Archive for August, 2009
August 31st, 2009 | 
Author: Dissolving Buyer Scepticisim … A Lesson In Copywriting
When making a purchasing decision people have their “rip off radars” on high beam. They’re wary and so they should be after all they’re about to spend money so they want to be sure they’re not going to get ripped off AND they want to be sure they’re going to get the absolute best return on their advertising dollar.
Anyone can claim something generates great results. And they often do.
Here are some ways to dissolve scepticism and prove your claims:
1. Testimonials
You can never underestimate the power of testimonials. Testimonials will add enormous power to your copy. Because a ‘real’ third person is backing you up your claims have much more credibility. The best testimonials to use are ones that tell about specific results a client has achieved. eg.
“Our turnover has more than DOUBLED in the last financial year during a recession and much of that has been due to your great service.”
“I lost 16 kgs in just 6 weeks and it was so easy”
2. Test results
Prove to your prospects that your product or service really works by including any test results that prove that or position you above your competitors. Make sure that they are independent tests so they are seen as being reliable. Statistics can also work wonders in backing up your claims.
3. Money back guarantee
When prospects are deciding between companies and between products there is always a conscious or subconscious fear in the back of their minds… a fear that they are going to be ripped off or the product isn’t going to live up to its promises. After all your prospect is about to hand over money so he/she wants to make sure it is money well spent.
There are many ways (including the ones mentioned in previous sections) to prove to your customers the reliability and quality of your service or product but none of them compare to offering a guarantee.
If you offer a powerful money back guarantee you are showing your prospect that you are willing to stand behind your product. You are willing to put your money where your mouth is. You are willing to risk a refund because you believe in the product so much.
You’ve probably seen some businesses using a half hearted approach at offering guarantees. These simply don’t work. eg. Personal service guaranteed. A guarantee is useless unless you offer a refund or replacement as a result of not living up to that guarantee. You need to state these terms in your guarantee.
4. Case studies
Give an example of a before and after situation relating to one of your clients. This helps build credibility and it also helps your reader picture themselves owning the product.
5. Comparison chart
If the features and benefits of your product are proven to be better than that of your competitors use a comparison chart which illustrates this.
Your sales arsenal
So you’re about to meet with a prospective client to sell them your products or services. You’re fairly clear on what to say to them to excite them about doing business with you but unless you’re in a position to ensure that they sign up on the spot or if there are the minute they leave your premises.
If your prospective client needs to go back and think about your proposition and/or if there’s another decision maker involved it’s very important that you leave them with something that will ensure they stay excited about using your services. Not only that it’s also important that the information they take away helps handle any objections they may have.
* Professional looking corporate profile which gives details of your company history your products and services and most importantly the benefits of doing business with you. The more professional this document looks the more professional your company will look in the eyes of your prospect.
* What clients say … a list of testimonials with punchy headlines (the more the better)
* Imagine getting results like these a sharp list of results you’ve achieved for clients (a paragraph or two on each one)
* Client Success Stories This is a more comprehensive case study document which gives a before and after picture.
* Quality colour copies of any press coverage you have received
* Frequently asked questions document which addresses the most common objections or fears felt by prospects.
About the writer:
Kris Mills of Words that Sell is a seasoned copywriting professional and author of “How to Create a Sales Explosion With Every Ad and Letter You Write”. More information on this popular guide can be found at http://www.synergie.com.au/explosion.htm or check out more of Kris’ many copywriting articles at www.advicegalore.com.
Kriswordsthatsell.com.au
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Discuss Your Accomplishments During The Interview
When preparing for your interview you need to be ready to discuss your accomplishments. Surprisingly many people are reluctant to talk about their accomplishments. But this is exactly what the interviewer wants to hear from you.
Discussing your accomplishments separates you from the rest of the people applying for the job. It helps you stand out and show that you are more qualified than the others. Remember the whole point of an interview is to sell yourself to the interviewer. He or she needs to know that you are the right person for the position.
Below are some of the subjects you need to be ready to discuss during the interview. Think of what accomplishments you made in each of these subjects. For the last subject which is about the company you want to work for make sure you do your research on the company before the interview. If the interviewer asks you what do you know about their company and you dont know what industry their in their mission statement who their customers are then the interviewer will probably determine that you arent the right person to represent their company. Here are the subjects:
Work History
- Where did you work?
- How long did you work there?
- How much did you make at your current or previous job?
- What position(s) did you hold there?
Skills
- What skills do you have?
- What skills do you plan on learning?
- How have those skills helped you in your previous positions?
Personal Characteristics
- What are your career short term and long term goals?
- What are your strengths and weaknesses?
- What are you looking for in a company if employed there?
The Company Where You Want To Be Hired
- What is the companys mission statement?
- What is their product or service?
- What are the requirements for the job?
- Does the company offer opportunities for advancement?
If you want the job you have to sell yourself. The interviewer wants to hear about your accomplishments because it helps them determine whether you are the perfect person for the job or not.
About the writer:
Michelle Roebuck provides job interview tips and resume writing advice on her website http://www.jobinterviewandresumetips.com
Sign up for her free newsletter at http://www.jobinterviewandresumetips.com/newsletter.html
Discovery Procedures For Building Effective Management Systems
Part One in a Five Part Series
Imagine what a professional football team would be like without a regimen of practice drills? Now take away their playbook and player statistics. What you have in this extreme scenario are highly talented (and perhaps overpaid) individuals participating in organized chaos. They might actually win a game or two but in the long run this team is doomed.
Management Policy
I offer this illustration to drive home the point of why any organization needs to examine the existence and effectiveness of its management systems. If there are weaknesses or holes in your documented procedures (playbook) or benchmark measurements (stats) then you will want to take corrective action.
Process Phases
It is my experience that when a company attempts to establish its management systems for the first time it takes longer than expected involves more people than planned and grows in complexity.
To control this trend I advocate dividing the process into five (5) distinct phases each with clear objectives:
- Discovery
- Planning
- Development
- Implementation
- Rediscovery
In this series we will take a look at each phase. So this week lets take a look at the Discovery phase.
Discovery Procedures
Think of this phase as all the things the coaching staff does up to and including the first preseason team meeting. It is where the overall missions and goals are set with clear effectiveness criteria established. Certainly the team may set it sights on the championship but what about the kicking team or linemen? Each part of your organization must have meaningful and measurable performance criteria mapped out in this phase.
Management Objectives
Establishing objectives and criteria requires close scrutiny by management of what really contributes to the overall company mission. Departmental goals must be aligned with company goals. To illustrate with our football analogy: running backs may propose a goal of 5000 total yards rushing in a season. This may or may not be beneficial to the team goal whereas an aligned goal might be to achieve an average of 5 yards per run. The latter may be more appropriate for a highly passoriented offense.
System Action Plan
In your discovery phase once your objectives and effectiveness criteria are agreed upon you can create your action plan. This step is simply the broad roadmap covering the remaining 4 phases of building your management system.
The Discovery Phase generally takes from 24 weeks and represents approximately 12 of the total process.
Planning Procedures Phase
In part two of this series we will take a look at one of the most critical and also most overlooked phase in building your quality management system the Planning Phase.
You have permission to publish this article free of charge as long as the resource box is included with the article. If you do run my article a courtesy reply to seanbizmanualz.com would be greatly appreciated. This article is 531 words long including the resource box. Thanks for your interest.
About the writer:
Chris Anderson is currently the managing director of Bizmanualz Inc. and coauthor of policies and procedures manuals producing the layout process design and implementation to increase performance.
To learn how to increase your business performance visit: http://www.bizmanualz.com/?src=ART42