Three Ways To Start A Conversation And Finish With A Sale

Ditch your elevator pitch. Zap your infomercial. And whatever you do, keep your carefully worded, painstakingly developed, positioning statement to yourself.

They may make you sound clever, but your elevator pitch, infomercial or positioning statement don’t exactly make for good conversations. Which is a shame, because last I checked, even a sales conversation is just that &ndash a conversation.

So what can you say to a prospect sitting across the boardroom table, or someone you meet at a networking event or the beach bum in the next chaise longue? How can you start a conversation in a totally natural, familiar way that doesn’t sound like a sales pitch to the other person, doesn’t feel like a sales pitch to you, and yet increases your chance of getting your next referral or making your next sale?

Unfortunately, there’s no such thing as a magical phrase or headline that will make the other person want to buy your product or services &ndash it just doesn’t exist.

What does exist, however, is an approach that will elicit interest from the other person so that he or she will want to engage you in a conversation. As a copywriter, I have adapted several copywriting styles and approaches for use in verbal conversations.

Here are three of my favorites.

#1 The Provocative Question

Chances are, you’ve seen this technique on websites, flyers and direct mail. It’s Copywriting for Direct Marketers 101, and it works just as powerfully in verbal conversations. In fact, it works so well that I’m surprised people don’t use it more often!

The best way to come up with a Provocative Question is to ask yourself the following:

“What question can I ask, such that the response from the other person allows me to say, ‘That’s what I do…’?”

The best Provocative Question pinpoints a problem or a symptom of a problem that the other person has. However, don’t get trapped into thinking that the problem has to be a big, generic problem that the category as a whole solves. It can be a small but nagging problem, or even a one that people have when they deal with your competitors.

Many people have a hard time coming up with Provocative Questions because, ironically, the most compelling ones are also the simplest and most obvious. Another thing that people have trouble with is answering a question with a question — when someone asks us a question, we’re wired to answer. What I am suggesting here is that you use that wiring to your advantage.

Here’s an example. When someone asks me what I do, I often answer back with a Provocative Question like this:

“Well let me ask you a question. When you go to a networking event or when you have to introduce yourself in public, how confident are you with the way you describe your business?

Almost every time, the person acknowledges that he or she doesn’t feel confident with the way they describe their business. In that moment, I have engaged the other person’s interest by presenting what I do in a way that’s personally meaningful to him or her. Then, what generally ensues is a conversation about the sales and marketing challenges they have and how I can help.

If, on the other hand, the person responds by saying that they‘re totally confident with the way they describe their business, that’s cool too. I have two choices; I can either move on to another provocative question, (such as, ‘That’s great, do you get the response you want or would you like more people to ask for your business card, even in social situations?’), or I can talk about how being confident about the way you describe your business shows you have exceptional clarity the true value you offer to your clients — and how that’s the absolute most fundamental plank of your sales and marketing.

It’s all good — it’s all about having a conversation around an issue that’s both A) important to the other person, and B) related to a core challenge that you help your best clients solve.

#2 The Level-Setting Statement

If you’re a financial advisor, consultant, or in any other crowded profession where your prospects are very familiar with — perhaps even jaded about — the kind of work you do, this one’s for you.

The ‘level-setting statement’ is a universal statement that gets the other person nodding in agreement and then, WHAMMO! your point of difference hits them like a ton of bricks!

Here’s why it’s such a powerful technique. You can only be different in comparison to something else. That’s what the level-setting statement does &ndash it establishes what that something else is.

Here’s just one example from an event planner I worked with:

“There are five specific areas of expertise that are absolutely critical in major event planning. (Pause &ndash and wait to see if the other person wants to know what they are.) While there are a lot of excellent event planners who can do a good job in one or two of them, it’s extremely unlikely that any one event planner would be an expert in all of them. Because I’ve been in the business for 15 years — on both the corporate as well as on the vendor side — I’ve developed a detailed planning process around each and every one. That’s what enables me to track and manage the myriad of details to guarantee a successful event.”

By stating the level-setting statement up front, you educate the other person about the industry you operate in, and establish a frame of reference that gives meaning to the differentiation you want to communicate.

