Joseph Sugarman
A desire to buy something often involves a subconscious
decision. In fact, I claim that 95% of buying decisions are
indeed subconscious.
Knowing the subconscious reasons why people buy, and using
this information in a fair and constructive way, will
trigger greater sales response -- often far beyond what you
could imagine.
I recall a time when I applied one of these subconscious
devices by changing just one word of an ad, and response
doubled. I refer to these subconscious devices as
psychological "triggers." A psychological trigger is the
strongest motivational factor any salesperson or copywriter
can use to evoke a sale.
There are 30 triggers in all -- many of them are very
subtle, and many of them are the exact opposite of what you
would expect. I will reveal a few of them to you in a
moment. Each trigger, when deployed, has the power to
increase sales and response beyond what you would normally
expect.
There are triggers, for example, that will cause your
prospect to feel guilty if they don't purchase your product.
Let me give you an example. Whenever you receive in the
mail a sales solicitation with free personalized address
stickers, you often feel guilty if you use the stickers and
don't send something back -- often far in excess of the
value of the stickers. Fundraising companies use this
method a great deal. You receive 50 cents worth of stickers
and send back a $20 bill.
Another example are those surveys that are sent out asking
for you to spend about 20 minutes of your time filling them
out. Enclosed in the mailing you, might find a dollar bill
included to encourage you to feel guilty, and entice you to
fill out the survey. And you often spend a lot more than
one dollar of your time to do that.
Guilt is a strong motivator. I have to admit that I've used
guilt in many selling situations, in mail order ads and on
TV -- with great success, I might add.
I call one of the most powerful triggers a "satisfaction
conviction," which is a guarantee of satisfaction. But don't confuse this with the typical trial period you find in
mail order, i.e., "If you're not happy within 30 days, you
can return your purchase for a full refund." A satisfaction
conviction is different. Basically it takes the trial
period and adds something that makes it go well beyond the
trial period.
For example, if I were offering a subscription, instead of
saying, "If at anytime you're not happy with your
subscription, we'll refund your unused portion," and
instead said, "If at any time you're not happy with your
subscription, let us know and we'll refund your entire
subscription price -- even if you decide to cancel just
before the last issue."
Basically you're saying to your prospect that you are
absolutely certain that they'll like the subscription, that
you are willing to go beyond what is traditionally offered
with other subscriptions. This in fact gives the reader the
sense that the company really knows it has a winning
product and solidly stands behind the product and your
satisfaction.
Is this technique effective? You bet. In many tests, I've
doubled response -- sometimes by adding just one sentence
that conveys a good satisfaction conviction.
I received an e-mail from a company, a subsidiary of eBay,
requesting my advice. They had an e-mail solicitation that
wasn't drawing the response that they had expected. What
was wrong?
Looking over what they had created, I saw several mistakes,
many of which would have been avoided if they knew the
psychological triggers that cause people to buy. Let me
give you just one example.
In the subject line of most e-mails that have solicited me,
I have been able to tell, at a glance, that the
solicitation was for a specific service or an offer of
something that I was clearly able to determine. Examples
such as "Reduce your CD and DVD costs 50%," Or "Lose weight
quickly," pretty much told me what they were selling. Was
this good or bad?
The problem with those subject lines is that the reader was
able to quickly determine: 1) that it was an advertisement;
and 2) that it was for some specific product or service.
Most people don't like advertising. And most people won't
make the effort to open their e-mail solicitation if they
think they are getting an advertising message -- unless
they are sincerely interested in buying something that the
advertisement offers.
The subject line of an e-mail is similar to the headline of
a mail order ad, or the copy on an envelope, or the first
few minutes of an infomercial. You've got to grab somebody'
s attention and then get them to take the next step. In the
case of the envelope, you want them to open it. In the case
of an infomercial, you want them to keep watching, and in
the case of an e-mail, you want them open up the e-mail and
read your message.
The key, therefore, is to get a person to want to open your
message by putting something into the subject area of your
e-mail that does not appear to be an advertising message --
one that would compel them to take the next step. And the
best trigger to use for this is the trigger of curiosity.
There are a number of ways you can use curiosity to
literally force a person to take the next step. You can
then use this valuable tool to put a reader in the correct
frame of mind to buy what you have to offer.
Once again, all the psychological triggers apply to every
form of communication -- whether it be advertising,
marketing or personal selling. And to know these triggers
is the key to more effective communication, avoidance of
costly errors that waste time and money, and most
importantly -- extraordinary sales results.
********************************
Joe Sugarman, the best-selling author and top copywriter
who has achieved legendary fame in direct marketing, is
best known for his highly successful mail-order catalog
company, JS&A, and his hit product, BluBlocker Sunglasses.
