Are You Revealing Your Price Too Soon?
A common mistake made by copywriters and advertisers is
to start by making a big promise in your headline or at the beginning
of your copy, and then follow with "for only $499.95!"
Bringing up price is wrong at this point. The only time
this is appropriate is when you are selling something that
is a household name and needs no explanation.
StreetSmart Marketers know there's a basic process and structure
to persuading, and until your prospect wants what
you are selling she/he won’t care about the price.
Advertising is nothing more than salesmanship in print. Effective
salespeople know that you have to build desire for the product,
so after you make a promise that solves a problem for your prospect, paint
a picture for them of what their life will be like once they
have your service. Show them the results they will get and what impact
that will have on them.
At this point you'll be tempted to tell them your price, especially
if you think your offer is a bargain. However in most cases
your clients will need some kind of proof that your service is everything
you say it is. So this is the time to include one or more testimonials
that reinforce everything you have told them will happen to them
if they buy your service.
Well crafted testimonials provide solid evidence that what you
say is true. In addition to testimonials always use solid facts
and figures. So instead of saying we have the best trained customer
service people. Say each of our customer service people has four
weeks of training before they ever speak to a customer, and each
year they receive 1 week of additional training so that they can
deal with 98.5% of the issues they encounter.
Now that you've made your promise, painted an enticing
mental picture of how the client will benefit, and provided third
party evidence of the benefits, you can go ahead and reveal
the price.
If you have done your job, at this point, your client will
be sold, will want your service, and you will be able justify
the price you've set without difficulty.
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