You can use this approach to challenge an underlying assumption that people have about the industry, to illustrate a small but significant problem that generally annoys customers when dealing with your competitors, or anything else that allows you to highlight your solution.

Take a look at your own point of difference. Can you come up with a level-setting statement that will help you stand out even more?

#3 Address The Stereotype Head-on

You know how as soon as people discover you’re a _________________(insert your title here), they immediately form an impression about you that’s based on a stereotype?

Unfortunately, that stereotype is often negative.

For professions such as life insurance agents or used car salespeople, where the negative stereotypes run strong and deep, I recommend you address the stereotype head-on:

“If I tell you I’m a used car salesman, you’d probably think ‘plaid jacket guy who sells lemons to unsuspecting customers’, right?”

Pausing here is important here, because you want to give the listener time to move the image of the stereotype from the unconscious part of their brain to the conscious part. They might even want to chime in and give you their negative experience about dealing with ‘people like you’.

Perfect &ndash now their guard is down. Now you can continue on to explain how your business, service or approach ‘fixes’ the problem that everyone else in your industry has created.

That’s your most compelling differentiator!

Stop selling! And start having real conversations!

Simple as it may seem, everything truly does start with a conversation. You’re not trying to tell your entire story, nor are you even trying to get the most important points out of your mouth first. All you want to accomplish is elicit interest from the other person; to have that person say, ‘tell me more’.

So don’t think of these as sales techniques &ndash think of them as conversation starters.

The rest is up to you. If you are genuinely interested in helping the person you’re chatting with, chances are better than excellent you’ll finish with a referral or a sale.

Now go out and have some conversations!

The Most Powerful Word In Marketing

It isn’t “free”.

It isn’t “you”.

It isn’t anything you might imagine.

So what the heck is the most powerful word in marketing?

Because what I’m about to reveal to you is so important, I want to ask you to do something a bit out of the ordinary to set the stage. Whether you’re sitting or

standing, lift your right foot off the ground about two inches and hold it there for a count of three.

Did you do this? If not, I really want you to take a few seconds to do it now, because it will hammer home the importance of what I’m about to tell you.

So go ahead. Lift your foot up about two inches, then hold it for a count of 1-2-3.

The power of a single word to drive people to action

If you went ahead and did my little exercise, you’ve just experienced the profound effect of the most powerful word in marketing.

So now do you know what that word is?

It’s embedded in both the requests I made of you to lift your foot and do my goofy little exercise. That word is - drum roll please…

Because

Studies have proven that no word has more power to motivate people to take action than “because”. Simply adding this word to a request, to a statement, to a call to action, the number of people who respond go up exponentially.

Hey, it got you to lift your foot up for a three count, didn’t it?

Why the word “because” is so effective

In the classic book “Influence - The Psychology of Persuasion”, Dr. Robert Cialdini talks about the power of certain words that tap into preprogrammed behaviors we all have. He demonstrates this form of human automatic action in a study conducted by Ellen Langer,

a Harvard social psychologist.

Langer asked a favor of people standing in line waiting to make copies on a Xerox machine at a library. Her first request to cut the line was stated using the word, “because”:

“Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the Xerox machine

because I’m in a rush.”

The results? 94% of the people she asked let her jump ahead of them!

Now, compare this to the second request she made, without “because” embedded in it:

“Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the Xerox machine?”

Using this version of the request, results plummeted to just 60%.

To prove the powerful ability of the word “because” to trigger an automatic response, Langer’s final test used just the word without a specific reason:

“Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the Xerox machine

because I have to make some copies?”

This almost non-sensical version produced nearly identical results to the first “because” statement. A whopping 93% of people complied and let Langer jump ahead of them.

“Because” is a simple word with a powerful ability to trigger an automatic response in most people.

How to start using “because” to your advantage

There are dozens of ways to start taking advantage of this powerful trigger word in your copy. Here are just two examples.

(1) Use “because” in your headline.

Because your life may depend on it, you owe it

to yourself to find out how a common garden herb

can reduce your chance of heart attack by 47%

(2) Use “because” in a call to take action.

Instead of, “Hurry, seating is limited to just 60 people. Don’t risk missing out. Enroll in this all-day event now”.

