PersuasionTheory.com

Testing Your Marketing: When Is As Important As What

Fox — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 16:49:32 +0000

I was talking with a client about a current mailing they were running. They told me that letter B was converting at a better rates than letter C. When I asked how they ran the test I was baffled at the response. I thought this was common knowledge. Ultimately, it became a lesson in market testing factors.

When you test your marketing piece is just as important as what you test. Here’s what they did in a nutshell.

They took a list of prospects and cut it in half. They sent sales letters to a group A and measured the results. They sent group B a letter with a different headline and tracked the results. This is not bad. It’s a good way to start testing your marketing however, the second group was sent letters one month after the first group received their letters.

The easiest way to test your marketing is to test one variable at a time and measure the results. If headline X pulls better than headline Y then use headline X as your control and continue testing to see if you can beat those results. This process is called split testing and is nothing new to anyone with direct marketing knowledge.

One factor commonly overlooked when performing split testing is time. The split test has to be run at the same time to be considered an effective test. If you send one mailing this week and another mailing four weeks later then you’ve essentially thrown in another testing variable called “time.”

“So, what’s the big deal it’s only a couple of weeks difference?” he asked. Imagine mailing a mortgage marketing piece right before the recent financial meltdown and a month later after all the headlines hit the news. If you’re selling earthquake insurance you’ll see a difference in response from a mailing before and a mailing after the recent Haiti and Chile earthquakes. As you can imagine, awareness in society changes over time and is another piece of the marketing puzzle you need to put in place.

What About Online Marketing?

The same rules apply online. If you’re marketing through email, most email responders allow you to perform split tests. Run tests changing the subject to test open rates. If your email system allows you to run more than two then test two different offers with each headline to test click-through rates too. Make sure it’s the same mailing and you’re not sending one email blast today and one email blast tomorrow. (that’s time and sending a second mailing to the same list, another variable)

What if you’re testing landing pages or opt-in forms? You want to run split tests as people visit the site. Testing one page for 3 weeks and another page for 3 weeks will not give you accurate results. Time can skew your statistics plus your source of visitors could change.

Most email providers offer a form of split testing your emails but, do you use it? If you have a sales page, opt-in form, squeeze page, etc. are you split testing to see what works or are you going by what the gurus tell you works? (I recommend SendPepper for reliable email and landing page split testing and marketing.)

Marketing Is Not A Science

Marketing is not a science but it does require one to step back, analyze the variables and, look at the results. The only scientific rule I know that works every time is test and measure.

What’s your experience?

Photo by Redstamp

© Fox for PersuasionTheory.com, 2010. | Permalink | Leave a comment |
Post tags: copywriting, Direct Marketing, Marketing, Marketing Strategies, Marketing Variables, OfficeAutoPilot, Online Marketing, SendPepper, Split Testing

Are You Dying To Make More Sales?

Fox — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 14:38:44 +0000

I was talking with my good friend Dave yesterday. Dave is a great sales person and an impressive persuader. In his business he sells very small parcels of real estate. They’re about 3.5 feet by 8 feet in size. It’s a small parcel but is landscaped with beautiful green grass. He also sells unique and very expensive parties. Hopefully, when you have the party, hundreds of your friends and family will attend. Have you figured out what he’s selling?

This niche is known as the pre-need cemetery and funeral arrangements. Yes, if you didn’t know, you can actually buy your cemetery and funeral arrangements while you’re still alive. Dave is consistently a leader in total sales for his company month in and out.

This is a funny niche to work. I know from experience because I originally met Dave years ago when he was my sales manager. I often joked with customers that it was my job to put the fun back in funeral.

Dave left management a while back and is selling one-on-one again. Why? Because he’s good. Dave’s the top counselor in his region for his company in both cemetery and funeral sales.

He does things the other pre-need counselors (aka sales people) won’t do. He goes door knocking in neighborhoods to prospect. He looks for people in the cemetery visiting relatives and strikes up conversations that turn into sales (he calls it lawn fishing). He looks through old files to find existing customers that haven’t completed all their arrangements. And, the list goes on.

While we were talking yesterday he mentioned another counselor (Jim) in his office decided to try lawn fishing because of Dave’s success. Jim spoke with two people in the cemetery that just brushed him off. Jim started to get discouraged and decided to talk with one more person. The third person was friendly, open and bought two graves right there on the spot.

