Strong Risk Reversal Closes More Sales
whatUseek Weekly Contents
1) Article: Using A Strong Risk Reversal Closes More Sales
2) Contest: Enter To Win - Your Ad In 3 Issues ($119 Value!)
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4) Article: How To Write A Good Ad
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1) USING A STRONG RISK REVERSAL CLOSES MORE SALES
By Archie R. Lawhorne
When you minimize risk in purchasing decisions a lot more people are willing to say "yes". Once they sample your product or service, if it performs as you say, most customers will keep that product and continue buying again and again.
Here is a little story to illustrate my point.
A farmer wanted to buy a hunting dog for his son. There were two for sale in a nearby town. The first seller told the farmer he was asking $300 for his bloodhound, non-negotiable.
The second seller told the farmer about his bloodhound, long before he mentioned a price or asked for a commitment. He said the puppy was from a long line of champion bloodhounds, well-known in the area for their tracking skills. And he brought out the puppy's mother and father and explained that they were like members of the family; very loyal and constant companions for the last six years. The seller wanted to make sure the puppy went to a loving owner who would give it attention and put to use the dog's great hunting abilities. The man went on to tell the farmer that he wanted the farmer's son to try out the puppy for a month before he had to make any decision. He offered to provide an extra kennel and a month's worth of food for the puppy. Finally, he said, at the end of 30 days, he would drive out to the farmer's house and either take back the puppy, or ask then to be paid.
Which puppy do you suppose the farmer decided to purchase for his son? Obviously there was no question. And there will be no question for you if you apply strong risk reversal into every sales offer you make. What exactly do I mean by a strong risk reversal? I'm referring to an iron-clad guarantee that eliminates all, or most of all of the customer risk in the transaction.
The clearer, stronger and more detailed the guarantee, the more credibility and impact it will have on a buyer. Consider how much more powerful it is if instead of saying, "your satisfaction is guaranteed," you say, "we unconditionally guarantee performance for a full 30 days." That's better, wouldn't you agree? But, what if you went a step further and said, "No questions asked, 100% money-back guarantee anytime within 60 days if my product doesn't perform exactly as promised." That's even better. But you could go still further by saying, "No questions asked, 100% money-back guarantee. If you don't experience noticeable and measurable improvements in your speaking abilities, a wider vocabulary, and bolder voice delivery, if you don't get the results we promised within 90 days of using our system, we'll gladly give you a complete and immediate refund of your full purchase price, no questions asked; that's our guarantee to you."
Notice the difference a strong and specific risk-reversed performance guarantee can make? When you apply risk reversal this way, your sales almost always skyrockets, and stays that way. You make more sales, sell larger purchase units and sell more frequently when people don't worry about making the wrong or bad buying decision.
When you incorporate risk reversal, you essentially eliminate your prospect's fear that they will make a bad, incorrect or damaging purchasing decision. That's an extremely powerful, persuasive point to make. It moves anyone who's indecisive or mildly interested and turns them into highly favorable prospects. If people are trying to decide between you and one or more of your competitors, it tips the level of the playing field significantly to your advantage.
Just adding risk reversal and a purchase strong guarantee to your sales offer makes a powerful difference.
There are a variety of approaches to the risk reversal strategy.
* A software vendor guarantees its product will reduce manufacturing costs by at least 10%.
* A copywriter offers his services for free if his direct mail package pulls less than a 5% response.
* A commercial water filter distributor offers to buy back any filtering units not sold in the first 3 months.
* An interior decorator agrees (in writing) not to be paid until her customers are completely satisfied with the work she's done.
If you don't employ some form of risk reversal, start doing it right away. If your current guarantee is short and vague, enhance your copy with more specifics and more attractive
terms.
If your product or service is high quality and meets performance expectations, the longer the guarantee and the more specific the performance promise you make, the more people will buy. It's that simple.
Typically a 60-day guarantee will out pull 30 days by 20 to 100%. Test it yourself and see what results you get. The more specific you get in describing what "satisfaction" means, the more compelled they become to act in order to experience that benefit for themselves.
If you're concerned that employing a strong risk reversal will cost you in product returns and lower profits, don't be. Typically, unless your product or service is flawed or just plain inferior in terms of meeting customer expectations, the number of people exercising a refund guarantee is negligible. But the increase in people taking you up on the initial sales offer is anything but negligible.
