Sales Triggers

Copywriting Persuasive Ads, what's the secret?

Have general knowledge: be creative, experience the world.

Know specific knowledge about the product or service, be an expert.

Practice writing, write a lot, every moment you can, letters, etc.

Copywriting is a mental process, the successful execution of of which reflects the sum total of all your experiences, your specific knowledge and your ability to mentally process that information and eventually transfer this to a piece of paper all for the purpose of communicating an idea.

The purpose is to reach out in your pocket and buy the product.

The format
First line: lead-sentence, a few words, second sentence getting you to read the rest.

Use the next aspects as a checklist for your copy:

What's the best environment to sell the product?

Harmonize with the prospect / reader (rapport, get the prospect to say yes, make compliments, harmonize with the environment and product

Selling books; based on curiosity, suggestion, a secret in the book

Slippery slide in the copy of an ad (over the edge, pitch and tempo)

Seeds of curiosity (later I'll tell you something I never told anyone else, but there's more, wait till you read what I just discovered, getting interest)

Sell with emotion, use logic to justify the purchase (sell the concept with emotion, example: challenging the buyer)

Technical explanation; it shows and proves you're an expert

Service; raise and solve the issue if you're product needs service

Trial period; courteous refund?

Price comparison; good value

Ask for the order, close the deal

Summary

Product explanation

Sexual orientation; be careful not to be too sexist

Raising objections and resolve it

New feature; highlight them

Ease of ordering

Clear copy; write for yourself (bigger for upscale audience

Rhythm in an add (short and long sentences)

Paragraph headings / subheadings (makes the copy look less intimidating; in direct mail: making statements, attention getting)

Type face; legible language, clear Seriff style type

Physical Facts, mention all facts, size, weight, price

Name the price

Testimonials

Avoid saying too much

Conversational tone: First person: I want to..., me, we, our ... to a person individual

Tell a story in the copy

How to structure the content

Inquiry generator: first call then sales or direct sales: test!

Contest in the add: challenge the reader

Branding start up: informative

Copy should be long enough to cause the reader to take the action you request.

Every communication should be a personal one from the writer to the recipient regardless of the medium used

The ideas presented in your copy should flow in a logical fashion as if you were face to face with your prospect anticipating and raising every question and answering them as if these questions were indeed asked

In the editing process you reduce the copy to express exactly to what you want to express with the least amounts of words

Selling the cure is a lot easier than selling a preventative, unless the preventative is perceived as a cure or the cure would have aspects of the preventative or is emphasized.

Telling a story can effectively sell your product, create the environment or get your reader well into your copy as you create an emotional bonding with your prospect.

Use the slippery slide; your reader should be so compelled to read your copy that they cannot stop reading until they read all of it.

Keep the copy interesting and keep the reader interested by the power of curiosity

The incubation process is the power of your subconscious mind to use all of your knowledge and experiences to solve a specific problem the efficiency of which is dedicated or dictated by time orientation, environment and ego. (take a break)

Never sell a product or service, always sell a concept.

The mindstretch-effect; the more the mind must work to reach a conclusion, which it eventually successfully reaches, the more positive, enjoyable and stimulating the experience.

Psychological Triggers

The feeling of involvement and ownership (also visualizing using the product)

Honesty (truthful statements, tell all the good and bad things about the product)

Integrity (trustworthy

Credibility (if price is too low or high)

Prove of value for comparison purposes

Justify the purpose (compare to similar product, for business tax deductible)

Greed

Establish authority

Satisfaction conviction; I'm so convinced that you're going to like this product that I'm offering you... the consumer feels the public is going to rip you off (refund the money not used, not used in two years etc.)

Nature of the product (perceive the need of the product: burglar alarm, insurance)

Current Fads (in the beginning, at peak or slightly past nothing lasts forever) Timing

Desire to belong (to special group who own a ..., the smartest people own ...)