The family was thrilled to purchase the spaces next to mom and dad because they thought they were already bought by someone else.(Yes, people actually get happy about buying their graves.)

Then, Dave told me Jim walked in and said, “I just got lucky.” Dave and I both started laughing.

Is it really luck?

The other counselors sit in the office waiting patiently for someone to come in and ask for help. The other counselors will follow up once, maybe twice, with a potential buyer. The other counselors don’t take time to brush up on their persuasion skills.

You’ve probably heard the quote by Seneca:

Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.

If you’re in a sales environment, you can’t wait for things to happen. Do you want better luck?

Are you willing to make an extra call today? How about 10 extra calls?
Are you willing to say something that might upset your buyer but they need to hear today?
Are you willing to put yourself out there and take a risk today?
Are you willing to do something out of the ordinary today?
Will you dedicate time to learning so you can improve your ability to understand your buyers and make more sales?

Dave has spent years mastering what he does. He’s learned rapport skills to immediately gain and convey trust. He’s learned to use questions and language in a way that helps the customer understand their situation and figure out if this is something they want to do for their family. He goes to seminars and spends thousands of dollars on education to improve what he does. He’s not afraid to put himself out there and make a sale.

Having worked in the cemetery with Dave years ago I learned one thing that haunts me every day.

Your life will be over quickly. Stop making excuses.

When you make a sale, don’t say it’s luck. Selling, marketing, persuasion is not about luck. It’s about doing things other’s won’t do. It’s about taking risks and learning skills.

Get out there and be the best at what you do. Your life is on the line.

Tell me what you think below.

Photo credit Nicole Shackelford

© Fox for PersuasionTheory.com, 2010. | Permalink | Leave a comment |
Post tags: More Buyers, Motivation, Persuasion Skills, Rapport, Selling, selling skills

Important Questions To Ask When Selling

Fox — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 17:04:42 +0000

How often do you think about the questions you use in your sales process? Do you spend any time crafting questions that drive your buyer to make up their own mind and buy from you?

When you ask the right questions, you control the conversation. Questions allow you control the direction of their thoughts. Do you realize how important this is to your sales process?

There are basically two types of questions for you to get the information you need: Open or Closed.

Closed-Ended Questions

Closed-ended questions are questions that can be answered either “yes” or “no” by your buyer.

Examples would be:

Would you like fries with that?
Do you think I look fat in these pants?

They can also be questions that ask for a specific piece of information so you can clarify data.

Examples would be:

What is your address?
How do you spell your last name?

Open-Ended Questions

Open-ended questions are the opposite of closed-ended questions. They can’t be answered with a simple “yes” or “no” and require your buyer to expand and give you more information.

For example:

If you were able to buy this today, how would it help you and your family?
What else do you need to solve your problem?

What Type Of Question Is Better?

Both questions have a specific purpose in the sales process. At the beginning of a conversation with your buyer you may need to ask a lot of closed ended questions to get their situation. I also use them as a check to make sure they’re following along with the conversation (“Are you with me?” or “Any questions about what we’ve covered?”).

Open-ended questions are critically important to get your buyer’s needs, wants, desires and motivation to buy what you’re selling. They allow you to arm yourself with the proper tools so you can aim directly to the heart of the buyer. You won’t need to waste time presenting features and benefits that aren’t of any use or importance anymore.

Do You Hear Me?

The important thing is to actually listen and hear what they’re saying. Give your buyer the time to fully answer the question. Comfortably ask your question and wait for their answer in silence.

Recently, I was in a sales meeting and listening to one man role play his customer conversation. He would ask an important open-ended question and then would give them a couple of options to choose from, making it a closed question. He would ask things like, “How would doing this benefit you…(pause about 1 second) more money, allow you to move you up in your career, or greater freedom?”

While the buyer could begin to open up, he was giving them options to choose from so they didn’t have to really think and answer the question. The entire goal is to get your buyer to open up and give you what they need to buy. Don’t feed them what you think will sell them.

Think about the questions you use when selling. Are you happy with the amount and type of questions you use? Do you get enough information that allows the buyer to make their own decision to buy from you? How will you construct your questions differently to become even more effective?