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About the author:
Archie R. Lawhorne, APR, is an accredited public relations professional, marketing writer and president of Crosspoint Publishing Company in Zimmerman, Minnesota. For more information on Archie's current business venture, visit his web site at:
http://www.sixfigureincome.com/free/?73917.32 or e-mail to: arl@sixfigureincome.com.
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4) HOW TO WRITE A GOOD AD
By John McLain
Virtually all good ads are deceptively simple in appearance. Often the copy is short, the words are short, the sentences are choppy, and are seldom complex. The pros know that it is never easy to write simply, clearly and with enough interest, information or entertainment to rivet the reader.
Add to this the fact that the ad also must sell. You'll be happy to know that there is no mystery involved in this process. There are rules and guidelines. Fundamentals that anyone can learn. While you may never get good enough at it to write for J. Walter Thompson or BBD&O, you will be able to craft a good ad that generates response. That's the bottom line.
How to Move the Reader. Every ad, sales letter, direct-marketing flier and radio or TV commercial is structured along an age-old advertising formula designed to motivate the person exposed to your ad.
The acronym for this formula is AIDA. It stands for Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action. In just that order.
ATTENTION. Any ad must first seize the reader's attention. It is typically achieved by writing an eye-catching, captivating Headline, followed by a brief Lead Paragraph (one of 25 words or less). Think of the strongest benefit your product has to offer - and use it in your headline. Spend time perfecting your headline. Offer some benefit or make a promise in your headline, otherwise you'll lose 80 or 90 percent of readers right there.
Expand upon the headline in the first sentence of your copy. This copy must appeal to the reader's interest. It must be direct, and convey clear information. A common misconception is that headlines and leads must be witty, clever, offbeat or hilarious. What often happens is that the funny, clever parts of such ads are remembered, while the product is quickly forgotten. Some of the best-selling ads ever written have, in a matter-of-fact way, simply stated the features and benefits of the product.
With your own service or product, you need to discover your own Unique Selling Proposition (USP). What is it about your service that sets it apart from your competition? How, in words, can you position your product so that readers of your ad will come to you and not the guy across the street? One of the classic USP's, as well as a good example of selling the "sizzle," was the slogan developed for an oil company: "Put a Tiger in Your Tank." Gasoline is pretty much gasoline, but this company positioned itself uniquely. Who else could promise to put a tiger in our tank?
Think hard about your own product's "USP." The ways in which we usually set ourselves apart from the competition involve: quality, speed, efficiency, competitive pricing, specials, discounts, personalized service, friendliness, fairness, honesty, satisfaction or your money back.
To generate ideas for your own USP, consider the ways other well-known products or services have been positioned: "Get a Piece of the Rock," "The Friendly Pepper-Upper," "Quality is Job One," "The Un-Cola" and so on.
Again, your own copy setting forth your USP need not be necessarily as scintillating as those above. A simple, "Bud's Bookkeeping Service - Fast, Professional, Affordable," does the job just as well.
A cardinal rule in any ad you write is that it be clear and quickly understood. Use short words, short sentences. Make each sentence carry only one thought or subject. Avoid complex or compound sentences that contain clauses. The rapidly skimming mind does not register complex sentences as well as it does the simple, declarative sentence.
INTEREST. Consider for a moment that the end result of every small- or home-based business is to provide the solution to someone's problem. Regardless of what your business is, this remains true. Even if you're selling snow cones or pony rides, you are still resolving your customer's problem (in this case, the desire for pleasure or enjoyment).
Appeal to your reader's interest by emphasizing exactly how you can solve her problem, or help him achieve the results he desires. For example, if you're running a small nursery from your backyard, you're not merely selling flowers or plants. You're selling the less apparent, intangibles - plants and flowers that are hardy, low-maintenance, worry-free. Plants that provide ideal ground cover. Flowers that are prolific, inexpensive, and will enhance the beauty of your home. Right along with that hardy, low-maintenance spiffy plant, you are selling trust and peace of mind. Always remember that customers aren't so interested in the product as in what the product promises to do for them. Know thy customer's hot button - and push it.
DESIRE. The core part of any successful ad appeals strongly in some way to the true needs that psychologists say are shared by everyhuman on the planet. The needs or desires are concerned with survival, the need for love, our comfort, our sense of being important, and personal gratification or enjoyment.