The desire to collect (scarcity, several models

Curiosity (most powerful element in campaign) in retail: immediate gratification go

Sense of urgency; limited supplies (needs prove) (also: example extra offer if the response is within few hours)

Instant gratification

Exclusivity, rarity or uniqueness

Simplicity; is the key to sell any product; test out your ads (dotted line around the coupon)

Human relationships (relate to the human using it, good looking people)

Reciprocity; if you do a favor, they will want to do a favor back (guilt)

This overview is based on Joe Sugarman’s E-book Psychological Triggers

[Reposted from MetaMagazine 2002]

Secrets of Sales

1. A tightly scheduled 12-hour day.
2. Have contacting goals.
3. Systematic communication.
4. Know your subject.
5. Learn from questions you are asked: Don't get caught twice.
6. Always have an active prospect list that you contact regularly.
7. Respond fast.
8. Keep your name in front of the customer.
9. Develop innovative strategies for yourself and your customers.
10. Impressive preparation.
11. Finding a niche.
12. Weekly targets.
13. Show people their strengths.
14. Use 80/20 rule.
15. Each day write down 2 things on the job you did that you enjoyed or found satisfying.
16. React to problems promptly.
17. Honesty.
18. It's all or nothing for the customer.
19. Thorough planning.
20. Verify key points after meetings in writing.
21. Start meetings with a review.
22. Bring, show or discuss one positive they are not expecting.
23. Tried and true case studies.
24. Develop a system that allows you to find info in 15 seconds.
25. Respect deadlines on promises made.
26. Use flexibility to break into new markets.
27. Perfect your communication.
28. Mentally walk with them.
29. Put features and benefits into layers of pyramid and focus on best layer.
30. Mind-emptying exercises.
31. Structured follow-up
32. See how success works and copy, copy, copy.
33. Don't get tired of service.
34. Flair
35. Anticipate questions and know the answers.
36. Believe in your product.
37. Know exactly where you're going to start the next day.
38. Have high daily targets and when you achieve them--quit.
39. Set up definite rules to get over each hurdle and on to the next.
40. Know competitors products.
41. Create pride of ownership.
42. Have a structured selling answer to "What do you do? & a handout.
43. State your price as a benefit.
44. Answer, "What do you do?"
45. Spend 90% of your time either prospecting or on appointments.
46. Develop solid closing questions.
47. Know your product--shoot the answer.
48. List the benefits of your product.
49. Look as if you've operated the product all your life.
50 Full-scale mock-up. Prototype.
51. Be there when you're needed.
52. Never, ever forget one single thing you've promised to do,
no matter how trivial it seems.
53. Respect the client for what he is and for what he has accomplished in life.
54. Verbalize respect.
55. Reliability, responsiveness, tangibles, assurance, empathy.
56. Know your case and their case.
57. Put enormous thought and energy into reconfiguring your world so that when emergencies happen you have exactly what you need to do the job.
58. Know their history when you arrive.
59. Always know and communicate the next step.
60. 3 Steps: Previous, Current, Next.
61. Way of the gull: Work like hell and go after every scrap.
62. Leverage time and effort.
63. Analyze, measure, identify my selling, marketing, advertising and operations.
64. In a minute, describe what it is about your business that gives
greater advantage, greater benefit, and greater result to your client.
65. How can I test one way against another?
66. What is my clear, accurate distinct vision of my business?
67. How many better, other additional ways could I be doing?
68. How can I get the highest and best use of my time and opportunity.
69. Who could recommend me?
70. What do my clients pre-do and post-do that I can leverage.
71. Do one good thing consistently well.
72. If something works, experiment with a copy.
73. Never create the same routine twice.
74. Trial and error but debrief.
75. Rise before dawn.
76. Be willing to be consumed by a task as long as it takes.
77. Practice the basics endlessly.
78. Your core investment must be in understanding your customers.
79. Stress high quality relationships
80. Be a perpetual prospecting machine.
81. Lose the no's.
82. Have a strategic plan and a relentless application of the plan.
83. Document everything. Always know what happened.

The above list was taken from Dale Kirby's Meta-Web. Mostly compiled from the book "The Secrets of the World's Top Sales Performers by Christine Harvey" and other sources.

[Reposted from MetaMagazine website 2002]

Exchange Economics

Most ways humans have of organizing are adaptations to scarcity and want. Each way carries with it different ways of gaining social status.

The simplest way is the command hierarchy. In command hierarchies, allocation of scarce goods is done by one central authority and backed up by force. Command hierarchies scale very poorly [Mal]; they become increasingly brutal and inefficient as they get larger. For this reason, command hierarchies above the size of an extended family are almost always parasites on a larger economy of a different type. In command hierarchies, social status is primarily determined by access to coercive power.

