subject: If You Want A Higher Response From Your Sales Copy, Then Take A lesson From A Hotel [print this page] If You Want A Higher Response From Your Sales Copy, Then Take A lesson From A Hotel
You probably have been told that your sales copy needs an attention grabbing headline to fight for your prospect's attention. Anything short of that, your sales copy will get pass your prospects.
But are headlines alone enough to give you the type of sales you desire?
Your headline is like a big flashy signboard right in front of your shop. It will attract people's attention but whether these people will come in, take to look at what you are selling and buy something from you, that's a different story.
I am not saying that your headlines are not important. They are important.
They are the "Hey mister, do you have a minute? I have something interesting to show you." call to prospects and where your prospect gets to meet your product.
But once your prospect steps into your shop, your salesman will have to work hard to continue to hold your prospect's interest and if he does a good job, you will end up with a happy customer.
Your sales copy is just like your salesman. But the problem is that there will be no eye contact with your prospects, there is no way you can tell if your prospect is starting to feel bored reading your sales copy and there is no way you can recourse your sales pitch when your prospect is having a bad mood.
So what can you do to make your prospect glued to your sales copy from the headline to the order page?
Tell your prospects what they want to hear.
People will spend money on the latest fashion, people will splurge on the latest IT gadgets and people will do all they can to stand up and be healthy again.
And do you know what this means?
It means that if your product can satisfy your prospect's hunger for staying ahead of others, moving away from pain and sickness, making them feel special or giving them hope and if you are not addressing them in your sales copy, then shame on you. Your sales copy is leaking money. And you are wondering why sales have been so bad.
But before you get me wrong, I am not saying that you should take advantage of and cheat people. No. Don't even think of that. We are all good and honest business people, right?
What I am saying is that if your product can really help your prospects to move away from pain, then shame on you if did not lay it out in your sales copy.
However, doing this is just the stepping stone for your sales copy. Your sales copy needs to have all the "departments" running and working at tip-top condition.
A similar analogy to your sales copy is like operating a hotel.
When you arrive at a hotel, the bell-boy welcomes you, handles your luggage and making sure that they are delivered to your room. The front desk clerk then gets you to your room in the shortest waiting time and without any hassle. Your room temperature is pre-checked in advance and set to the optimum range so that you will feel comfortable during your stay.
So far, things seem to be looking good.
The Service Attendant, In-Room Dining Captain, Telephone Sales Agent, Concierge, Housekeeper, etc continue to work hand in hand so that you, the customer, will be happy to spend your money at the hotel.
This shows one important point. Hotels never rely on one person to create the experience for their guests. Your sales copy should also work the same way.
Every part of your sales copy (every "faithful servant") should work hand in hand to lead your prospects from the headline through your copy and finally right down into the order page.
Who are the "faithful servants" in your sales copy?
Let us take a look at two of them right now.
(If you have an existing sales copy, go get it and take a look if your copy has these "faithful servants".)
1. Hire as many "Mr. You" in every department of your sales copy.
One common mistake which most sales copies make is to focus entirely on the product. Well you can't blame the companies for doing that. After all, that is the reason why they are paying for the sales copy, right?
This is not what you want to do. It is a problem when you spend too much time on your products and you neglect the most important thing which is...your market.
The "Mr. You" in sales copies is not the seller or service provider. It is your reader (the prospect) or your market.
Telling your prospects how good your product is; will cause him to immediately lose interest in what you are saying. But if you tell your prospects how they can make an extra $5000 per month, you will have their full attention.
It is not difficult to understand why because all of us are human and we are only concerned about one thing. And that is how issues will affect us. Whatever decision we make or things that we do, we only want it if it will benefit us. We are only concerned about ourselves.
It is all about me, myself and I.
They have no reasons to believe you. They do not see how your product will benefit them. They think their problems are bigger than your product.
In order for your prospects to accept your product and services, your prospects must believe that their decision of buying from you:
a) will simplify their lives,
b) will help them get rid of their worries,
c) will make them look good in front of people,
d) will improve their life,
e) will protect their family.
Show them their future when they are cuddling your product. It is always about them. The clearer you can do this; the better is your chance to convert them to become your customers.
2. Appoint Mr. Conversation as your main spokesperson.
Have you ever come across words that require you to put down what you were reading and look it up in the dictionary? And when you found it, you continue reading until you come across another foreign word and the steps repeats itself.
How many times will you repeat this chore? Three? Five? Seven times?
I am not sure about you but I find it annoying even if I have to do it even once! I believe you will agree with me, don't you? It is irritating.
Now you should never give your prospect any chance to think this: "If it is hard to read, it is probably hard to understand. I will read it another day."
And do you know when is the next time? Never.
What this actually means is that words such as contrivance, unpretentiously, inaugurate, reminiscence and beleaguement must be avoided at all cost as these will become a road hump in your sales copy. You do know what happens when there are too many road humps, right?
Unpleasant and annoying.
Sure. These big words will make your sales copy looks good. And it will make your company looks more professional. Correct. That is what we have been told.
But the truth is, if your prospects do not understand your sales copy, then you are probably taking a sure-lose-chance of converting your prospects. Unless you are writing a technical paper, that is a different story.
You see, a good sales copy will hold your prospect's attention from the moment they read the headline right down to the call-of-action. Every sentence, every paragraph is a must to read or else your prospects will feel incomplete.
How do you make your prospect stay glued to your sales copy?
Simple. You do it by having a great conversation with them. A conversation will always engage anyone. We never talk to our friends using technical words or big corporate language, do we?
Firstly, it will sound awkward. Secondly, life will be too formal and nothing beats a human to human conversation with friends, right?
So next time, if you want to get your point across to your prospects, think conversation and you could probably use:
