through. You can instantly read or hear an ad that is not sincere.

Everyone has a natural voice they talk in. Pretend you’re talking to your prospect. What would you say? If you’d meet her in the local cafe and started chatting, what WOULD you say?

“Excuse me, ma’am, I have this great product that will take those wrinkles off your face in about 30 minutes. Care to try it?” Well, of course not! You might get slapped or served with a harassment suit! You don’t want that.

Instead, you strike up a conversation, maybe comment on her hair, shoes, whatever. Then you start talking- you know- girl talk. And pretty soon you can start asking questions. Questions like: “So what’s your biggest worry about aging?” “How do you take care of your skin?” etc.

Now you’re getting somewhere!

She’s not offended, she won’t slap you, she won’t be calling the cops.

You’re in.

No matter how you started the conversation (in copywriting, the lead) you can now get to the product, mention it and tell your own experience of using it, leaving your skin soft and supple, your friends oohing and aahing about your glowing skin. She looks at you and says: “Well, that is the first thing I noticed about you- your skin.” And there we go. Done. No hard-core selling needed, no harassment suit, no pain.

Painless, actually.

That’s how you guarantee that personal connection. Pretend your prospect is your friend you’re sitting across from at the local coffee shop. And just talk.

Thousand Words in One

Including a photo of any kind is the simplest way to give more credibility to your copy. Even just one will do. It is amazing how many people forgo this simple tactic to prove your prospect that you (or your client you’re writing for) is a real person. If you check out a website and see a photo of a real-life person, you are more likely to stay and read on.

What the photo looks like also matters, so you don’t just go to stockphotos.com and choose any old image. Make it relevant to your prospect, make it someone he can trust, make the image of someone he will like. Heck, ask your friend (the one you “spoke” with in the coffee shop) if she’d mind being in the promo.

Share the Pain

How else to figure out what your prospect wants and needs?

Put yourself in her shoes.

As the age-old saying goes: “you don’t know my troubles until you’ve walked a mile in my shoes.” (You must’ve figured that was coming.) So —”walk” in your prospect’s shoes, think of what he would want, what does he need, how can he be helped by your product or service. Be “him.” If you have a hard time with this, talk to a friend who is like your prospect. Ask him what his wants and needs are.

Just like the personal connection bit and the photo your prospect will like, you need to make a revelation of some kind for her to start trusting you. Share a personal story, share your life, share a piece of you that resonates with your prospect.

For self-improvement products and services, this usually includes sharing that horrific, vulnerable self-realization story of losing the extra weight, tackling obstacles, renewing positivity. The story needs to resonate with your prospect so they are continually nodding and saying yes, if he can do it, so can I. You’ve already caught your prospect’s attention with the headline and now you want to prove to her that you were once in her shoes and that she will make it. Share the pain.

A couple of examples: writing about a program to garner self-confidence on becoming a freelancer. You can tell your prospect you failed high school English and now you are a writer.

Weight loss: you used to be so overweight, you had to make your own clothes because no store had clothes big enough for you.

We All Want to Belong

Including your prospect into a special group is a sure-way tactic to get her to sign up for whatever you’re offering.

A closed Facebook group, for example, or just including her in the group of people she associates herself with. In writing, what better way to tell the world you’re a writer than belonging to a Professional Writing Group. If you give your prospect that, she will join. (I did. Professional Writers’ Alliance. Member since 2016.)

How about when you join National Geographic and subscribe to their magazine. You’re not just a subscriber, you’re part of an elite group of “scientific and educational” ambassadors to the world and at the same time you’re saving the planet. Yes. I want in.

Establish intimacy by including your prospect in the group he always wanted to belong to. Like someone who’s never been good at investing. They would love to belong to the group of people who “have it all figured out.” And he will continue to subscribe, buy every product you offer, and be part of your tribe because he wants to belong.

The Golden Rule

But remember, you must be sincere with your prospect. If you don’t fundamentally care for his well-being, then you will lose him. And that’s a guarantee. In this case, trust is earned. You must build trust.

Put yourself in your prospects situation. What would you do? What questions do you have? How would you like to be treated? The golden rule comes into play here.

“As a sophisticated individual, YOU want to feel as if your intellect is being matched up with the product.” That is why he will buy — not necessarily because he needs the product. Show your prospect the advantage he is getting in obtaining your product.

I’ll leave you with a quote that sums it up:

“The golden rule for every business man is this: ‘Put yourself in your customer’s place.’ “- Orison Swett Marden
©2017 Taru Nieminen