Our society is predominantly an exchange economy. This is a sophisticated adaptation to scarcity that, unlike the command model, scales quite well. Allocation of scarce goods is done in a decentralized way through trade and voluntary cooperation (and in fact, the dominating effect of competitive desire is to produce cooperative behavior). In an exchange economy, social status is primarily determined by having control of things (not necessarily material things) to use or trade.

Most people have implicit mental models for both of the above, and how they interact with each other.
Government, the military, and organized crime (for example) are command hierarchies parasitic on the broader exchange economy we call ‘the free market’. There’s a third model, however, that is radically different from either and not generally recognized except by anthropologists; the gift culture.
Gift cultures are adaptations not to scarcity but to abundance. They arise in populations that do not have significant material-scarcity problems with survival goods. We can observe gift cultures in action among aboriginal cultures living in ecozones with mild climates and abundant food. We can also observe them in certain strata of our own society, especially in show business and among the very wealthy.

Abundance makes command relationships difficult to sustain and exchange relationships an almost pointless game. In gift cultures, social status is determined not by what you control but by what you give away.

Used source: Homesteading the Noosphere by Eric Steven Raymond\

[Reposted MetaMagazine 2001]

Local Echange Communities
Local Exchange Economies are formed locally worldwide with a Local Exchange Trading System (LETS) which often use their own local currency unit. It is a barter-like network but not only for businesses; also individuals can join. I am member of Keerkring Groningen which is one of the many LETS groups in the Netherlands. See also Letscontact.nl (Dutch).
Another bartering network I joined (aiming at sustainable economy) is Qoin.com.

Solving Financial Problems & Money Affirmations

Loose the negative associations with Money allowing yourself to own money (see Money Affirmations below)

Practically there are basically only three ways to solve financial problems:

	increase income,
	decrease expenses, or
	adjust credit debt payments.

Several options exist for increasing income but all may not be alternatives for a particular situation. These possibilities include upgrading a present job to one that pays more; switching jobs to a better-paying one; working overtime; having someone additional in the household seek and find employment where more money is made than spent; qualifying for assistance, either public or private such as food stamps, child support, grants or subsidies; and renting or selling assets that are no longer needed and/or used.

Temporary adjustments in expenses may provide temporary income increases. Stop payroll deductions for retirement, savings, or education funds. Adjust tax withholding so that enough is being withheld but a large tax refund will not be coming next spring. Do more home production; garden or sew if you already have the skill and equipment needed. Use community resources for recreation. Pay insurance premiums monthly instead.

To decrease expenses either CUT DOWN or CUT OUT. For most people going "cold turkey" or cutting out entirely may not be possible. Above all, to cut expenses, go to a cash-only basis; put all credit cards out of reach.

Certain expenses cannot be cut out entirely because of health or safety concerns such as utilities, food, health, recreation, and insurance.

[Reference (renewed) source: Solve Financial Problems]

Recommended reading:

• Rich Dad, Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money-That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not! by Robert T. Kiyosaki, Sharon L. Lechter (Contributor)
• Why We Want You to be Rich: Two Men - One Message - Donald J. Trump, Robert T. Kiyosaki, Meredith McIver, Sharon Lechter

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Money Affirmations (spiritually oriented):

• I am now open to receive the abundant good that God has for me
• God is the source of all my good, I look only to him for my supply
• I vision only that which is for my highest good
• I speak only good, kind, loving and harmonious words
• I now release all fear, worry and doubt into the loving arms of God
• All that the father has is mine, I rejoice in it now
• I now let go and let God work in my financial affairs
• I think only loving positive and uplifting thoughts
• Money is positive, money is my friend
• I am now open to receive the abundant good that God has for me
• It is good to be wealthy
• God wants me to share in his good fortune
• I use my wealth wisely
• I now decree to God that I am ready to receive his abundance
• Financial success is mine, I accept it now
• I send out in thought only that which I desire to have returned
• The good I send out in thought, comes back to me multiplied
• I now have a clear and open connection with my higher self
• Money is coming to me easily and effortlessly
• I love the work I do, it is a part of God's divine plan
• I am now one with infinite intelligence
• I am an open channel expressing God's will
• God is guiding me in everything I do
• I deserve to be rich, I accept it now
• God goes before me making everything right
• I now live in a loving harmonious universe
• God is abundant, I am one with God
• As a loving father, God wants me to enjoy his good wealth
• Success is mine, I accept it now
• I now decree to God my intention to share his wealth
• I use my money wisely for the good of all
• Money is circulating freely in my life
• Money comes to me in many ways, through God
• I am divinely guided in all that I do
• The Lord wants me to be prosperous, I say YES!
• I now gives thanks to a loving, abundant God
  

Written by Jeff Staniforth - AffirmWare 7 Part Affirmation Course? Visit http://www.AffirmWare.com.au
Quoted at the forum of Positive-club.com.