Use, “Because seating is limited to just 60 people, don’t risk missing out. Enroll in this all-day event now”.

But don’t just stop there. Because this knowledge can be so effective for improving the selling power of all your copy, spend some time brainstorming other ways you can put it to use today!

Boost Your Bottom Line with a Power-Packed Headline

There’s an old saying… curiosity killed the cat. Let’s face the facts; cats aren’t the only creatures that get sucked into whirlpool of curiosity. Everyday we find ourselves bombarded with moments of curiosity. The best example… headlines!

Headlines either suck us into their vacuum or repel us instantly. How many times have you picked up the newspaper and found yourself scanning the pages because a headline caught your attention?

Marketing experts know that headlines are just as powerful in their direct mail campaigns as they are on the front page of the newspaper. The difference? …attention getting headlines on your postcard or flyer make money!

What does it take to create powerful headlines?

3 Foolproof Secrets for Creating Power-Packed Headlines

1. Telegraph the Offer

This might be a little tricky to pull off, but the secret is to present your offer in a way that screams, “Read Me!” without giving away the guts of the offer. You should focus on one feature of your product or service and come up with a snappy statement that raises the reader’s eyebrows.

A company that sells bread makers may use a headline like this…

“Never Buy Another Loaf of Bread!”

2. Emphasize the best Aspect of the Offer

What is the most attractive feature of your product or service… price, time-saving, quality, uniqueness? You can use this aspect to come up with a unique headline that wows the reader into investigating further.

A cleaning service may use a headline like this…

“What Could you Do With 520 Extra Hours This Year?”

3. Target the Reader

If feels great when your unique niche is recognized. Know who you’re talking to before you write the headline. When your reader feels like you know who they are, they’ll be more likely to read on.

Do you have a mailing list of working women? Use the words they will identify with… career or working woman…. in your headlines.

Use any one of these techniques to increase your profits, or incorporate all three to skyrocket your next direct mail campaign! … not to mention saving big bucks by not having to hire a copywriter.

Study Proves That Headline Length Can Impact Profitability!

Recently, I monitored an interesting discussion in one of the forums about the length of headlines on sales pages. Some of the posters were in favor of longer headlines because they communicated more information and had a better chance of catching the interest of the prospect. Other posters claimed that some headlines were so long that they were confusing. Some even claimed that they would take away your breath if you attempted to read them aloud. One poster thought that very long headlines often appeared to be a run-on sentence… even if it technically wasn’t.

I decided it was time to do a study. I wanted to compare headlines on profitable sales pages to headlines on unprofitable ones. I wanted to find out if there really was a difference in the length of their headlines.

To perform that study, I first had to prepare a list of profitable sites and another list of unprofitable sites. I actually already had both due to another study I had recently performed. However, many of the unprofitable sites had disappeared from the Internet. I wasn’t surprised. Why stick around if you can’t make a profit; right?

I had to settle for comparing the headlines of profitable sales pages to the average sales page. I used my list of profitable sites and counted the words and characters in each headline. I skipped any site without a headline. I then looked at sites with ads running on the major search engine for the same product or service. I randomly picked one and also counted the words and characters in it’s headline for the control or average group.

The results were surprising. The average sales page has a headline of only 10 words comprising 55 characters. The profitable sales pages had and average of 14 words and 82 characters in their headlines.

We can conclude that profitable sales pages use longer headlines than the average sales page. That isn’t so surprising.

The other finding was much more surprising. With only a handful of exceptions in thousands of data points, a length longer than 150 characters was very rare. Can we conclude that extremely long headlines aren’t profitable? No; there are other possibilities. However, we can conclude that it is exceptionally rare for profitable sales pages to use headlines longer than 150 characters. In fact, 90% of the data points fell within 131 characters.

That is my new recommendation. I intend to only use headlines that are at least 80 characters long and no longer than 131 characters and I advise the same to my clients.

This places me right in the middle of the correlation group for profitable headlines. Your headline is an important factor to consider when you are optimizing sales. I hope you consider following suit. If so, let me know if this study has improved your results. I look forward to hearing from you.