Michael Masterson of Early to Rise told the story about how making over-the-top, unrestrained claims in copy built a $5 million business in two years, and killed it in five.
Why? Because of the difference between buyers and quality customers.
On the front-end the hyped up copy was pulling in great response. But the customers it produced were only spending around a fifth of what they should have been spending.
Michael explains the problem:
“The reason is simple. Your customers may initially be responsive to bells and whistles, but in the long run what they want from you is honesty, sincerity, integrity, and value.
“Yes, you can make quick bucks in the direct-marketing business by bowling your customers over with inflated claims and exaggerated promises and hyperbolic language – but those bucks won’t keep coming once they figure out who you really are and what you’re really up to.”
Every last bit of your sales copy, from your customer-acquisition campaigns to your house-file promotions, contributes to the experience your customer has with you and your business.
Direct marketing is the business of relationships. The money is made on the second, third and fourth sales. So the longer customers stay with you, the more profitable your business is.
Would those “poor” customers spent more money if they came in under a different style of creative? I bet you dollars-to-doughnuts they would.
The bigger your claims to a customer the more value you have to deliver. Otherwise, you sour their perception of you and your business. And you end up with customers who don’t really like you and certainly won’t spend more money with you.
Be careful with your new customers
What you say to get a customer colors her experience with your business. Promise the moon and deliver hot air, and you’ve ruined your chances of developing a long-term, profitable relationship.
Direct-mail soft-offer marketers, like Boardroom and Rodale, know this lesson well.
Soft-offer promotions are measured by two things:
- How many people respond
- And how many actually pay-up
Because with a soft-offer you’re telling the prospect you’ll send them the product and they only pay if they love it.
People get to decide BEFORE dishing out money whether you’re really delivering on your promises.
You can see how it happens: The box your prospect has been waiting for arrives, your product inside. Finally! Her problems are about to be solved. She tears into like a kid on Christmas morning, and realizes she just got a box of socks.
Disappointed and worried her husband will think she’s a sucker she doesn’t pay.
Not only is she not going to pay-up … she’s building up a resistance to your claims. The chances of her buying from you again go way down.
This burns a lot of copywriters, they go for the jugular on the up-front sale, get a huge response rate, but don’t get many people to pay for the product.
They over-sold the product.
On hard offers it’s different, you might see a higher than normal refund rate. But not every under-whelmed customer asks for a refund.
Most follow the “fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me” philosophy of simply refusing to buy from you again.
But you will see those people don’t become good customers (remember in Masterson’s story they were about a fifth as valuable as they should have been).
Basically, when you over-promise you create an objection to buying again that is almost impossible to overcome.
How long does it take for you to get over catching someone in a lie? Even a white-lie?
I read that it takes two years of near-daily contact and no more lies before we start trusting someone after we catch them in a lie.
Two years of personal contact. How does that translate in today’s cluttered world where the click of a button instantly banishes your ability to communicate with a customer?
I’ve bought products from people who over-promised. And I’ll never buy from them again – no matter what they promise. I’m not going to get taken again.
Your customers are the greatest asset you have. Treat them that way from the very beginning and you’ll have far greater success.
Don’t let a copywriter waste them for you.
Think in terms of biggest CREDIBLE promises, not just biggest promises.
-John P.S. Check out Michael Masterson’s blog for a plethora of business-building insights. He’s got one of the most experienced, astute perspectives on building successful direct response businesses I’ve ever come across.
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