Unleash the Power of Language

Posted on Tuesday, March 19, 2019

When you're making a sales pitch, remember this important rule: The language you use may be as important as the offer itself.

Spell out your offer in clear, concrete words that your prospects can relate to. Avoid abstract terms and vague descriptions of the general benefits of your offering. Exciting, sexy and appealing language can help make your deal sell.

Here are three quick examples that show the power of a well-turned phrase:

A gold dealer offering bank leveraging on purchases used a headline in his ads that read: "2/3 Financing on Gold and Silver." No one knew what the terms meant so there was little response. The dealer changed the headline to read: "If Gold Is Selling for $300 an Ounce, Send Us $100 an Ounce and We'll Buy You All the Gold You Want." Instant result: revenue skyrocketed five-fold.
A resume service that wanted to set up joint ventures with employment agencies decided to spell out specifics in its offering. Pointing out that the agencies already spent $20 to $50 on each job candidate — qualified or not — the resume service offered to slash that cost 50% or more. It calculated a potential savings of $1,000 a week. The offer succeeded again because the agencies understood the numbers and saw they would save money that could be applied to other capital needs.
A publisher wanted to sell a special report on cake decorating. His initial promotional copy stressed that the report could cut cake decorating time for commercial bakeries, and offered the report for $39 with a 30-day money-back guarantee. After seeing lukewarm responses, the promotional material was altered to stress that bakeries could save 500 hours of labor costs, or about $5,000 a year. As you can imagine, sales heated up.

The lesson: Present concrete ideas in your offers and illustrate your benefits in terms that get attention. Use commonly understood language, not because customers are unintelligent, but because common terms will grab attention faster. Don't tell customers you can save them a bundle. One man's bundle is another man's pittance. Tell them in round, real numbers. Look at a grocery ad from a big box store. They show the item with the sale price, and in smaller type show how much you save. That's like a double punch. Rethink your ad copy to make it more active, more plain-language, and more concrete. Then get ready for sales to take off!

Posted in Tax Topics For Individuals, Tax And Accounting Topics For Business

Disclaimer: The information contained in Dulin, Ward & DeWald’s blog is provided for general educational purposes only and should not be construed as financial or legal advice on any subject matter. Before taking any action based on this information, we strongly encourage you to consult competent legal, accounting or other professional advice about your specific situation. Questions on blog posts may be submitted to your DWD representative.