Craig Garber

How to speak to your prospects, and maybe even more important… how not to

This past weekend I was reading through a classified ad in a magazine.

The headline read “Knight XV,” and the sales copy said, “The Knight SV is the world’s most secured and luxurious, fully armoured, handcrafted SUV.  It is a one-of-a-kind V10 6.8 litre, Bio-fuel powered SUV which offers an ownership experience unlike any other in today’s exotic vehicle marketplace.”

Now for starters, most people don’t even know what all this means.  The average Joe has no clue what a V10 6.8 litre engine is and how it’s different from a V8 4.7 litre engine and why (or if) it even matters.

Not to mention, all the British spellings in an American magazine.

But the biggest issue is, if you met someone who was trying to sell you a fully armoured SUV (and yes, armoured was spelled like that) and this was the first thing they said to you, how much more do you think you’d want to hear?

Probably not much, right?

And in this example lies a critical lesson about how to talk to and treat your prospects.

You see, the secret to getting them to listen to you is…

To treat them… like… people!

Strange, isn’t it?

That treating people like people is going to make them listen to you – wow!

So let me give you an example of exactly how a similar introduction might work, if you were trying to sell this “fully armoured SUV,” in print:

Headline:

An Open Letter To Every Person Who Wants REAL Safety And Protection In Their Automobile: Don’t Even THINK Of Buying A Car Until You Read This!

Opening copy:

“In today’s crazy world, you can never be too careful, right?

After all, a day doesn’t go by without seeing some kind of tragedy or safety scare in the newspaper or on television.

And the ugly truth is, the more successful you are, the bigger target you are as well.

So if you’re one of the many successful people who want more protection and safety than your current automobile offers, then this is the most exciting and important message you will ever read!

There is now a way to guarantee you and your family the safest ride in the safest automobile ever designed.

But before I tell you about this car, let me just tell you up front, this vehicle is NOT for everyone.

And here’s why…”

See, when you speak to someone like a real live honest-to-goodness human being, instead of like an inanimate object, it’s just not that hard to get them to listen to you.

When you actually care about the people you’re trying to sell something to, and you share their concerns and fears, the conversation’s a lot more natural and a lot more productive.

Imagine that?

Now go sell something, Craig Garber

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One response to “How to speak to your prospects, and maybe even more important… how not to”

  1. Juho Tunkelo Avatar
    Juho Tunkelo

    Craig, I completely agree with the sentiment that all copy should be written as if… as if read by people. Yes. Absolutely and no exceptions.

    However, automotive advertising is a strange creature in a few ways. One of the things about it is, people pretty much know (or think they know) what they’re buying, so most automotive advertising resorts to the simplest two-step they know:

    1. Show extremely pretty pictures, maybe video too if online
    2. Throw lots of impressive technical jargon at them

    Step 1 triggers the emotions they need to get excited and convinced this is the car they want. The emotional side of selling achieved.

    Step 2 then soothes the rational mind that there are soooo many indisputable facts to support the emotional decision they’ve already made. The intellectual side of selling achieved.

    That said, it would be very interesting to see a head-to-head test of parallel campaigns, one with this traditional model and the other with a real people-centered approach with long copy etc.

    I just realized your example was a classified ad, so eh, I guess I veered a little off here but maybe it makes for interesting discussion. 🙂

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