Sales Come First

Boy I’ve been looking forward to this for Weeks! Ever since I decided to reveal these 10 strategies I’ve been busting to get into it.

Look, even 3 or 4 of these strategies will double your business, so imagine how much you’ll make when you implement all ten! But I’m not going to give you them all at once. This way you can implement them over the coming weeks instead of getting so many at once you dont know where to start.

So here are the first two strategies to double your business.

Strategy 1: Re-activate old customers. This is a simple one, and you can do it right away. The easiest people to get into your business are the ones that have been there but are no longer active. So go through your customer database or records, find their details and send them an offer they’d be crazy to refuse.

You see some of them may be using a competitor’s services or products but might be less than satisfied. Others might have just stopped using your category. For example, if you’re a gym then people might simply have stopped exercising, and a letter explaining the benefits of exercise, the benefits of doing it at YOUR gym and then an incredible free offer is bound to get a good number back in. And your offer is going to cost you less than the normal cost of acquiring a brand new customer. These people know you and your product so as long as you haven’t burnt them then you’ll get a flock of customers easily…and fast.

For this I recommend either a 3 step sales letter sequence (main letter, then 2 follow up letters which include the main letter). And if you’ve got their phone number, even better. Call them after the letters to see if you can squeeze any more out of them.

Strategy 2: Make more offers – and more often. Keep making offers to your list. Over and over again. It could be your standard service with extra bonuses items, or a better deal on a consultation (even free it you sell follow on services). You can even tie your offers in to special occasions such as Christmas, a major sporting event like a Grand Final, Superbowl, FA Cup or whatever events are popular in your neck of the woods. Even better, give them an extra special offer for their birthday.

This gets people into your business more often, acts as a great way to get people taking action with you and builds stronger relationships with them. After all, we’re in the relationship #1, aren’t we.

Next week I’m going to show you how to sell more, at higher prices just by making people feel special, and how to get the right offer in front of the right people.

And if you’d like to talk to me about how to best implement these strategies in your business, please drop me a line. Even though I’m busy I’m happy to put some time aside to talk to you.

Until then, all the best,

Hugh

<Are you looking for a copywriter for your next project? Contact Hugh at www.salescomefirst.com to discuss your needs>

People carry guilt around like a bag of bricks on their backs.

“Am I spending enough time with my kids”

“I was out and didnt spend ANY time helping my wife last weekend”

“My child seems to be slipping behind at school. Am I spending enough time helping them with their homework”

“I’m not earning enough to make life easier, or to take my family on holidays this year”

I wrote for a product showing people how to get higher rents from their investment property and said:

“Some investors have even cut back on their children’s activities just to make ends meet.“

If you were feeling guilty about just cutting back on swimming or dancing lessons for your kids, would this hit you right between the eyes?

So have a look at your customers, and see what guilt they carry with them. Then describe it in your sales copy…and then solve it. And if their last emotion they feel before they finally drift off to sleep at night is guilt, then THIS emotion is incredibly powerful.

Anyway, this is the last of the 5 core emotional triggers. To summarise them, they are:

• Greed
• Fear (Fear, and fear of loss)
  
• Pride
• Love
• Guilt.

Next week I’m going to launch into a brand new series.

Its based on the idea that any business can double its profits in 6 months or less. And even though it sounds like a wild claim, its true…if you follow some simple strategies. Most business owners have been taught that you should aim for 10% growth a year and they’ve become conditioned to it.

What happened was I saw a presentation a couple of weeks ago at Pete Godfrey’s Members Conference by a guy who has a business selling reconditoned engine cylinder heads. Now, you’d THINK this was going to be boring. But it wasnt. In fact, it was one of the best things I’ve ever heard. You see, this guy had gone from a tiny business to a multi-million dollar operation. And he did it by applying direct response marketing techniques in every single corner of his business.

So good in fact that he won Dan Kennedy’s Marketer Of The Year award, which is kinda like the Oscars for Direct Response marketers.

He didn’t just double his business. He doubled it…

…again, and

…again…and

…again! He just keeps doing it, over and over and over again.

So…how would you like me to show you how its done?

Well, starting next week I’m going to give you 2 tactics each week that’ll do exactly this. In fact, just using a few of these tactics will see you double your profits. Imagine what happens if you use them all.

I can’t wait to get started!

All the best,

Hugh Thyer

<Are you looking for a copywriter for your next project? Contact Hugh at www.salescomefirst.com to discuss your needs>

Do you remember that kid at school that never got picked for a sport? Or during recess would always go past the other kids playing a game, but was never asked?

It was terrible for them. To feel unwanted and unloved.

But sometimes, somebody would call out for them and yell “Come on, join in!” And they were the happiest kid out there.

Look, adults are no different. We all want to feel as though we’re loved and wanted.

This weekend I was at Pete Godfrey’s Inner Sanctum conference. And everyone in the room BELONGED. We’re all like minded individuals, focussed on our success in business. And you want to know what? Most of us go through every day surrounded by people who DON’T share our vision, our goals and our dreams. They could be our employees, colleagues, people you do sports or some other activity with. Even our families. But in that room we all belonged, and we FELT it.

