Archive of ‘Internet Marketing’ category
Rational and Emotional Appeals
We’ll skip the intellectual appeals because this should be second nature.
More than 90% of sales appeals are geared towards giving the product’s factual features or benefits.
Most of the time this doesn’t work.
Consider using emotional appeals instead.
Emotional Hotspots
Emotional Hotspots are a prospect’s sensitive areas. Their Achilles’ heel, so to speak.
 If triggered, these hotspots will leave the prospect defenseless.
If you drive a prospect’s emotional hotspots and you are successful, they’d be powerless and usually buy the product or service.
Let’s look at some practical applications.
Interweaved in this are elements of features, benefits and needs-based selling.
Rational-based appeal:
“By this MP3 player which comes with 4gigabytes of storage space, latest communication technology USB and bluetooth connectivity.High capacity NiMH battery with 5000 mAh capacity. Use the EzTunes software to transfer files.”
Emotional-based appeal:
“Enjoy hundreds of hours of your favourite music and enjoy your favourite tunes on the move. Supreme portability and convenience as you wirelessly transfer music to and from your desktop.”
Emotional appeal can target higher level values like comfort, luxury, prestige.
You are more likely to get a consensus when you focus on the macro perspective (it will improve your quality of life), rather than the micro (“what’s the battery life like?”)
As you get the prospect more involved in your presentation, you’ll be able to direct the flow of the transaction and they will follow your lead.
Poll the prospect
By asking the prospect the attributes that they’re looking for (reliablity, effectiveness, durability) you can continually emphasize those attributes.
Appeal to emotional attributes
For a customer who’s interested in durability, they would particularly keen if they find out your product is designed and engineered to provide ten years of trouble-free service.
For a customer who’s interested in effectiveness, an analysis showing that it’s more powerful than competitive products would help address their needs.
Emotions can be a double-edged sword.
As you probe the prospect’s emotional responses, you will also discover their points of sensitivity.
This will help you refine your approach to enhance the chances of success.
If you haven’t read the previous article which covers the other 2 important Internet Marketing sales techniques, you can view it at “The three types of Internet Marketing sales techniques“.
At this point, you’re already familiar with features-based selling and benefits-based selling,
shouldn’t that already help secure the customer?
You’re right, these are really powerful selling techniques and sales trainers like Brian Tracy, Tom Hopkins, Blair Singer have become rich off them.
But, there is one way to substantially increase your sales closure rate.
Again, my partner is going to nag at me, because I’ve already given it away for free in the Best Kept Business Secret course at BizExcellerator.com.
I’m starting to believe him, that giving people stuff for free, means they’re not likely to read it or take action.
Only when I charge them $1,000 for the course, will there be a stronger commitment for action.
I’ve been involved with Stuart’s Internet Marketing training recently, and only a handful of participants have taken action. Maybe you should charge more for the training, then you’ll have more people taking action, Stuart!
But here’s a real-world application of the sales insider secret.
I got a lot of it from my real estate mentor, Edwin Teo.
Using this technique we sold a good class bungalow in November last year.
If you’re familiar with property, there’re only a few hundred of such properties in Singapore.
Because the supply is limited, and the pool of people who can afford such properties is also limited, it’s difficult to close these deals.
But if you do, boy oh boy, a major payday!
In fact, the fees for this deal was in the high five figure amount.
Imagine this, a SINGLE deal amounts to more than what 80% of Singaporeans make in a year!
Just ONE deal.
Now here’s the secret.
“Needs-based selling“.
That was simple wasn’t it?
Go forth and embrace success.
I told you it was so simple and straight in front of your face that it’s a surprise more people aren’t successful.
If you need to, re-read the section on “Abraham Maslow Hierarchy of Needs” at the BizExcellerator Best Kept Business Secret course.
Successful selling, specifically seeing a quantum increase in sales (where we’re talking about sales increase by 5 times, 10 times, instead of 30% or 50%), requires a major paradigm shift.
