You’re driving to the grocery story. The radio is on. A commercial blares loudly, “Hurry in. We’ve only got three of these great deals left. Don’t delay. You don’t want to miss our great sale.” How does it make you feel?
As you continue down the road, you see a billboard that says, “Real men go to <jewelry store>,” and then another, “Don’t finish last.” What do you think when you read this brand messaging?
In reality, we are being sold to all the time, via email, via telephone, on social media, when we listen to the radio or read a road sign. Even when you go to the grocery store, there’s a secret (very cool) science at work that’s designed to influence our purchases.
As a business owner, you might start to realize how you, too, need to use sales psychology in order to gain new clients. Even in an industry where we serve others, we still have to be mindful of how we’ll attract the right buyers into our world.
Take a closer look at good sales versus bad sales.
Bad sales messaging is impersonal. It uses scare tactics & challenges our egos so that, should we choose to buy, we regret our decisions. Spending the money makes us feel taken advantage of and frustrated that we caved – especially when we hear the same commercial a week later advertising only three left…again.
Great sales messaging educates our buyers and asks them to make a choice to work with us. Once the sale is made, these buyers feel good about their purchase. They are happy & excited because they got what they think they wanted.
Several years ago, sales tactics were based on challenging the psychology of the buyer. As the internet gave rise to review sites, sales people could no longer, basically, get away with offering sub-par services. This meant that businesses had to rely more heavily on relationships.
Impersonal brand messaging turns off your buyers.
People buy from people they know, like and trust. It’s a sentiment you’ll hear me express again and again. Our brand messaging has to speak directly to the people we want to buy from us.
When you challenge a buyer with sayings like, Buy now or For a limited time, you have to follow through on this promise. If you only have three left, you should only have three left (and not be getting a new shipment in two days!). If the sale is only until Tuesday, there shouldn’t be another similar sale starting on Wednesday.
Our authenticity is one half of our sales messages. When you write sales copy, make sure you provide real limitations on your offers, not imaginary constraints. This reputation will follow you. Your audience, then, will recognize when you only have one sale a year & be more likely to act during those times.
Buying personas can help you speak perfectly to a niche
Buying personas started in the car buying industry. Play a little game next time you take a road trip & see if you can spot who is driving what kind of car. For example, the Toyota Prius is marketed to middle-aged women, typically upper middle class based on the price point of the vehicle.
On the other hand, the Chevy Cruz was specifically designed for college kids and young adults. Check out the standard features like an iPod jack & killer stereo system.
Car companies invest thousands of dollars to gain a deep understanding of each buyer they want to target. They give these buyers a name and treat them like they are actual customers. This lets them target their niche perfectly.
You need to create a similar buying persona for your business. It’s important to understand:
- What drives your ideal clients’ buying decision?
- How do you need to price services for this buyer?
- What features would make their lives easier?
- Where do they hang out & how do you target them?
When we write to values, it’s not sales.
Once we use our research to effectively answer the above questions, we can begin building out how we can effectively sell to this niche of buyers.
Now, let’s assume you are selling high-end coaching services to executive women. After you’ve done a bit of research on your specific niche (perhaps women in IT?), think about the lifestyles of those women.
They are going to have a set of values that looks like:
- Highly educated with advanced degrees
- Use corporate speak i.e. circle back with me, etc.
- Have high expectations & be over achievers
- Be limited with their time & work long hours
- Value organized, concise communications
- Male-dominated office cultures
Good sales copy will reflect all of these specifics. It should be short (they don’t have time to read long sales pages.) It should be carefully spell checked and buying buttons should work seamlessly.
When your brand lines up with the values of your buyer, it isn’t sales-y. Ever. It’s sales-y when your buyer feels … get ready … sold to. When you push someone to buy something that they don’t want, or need, they’ll be turned off by your messaging.
A quick breakdown of how to rock your sales copywriting
Practice with the concept of writing to a buyer’s values until it feels natural to you. And use this quick formula:
- Develop a buying persona via research
- Write out their values, needs & desires
- Use these values to craft sales copy
- Make sure the copy practices good sales
- Promote your offers in the right places
If you get stuck, remember that we offer copywriting packages and business coaching. Don’t hesitate to let eMarketing Copywriter help you launch your next big campaign. We’re here to mentor you & see to it that you succeed in all your personal endeavors.