It seems my recent tutorial about winning formulas for creating riveting openings proved useful to a few readers.
So this week I’m handing you a few more strategies that I hope you’ll find just as helpful …
Apart from seizing your prospect’s attention and interest, there are no hard and fast rules on what your objective should be in these crucial opening paragraphs. Every selling situation is different. And your market is what should drive your direction.
You may find it best to bribe your prospect for his attention by making him a big fat promise of what he can expect. You may want to scare the daylights out of him with a terrible warning of impending doom and promise his rescue.
You may want to shock or surprise him with something so unusual he can’t look away. Or you may just want to make him smile and agree with you, so he instantly likes you and is interested in what you have to say.
All of these approaches and more can be used to enter the conversation that’s taking place right now between your prospect’s ears. Here are five more specific strategies that have proven successful…
Strategy #6 — The damaging admission opening …
With this strategy, you start by saying bad things about yourself, your company, or your product.
The idea is to shock the reader with a statement that’s incongruent with what a salesperson would be expected to say when selling a product.
Naturally, this grabs attention and builds trust.
What’s most unusual about the following example is that there’s no appeal to the prospect’s self-interest anywhere in the entire opening.
The copy is curiosity arousing, but there’s no statement of benefit to the reader, not even in the headline. Its author, marketing maverick Joe Sugarman, in his book, “The Adweek Copywriting Handbook,” says there’s no need for such in the opening of an ad.
Heresy? Maybe, but Joe’s ads worked like gangbusters. Take a look at this:
Headline: Magic Baloney
Subhead: You’ll love the way we hated the Magic Stat thermostat until an amazing thing happened
Body Copy: You’re probably expecting our typical sales pitch but get ready for a shock. For instead of telling you what a great product the Magic Stat thermostat is, we’re going to tear it apart. Unmercifully.
When we first saw the Magic Stat, we took one look at it and went, “Yuck.” We took one look at the plastic case, and said, “How cheap looking.” And when we looked for the digital read out, it had none. So before the salesman even showed us how it worked, we were totally turned off.
REAL LOSER
So there it was — at first blush a real loser. But wait, we did find one good feature — a feature that led us to a discovery.
Then Joe goes on to tell the reader why he desperately needs this particular thermostat. Many of Joe’s headlines and openings were pure curiosity, taking a surprisingly long time to address the self-interest of the reader.
His ads usually opened with one or two word benefit-less headlines like “Magic Baloney,” “Pet Plane,” “Mail Order Mansion,” “Gold Space Chains,” “HOT,” and the like.
Most of Sugarman’s ads fail “the three-finger test,” but they pulled like a pack of mules in a thunderstorm.
Get Joe’s book at Amazon and devour it!
Strategy #7 — The IF/THEN opening…
There’s something about a conditional statement that inspires belief. And that’s what makes the if/then opening so powerful. It allows you to address the reader’s self interest very powerfully in your opening.
You’ve probably seen it used a thousand times. You may even be bored with it and think people will be “on to you” if you use it. That may be true in some markets, or if you use it poorly, but in general, the if/then opening is a trusty workhorse.
Sometimes I like to stick a sentence or two in front of my if/then statement that addresses a very strong objection that might exist in the marketplace, as in the following example.
Dear Determined Friend,
You can relax — this is definitely not another one of those shameless pie in the sky sales pitches that leave you high and dry, holding the bag on some hair-brained scheme designed to make somebody else rich and leave you broke.
Every word of what you are about to read is true, and the suggested course of action is realistic, sustainable, and something you can be totally proud of …
If you’ve ever longed for the freedom, personal satisfaction, and financial independence of having a thriving and successful business of your own … but never thought you had the resources or knowledge to get started … finally, you’re about to discover the breakthrough you’ve been looking for.
This is going to be one of the most rewarding articles you’ve read in your entire life!
Here’s why …
I firmly believe that in many cases the sale is all but made in the first few paragraphs.
If you can enthusiastically promise the exact outcome your target prospect is looking for and stir his desire for it quickly in those first few paragraphs, you’re well on your way to making a sale. And the if/then opening is a pretty darn good vehicle for kicking off.
Strategy #8 — Make A Prediction…
Every time my wife Susan and I have Chinese food, I’m reminded of the power of the prediction.
“Close your eyes, honey. I’m going to shuffle the fortune cookies behind my back now.” “Oh come on, dear. Can’t I just scarf down my beef with broccoli in peace, just this once?” It NEVER happens.
People seem to have this strange, all consuming fascination with just about anything that has to do with the divining of their future, no matter how inane or ridiculous that thing might be.
And so you can almost always count on being able to create a strong opening by taking a topical happening, making a prediction about how it will play out, and relating that outcome to your prospect.
Even better, tease him before revealing your prediction, like this opening written by Clayton Makepeace:
When was the last time YOU had advance knowledge of an event that could turn a molehill of cash into a veritable mountain of money?
When was the last time you not only foresaw the event, but also had strong evidence of when it was going to occur, AND knew the investments and strategies most likely to turn that event into windfall profits for you?
