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Hi
, Alan here:
It's
been over two months since I last
email you all, sorry, work is crazy,
desk is overflowing, but... I am
babysitting my mother (she's
totally eccentric believe me)
this morning so here are a couple of
tips for you while she's in the
garden having a smoke.
Ever
spoke with someone and hadn’t had
a clue as to what they were rambling
on about?
I
recently got sent a sales letter to
review. It was to be sent to a large
organization as a lead generator.
I
sat down at my PC with a cup of tea,
opened the document in word and
started to read ready to review it.
I then read a few times to get the
flavour of it and a sense of the
message. I try to think about the
potential prospects reaction when
opening the sales letter. How far
would they read before another part
of a tree goes into the trash? Would
they read the lot?
I
read it again. And again. After the
47th time I gave up. I
truly didn’t have a clue what the
letter was about. Would their
target? I emailed the company asked
them what it meant. I didn’t
understand the answers in the reply.
I rang them and asked more direct
questions. The guy at the other end
of the phone told me to try and do
something similar to the letter they
had sent me as that’s how
the directors like it to sound. What!
Well…
the problem here is I know and
understand words and more importantly
what a prospect will respond to. I
know what it takes to make a
potential prospect pick up the phone
and say “count me in” yet, here
was a multi zillion $ company asking
me to write to one of their
potential big prospects in
virtual-hieroglyphics just to keep
the directors happy. Never... not
me, I turned down the £4,000 deal.
Here’s
the funny bit… they have NEVER got
any response to their lead generating
sales copy. What a surprise. I would
post the letter on my site but legal
eagles would chase me forever.
Anyway.
The
Key to copy that gets read:
Look,
you should write to a customer as
you speak to them. If you can say
it, they wont understand it…
right?
Here’s
an example for you:
You
go to a first time meeting with a
new client. YOU though are the
new client. YOU talk the talk,
all the usual bluff and notes. You
ask, listen, listen and do a bit
more listening. Hang on
something’s happening. You can’t
see it. You might not be aware of it
but your brain is working overtime,
breaking down all the info and you
are about to make a decision.
You
get back to the office and meet the
guys. They ask you: How did it go,
what did you think? Was he all
right?
You
spend the first ten minutes talking
about the guy you met. Next you talk
about the product and the deal.
The
point? The point is you buy
the person first… product second.
You have been analyzing everything
you have talked about… THE
WORDS… you both
shared and exchanged. Words give a
lot away about a person and a
company. People have made multi
million $ deals on the right words.
Others have lost the same because of
the wrong words.
A
few tips:
- Write
it down.
- Read
it out load.
- Chop
out or add some more.
- Read
again.
- Chop
or add.
- Read
again.
- Give
to your husband or wife to read
and ask them to explain to you
what its about.
- Remove
any words that are hard to
understand.
- Read
out loud.
- Get
someone else to read out loud.
- After
the final read ask your self
this… does the letter sound as
though its someone talking g to
me from the heart or does it
sound like a sales pitch or
someone trying hard to be
clever.
Write
you letters at 8th grade
level, no higher.
I
REALLY DON’T CARE… if you
don’t say it right, talk the talk,
be natural, show some personality,
build some warmth, create a picture
of “someone great to deal with”
forget it, your prospect wont buy
it.
It
really isn’t what you say… its
how you say it. Write it as you *say
it * and watch response rates
skyrocket, believe me… it works.
Ok,
hope this helps you. If you need a
strong copywriter that knows what
they are doing you know where I am.
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