The sales approach needs to go from product-centric (features or benefits-focus) to customer-focused.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs will help you pinpoint with laser-like accuracy the basis of greatest need and meet it with your product.
Even if you have the world’s best quality mineral water-based ice cubes and you’re selling it to an Eskimo, you’re going to need a lot of luck.
If you have a low-priced energy-efficient igloo heater, I’m fairly sure you’re going to be top salesman pretty soon.
Commonsensical, isn’t it? The application is more challenging though.
This paradigm shift will net you greater results.
To put the hands-on spin to Maslow’s framework, consider the following:
1) All human beings have needs
2) Meeting higher level needs may enable you to price your products and services at a premium
3) Emotional components are more important than intellectual appeals.
Emotion vs Intellect
Do you typically make decisions based on emotion (how you feel about a product) or intellect (your rational opinion about it).
Although you may sometimes use intellect as a basis, most of the time it will be based on an emotional decision.
For example, among the food choices, our diet might best be met by a high fiber, medium carbohydrate, low fat food combination. Maybe boiled barley and soy milk. Since this is our optimum food choice, we should be eating the same thing every day.
But we don’t!
Instead we crave (an emotional response) salmon, french fries, chocolate cake, ice-cream, because we want (an emotional response) rather than need (an intellectual response) these foods.
Is this logical? Shouldn’t we eat the ‘best food’ every day?
Our bodies will be in peak condition, won’t it?
Instead, emotion overrules logic!
Needs-based selling if executed correctly, will:
- have a high emotional component
- be customer-centric (but still must have some product focus too)
If you have questions regarding:
- Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
- needs-based selling
- emotional vs intellectual appeals
please leave a comment.
If you might find crafting of needs-based selling appeals, or examples useful, drop a comment too.
Needs-based selling is a very powerful too.
Because many people aren’t using it (or using it well), you will see massive increases in your results if used successfully.
Test it out and do report your results.
After coming up with yesterday’s post. “The three types of Internet Marketing sales techniques“, and offering to share information on the most powerful technique, I’ve seen some interest on the blog and outside of it for the information.
And my partners have been asking me if I really want to share this information.
I’ve told them yes, it would be useful and helpful for my readers.
And it will be the first time too, that I’m explaining and sharing this information.
It will be published in the next day or so, and i’m currently editing the information.
Thanks for your patience.
Cheers,
Have a comment?
List it below:
We are all familiar with the Internet Marketing millionaire success drill.
- Drive Internet traffic to your site
- Convert traffic into sales
- Crosssell and upsell complementary products
Further refinements include:
- Increase traffic
- Increase conversion rate
Sounds simple, doesn’t it?Step-by-step success should come in a month, shouldn’t it?
Then why do 90% of affiliates never make a sale (aside from perhaps buying from their own affiliate link if it’s permitted)?
Why do these 95% conversion rate items on affiliate networks like Clickbank and Commission Junction NEVER translate to a sale on YOUR site? Or maybe just one or two sales?
I was wondering the same till I analyzed my business strategy.
Here’s what my analysis showed.
It’s lies mainly in the failure of the sales technique.
There are three types of sales techniques.
A lot of people only teach two types.
In fact, the business and Internet Marketing courses will teach both types.
Shockingly, most do not teach the third sales technique.
Is it because they choose not to teach you the third sales technique?
I’d like to think they’d want to help you increase your sales.
Perhaps they’ve had the sales technique ingrained and they’ve neglected to mention this technique.
Here’re the two sales techniques that almost everyone teaches.
They work and are the foundation of many sales programs.
- Sales Technique 1: Feature/function-based selling
This sells the functions of the product or service.
It’s a ‘functional’ approach.
You buy a car, it has 4 wheel and an engine.
The car brings you from your home to your office.
You can carry groceries in the trunk of your car.
You can go on vacations, driving to distant locations in your car.
A car is great, isn’t it?
