They say we’re bombarded with between 3,000 and 5,000 marketing messages a day. A DAY! Whatever the real number is, it’s become a lot tougher to break through that attention shield that your prospect always has up.
Ready to meet your prospect? Her name is Juggling Jill. No, she’s not a stripper. She’s a typical consumer who’s juggling way to many responsibilities. Some call it multitasking. She calls it torture.
She has a pot of macaroni boiling on the stove, a toddler who is pulling on her dress, all while she balances her 10-month old on her hip. She holds her cell phone between her shoulder and face to talk to her client, and the dog is barking incessantly in the other room. Music is blaring from the teenager’s room, SpongeBob is spouting his high-pitched silliness from the TV and the FedEx man just rang the doorbell.
While she puts the client on hold, she picks up the junk mail from the counter and half-heartedly opens a letter. She’s barely reading, just checking to make sure she’s not being sued or that a rich uncle didn’t die.
She walks over to the trashcan, presses the pedal as she gives the sales letter 10 seconds of her precious time. Now, which sales letter gets her undivided attention?
Sales Letter A starts out:
Dear Homeowner,
Thank you for taking the time to read this letter. I am writing to you today because you may not be aware of a growing problem that affects homeowners today. It’s a serious problem that…
Or Sales Letter B that begins:
26% of your neighbors have TERMITES!
These “house destroyers” don’t discriminate between homes made of brick or siding — they ALWAYS find the wood. And the more they EAT, the more you PAY!
Dear Juggling Jill,
We have a saying here in Termite Country: “It’s not a matter of IF termites will attack your home, but WHEN they will attack your home.”
Sales Letter A starts off like most sales letters nowadays. It takes a few paragraphs to warm up to the important issue at hand.
Problem is: Your prospect won’t read that far. Before even getting to the meat of the letter, Jill chucks the sales letter in the trash. That’s one thing off her plate!
Sales Letter B cuts right to the quick. Ten seconds before, Jill was juggling twelve different priorities. Now, after just ten seconds into this sales letter, Jill is concerned about her home, her family and her financial future.
Why? Because Sales Letter B slaps you in the face right from the beginning. It doesn’t simply get your attention, it demands your attention!
Here are a few tips to ensure all of your marketing and all of your communications with prospects and customers demand your attention:
- Tell them what they want to hear right from the start — Don’t waste time with an introduction or “warm up”. Present your biggest opportunity FIRST.
- Give them a compelling promise — Don’t save your powerful promise for the end. They’ll NEVER get there!
- Be careful with creativity — Humor, twists or being creative just to get their attention could backfire. A compelling promise wrapped in proof almost always outperforms creativity.
So ask yourself: At the start of my advertisement or communication, have I presented my most compelling and action-inducing message? If you have, you’ll do what most businesses and marketers fail to do — get your prospect’s attention.
And with that attention comes their interest, which leads to desire and ultimately action — An email, phone call or a sale! WIN!
