Some of the best rules are also the simplest.
Like this one – you can’t create desire, you can only channel it. You don’t know how often I’ve met business owners a bit too in love with their products. They were trying to convince others why they need the product when there is not a need for it. I don’t think I need to mention – it doesn’t work this way.
Top copywriters know this. They know that if a person doesn’t show a preference for a particular desire, then it is not a good prospect. That idea with “selling ice to eskimos”, forget it. People buy what they think they need, even if that “need” is a Porsche 911 or a $2000 TV on credit.
However, let me make this a bit more specific. I’ve said a preference for a particular desire. I haven’t said a product. We all have a set of desires. Among them are the desire to be loved, the desire for sex, the desire for respect, for variety and adventure and so on. Some are more intense than others in individuals. Also, they tend to oscillate. A few weeks ago my desire for adventure was 9 / 10. Now my desire for safety is 10 / 10.
Your products met these desires. It is like a desire is a “pain” and your product is the “painkiller”. Right now, I’m trying to quit smoking. There is a strong desire to smoke. If I smoke, then it will met my desire, making it a perfect purchase.
Several classes of products can met a single desire. For example, when it comes to sex appeal it can be anything from a shirt to cosmetic surgery. When it comes to adventure it can be anything from a game console to hunting in Africa.
And here it gets complicated again. Different folks based on their background, genetics and environment have different preferences for how to satisfy that desire. A “daredevil” will respond positively to a safari invitation but may not see the value in playing a video game. Even if both solve the need, people have different preferences on solving those needs. On the other hand, a teen may prefer listening to music than going out on a date, and in theory both offer similar payoffs – emotional stimulation.
The key to writing great copy is to narrow it down to who is this product for and target it through your advertising. I don’t know if you’ve noticed but Mercedes targets a different demographic compared to Porsche. Hilton aims to serve other people compared to Holiday Inn.
Let’s take a simple example. You’re trying to sell me a vacation package and you’re also trying to send to a female friend of mine which is more or less opposite to me.
In order to buy I would need to know that the travel will be fast. I don’t want to visit churches since I’m an atheist and you would make a huge disconnect there if you would try to pitch me otherwise. I would like a location that is quiet and inspiring. I don’t want to be in a party town since I’m not really feeling comfortable. However, I would enjoy being on a beach and carrying a discussion about philosophy with a beautiful girl and in the evening, talking about life with my future mentor while playing chess. These traits would feel my need for significance, companionship, mental stimulation and fit my introverted nature.
Now let’s take this female friend with whom I’ve had the pleasure of spending a holiday. The trip would not be that important. It can be by plane, boat, road, she would have fun anyway and make 50 friends by the time she reached the destination. There, she wants as many clubs as possible, to try new foods, shopping and places to have fun. The hotel room is not that relevant as long as it is clean and cozy.
Do you see the difference? There are many people like me (introverts with over-cognition biases) and many people like her (extroverts with over-kinesthetic biases). If you would try to sell her package to me, maybe you would make 1 in 1000 sales and in reverse. But if you would sell my type of package to a demographic like me, you would sell all of them in minutes – the same to her.
Yet, very few marketers understand this. For me, a night out means being in a quiet place in a 1:1 or maybe 3 – 4 people in a conversation. More than this overwhelms me as I need to focus and I can’t disconnect with ease. For many other people is loud music and more people than it should be legal in a room.
And the rule here is simple. If you remember only this from the entire article, then it is enough.
“As long as I have the available resources or I can get them, the closer you provide me with a mechanism to stimulate my need, to fulfill it that is congruent with my vision, the higher the conversion rate”.
And the further away you are from what I know I need (not what I really need but my perception of this), the lower the conversion.
I guess if there would be an unified theory to human persuasion, this would be. In the moment you feel the need and you can get it fulfilled (and believe me, when we have the chance, we borrow, steal, whatever it takes to fulfill it), you act. As simple as that.
In marketing, you do not try to change people. I repeat this. You do not try to change a person. You leverage existing needs and thoughts.
How are these thoughts created? How are these biases and preferences? Nature and nurture but that’s beside the point. You’re not going to change decades of programming, 24 hours a day through a marketing campaign. You can just be congruent with that programming.
That’s about it. Hope you find this useful.
Take care,
Razvan
From the desk of Razvan Rogoz
Dear friend,
I don’t know about you, but here in Europe there is a major factor that impacts how people behave, and therefore can be used in sales copy.
This is what other people will think of them. Europe is a lot more social and conformist in nature (at least parts of it, France would be the opposite) compared to the United States. Here “what other people think of me” ranks high on the list of emotional needs.
This drove me to the fact that too few people use this in a sales material. Yes, they use appeals like “get a good deal” or “sleep better at night” but way too few people focus on this primordial need to get accepted, to be liked and not to be judged.
So here’s a piece of advice: in every sales copy you write, focus on the social aspect too. Show how they risk nothing and they gain a lot, socially, by investing in this product and there is no risk of shame or “loss of face” in the process. It is a small tweak but for most people, caring what other people think is just up there close to sex and eating.
For your success,
Razvan Rogoz
From the desk of Razvan Rogoz
Dear friend,
Persuasion.
This simple word will make some people feel sick in their stomach. It has a bad connotation. A really bad one. When you think of persuasion and it’s logical extension – a persuader, you think of someone evil. That salesman who is simply not leaving you alone. Wall Street brokers and so on.
