- questions and objections
- Responding is inconvenient.
- use of premiums
- urgency-building
Potholes – questions and objections.
Unanswered questions and unresolved
concerns sabotage sales letters! By
carefully countering every possible
question and objection, you put the
ultimate sales presentation on paper.
Third, they can “box in” the
customer to turn the objection-answering
process into a sure sale. There is, for
example, a selling tactic known as
“draining the objections,” in which
salespeople list the objections on a pad
before answering any. They keep asking
“Anything else?” until the customer runs
dry of objections. Then they ask, “If we
can take care of all these concerns to
your satisfaction — and I’m not sure that
we can — but if we can, you will then
want to go ahead with the XYZ tonight,
right?” When the customer says “yes” to
that, he or she is boxed in. There’s no
way I’ve found to duplicate that process
in print.
Our sales letter does not have the
luxury of responding to only the
objections each recipient thinks of. The
letter has to respond to every possible
objection. Our letter does not get any
feedback making it clear when “enough
is enough,” so it must do more than
enough.
While I avoid overestimating a
customer’s intelligence, I try never to
underestimate skepticism!
If they are going to think of
anything, they are going to think of all the
reasons not to buy.
the answers to most
objections or questions should include
most, and, in most instances, all of these
items:
1. A direct answer
2. A verifying testimonial comment, case
history, or story
3. A restatement of or reference to the
guarantee/free trial offer
But quite
probably, the biggest group of
nonrespondents are those who get the
letter, look at the letter, read the letter,
and intend to respond to the letter — but
set it aside to do “later.” All too often,
“later” never happens.
Responding is
sometimes inconvenient. Usually, your
letter’s recipient is busy and
preoccupied with other matters. There is
tremendous temptation to stop at a
“conditional yes” — setting the letter
aside with the intention of responding
“tomorrow.”
Your letter’s job is to get the reader to
respond right now.
It is rare for the basic offer to be
strong enough in and of itself to inspire
immediate response from a satisfactory
number of people. Because of this, I am
a strong advocate of the use of
premiums, and usually prefer a premium
over a discount or rebate.
he usual urgency-building techniques —
like an ordering deadline — no longer
worked on those people. They became
immune to those offers.
1. I knew and trusted the company
(Vegas World).
2. I liked the product (the Vegas World
package).
3. I believed the urgency-building story
(only 1,000 Hawaiian vacations
available).
4. I found the premium exciting and
desirable.
Duplicate those four factors in a sales
letter, and you’ll have a winner, too.
Discounts for Fast Response,
Penalties For Slow Response
could be applied
to advance-order offers tied to new,
soon-to-be-released products; any kind
of event tickets or passes; subscriptions
or subscription renewals; and other
offers.