Does it work?
Sure, it does.
You buy an iPod, you can to listen to music.
You go to a restaurant, you get a steak.
You go to the theater, you watch a movie.
It’s very WYSIWYG (What you see if what you get).
Does it work in sales?
Sure, it does.
Most people sell based on this technique.
It’s the most basic sales technique and people do buy based on features and functions.
- Sales Technique 2: Benefits-based selling
This is higher up the sales chain.
You’re selling benefits, what does the product do for the client?
A car provides convenience, luxury, social status for it’s owner.
Eating at a top-rated restaurant where it’s almost impossible to get reservations MEANS you have sufficient influence and social status to get it.
Benefits-based selling means the product benefits it’s potential owner in some way.
Would you benefit from purchasing an Internet Marketing product if it meant your business would grow very large, you would have more free time, and you didn’t even have to touch your business anymore?
If you did, you’d certainly buy into the benefits-based selling model.
A comparison of features/function-based selling versus benefits-based selling
- feature-based selling is more descriptive.
You need to have an understanding of your product in order to sell it successfully.
- On the other hand, benefits-based selling requires deeper understanding of how the product can improve the quality of the customer’s life. How will the car’s 4 wheels and engine improve how the customer lives, works, plays.
How will an xbox360’s series of blinking graphics and home theater sound improve the game players leisure time?
Once these have been detailed in a clear manner and presented to the client, they’re much more likely to buy.
However, I’ve found that the most interesting and effective sales technique is the third sales technique, because it:
- engages the customer and creates a sense of ownership
- if successful, will create a compelling and unbearable urge to buy.
- Because it taps into many powerful urges and needs, it will pull at several psychological drives and create a powerful irrestible compulsion and desire.
If there is interest, the third sales technique will be covered.
Do leave a comment.
Before I go into today’s topic, I was to give a shoutout to my buddy, Ridzuan Ashim at XSmatter.com. Although we haven’t met IRL (in real life) yet, he was so kind to help point out that my hyperlinks were messed up in my ‘Blogging for Dummies: Singapore’s finest‘ post and also mentioning that I could change my comment procedure. It’s now easier to leave comments (you don’t have to login anymore). It’s only with the help of friends like Ridzuan and others who’re more experienced in blogging and Internet Marketing, that’s helped me build this new blog to an Alexa 662,094 ranking (as of 1st Aug 06). Thanks for the help guys.
On to today’s topic.
Have you ever done anything new that you’re real excited about? (ok, silly question).
Were you really hyped about it?
It may have been starting a new relationship, going to a new school or starting a new job.
Remember how your first day was?
Simiarly, you may have had your Internet Marketing success hopes go up after attending an Internet Marketing seminar preview. The presenter might have said something along the lines of:
- Do you have a neuron, three fingers, one working eye and a computer with Microsoft Word? Yes! you can create a website!
- Did you know that Bert Ingley plays Madden NFL 06 for a living and makes great money!
- (fill in name) Internet Marketer just bought a TV station, succeeded in auctioning for a town in California, has 257 high-performance sports cars and hasn’t even driven half of them! or (insert your great achievement/expense here)
It’s easy to get mentally trapped. Get a euphoric high from hearing about this.
Darn it, if they can do it, so can I.
You might’ve signed up for the course, expecting to receive five figure paychecks like clockwork.
You go for the course, you go home, thinking to yourself, I can do this, I can do this!
You clock up 18 hour work days.
You are meeting people every day, exchanging ideas, you’re going to take over the business world.
Watch out Google, Yahoo! Ebay, Yahoo
You do this for 20 consecutive days.
You are exhausted, but never mind, everything’s just waiting for you.
You were super psyched, everything seems new, the world might’ve even seemed brighter.
Then bleep. (or hiss if you prefer)
What happened?
The Honeymoon Effect is what happened.