© Fox for PersuasionTheory.com, 2009. | Permalink | 2 comments |
Post tags: Covert Persuasion, linguistics, Persuasion Strategies, Presentation Strategies, Questions

When Is It Okay To Attack Your Competition?

Fox — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 22:22:50 +0000

I’m sitting in front of the Apple store in our mall stealing their wifi on my iPhone. As I’m sitting here I’m thinking about their PC vs. Mac commercials and how successful they’ve been despite the fact they’re talking negatively about their competition and about their potential customer.

In these commercials, Apple is portrayed as the cool guy that runs well, plays nice with all the toys, and is who you want to be like. The PC is portrayed by an overweight guy with unfashionable clothing and glasses with a bumbling fool type personality.

In traditional sales you’re taught to never say bad things about the competition. When you do you elicit negative feelings from the prospect which become attached to you and your product, killing the sale. It also will often come across as a desperate attempt to win the sale. Basically, attacking the competition is bad so don’t do it.

Apple appears to have pulled this off well and is making great strides into the personal computer market.

So, when is it okay to attack your competition? Is it okay?

What makes the Apple ads successful, even though they’re insulting the competition and potential buyer, while others fail miserably when trying?

Share your comments and thoughts below.

© Fox for PersuasionTheory.com, 2009. | Permalink | Leave a comment |
Post tags: copywriting, Covert Persuasion, sales, selling skills, Subliminal Persuasion

Propaganda and Covert Persuasion

Fox — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 20:45:22 +0000

If you persuade the masses or individuals, one of the most important people that made what we do possible was Edward Bernays. He wrote one of my favorite books, “Propaganda.”

Edward was the nephew of Sigmund Freud and was the first to bring many of the psychological theories he came up with for marketing and selling.

Here are a couple of videos on Bernays and what he pioneered. I highly recommend spending the 10 minutes for each video and picking up a copy of his book, it’s a quick and easy read.

Part 1

Part 2

© Fox for PersuasionTheory.com, 2009. | Permalink | Leave a comment |
Post tags: Covert Hypnosis, Covert Persuasion, Marketing, Propaganda, Skills, Subliminal Persuasion

Persuasive Power Of Price

Fox — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 15:28:29 +0000

When you’re selling something have you considered the impact your pricing plays in they buyer’s mind?

Price is a fine line to dance across and it hit me (again) the other day when I was filling up my car with gas. I was a little taken back when I saw the prices for gas. The options were:

Regular Unleaded – $2.19/gallon
Plus Unleaded – $2.29/gallon
Super Unleaded – $2.19/gallon

I normally fill up the car with Plus because it’s generally about $.10 less than Super and, well, it’s the middle option. I don’t simply want the cheap stuff.

On that day however, I filled up with Super (the real good stuff, right?) because it was less expensive than the Plus I normally buy. However, as I was leaning up against my car watching the numbers roll by on the pump, the following thoughts kept playing in my head:

Why are they pricing the premium stuff so low today?
What’s wrong with this batch? Is it filled with the crud at the bottom of the storage tank?
Did they really make a price mistake and I’m getting away with something?
Should I go inside and ask to make it’s not the crud and I don’t hurt my car?
Why isn’t this advertised on the sign, what’s wrong here?
Am I the only one seeing this mistake?

Then I realized what I was doing and stepped back to analyze the situation.

Think about it now. What does pricing play when you’re working to sell something? Does it convey “cheap” or “inferior?” Does it convey there could be a problem compared to the other options available? Does it convey “bargain?” Does a higher price imply “quality?”

As I said, this is a fine line and needs to be handled with care. It’s not so easy as to say, “do you present the low price option first and work to up-sell? Do you present the high price option and down-sell if they don’t buy the first option? Do you present multiple options and let the buyer choose the price?”

Each product and situation is different and careful consideration has to be brought to the table when pricing. Often bringing multiple options will confuse the buyer and put them into a state of indecision.

I wish there was a flat answer to these questions to make it simple. However, I’ll be exploring these more in time.

