Direct response marketer, and living legend, Joe Sugarman recently address a small group of elite Internet marketers and I was lucky enough to be in the room.
Just in case you don't know who Joe Sugarman is, let me remind you of the BluBlocker Sunglasses fame. He took a product someone was going to give up on and took it to Marketing Hall of Fame mega monster hit. First infomercials, then on to the home shopping networks and eventually world wide markets.
His topic was How to Put Your Prospect in the Mood To Buy. And as it turns out his presentation was live example of how it work. At the end of presentation everybody in the room bought something from Joe and I have three of his books to prove it.
To think that I could even come close to capturing the physiological selling journey Joe took us through that day would be folly on my part. There simply is no way -- plain and simple, you had to be there. So if you ever get a chance to hear him speak do whatever it takes to get there... and don't forget your wallet.
Here are my notes from the meeting:
Selling Trigger #1: Objection Raising and Objection Resolution
When a consumer looks at a product, there's always skeptisim or some point about the product that isn’t quite settled in his/her mind.
Maybe it needs installation or they aren't sure if it will fit in their pocket. If you sense an objection, you MUST raise that objection in your copy. Then you have to overcome the objection and explain why it isn't that significant.
Joe did this in his classic ad about the 'ugly' thermostat. In fact, he beat up the product so badly before he ever started to sell it, people kept reading the copy just to find out why he hated the thing so much. It sold like crazy.
Selling Trigger #2: Storytelling
Another powerful selling trigger is storytelling. Everybody loves a good story. It's a great way to get into a product.
Here's how Joe opened his long copy ad for BluBlocker Sunglasses.
"I am about to tell you a true story, if you believe me, you will be well rewarded. If you don't believe me, I'll make it worth your while to change your mind..."That story launched a company that, 20 million pairs of sunglasses later, is still going strong!
Selling Trigger #3: Honesty
The strongest selling trigger is honesty. If you are honest in all that you do and you express that honesty, customers will trust you.
How do you do this in an ad? It's simple, share a flaw. Tell them a few bad things about the product. It sounds crazy, but admitting a few flaws will actually increase your sales.
Selling Trigger #4: Satisfaction Conviction
Joe has doubled or tripled response by upping the satisfaction conviction. What is satisfaction conviction? It's more than a trial period. It's more than a 30-day guarantee. It's saying,
"Hey, buy these sunglasses and if you aren't happy a year from now, then send them back and we'll give you a new pair."Your guarantee has to be so strong that your reader thinks, "Boy if this product isn't good, these people are going to get ripped off."
Selling Trigger #5: Simplicity
One of the hardest triggers for marketers to remember is simplicity.
If you are selling a single product, don't offer different versions of that product. Don't give people too many options in a print ad, it creates confusion. Don't complicate the approach.
One of the big problems on the Internet is people offer too much. If you force your prospect to choose between A, B, and C, -- it makes your client pause in his buy process – he freezes up... and you've lost the sale.
All good tips and I can say I've used them all with success.
Joe Sugarman is one of the direct response marketing greats. Studying and modeling his success will help you in achieving your success.
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