That’s when all the hyper, and gloss, and glamour, and thoughts of instant riches suddenly get ripped away. Cold, hard reality is revealed. You might have a ‘oh darn’ moment, or if you’re a little more honest a ‘oh shit, what have I got myself into’ moment.
What seemed possible, seems less possible. Maybe even impossible.
The honeymoon effect typically manifests itself as soon as an hour after you come up with the idea, or about a month into the project.
Is the honeymoon effect bad?
Not necessarily. It keeps out a lot of wannabe entrepreneurs.
It poses as a barrier of entry to the poseurs.
It is a double-edged sword though.
You will find yourself facing your moment of truth.
Glamour aside, is this a business you want to go in.
If not, you can save yourself a lot of time and effort, but quitting right now.
The honeymoon effect can be an effective tool to keep the team motivated.
Successful entrepreneurs are able to constantly renew this honeymoon effect for the team and for themselves.
If what you’re doing is:
- personally meaningful
- congruent with your attitudes, values and orientation
- adds value to the world
each morning you come to engage your project, it’ll be with a sense of purpose and commitment.You can boost your team’s morale by doing the same for them too.
Here’re 3 specific ways to employ the honeymoon effect:
- Focus on the macro, less on the micro: What is your mission? What is your purpose? How will you change the world? Frequently there is a focus on micro level, nitty-gritty tasks. Granted these are tiring, repetitive and need to be done, however viewed in the context of accomplishing the greater good, they are much more palatable.
- Action=Reaction: In a positive, learning environment, hand out kudos, high fives to your team members, encourage them to give them to other team members and to yourself too. As you adopt a ‘pay it forward‘ approach, there will be a goodwill multiplier effect. Whatever you give out, will come back to you multiplied.
- ‘What can we learn from this’ thinking: It’s inevitable to encounter negative experiences in the course of business. Some people feel down after a failure. But what’s more important is how we deal with it. Asking the question “how can we learn from this? What’s our takeaway?’ will help create a solution should the situation repeat itself (it usually does). Brainstorming and creating a solution will help yourself and the organization become bigger, better and stronger!
The Honeymoon effect is essential to all relationship dynamics, whether personal or in a business setting.
Work with it to make it work for you.
Internet Marketing is a dangerous time trap.
You could be surfing the net, visiting forums, reading experts sites and before you know it, it’s 5am and you have to be up in 3 hours time for a meeting.
Is there an easy way out of this situation?
It’s not easy to regain control of your time, but the following could be helpful.
- Plan your time at the start of the day. Easy to do for the first 3 days. Plan how you’d like to use the day. Especially since you’re likely to be awake for about 16 of them. Factor time for eating, relaxing and doing other non-work related matters. You can have about 12 hours of productive time, so it could be challenging to plan 14 or 16 hours of work.
- Produce during your peak period. Are you a morning or night person? Are you at your best before lunch? After an afternoon nap? In the evenings after dinner, or maybe in the early morning when everyone’s gone to bed. Understanding your peak period and acting on it, may give you a 50% increase in your productivity. Work with your biorhythmns and your body’s patterns, not against it.
- Critical 20, Ignore the 80: Pareto’s principle helped him determine that 20% of the citizens of Italy controlled 80% of its wealth. Similarly 20% of the tasks you need to achieve will get you 80% of your results. Focus on the critical 20% and ignore the trivial 80%
- Fight the battles, win the war: You’ll miss targets during the course of the day. Is that a reason to give up? Nope, not if you MUST succeed. Keep moving on, it’s your result at the end of the day that brings you one step closer to success. Overly fixiating on micro level targets, may mean you miss the macro goals.
- Discipline, discipline, discipline: Time mastery isn’t easy. Nothing worth working for is going to be. (otherwise everyone walking the streets will be a millionaire) If it’s worth workng for, it’s worth suffering (if you choose to look at it that way) for.
Are these foolproof tips?
Only a fool would think so, but they’re a way to get started, so saddle up and prepare to ride into battle!
