Is Sales Copywriting a Reflection of Face-to-Face Sales?
April 15, 2024
So you want to be copywriter, right?
That’s wonderful if you love market research, brainstorming ideas and using writing techniques to create enticing and persuasive texts.
To enhance your sales writing, you think about stories, vivid description, symbolism, metaphor, personification and more.
Great!
But be aware that...
You are writing to sell.
Yes!
When you write conversion copy you have to bear in mind you become a sales writer.
Those literary techniques you love to include, should be used in small quantities and in the right place to engage readers without distracting them.
As somebody who has been working with copywriting and digital sales for a decade now, I want to emphasize that the only and most important reason you’re writing copy is to sell a product or service.
If the selling goal is not achieved, your fancy text is useless, even if some chunks of language are exquisite.
When I write an advertisement, I don't want you to tell me that you find it 'creative. ' I want you to find it so interesting that you buy the product.” In Ogilvy on Advertising
So, as you explore and implement literary techniques to create your copy, it’s a good idea to go back to basics, and check what techniques successful sales people use in their day to day activities and insert them in your persuasive text.
My sales objective is to get my prospects to look at my products the same way I look at bacon ---Kurt Mortensen
Sales History at a Glance
Selling is one of the oldest registered activities.
People started trading goods about 150,000 years ago.
By the time agricultural activity flourished, trade had already been well established. Settlements allowed people to trade regularly and in greater quantities.
This way, they get all the necessary things to live fairly comfortable and away from storms, winds and heavy snow.
A japanese firm, Kongō Gumi, founded in 578 AD, is considered the world's oldest continuously operating company, working in building, in Osaka, Japan
In the 18th century, solitary salesmen took products to far away areas in USA and made themselves rich.
Selling has developed in different ways through techniques, inventions, practices and books.
Thus, selling has evolved to the stage we know it today, a large selling network activity.
According to AWAI, printed sales letters have been used since the early 1800s. At that time, retailers sent out important written sales information in the mail.
Face-to-Face Selling Techniques
Good salespeople do market research. They have to know :
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what’s trendy
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what sells easily
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what people are buying
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what the competition is doing right
With that information, that brand can differentiate from the competition and engage more customers quickly.
Sales people have lists of :
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people who may be interested in their products
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people who have bought from the competition
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people the sales person suspects they may need to solve a problem that their product solves.
Experienced sales people only call those that…
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may need and want the product
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can afford the product
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needs to solve a problem soon
With the list in hand, salespeople call those qualified suspects to learn more about them and, discover if that prospect finds the salesperson initial message attractive.
If salespeople pass the initial salutation talk, they have managed to grab that person’s attention. Now, that prospect is on a mood to listen to what the salespeople have to say.
So, if this phone conversation was successful, the salespeople have managed to get an appointment with this decision-maker. The sales people got time and attention.
This is the beginning of a relationship.
As the meeting starts salespeople take care of the person’s emotional area. Perhaps, he makes a comment about a pic the prospect has on the desk fishing with his son on a sunny summer day.
Salespeople also focus on their prospect’s needs and pains. They show empathy and that means they really understand what the prospect ’s going through.
Next, the salesperson try to build trust and credibility.
During this first meeting, salespeople have the opportunity to diagnose the prospect, asking well thought-out questions, so they can adapt their sales presentation on the basis of the prospect’s answers.
Then, it’s time to present the product as the best solution to the customer’s problem. Salespeople describes features presented as benefits, and they explain the transformation the product will bring to the customer’s life.
In the next step, salespeople deals with objections as part of his presentation. The best technique is to deal with objections before the prospect even talks about them. This way, salespeople touches the prospect’s heart and is seen as somebody who knows how the prospect feels. This creates a deep connection.
To deepen trust, salespeople present the customer with a binder full of satisfied customers’ letters where they explain why they have chosen that particular brand and how good the transformation in their life or company was, using that product.
As the natural following step, comes the presentation of a special,irresistible offer that it’s hard to refuse:
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Excellent price
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Benefits
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Interesting bonuses the customer can keep even if he returns the original product.
Urgency is added to create to kill the customer’s indifference as the offer will be avilable only a few days or perhaps only a few hours.
Making up the mind to spend money, specially if it’s a large amount, needs some reassurance and, what’s better than a guarantee that expresses your customer’s freedom to return the product if he is not satisfied after certain period of time.
A risk-free purchase.
Finally, salespeople ask for the sale.
Yes!
Different methods to close the sales can be used but certainly salespeople have to ask for the sale.
Sales Copywriting
In 1905, John E. Kennedy, then a relatively unknown copywriter, described advertising as 'salesmanship in print'.
Good copywriters do Market research. They have to know:
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What’s going on in that particular niche
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What’s working and what’s not
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What type of people is buying the product or service
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What the competition is doing right
An analysis of the market trends will round off the investigation.
A thorough understanding of the target audience is also a must. Copywriters do social listening. They check and scrutinizesocial media content related to their product. Then, they create ways of improving customers’ outreach, products and service.
Once copywriters have this background knowledge they can create a captivating headline to grab the attention of those who might be in need of your product.
After the headline comes the lead. This is the part of your sales copy to connect with the reader emotionally. Here copywriters have to expand on the headline’s idea that captured the readers attention.Generally they use stories, description of a problem or ask a question to the reader.
Next step, copywriters present their solution as a game changer in the reader’s life. Copywriters explain why the product will transform the customer’s life and how they will benefit from that product.
Then, copy deals with the prospects’ objections as they will sit there in the background of their head, creating a blockage.
Several testimonials show how other satisfied customers have found improvement in their life with their product.
It’s time to speak about that irresistible offer which includes several bonuses that can be kept even if they return the product.
Urgency is the next ingredient added to to the copy, to trigger the fear of missing out in their reader’s head.
Anxiety can be a great action trigger as some people can’t bear not to get what they crave.
Before adding a call to action, copywriters generally include a guarantee, giving piece of mind to the prospect.
If, after the purchase, the customer feels remorse and thinks he has made a mistake he can easily return the product.
A long-term guarantee is powerful.
Last but not least, include a customized call to action, one that’s tailored to your customer’s preferences.
Conclusion
As you can see, selling products face to face and writing sales copy have many elements in common.
Online selling gives you the opportunity to sell 24/7 and get data insights. On the other hand, a face to face sales provides the opportunity to create rapport easily and develop lasting relationships.
Use the positive features of both method and you'll be successful.
So, if you’re new to copywriting, bear in mind you have to combine selling basic techniques and excellent command of the language, including literary techniques to persuade your reader to take action immediately and buy your product.
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