Maslen on Marketing, Structural tools

I object

If you’ve ever done any face-to-face selling, you’ll know something a lot of marketeers and business owners don’t.

You have to find out not just what will make someone buy from you but what’s stopping them from saying ‘yes’.

When you’re planning your copy, whether it’s a web page, an email, a brochure or a sales letter, you can’t just focus on benefits.

[What? Heresy! – Ed.]

You also have to make a list of all the reasons why your reader might NOT believe you. Might not trust you. Might not buy from you.

Then you have to figure out the answers to all their ‘Yes, but…’ questions. Here are three of the most common objections and what to do about them…

Objection 1 – “It’s too expensive”

To be honest, price is rarely the real reason why people won’t buy from you. It’s a smoke screen for deeper-seated objections. Here’s what you do.

You demonstrate the value of your product to your reader. Show them how much money they’ll save, or make, versus the cost.

Talk about their purchase as “an investment”. That makes it sound more prestigious and introduces the idea of payback.

Objection 2 – “I need to talk to someone else”

Here’s another classic delaying tactic. So you have to show them what they could lose by hanging back. Time is money, right?

And give them testimonials from people just like them – an excellent way to provide that missing conversation and reassurance.

Old school sales guys would imply that, surely, their prospect was the one to make the decision. “Oh, I didn’t realise your wife made all the important decisions.”

Objection 3 – “I’m not sure I really need this”

If this is what you’re hearing, boy have you got some work to do.

It means you haven’t sold your product (or service) to your reader. You haven’t convinced them that they will be better off with it than without it.

Did you cover every single benefit your product offers? Did you explain with facts just how your reader will benefit?

Did you tell a story about life with your product that makes it irresistible?

No? OK – well that’s your next challenge. You need to take a long hard look at your copy and more importantly at your product.

Identify what it does for your reader and this objection will melt away.

And I’m telling you this because?

As copywriters, we spend a lot of time deciding what to send.

But we also have to tune in our receivers and discover what our readers are thinking but maybe not telling us.

Itemise every single reason why your reader might not buy from you, answer those nagging doubts in their mind and you are closer to your sale.

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