Too many sales talks and advertising messages stop short of the optimum.
They sell procedures when they should be selling results.
“This is what you should do” in no way initiates the excitement and anticipation that “This is what you’ll get” generates. Having to do something suggests the worst of all four-letter words in commerce: w-o-r-k.
In practice, then, if your message is “Save $200!” you’ve created an imperative. Fine. Imperatives certainly are more powerful and more vigorous than the same message weakened into what we might call a sideline comment – “You’ll save $200.” But it’s incomplete. So we tack on a component our target-individual swallows whole: the result – “That $200 stays in your pocket.”
Selling results both enhances and rescues. Some of the danger words we often can’t avoid, such as earn, learn or read – each of which can suggest w-o-r-k – are cleansed of that danger when we quickly add the result of earning or learning or reading, especially if the result strongly implies benefit.
Or we can avoid the circumstance altogether. Instead of saying or writing, “Read what other users say,” which suggests work, we can create a bypass with “Look at what other users say.” Looking is easy; reading isn’t so easy. Instead of saying or writing, “Learn how to knock strokes off your golf score,” which suggests work, we can create a bypass with “Discover how to knock strokes off your golf score.” Discovering is easy; learning isn’t so easy.
Too often, one-to-one salesmanship becomes tentative. The most common manifestation of the “Tentativitis Syndrome” is a lapse into the conditional when enablement is available as a sales argument. (Don’t be alarmed. This concept is easy.) Positive statements or questions give way to “What if…” statements or questions.
POSITIVE QUESTIONS Do you wonder if it’s possible to create a positive question? Wonder no more. We often see semi-salesworthy questions such as “How would you like to charge your next tank of gas to Universal Oil?”… “How would you like to spend a weekend at Jamaica’s most posh resort?”…”Wouldn’t you enjoy speaking French in France?” The same openings, with the turbo-effect of enablement: “How would you like to be able to charge your next tank of gas to Universal Oil?” “How would you like to be able to spend a weekend at Jamaica’s most posh resort?” “Wouldn’t you enjoy being able to speak French in France?”
The obvious benefit of adding to be able: Whatever we’re selling provides enablement. But careful, now. If what we sell provides enablement, implicitly we suggest prior lack of enablement. Choose targets carefully, because your implication of inability, improperly couched or improperly aimed, can infuriate your target-reader.
What if you drop “How” and reword: “Would you like to be able to charge your next tank of gas to Universal Oil?” “Would you like to be able to spend a weekend at Jamaica’s most posh resort?” “Would you enjoy being able to speak French in France?”
Salesmanship disappears. The question is milder and weaker, lacking leadership, because replacing “How would” with “Would” drains out the sales psychology. We no longer have a sales argument; instead, we have an unimproved question to which our target easily can answer, “No.”
How about “Why not…?” as a replacement for “How would…?” or “Would…?” Nah. Even though it’s a question, “Why not [do this]?” is weaker than “Why you should [do this].” “Why not” is the weakest of questions, a mild suggestion with little imperative connotation.
Another tip about the use of imperatives: The degree of imperative can increase as the text of a communication to those who aren’t captive readers or listeners progresses.
This point can be helpful in structuring a phone call or a sales letter to prospects who don’t know you. As an opener, “I think you’ll be interested in this news” is less abrasive than “You’ll be interested in this news” or “You should be interested in this news.”
(Obviously, to captive readers or listeners, such as members of an organization, co-religionists or those who acknowledge a common cause, “You should be interested in this news” is a more effective opener, because the communicator establishes his/her own position through an authoritarian statement.)
Then, after presenting a seemingly logical proposition, an imperative is in order: “I [think] [hope] I’ve proved to you: You should be interested in this news.”
How easy it is to emphasize the decision-making position of the recipient! All that’s involved is telling the prospect the decision is his/hers. You can do it without relinquishing command. Instead of “…if you pay annually instead of quarterly,” you’d say or write “…if you decide to pay annually instead of quarterly.”
The benefit to you? You’ve automatically moved toward that marvelous relationship, rapport, instead of maintaining an arm’s-length distance. In one-to-one marketing, an arm around the shoulder is worth two arms holding a gun.
Are these subtle points, possibly too subtle to be worthy of exploration? Well, that depends on your own background. If you’re a genuine, factory-equipped communicator, an authoritarian who regularly and unabashedly uses the imperative, these not only aren’t subtle points; they’re obvious points. If you usually avoid head-to-head salesmanship, then yes, they’re subtle points. Apply them as a litmus test of your own dynamism.
Network
