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Always Sell To New Eyes And New Ears
By Joe Cavell | June 2, 2008
Putting yourself in your prospect’s shoes can be a daunting task… but as an advertiser, you need to understand what motivates him or her buy. One way is to research how he or she reacts to your marketing and advertising efforts. To assume everyone will notice your unique collection of expensive ads and take immediate action is naïve thinking. Spending $14,000 or $140,000 for your ads will not necessarily guarantee a “winner.” People won’t notice your advertisements UNTIL they suddenly find themselves needing what you are selling.
The structure of your ad is vitally important, especially for first time audiences. Your target audience must be able to decipher your ad so they will TAKE ACTION. Don’t assume that the prospect already knows anything about what you’re selling.
Here’s an example to illustrate the point: To help lower the risk, Company A offers a free seminar preview DVD. They used to send the DVD out in a “plain vanilla” envelope and results were marginal. By the time the prospects listened to the DVD (two to four days later), about 35% had completely forgotten they had even requested it.
Their envelope didn’t communicate a powerful impression to the intended receiver. By the time they followed up with a phone call, 7 to 10 days after their initial request, 50% or more had not realized that they received the DVD, or worse, some didn’t even remember asking for it. The cold reality was their prospects’ ears were NOT conditioned to expect the message – they just didn’t care.
Company A’s process of answering incoming phone calls that were inquiring about their seminars has dramatically changed. Now instead of sending prospects to a non-personal voice mail system, they are re-directed to a live person. They tell their prospects to watch for a preview package in a couple of days. To ensure that their package is NOT overlooked – it is sent via priority mail in a 28″ long circular red, white and blue mailing tube that commands attention.
Their follow-up calls have been more effective— almost 100% of the people instantly remember who they are!
Do not assume that your prospects know anything about you or your industry. You need to build a case for your product or service, just like an attorney would. What kind of people are put on a jury? People who don’t know a thing about the case. If word gets out that one of the jurors has knowledge about the case, they are immediately dismissed. The attorneys want fresh eyes. And you’ve got to sell to fresh eyes too!
Have You Ever Made A Money-Losing Mistake Involving Assumption?
The pool table industry was selling a particular brand of coin-operated pool tables to “operators” who would place them in restaurants, bars and bowling alleys. Because most of these operators were family-owned businesses that had been around forever, the industry assumed these establishments knew everything about the tables. It seemed like a fair assumption; however, it was a FALSE assumption.
In order for these operators to MAKE MORE MONEY – promoting certain qualities and features of these pool tables deemed inevitable. So, the owner of this particular brand of pool table quickly produced some crappy ads that were coldly received. These operators had heard this same old fluff before ‘our tables make your customers the most money. This worn out sales pitch wasn’t working anymore.
But, by integrating some risk-lowering strategies, these ads generated hundreds of responses and requests for additional information. The overwhelming response helped a money-losing enterprise blossom into a powerful $7 million dollar profit house—in 10 months!
Remember to develop your advertising under the assumption that your prospect doesn’t know anything about your product or business and you will have a far better chance of success.
Additional sales and marketing tips can be found at http://www.SuccessTips4U.com
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