Joe’s new breakthrough book, “Triggers,” reveals 30
powerful psychological triggers that influence people to
buy what you're selling.
Today's Motivational Reading
The first principle of success...
by Robert Collier
The first principle of success is desire -- knowing what
you want. Desire is the planting of your seed.
Very few persons, comparatively, know how to Desire with
sufficient intensity. They do not know what it is to feel
and manifest that intense, eager, longing, craving,
insistent, demanding, ravenous Desire which is akin to the
persistent, insistent, ardent, overwhelming desire of the
drowning man for a breath of air; of the shipwrecked or
desert-lost man for a drink of water; of the famished man
for bread and meat...
Note: Never heard of Robert Collier?
Robert Collier’s sales letters and marketing strategies are
so powerful and so hypnotic that they are probably
“plagiarized” more by the world’s top copywriters than
anything else.
He had the amazing writing ability to sell everyday
commodities such as books, raincoats, fertilizer machinery,
stocks, neckties, and tires, all by U.S. Mail. (He even
sold train by the carload!)
As a result, he literally dumped hundreds of millions of
dollars into his clients’ pockets...
To learn more, get his famous 15 Million Dollar Sales
Letters as the Today's Special Free Reading Bonus.
Subscribers' Corner
Choices And Attitudes
by Ken Darby
Jerry is the manager of a restaurant in America. He is
always in a good mood and always has something
positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was
doing, he would always reply, "If I were any better, I
would be twins!"
Many of the waiters at his restaurant quit their jobs
when he changed jobs, so they could follow him around
from restaurant to restaurant. The reason the waiters
followed Jerry was because of his attitude.
He was a natural motivator. If an employee was having
a bad day, Jerry was always there, telling the
employee how to look on the positive side of the
situation.
Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I
went up to Jerry and asked him, "I don't get it! No
one can be a positive person all of the time. How do
you do it?"
Jerry replied, "Each morning I wake up and say to
myself, I have two choices today. I can choose to be
in a good mood or I can choose to be in a bad mood. I
always choose to be in a good mood. Each time
something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or
I can choose to learn from it. I always choose to
learn from it. Everytime someone comes to me
complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining
or I can point out the positive side of life. I always
choose the positive side of life."
"But it's not always that easy," I protested.
"Yes, it is," Jerry said "Life is all about choices.
When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a
choice. You choose how you react to situations. You
choose how people will affect your mood. You choose to
be in a good mood or bad mood. It's your choice how
you live your life."
Several years later, I heard that Jerry accidentally
did something you are never supposed to do in the
restaurant business: left the back door of his
restaurant open one morning and was robbed by three
armed men.
While trying to open the safe, his hand, shaking from
nervousness slipped off the combination. The robbers
panicked and shot him.
Luckily, Jerry was found quickly and rushed to the
hospital. After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of
intensive care, Jerry was released from the hospital
with fragments of the bullets still in his body.
I saw Jerry about six months after the accident. When
I asked him how he was, he replied, "If I were any
better, I'd be twins.
Want to see my scars?" I declined to see his wounds,
but did ask him what had gone through his mind as the
robbery took place.
"The first thing that went through my mind was that I
should have locked the back door,"
Jerry replied. "Then, after they shot me, as I lay on
the floor, I remembered that I had two choices: I
could choose to live or choose to die. I chose to
live."
"Weren't you scared?" I asked. Jerry continued, "The
paramedics were great. They kept telling me. I was
going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the
Emergency Room and I saw the expressions on the faces
of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In
their eyes, I read 'He's a dead man.' I knew I needed to
take action."
"What did you do?" I asked. "Well, there was a big
nurse shouting questions at me," said Jerry. "She
asked if I was allergic to anything."
'Yes,' I replied. The doctors and nurses stopped
working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep
breath and yelled, 'Bullets!' Over their laughter, I
told them, 'I am choosing to live. Please operate on
me as if I am alive, not dead'."
Jerry lived thanks to the skill of his doctors, but
also because of his amazing attitude. I learned from
him that every day you have the choice to either enjoy
your life or to hate it.
The only thing that is truly yours that no one can
control or take from you is your attitude, so if you
can take care of that, everything else in life
becomes much easier.
***************************
Ken Darby writes articles, books and other material
helping people achieve their goals. An internet business
may not be for you, but then it might be! Go have a look.
I have laid out the steps and methods in a clear and
to the point series of short letters.
Send a blank email to:
professional@rr-email.com
To listen to a new Top Show, click the picture.