© Fox for PersuasionTheory.com, 2009. | Permalink | Leave a comment |
Post tags: Marketing, Persuasion Strategies, Pricing Options, Pricing Strategies, Selling

Powerful Persuasion With Just A Couple Little Words

Fox — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 00:45:11 +0000

Most people never give thought about what words fly out of their mouth. It comes straight from an unconscious reaction and completely exposes their internal representation of the world…their true feelings and opinions.

Here are three words that can enhance or destroy your persuasion ability. And, when you hear them from others you’ll have greater insight into why you feel the way you do when they speak.

These three words are: “and”, “even though”, and “but.”

These words can destroy your message by either negating or placing emphasis on the wrong part of what you’re communicating. They can also enhance your message by negating or placing emphasis on the right part of your communication when used properly.

Read these three sentences and notice how different each one makes you feel…

I love you but you hurt me.
I love you even though you hurt me.
love you and you hurt me.

In sentence 1 the ‘but’ negates anything in front of it and places the emphasis on everything that comes after it. It’s the “you hurt me” part that sticks in your mind and the “I love you” isn’t as important or invalidated.

In sentence 2 with ‘even though’ it’s just the opposite. The part before ‘even though’ is what’s felt as important.

In sentence 3 when you use ‘and’ it places both sides of the sentence on equal footing. “I love you” and “you hurt me” end up with the same weight in your mind.

So, how do you use this in your persuasive life?

One of the best ways to establish a sense of authority or credibility is to admit a weakness or flaw in your product or service. You don’t want to say that what you’re selling is a piece of junk however you want to admit something that is a small flaw, nothing that may kill your deal, just something small that could become an objection. Then after you say it you say the magic word, “but” and add the great things your product or service can do. This slides those minor issues into non-existence in the prospects mind.

I don’t like mentioning anything bad at the end of any presentation, sales letter or and situation. So the ‘even though’ method I would use is to put ‘even though’ at the beginning of the sentence then the negative statement and then the positive statement. Example is “even though you hurt me I love you.”

Now, with ‘and’ I have a lot of fun. I use ‘and’ when people give me compliments and when they voice objections. Let me explain.

If someone gives you a compliment one of the most hypnotic things you can do is say, “that’s right and…” then say what else they can get from buying from you, what else you can do for them, any other positive thing. They’ll zone out for a second and everything you say drops right into their unconscious mind to act on later.

Now, here’s what to do if someone voices a minor objection, I’m not talking about a deal killer, one of those minor things you would put in front of a ‘but’ if you were the one that brought it up. They object with, “I hear your service is a bit slow to respond sometimes.” You can reply with, “That’s right they are sometimes and you’ll have access to them 24 hours along with this special XYZ to reduce the need for service anyhow.”

In this situation using ‘but’ would have been bad because you would have invalidated your prospects thought. By using ‘and’ here instead you’re allowing them to hold their thought, not argue with them, and it quickly diffuses the situation.

Go out and play with these three words (okay 4 words). Notice the difference response you get when you use ‘and’, ‘but’, and ‘even though.’ Let me know your results. It’s one of the things I love to hear and you get to profit from this practice.

© Fox for PersuasionTheory.com, 2008. | Permalink | Leave a comment |
Post tags: copywriting, hypnotic language, Insight, Internal Representation, linguistics, Magic Word, Persuasion, sales, Skills

It’s Just Like When You Really Want To Persuade Someone

Fox — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 23:50:42 +0000

Using a metaphor is one of the best ways to really drive home your message. It’s like greasing the path for your ideas so they slide into your customer more easily and without resistance.

I’m constantly working on my storytelling. It’s an area any persuader should begin mastering. However, not all metaphors need to be long stories.

According to Wikipedia a metaphor is, “language that directly compares seemingly unrelated subjects.” When I first learned about persuasive metaphors I started comparing everything. I highly recommend you start doing this. It is Yoga for your brain.

While I was comparing things I realized I was consistently asking myself, “What’s that like?” From this came what I think is the quickest and easiest way to create powerful metaphors. . .

“It’s just like. . .”

Here are a couple of examples to draw out how you can use this in your persuasion arsenal.

Signing up for X (whatever you’re selling) is just like riding a bike. It was scary at first and you were probably afraid to make a mistake and get hurt. But, as you look back, you did it. You learned how to ride. There was someone to guide you just like with this program. Once you get on and start riding we’ll guide you to stay balanced. If you fall we’ll pick you up, wipe off any dust and get you quickly riding again. It’s a skill you’ll always remember throughout all your life.