Management Roles

The primary role of management is to make it possible for teams to work. They also provide guidance and direction to work effort.

The role of management in an organization is purely functional. It is not a role any more or less prestigious than any other role in the company. It is similar to the difference between marketing personnel and engineering personnel. The function of management is:

• Set up a plan (vision) for the company, group, or team being managed.
• Ensure that the management personnel can do their jobs with the up most efficiency.
• Resolve any disputes that arise.
• Act as an interface between employees and upper management
  • Track resource use and report costs to higher management.
  • Present new ideas for the company to upper management.
  • Track project progress and revise estimates or make adjustments.
  • Deal with problems and shield employees from them as much as possible to allow them to concentrate on their jobs.

One important difference between managers and other functional positions in the company lies in the fact that decisions made by the manager will affect more people either in a positive or negative way.

Skills Required

• Communication - Learn to listen and be observant.
• Experience - At least 10 years working in a field similar to those being managed. A broad background is helpful.
• Leadership - Leadership is really a mix of many other skills and in many ways is intangible. A true leader, however, is willing to do any task necessary to complete the job. That means, they are willing to do the same work as other employees and get their hands dirty when required.
• Delegation - Good managers must be willing to trust their staff and delegate responsibility and authority.
• Organizational - Being able to organize teams, roles and projects is important. Some organizational requirements can be delegated, however. Having a messy desk does not necessarily mean a manager is unorganized.

Not all individuals have all these skills in abundance, but essential skills require communications and getting along with others.

What to do

• Trust your team and expect professionalism unless proven otherwise.
• Base project estimates using employee estimates times the observed load factor of the team. The load factor can be calculated when iterative development is used. It is calculated based on how long the iteration would have actually taken vs the original time estimated.
• Make sure all team members are heard with regard to ideas and project input when applicable.
• Make sure all confidential meetings with employees stay confidential.

What not to do

• Force schedules upon employees. This is dependent on the project or problem. If there is a major problem such as a network being down it needs to be fixed as soon as possible. For these types of problems or mission critical problems, everything else is stopped until it is fixed. Therefore this is as much a setting of priority, but is normally a short term problem where overtime is justified.
• Be bureaucratic with employees that show initiative.
• Fail to reward desired behavior.
• Fail to resolve problems when they occur.

Management Roles

Management must:

• Keep focused on requirements
• Shield the team from distractions
• Resolve conflicts

Serious project risks that can be caused, allowed, or influenced by management are:

• Excessive schedule pressure
• Creeping requirements
• Poor estimates
• Low quality
• Low productivity
• Inadequate measurement

Source: CTDP Management Guide

Mintzberg's 10 Managerial Roles

INTERPERSONAL	Figurehead	Performs ceremonial and symbolic duties such as greeting visitors, signing legal documents
	Leader	Direct and motivate subordinates, training, counseling, and communicating with subordinates
	Liaison	Maintain information links both inside and outside organization; use mail, phone calls, meetings
INFORMATIONAL	Monitor	Seek and receive information, scan periodicals and reports, maintain personal contacts
	Disseminator	Forward information to other organization members; send memos and reports, make phone calls
	Spokesperson	Transmit information to outsiders through speeches, reports, memos
DECISIONAL	Entrepreneur	Initiate improvement projects, identify new ideas, delegate idea responsibility to others
	Disturbance Handler	Take corrective action during disputes or crises; resolve conflicts among subordinates; adapt to environmental crises
	Resource Allocator	Decide who gets resources, scheduling, budgeting, setting priorities
	Negotiator	Represent department during negotiation of union contracts, sales, purchases, budgets; represent departmental interests

Original source: Henry Mintzberg - The Nature of Managerial Work