SSWT Internet Marketing Forum

I have been doing some reading about "in person" sales and I have read that a sales letter is supposed to be "selling in print."

How do you figure out what motivates your potential buyers?

In one on one selling this would be done by asking them questions at the beginning in person, like, "What did you like most about your previous television?"

These questions are supposed to allow you to figure out what benefits are important to your buyer.

How do you do this when writing copy, since you don´t have just one person to taylor your pitch to, but hundreds of different individuals?

Where do you get feedback about a particular product or service and find out what is important to people?

That's a very good question, actually, here's a neat little "guide" I like to use:



Ben

Ben - thanks for pointing us to this article. It spurred me to write this post today over at Search Engine Guide:
Twitter as Target Market Research Tool (and the Twitterization of Clayton Makepeace)

(Mods: checking with you first before I post link to the article. No probs if not!)

Hi Ben! I have listened to several of your interviews and also enjoy stopping by your blog.

You will soon be a legend in your own time. (assuming you aren´t one already.)

I´m not sure if this is an accurate depiction. But I see there being a new type of individual emerging in the information age. This person is completely mobile, can live anywhere in the world and leverage technology to reach a new level of freedom never before possible.

I am also a big fan of Tim Ferris and there are probably more people with the desire for independence or the desire to build their own future/life/destiny etc.

Anyway, I see copywriting, selling and product creation as the ideal way to gain independence and be able to generate value basically independently.

There aren´t many jobs left like that left.

I am not a pro yet, but I am commited to getting there, because the rewards are just too great.

Thanks for the excellent link. I think thats a cool idea to try to imagine that you are your prospect and think of how you can solve some of their frustrations, aches and pains etc. (although don´t let your imagination go too far. I wouldn´t want to find myself in the body of a 19 year old girl, trying to decide which braw will enhance my bustline the most effectively. That´s just scary.)

Now I am starting to understand how "empathy" fits into the selling process.

If you really know what its like to be in your prospects shoes, then what the person is facing should be more real to you and you should want to solve their problems.

So, a salesman should be a GOD granting good things to people, because he understands what keeps them awake at night and what means the most to them.

In this light, selling seems like the most noble profession of all, if your product can deliver.

I second the nod to Ben.

Ben, I've been reading your blog for some time now. Great work! You were one of the key inspirations for upgrading my static site to a WordPress platform recently so I can blog on a daily basis.

Now... To add a contribution to the excellent replies to jsawvel's question...

Selling in print is LIKE selling in person, but it's not the same thing. Selling in print is far less effective at closing the deal for the very reason you pointed out.

As you mentioned, when you sell in person you have the opportunity to get feedback from the prospect and find out first-hand what motivates him and what benefits he cares about, etc.

That's why sales professionals can get 25-50% or more closing ratios. Those kind of closing ratios in print are virtually unheard of.

Most marketers measure response in terms of 1-2% if they've done a really good job of targeting the right offer to the right market in the right way.

The best you can hope for is to gauge what the MAJORITY of your customers find important... to deal with the MAJOR objections... etc.

Think of it as averaging out to the least common denominator. That's why your sales letter should be as focused as possible toward the tightest possible niche or target market.

That way, you have certain known variables you can work with.

All that said...

Once you've selected a target you're going after, speaking with them one-on-one is one of the best ways to "get inside their head" and find out what's important to them.

Just as you alluded to in your original post, you can craft a more focused sales message if you've actually had a chance to speak to and get to know members of your target audience.