Did that start a movie in your mind of someone learning to ride a bike? Did it help you transition the fear of buying into the ease of learning? Here’s another. . .

Persuaders that don’t learn to use metaphors are like unwanted bugs in your home. They’re interesting creatures and sometimes bizarre to look at. Some have a powerful and potentially deadly bite. But, you generally don’t want them in your house and when you do see one your impulse is to immediately kill it.

Simple and to the point, right?

So practice for yourself. What’s the first thing that pops into your mind when you read these?

What’s your job like?
What’s a call from your mother like?
What is the product or service you’re selling like?

Usually the first thing that flashes in your mind is what you should run with. Take that flash of creativity and begin describing it. What are the positive aspects? What are the negatives? Doing this regularly will keep the gears in motion that drive your metaphor creativity.

It’s just like when you were a kid. . .

© Fox for PersuasionTheory.com, 2008. | Permalink | Leave a comment |
Post tags: Covert Persuasion, Metaphor, Persuasive Metaphors, Selling, Skills, Stories

Persuasion Is A Beautiful Art

Fox — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 23:44:30 +0000

Persuasion is a beautiful art. It’s one of those things that not everyone can do well. And, those that do it well often do it by accident. It’s an elegant dance that can be learned when you break the individual pieces down and analyze them.

When you think of persuasion, influencing or selling, you probably think of the manipulative used car sales type. We’ve all seen the stereotypical slick salesperson obviously out to part you from as much of your money as possible without considering your desires or providing real value. That’s not what I like or encourage.

I was at my mother’s house today for her 60^th birthday. While watching my son play Wii, another guest mentioned to me he just bought a brand new large TV and entertainment system for their new home. He said, “After I picked what I wanted, the guy helping me asked if I wanted to buy a Wii. I asked how much they were and he told me about $250. So, I said, ‘when they go on special I’ll get one.’ They guy helping me then told me they never go on special and they’re lucky to have them in stock now so if I want one now would be a good time. So, I bought one.”

I noticed a lot in what he said and how easily he was sold. Here are a couple items I quickly picked out:

This was a “Would you like fries with that?” up sell. McDonalds makes a ton of money every year with that six word question. Once you get a commitment it’s always easier to get just a little bit more.
After purchasing a couple thousand dollar entertainment system a $250 up sell doesn’t seem like as much money. This is a law of contrast. If he was only there buying a $15 music CD a $250 option is a lot of money. Compared to the couple thousand he just spent on the entertainment system a $250 purchase was a very small price.
“The guy helping me.” Whether or not the salesperson’s title was actually “salesperson,” the customer did not perceive him as a salesperson. He was “the guy helping me.” He was trusted and providing help. There are many factors to this and I did not learn enough about the event to find out how “the guy helping me” earned that title.
“The store was lucky to have them in stock.” There are a few things implied here:
1. They can’t keep them in stock because they sell so quickly.
2. You are lucky to be here today so you can buy one. A feeling of good fortune and “specialness” for my friend because he’s there when they’re in stock.
3. Scarcity gives an added illusion this is something special. If he doesn’t act today he will have to wait until a store has one in stock to buy.
4. Social proof this is a “hot” buy because they’re selling out so quickly. It’s the “Everyone wants one so it must be good” mentality.

This is not an exhaustive list of the interaction. I’m sure there were many other factors that attributed to his easily saying “Yes!” But, this is what I thought I’d quickly share from the conversation.

Whenever I hear stuff like this I often start thinking:

What is the strategy or strategies behind what happened?
How can I apply these strategies in my persuasive situations?
Where are the key moments of power where one begins to get or lose control of the situation?
What can I do to prevent or minimize the points where I could have lost the sale?

You can see the persuasive tactics used here were not manipulative or pushy. The salesman simply asked for the sale and quickly answered a couple of questions with some loaded answers.

Persuasion is a beautiful art.

© Fox for PersuasionTheory.com, 2008. | Permalink | Leave a comment |
Post tags: Cialdini, Persuasion Strategies, Scarcity, Selling, Social Proof