How To Get Your Sales Copy Read
Writing effective sales copy is difficult, time-consuming and financially rewarding once you master it. We have not mastered it at Select Metrix. Earlier I posted on the effectiveness of using “P.S.” in your voicemails and written correspondence. Now MarketingProfs.com offers Want Better Sales Copy? Take a Tip From Zig Ziglar. There are many tips in this article, but I want to focus on one tip about what not to do:
Want to set your sales copy and your business apart from the overwhelming majority of organizations you’re competing against? Here’s a simple but powerful strategy you can start implementing today. Specify exactly what you mean when you use such words and phrases as quality, quality products and services, customer-service-oriented, we put the customer first, value, etc.
Because these words and phrases€”in and of themselves€”are meaningless. Yes, they sound good. Yes, they look good on your stationery and in your email and on your Web site. But the sales impact of using them, without defining and detailing what you mean, is virtually nil.
If your sales copy is laden with “quality, service and price,” you are sacrificing your copy for the common language of indistinguishable products or services. Prospects assume a certain level to enter the market place - a level that includes good quality, reliable service and a reasonable price. Notice I wrote “assume” - it doesn’t mean these assumptions are based in reality. There are plenty of companies that don’t meet this level. But the prospect initially assumes this level.
If the assumption is already made, writing sales copy that simply restates the assumption without defining it is pointless. The better approach is to follow the author’s advice and put some metrics to your claim.
I would go further and recommend not focusing on those 3 topics. I am rarely swayed by those topics. Instead, I am drawn to companies that state their value proposition and define it in customer terms (how this value would affect me if I chose their solution).
P.S. This approach works in voicemail messages too.
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Posted By Derrick Moe | Communication, Marketing, Sales Techniques | |
You touched a nerve with this thought - I could not agree more with the need to distinguish and define rather than use buzz words. I’ve shared your post with my company’s management team and several of my marketing colleagues because I agree so strongly.
Our particular peccadillo is the word “solutions,” which I admit I introduced to help us move from a manufacturing mentality (and sales approach) to one of offering broader services. “Our company doesn’t manufacture retail store fixtures,” I crowed, “we provide solutions for our clients’ retailing needs.”
After analyzing our competitions’ ads (every single one has the word solutions in it somewhere)and applying the “so what?” test to our position, I now tell prospects - “We make great store fixtures.”
It seems to resonate a lot better than, “We provide distinctive solutions.”
Eric - thanks for the comment. I used to work with a rather crotchety guy who would state you can mention price, speed and quality, but you can only get 2 of them together. I laughed at him but I’m now starting to think maybe he was right.