Picture the scene..
…and I know we’ve all experienced this…
You walk into a store and *immediately* a pushy sales guy jumps out and starts asking you probing questions.
…He hasn’t given you any time or space to browse the items.
He’s like a fly buzzing around your head..
He’s trying to be charming.. likeable.. and wants you to trust him.. then now out of nowhere, he’s suddenly calling you ‘buddy’ and ‘pal’..
But none of this works.
You sense insincerity in his voice, you see past the fake smile and it feels like he’s putting pressure on you to buy something… almost that anything will do, he just wants a sale.
You leave the store feeling annoyed, icky and you’re doubtful if you’ll ever return because your experience was pretty negative.
A lot of webpages give off these kind of vibes too (more about that later).
(Cringey sales tactics can make people run a mile)
Now you go and visit a competitor’s store..
As you walk in, a cheery store attendant who’s busy sorting display items looks up at you, he smiles and gives you a warm hello.. and then goes back to his work.
You have plenty of space to browse through the store in your own time.
As you’re looking at an item you like, the store attendant walks past you, then stops and turns back to say “oh.. by the way, did you know that’s covered by our special DOUBLE guarantee?”
Intrigued, you ask for more information.. he also tells you about another special offer on a complimentary product that would go perfect with the one you’re looking at.. and then boom.. you’re suddenly engaged in dialogue that potential leads you to happily making a purchase.
But the cool thing is, the dialogue actually feels like YOU initiated it.
Now look at both of these scenarios.
Which is the better experience? Which one do you prefer?
I bet that for most people it’s the second one. It is for me.
Maybe that’s because what the second store attendant is doing probably doesn’t even feel like a sales process.. yet it’s obviously the more effective strategy.
It feels like you’re being helped, not sold to.
The first time I experienced this kind of sales as a teenager, I bought without much hesitation. I didn’t even realise I was being sold to.. I still look back and face palm.
People hate being sold to, but they do like being helped.
Because you’re being helped, you’re more inclined to buy – there’s a small level of reciprocity invoked. The salesperson has given you advice, took the time to steer you in the right direction, so now, as means of thanking him – or impulse to prove that you value his time.
And this stuff works in loads of different formats too, not just in person.
I’ll show you how you can create the digital version of this process.
You can use this for blog posts, in sales pages, podcasts and in videos.
Here are other ways you can help them, which encourages a bonding process.
- Emphasize with them
- Show them you understand their problem
- Asking them open ended questions
- Validating their concerns
- Promise to help them
Here are some copy & paste template statements you can use to create instant emphasize with your website visitors:
- If _____ is a problem for you, then you’re not alone.
- If you’ve failed at _____, it’s not your fault.
- If you have trouble _____, I know that it’s like.
This is a great approach because it taps into emotions.
It makes them feel good, and when it comes to selling stuff, they will often forget your pitch – but they will always remember how they FELT during it.
So it’s a smart idea to make them feel good, right? Right. And here’s how you can do that, it’s really simple.
You just have to make them:
- Feel respected
- Feel listened to
- Feel comfortable
- Feel validated
- Feel intelligent
You can do that by asking the right questions… even if it’s a blog post, sales page, podcast or video.
Asking the right questions is important. Of course it’s unlikely you’re going to get a direct answer from your visitors, but that’s NOT what you want to achieve anyway.
You WANT an easy way to enter their internal dialogue, overcome any potential obstacles and bypass their scepticism.
You could make a statement, and HOPE that it lands.. For example you might write something like this.. “My training will show you how to lose weight without starving yourself“.
In that example we’re making a claim. And claims (rightly) get scrutinised.
Instead, if you present it as a question, maybe something like this.. “What if you could lose weight but without starving yourself?“.
In this example we’re getting them to imagine the results, without the scrutiny. You’ve bypassed their cynical filters and got them to imagine the results, instead of evaluate the claim.
(Ask the right question and the answer won’t matter)
Here are a few more copy & paste template statements you can use:
Validation questions:
- Are you tired of being let down by _____? So am I.
- Are you sick of seeing fools getting more _____ than you?
Open ended questions:
- What if you could _____
- Have you ever dreamed of _____
- In what ways would _____ improve your life?
What you’re actually doing here is putting things into emotional terms.
You’re also using the word ‘you’ a lot. Using that word makes things personal.
Heck, I’m even using the technique the way through this blog post.
We tell ourselves that we’re logical beings… sensible people who weigh up the pro’s and con’s of things before making a decision. But in fact buying is really an emotional process.
While researching this stuff I came across a whole bunch of mundane and generic advice on how to create a bond with customers.
It’s almost completely useless to people like you and me, who live in the real world.
I’ve read tips that range from suggesting the way to bond with your customers is creating professional voicemails… to other tips that insist developing a company personality is the way to do it.
No doubt this is good advice for some, but it’s not exactly going to grab you by the scruff of the neck, drag you over to the WordPress dashboard and force you to get your hands dirty with some stealthy persuasion copywriting.
So that’s why I created this post for you and well, to demonstrate the kind of value you can get inside the Profit Copilot Academy… you can read all about that here (the sales page also contains many of the tips I’ve shared here.. how many can you see?).
Either way, what you’ve learnt here is proven to work… you’re using solid psychological principles and they works across all niches, so give them a try.