That’s precisely the kind of priceless knowledge that’s available to you now …
Questions that tease the prospect about a prediction, while demonstrating how knowledge of that prediction can benefit him or her in some way almost guarantee attention and interest. Take it from the peacemaker.
Strategy #9 — The Emotional Release Opening…
With this strategy, instead of getting your prospect’s blood pumping with the promise of your product, your opening is all about his pain.
You’re not just reminding him briefly of it. You’re grabbing the knife that’s hanging out of his side and twisting it.
You want to get him as agitated as possible about the source of his frustration, so when you present your solution, he really appreciates it and is ready to act.
The important thing to realize about this opening is that it’s only as good as your research. You’re not asking your prospect to feel things he’s not already feeling. You’re simply putting into words the bottled-up frustrations he’s dying to express.
The best way to do this is to address the source of your reader’s pain in the opening paragraph, and then quickly demonstrate your empathy for him. Show him you’ve walked in his shoes and make him experience his suffering through your story.
Here’s a wonderful example I received in a mailing from real estate guru Craig Proctor:
Dear Fellow Realtor, Who Works Too Many Hours for Not Enough Money,
Let’s face it. You ARE working much too hard at your Real Estate career. Even though you’re smart and disciplined and ethical; even though you’re playing by the rules and doing everything you’re supposed to do; even though you’re working from “dark to dark” (out the door before the sun’s up and dragging yourself back home long after sunset), pushing yourself —HARD — to plow through your ever growing to-do list … even with all this. Real Estate is still taking WAY more from you than it’s giving back.
How do I know this? Because I’m a real estate agent myself, and I’ve been where you are. My name is Craig Proctor, and while I currently operate a highly successful Real Estate business (I’ve been top 10 for RE/MAX Worldwide for 15 years), it wasn’t always this way.
So I can tell you from first hand experience that the problem isn’t you. The problem is the tools and systems you’re using.
In your heart of hearts, you know it’s true. You know you’re a better agent, spouse, parent, friend than the sum-total of your life to date suggests. You know that if you could just get past the details that are holding you back, you could show people what you’re made of. You could achieve your true potential.
It’s frustrating isn’t it?
Isn’t that a fantastic opening? Joe realtor’s been having these feelings, but he’s been fighting them, pushing them under. But they’re undeniable when he reads Craig’s masterful sales copy.
Study this opening closely. It weaves flattery, personality, empathy, credibility, challenge and more into a potent emotional cocktail that can’t help but suck a qualified prospect into your pitch.
Strategy #10 — Will you do me a favor?
The late great Robert Collier often opened his letters by asking for a favor. Why?
Well it’s very much like the if/then idea. If you’ll do something for me, then I’ll do something for you. If you’ll try out this new travel bag for a week and promise to give me your opinion of it, I’ll give you a fancy new fountain pen. It was the classic puppy dog close.
Plenty of people liked the travel bag so much they decided to keep it. And whether they bought it or not, they felt they were doing the company a favor by giving their “review.” Well imagine the effect this act of “helping” had on the prospect/customer.
Picture yourself driving along on a rainy night and seeing someone stuck on the side of the road with a flat tire. You decide to be a Good Samaritan. You get out of your car, and you help them to replace the tire.
The next day you meet this person again, and for no reason at all, they are somehow special to you.
You like them. In fact, you are going out of your way to convince yourself this person is a good person in order to justify your previous decision to help them. You are doing this even though you had no idea of their character before doing so, and still don’t. And when this person asks you to do something at some point in the future, you will be extremely likely to comply. Is the activation of this curious quirk of human nature good for business?
Here’s how this opening works…
You describe your quid pro quo in the very first paragraph. But you name your end of the bargain only. To find out their end of the bargain they must stay engaged. Then in the rest of the opening you foreshadow the main body of your pitch.
I love this “will you do me a favor” opening of John Carlton’s …
If you’ll grant me one simple favor, I’ll let you in on the biggest breakthrough in bodybuilding of your lifetime.
Here’s what it’s about: We have discovered (through a highly respected scientific connection of mine) a pheromone that produces an immediate and very intense testosterone dump in men that lasts approximately 30 minutes. Just image what a 250% spike in testosterone — which you can pinpoint to exactly the right time in your workout — will do for you? You will easily see three years of results happen over the next two to three months!
No one else in bodybuilding (or any sport) knows about this exciting new discovery, yet. This is cutting edge science… with a weird twist.
Let me explain this in the easiest way I know-how. This story will blow your mind (as it did mine).
What a brilliant opening. Now that John’s told them what he’s going to tell them, he’ll go on to tell them, and finally tell them what he told them. And every word of it will be fresh and exciting.
And that’s it folks, 10 killer strategies for opening any sales piece, presentation or pitch with a BANG! I hope you found this helpful.
Until next time, Good Selling!
Cameron Carey says
These are all excellent. Hours would have been needed for me to write a draft for each strategy, but without these psychological insights, it would have been a meager product.
Daniel Levis says
Glad you are funding value in this series, Cameron. 😉