Soft Sell Sales Increase Without Stretching the Truth
ByRecently we were asked:
I want to have a Bible-based website that compares all religions asking questions of all, and thus have true Christianity standout. I also want to help people through the muck and mire of the Internet and really make some money. But how do I increase sales and membership, and drive traffic without stretching the truth, possibly deceiving, and/or flat-out lying about the products and services I’m offering?
And we answered:
Wow. It sounds like you have been completely captured by the idea that deceiving in some way is the only technique for making sales. Or to say it another way, your imagination has been completely seized and co-opted by what you’ve seen in marketing and sales and your creativity has been shut down.
Well, we understand. It’s not easy to envision something different when you are immersed, albeit unconsciously. You may have heard it said that . . .
The fish is the last one to notice the water.
Given traditional marketing methods, we congratulate you for even asking the question.
But let’s get to it
The truth, the straight and direct truth, must be at the core of your marketing. Otherwise your comparisons and what you say about them won’t be credible—to say nothing of the spiritual damage you may effect by misleading for the sake of sales.
So first, you have to recognize the depth at which you’ve taken in the idea that there’s only one way to market. To use a cliché, you brought it in and now you own it. If that weren’t the case you wouldn’t even have asked your question. You would have imagined another way.
Increase Sales
So, how can you increase sales.?
1) Commit to disciplining yourself so that when you experience the thought or the impulse to deceive, you will recognize the mindset you’re in and at least say “No!”—even if you don’t have an alternative at the moment. Stopping your negative mind chatter is the first step. That opens your imagination to the possibility of other possibilities.
2) Understand that people DO respond more to fear than they do to the promise of positive results. Why is that? Think about it. When you’re hurting, your focus is drawn to the pain and your desire to end the pain. So you must meet your prospects where they are. That’s not a manipulation of their pain but an expression of your care and compassion.
3) Answer this question: “What benefits can my prospective customers derive from my offer?” Notice I did not say what benefits do you offer. That’s takes the focus back to you. Keep your focus on what they need. Need not want. Need carries the urgency. Want has little drive, and is often wrapped up in and compromised by wishful thinking or downright fantasy. You want to touch them where they are because you want to help them act on their own behalf.
4) Keep asking Question #3 if you can’t think of more benefits. At that point you will have touched the soul level of what you want to bring to the market. It is the soul-level that the people you want to reach will identify with. A soul-to-soul connection.
5) And now, do not dismiss traditional marketing techniques in your sales copy. You need to lead your prospect to a clear understanding of what it is you have. Because that’s how they will identify with you and know they are in the right place.
Know Who You Are and What You Have
You have to let your readers, your searchers know who you are and what you have. That’s the only way they can decide whether or not you are right for them The more transparent you are—emotionally clear and logically sound—the more you make yourself available and the more you help you provide to your prospective customers. The more they see the match between what you provide and what they need, the more easily they can decide to do what is in their best interest.
Because It’s All in the Connection,
Judith & Jim
To help you do that, be sure to get “How to Grow Your Soft Sell Marketing Platform.” Just go to: http://www.bridgingheartandmarketing.com/platformbonus
J&J,
I like how you avoided the subject of her/his websit subject matter, which could be most contentious and off-topic, and lasered in on possible marketing problems. One’s being very emotionally tied to a topic and belief about that topic can subtly influence how you target your specific audience and present benefits of one proposition over another.
While being truthful about what you want people to acknowledge in your product, you also need to make sure you don’t slam the competition. It takes the focus off the benefits of what you are offering. The focus always has to stay with potential clients, their concerns, issues, wants, and what will benefit them the most in answering their questions or solving their problems.
When you grab their heart and trust, you enhance your ability to attract and hold their willingness to exchange money for what you offer.
J&J,
I appreciate your addressing the subject of motivating prospective clients’ by means of “fear.” By our hard-wiring, we all are motivated by fear. However, that’s not the only means that I want to use to motivate people to act. Here’s hoping that we get the right combination and end up on the plus side with benefits being the larger share.
Thanks!
J&J,
I really appreciate your focus on what the client needs vs. what the benefits of what we offer. In trying to keep up with the rapid fire speed of response in the virtual world, I think we are too often seduced by what we want to be true rather than what we know to be true in the case of finding out (by asking) what clients need and then responding with transparency and integrity. Thanks for this thought-provoking blog!
Education muscle tests as a positive attribute, and has a positive effect on one’s energy field and state of consciousness.
Persuasion muscle tests as a negative attribute, and has a negative effect on one’s energy field and state of consciousness.
If one focuses on excellence, beauty, and educating the potential consumer as to why one’s product or service can benefit them, then if they are interested, they will buy.
If someone isn’t really interested in buying, trying to club them over the head and persuade them and manipulate them and coerce them to buy isn’t going to work.
Unless, you have “transactional-based” marketing, and your “Customer Intention” (one of the things we focus on with our Coaching/Consulting) is simply to sell lots of stuff to the customer and “extract as much money as possible from their wallet.”
If, on the other hand, your “Customer Intention” is “relationship-based”, then your marketing is going to have a very different focus, look, and feel than the “transactional-based” business model.
Judith and Jim, thanks for everything.
Dr. Andrew Colyer
Hi Maggie,
Thanks for your post.
Asking is so important. It’s the life blood of any real relationship.
There’s no way to respond effectively without knowing the circumstance — in this case finding out from our customers and prospective customers.
Jim
Great! Thank you very much!
I always wanted to write in my site something like that. Can I take part of your post to my blog?
Of course, I will add backlink?
Regards, Your Reader
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