Ads that appeal to our survival often have to do with issues of security (home-alarm systems), health (vitamins, exercise equipment), safety (air bags, car seats for children), and financial concerns (IRAs, mutual funds, banks and savings & loans).
Ads dealing with love have long fueled multi-billion-dollar industries in cosmetics, plastic surgery, dating services, charm schools, romance novels and deodorant manufacture. Everything that walks, talks, lives and breathes needs to feel attractive and loved.
The need for comfort is something we all share. People desire to be well fed, to be warm and dry, to enjoy their leisure in a stress-free, relaxed manner. If your services or products - from home-knit sweaters, hot-oil massages and built-in sprinklers to selling funky pillows or donkey-tours of the Grand Canyon - touch on comfort, be sure to sell comfort in your ads. Because people need comfort. Let them know you've got it.
Perhaps your small business provides decorative nail care, or seminars in computer skills, or even classes in weight-loss or self improvement. Ads for these businesses will address our common needs to fulfill our egos, to become more powerful, more successful, more respected. To feel more important and thus self confident.
Ads appealing to our need for enjoyment capitalize on all five of our senses - seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting and touching. Everything from Grandma's fresh-baked oatmeal-raisin cookies to rock climbing and sky diving courses are sold through our senses - usually with alluring photographs showing the goodies or the action that we all identify with.
ACTION. This is the critical wind-up where you ask the customer to buy. Order today! Buy Now! Call for Free Information. Get One Today and Save 30 percent! Don't be shy or embarrassed to ask for the customer's order. The failure to exercise a "call to action" in your ad is common to the rookie salesman and anyone else who doesn't understand how to "close" the deal. Your ad must ask the customer to take steps to seize your opportunity. Be sure to include phone, fax, e-mail or mailing address to make it easy for your prospect to take advantage of your offer.
Whatever it is you're selling, your service or product will always contain two things: features and benefits. Many sales have been lost by people who don't understand the difference between these two.
The ad that blathers on exclusively about all of the handy, innovative features of your product (power steering, sixteen stereo equalizer buttons) without demonstrating benefits will not be fulfilling the customer's key question: What's in it for me? Mention of features must be linked to the ways each will provide a benefit: ease of use, comfort, enjoyment, easy to afford, durable, guaranteed.
Remember that benefits are the sizzle, and that's what you're selling. Nobody ever leaped out of his seat in response to an ad that read "Get Rich Slow."
When you sit down to write an ad for your small or home-based business, it's wise to begin by making a list of the features of what you're selling. Next to each feature, list one or more benefits to the customer. This exercise will make the actual writing of your ad much easier. You'll stay focused on the benefits that stimulate people to buy.
Next, decide what your ad is to accomplish. By that, I mean that ads can have different purposes. Typically, your ads will be designed to get new business or to generate leads by inviting customers to call or send for free information. Other ads are simply image-builders, they reinforce the fact that your products are good quality and competitively priced and that you're a solid person to do business with. Then there are ads that offer your services directly - by mail order or by direct mail. Decide on the aim of your ad before you begin to write.
To recap: Make sure your headline conveys a promise or benefit. Expand on the headline in your lead paragraph by telling the reader something he doesn't know - that will benefit him. Subsequent paragraphs will discuss competitive advantages, features and other benefits. Don't forget to note discounts, freebies or guarantees as they apply. At the end of your copy, ask for the reader's business. Call now. Order today. Make it easy for your reader to find you, with phone, fax, e-mail or mailing address.
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About the author:
John McLain, McLain Communications
Author of "How to Promote Your Home Business"
http://www.avsweb.com/jbm/
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______________________________________
The whatUseek Weekly Ad Rates:
Run your classified ad in one issue of The whatUseek Weekly Ezine. If you are on a limited budget and need a quick boost in sales, this is the right package for you!
1 issue - US $ 44.00
3 issues - US $ 119.00
6 issues - US $ 220.00
TOP SPONSOR POSITION
1 issue - US $ 303.00
SECOND SPONSOR POSITION
1 issue - US $ 220.00
VISIT NOW: http://weekly.whatuseek.com/buyad.shtml today to reserve a space for your classified ad today! Direct questions to
buyad@whatuseek.com.
______________________________________
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If you have an informative article that you would like to share, please email your article to editor@whatuseek.com . If we use your article, you will get great exposure and a link to your site.
Have a great week!
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