Belonging is a huge emotion. People want to feel as though they belong to something special, to people who want us there. Its a great feeling, and can be used to great effect in your advertising. Do you tell people that they’ll be like minded people with your product or service? Do you have recognisable people in your testimonials? Do you make people feel welcome and special in your business?

This is a great emotion to tap into when you write your advertising. So make sure you tap into it.

Next week we’re going to talk about one final emotion. It’s a brilliant one to really get people’s emotions running hot. Can’t wait to give it to you.

All the best

Hugh

<Are you looking for a copywriter for your next project? Contact Hugh at www.salescomefirst.com to discuss your needs>

I know, I know. Here we go again with another one of my posts that I just HAD to write straight away.

But I’ve got to tell you 2 things that are absolute GOLD if you want to make money. So listen up and take careful note of what I’m about to tell you.

Actually goes back to a mate of mine who just signed up for a $7,000 ’self awareness/life improvement’ course on the weekend.

His ex-girlfriend went to a free 2.5 day course a few weeks ago and signed up for the full $7k seminar, so this week it was HIS turn. Now, I offered to be his ‘credit card buddy’. That’s where you leave your credit card with a friend so you don’t end up doing something stupid like signing up for some course you may later regret. Having said that, he doesn’t regret signing up but there are some ‘free seminars’ you should NOT take your credit cards to. I still think this is one of them.

So why am I telling you this? The most important thing you can do at a seminar like this is to study the pitch. And since they had about 50% of the crowd sign up, and about 80 people there, they did over half a million bucks! 

So here’s the two things that were the most important.

1. The time they deliver the pitch is when people are on an emotional high. They do some session on what’s wrong with you, what you’ve been supressing etc and then help resolve them. Then you feel fantastic, and if you want to feel even better then sign up for the extended program! I’ve long since talked about people making buying decisions on emotion. And direct response marketing is ALL about emotion. If you can get people into the right frame of mind where they want to take action then they will.

The BIG Question for your advertising is…”When you ask for the money, have you done enough to justify that request?

In your own advertising you’ve gotta give people hope. Describe the problems they’re having and then solve them. Make then FEEL great about your solution. Walk them through how their life will change once they take your solution on. You’ve got to build them up and build them up. Whip them into an emotional frenzy until saying ‘YES’ is the only alternative for them. (This does not mean lots of hype with no substance. This is how amateurs do it).

2. I wrote about this some time ago. Its about motivating your prospects…and why you can’t do it.

http://salescomefirst.com/this-lesson-on-motivation-will-put-more-cash-in-your-pocket/

The thing to remember is that in a room like that, everyone is already motivated. They want to know what it’s all about. They know the next seminar is $7 grand.

You see, this mate of mine claims he was completely sceptical. But as I reminded him…”you STILL went”. Yep, despite him claiming to be completely sceptical, thinking its a load of BS and one long sales pitch he STILL took 2 days away from his life to spend there. Now, I don’t know about you but if I was sceptical, I wouldnt have gone. Would have spent the weekend relaxing, doing something else. Yet this guy who is a keen musician with a young daughter left both those things behind to spend at this seminar.

Kinda funny for someone so sceptical, don’t you think? So the big lesson is, despite his denials he WAS motivated. He wanted to be there…despite his denials. He sacrificed a lot of time to do it. People who read your advertising/sales letters are also motivated. They share the problem you’re helping them solve. They are already interested in it. Often they’re sitting there, cash in hand waiting for someone to give it to them.

Funny thing is, I explained to him that people don’t go to a BMW dealership because they hear one of the cars is a nice colour. They ONLY go if they deep down want a BMW. So despite giving all these other reasons for attending on the weekend, deep down he wanted to be there and wanted to be pitched on the expensive course. Otherwise he wouldn’t have gone.

So remember this…your job is not to motivate your prospects. If they’re reading your ad, they’re already motivated. So just get on and tell them why your product is the one they should choose.

If this seminar was delivered to a group of random people from the street, their sign up rate would be next to zero. But it wasnt. It was delivered to people who had (most likely) been referred to them, were prepared to give up 2.5 days of their time and already knew they would have to spend $7,000 to get into the proper course. These people were seriously qualified prospects. (Imagine if it was only a 2 hour intro seminar not a 2.5 day one. Less committed prospects so smaller response).

So lesson #2 is to remember to focus only on prospects who are already motivated and focus your sales message around them. Unmotivated people won’t buy so don’t dilute your message to get them. This seminar is proof that despite people’s denials they are already interested in you, so use it to your advantage. And that’s part of the brilliance of this seminar. They started with extremely motivated prospects (despite a few of their denials) and had a very high end product for them.

I bet you can use both these lessons to make serious money.

Next week I’m going to talk about another human emotion – the feeling of being loved, wanted and to belong. It’s a very basic emotion that you can use in your advertising to bond with your prospects.

All the best,

Hugh Thyer

www.salescomefirst.com

<Are you looking for a copywriter for your next project? Contact Hugh at www.salescomefirst.com to discuss your needs>