But persuasion is a part of life. Virtually everything we do is persuasion.
I have a book next to my bed. It’s called “To sell is human” by Daniel Pink. And this book made me realize something. Like it or not, to succeed in life, you are in the persuasion game.
If you have children, you have to persuade them to clean their room. If you have a significant other, to be politically correct, you need to persuade that person to act in your best interest. If you are an entrepreneur, you need to persuade your employees to work hard, your investors to put in the money, your banker to give you a loan and of course … your clients to buy from me.
The thing is that … persuasion is like the air we breathe. We can’t live without it and a world without persuasion is a utopia. We are human beings. Imperfect by nature. We do not want to do what others tell us to do even if it’s in our best interest.
If we would be rational and goal oriented, like a computer, we would all be rich, good looking and happy. But we are not. We are our biggest enemy. And this is where persuasion comes in (uh, I love this word).
First we need to persuade ourselves to be our best. This means doing something productive instead of going on the path of least resistance. Second, we need to persuade those around us to act in our best interest. Without persuasion, there would be no love, no romance, no happiness, nothing. Then we need to earn our living, no matter if this means selling stocks by the phone or selling our ideas to someone else.
It’s our primary skill for surviving in this world. And it’s a skill that should be taught in elementary school next to math and English. The thing now is that persuasion is also dark and evil in nature, like everything else. It can be used for good or for bad. For happiness or for sorrow.
But that’s a choice, a choice you get to make.
Because the truth is that everything in this life is a double edged sword. Absolutely everything. And if we were to use only what is good, whatever good may mean, we would starve to death really fast.
So what’s my call to action?
Develop your persuasion skills. You can survive without cooking, without math, without even reading. But you can’t survive without persuasion. And even if you decide to go “Walden” style on everyone and spend your next two years in a cabin in the woods, you would still need to persuade yourself. And guess what?
You are the hardest sell anyone can make.
From the desk of Razvan Rogoz
Dear friend,
Needless to say, even if this book is 74 years old, the principles found inside of its pages are timeless. Proof of this fact can be found in the 860 review on Amazon.com with an average rating of 4.6 out of 5 stars.
It is in top 5000 on Amazon.com, with a rank of 2107. While most advice is common sense, you don’t need the newest research to be successful in life. Most of the time, simple actions like smiling or showing empathy can get you the business deal, seduce someone or simply turn your life into a more positive scenario.
This book is a rather easy lecture. So the best way to comprehend it is to buy the audio-book. I have listened it on my BlackBerry 9300 3G in about 4 days while eating, working out or just between my main tasks.
It can be bought for only $7.49 on Audible and played on most devices (It’s in a M4A format. This is a format usually used by Apple on the iPad, iPhone, iPod, iTunes) and this $7.49 investment will translate into thousands or even millions of dollars in your lifetime (if you use the principles properly).
Here is the purchase link: http://www.audible.com/pd/ref=sr_1_2?asin=B002V5BV96&qid=1313149545&sr=1-2 (this is a non affiliate link).
How Dale Carnegie’s Book “How To Win Friends And Influence People” Applies To My Own Life
I considered myself an empathetic being for most of my life. However, when you get in business, you may fall in a dangerous trap – acting like a businessman. Using words like “synergy” or “win-win situation”. You start acting in a role and you forget one critical aspect – businesses are made out of people. People are made out of desires and fears.
A Fortune 500 CEO is not that different from you and me. So you must remember that you are still human and not fall into the “business-like” attitude.
In Dale Carnegie’s book, you will learn first of all, how to sell. And the most important advice in selling is “listen more, talk less”. Almost half of the book is about this principle alone. Listen to the other person, show empathy, talk about what he’s interested and stop trying to appear bigger than the other person, because your partner will try to do about the same thing.
There are also some principles taught in copywriting. One of them is not to go against people’s beliefs. Instead, start with the initial belief and move him towards a new one with facts, logic and emotion. It doesn’t matter if he’s wrong or right. It’s a good advice not to go against his initial belief.
Another good tip from the book is trying to see things from the other’s person perspective. Show that you understand him, show empathy, talk about his interests and life, show that “you give a damn” and then make your request. People are usually interested in only one topic – themselves. They are interested in their problems or accomplishments. They are interested in their hobbies or goals. They don’t really care about your POV unless it’s somehow related to theirs.
Is this a good thing or a bad thing? I don’t know. I share the same traits. But after reading this book, I can say that I know more about selling that Jordan Belfort taught in his Straight Line Persuasion sales classes*.
Where could you apply the principles taught by Dale Carnegie? Maybe create a tighter bond with your loved ones? Make your employees work harder? Get that account that’s eluding you?
You know best. And if you want, please share it with me in the comment box below. I’d love to exchange ideas and start a discussion.
And if you don’t have Dale’s book, here’s the purchase link again. For $7.49, it’s a steal:
http://www.audible.com/pd/ref=sr_1_2?asin=B002V5BV96&qid=1313149545&sr=1-2
To your financial and personal success,
Razvan
* I am a big fan of Jordan Belfort. I have read his book “The Wolf Of Wallstreet” and I am aware of his sales system called Straight Line Persuasion. While SLP is a very good (and expensive system), you are better off learning the basics first. It’s the tip of the spear, and now I know why I haven’t received so much value from a $2000 course – I didn’t had the basics down.
More about Jordan Belfort and his SLP can be found on his website at: http://www.jordanbelfort.com/.