It’s the start of a New Year, so that means it’s time to make some meaningful New Year’s Resolutions. You know, the kind that will make more money for your clients and yourself. It’s time to take a new look at what exactly you are selling for your clients. It’s also when you look at who really are your customers and prospects.
You need to take a good look at exactly what you are offering and to whom you are making that offer. Have you looked at your product lately? Really, really, looked at it? Who does it appeal to? Why? What benefits do they get from it? What benefits do they get if they are buying it for someone else?
What’s so special about it? What do they get from making the purchase? Do they look good? Do they appear smarter for buying it? Classier? Cooler?
Will they get that elusive pat on the back from their boss? Will their wife or kids think it’s hot, or will they think your buyer is a chump for having made the purchase? What proof or support have you given him or her for choosing your product? Is it real? Is it relevant?
How expensive is it? What makes it so special? If it’s pricey, what makes it worth the extra bucks? Is it shinier? Better made? In what way? Is it easy to see why it’s better? Is there a demand for the product or do you have to create it? Why? Have you really made your case? Or, what is it that will really do the job?
A key resolution to follow is to speak to your prospect. Describe your product or service in ways that they will understand. There are two important things to remember; one, people think in pictures and two, people make buying decisions for emotional reasons only. That means that everything that goes into finalizing a sale happens in the head of the prospect.
Your words and your facts mean nothing unless you get into their heads. If you don’t make an appeal that truly reaches your prospect emotionally, your results will fall flat. Look at it this way: it explains why the best product isn’t necessarily the one that sells.
You still need to support the buying decision with enough logic to justify the purchase. We justify purchases to ourselves as well. Just listen to someone who has just paid $42,000 for a 4,000-pound vehicle, which will be used to run to the corner store to buy milk. Unless they’re exceptionally honest with themselves and others, they won’t say anything about the milk; they’ll talk about “off road capabilities,” “roominess” and the usual nonsense about power and performance.
Therefore, when they cast about for logical reasons why they bought that product, you need to be there. You must have reasons they can use that won’t embarrass them. Your job is to provide the reasons a buyer needs to justify their own decision to buy. If it’s that SUV, talk to them about going off-road and the excitement they will feel. Talk about capacity and versatility.
You want to get them to see themselves using the product or benefiting from it. Do this well and you will have people buying the items you are describing. They need to see themselves basking in the admiration of their friends and neighbors or enjoying the actual benefits they will get from using the product you have described.
Why does anyone listen to your arguments? What makes them buy from the copy that you are writing? It’s the connection that you make. Be real and treat them as a real people if you want to connect with them. Involve them in what you are selling but don’t make the mistake of “selling” to them or lying to them. Make your conversation about the benefits and the excitement they will get from using the product. And don’t talk money until you have them sold. It also helps if you have a much higher priced item for comparison.
When you have finished your letter or mailing package, let it rest for a few days before you re-read it. By then you should be able to read it, as your customer will, with a bit more critical eye. Lastly, don’t forget that your mailing will also be met with a certain degree of mistrust. Your letter or mailer has to overcome that distrust and get them involved if you expect to win them over.
Happy New Year!
Albert Saxon is president of Saxon Marketing, Springfield, MA
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