The Six Elements of Influence
I would say, if there is one skill that really allows online marketers to soar above others in their world it’s the ability to write effective sales letters. Sales letters that convert prospects into paying customers are a marketer’s bread and butter.
In the online world your sales letter is your script and in those scripts you rely on six basic elements of influence.
Here they are.
First there is social proof, which is basically like testimonials. People saying they have worked with you or used your product, and it made an impact.
Then you have scarcity, which is a pretty powerful selling technique. This tells people there’s a limited number available, and they better act now to get what you are offering.
You have consistency, basically you get the person to say yes to what you’re offering enough times for them to pull out their credit card and actually buy it.
Of course you have to be likable, which is really important, because people buy from people they know like and trust. You have to give them the feeling that you care about them, and they will connect with you, and buy from you.
Ok next you have reciprocity, which is when you give someone something of value, which in turn makes them want to give back to you. I am talking about giving them something that will benefit them right away. Not some lame tip that they could find anywhere, but a golden nugget that they can incorporate immediately to help them.
Lastly there is the element of authority, which means that you are looked at as an expert in your particular field. People want to learn from, and get as close to experts as they can. So make sure that you come across as someone that knows what they are talking about, and has the expertise to charge for that knowledge.
These six elements of influence have to be used when you’re doing a sales presentation, and also must be used when you’re writing a sales letter that you want to convert well.
Lets say you are an internet marketer and you’re generating traffic with a particular video, and that video directs people to a landing page with a sales letter on it. The purpose of the sales letter is to close the person right there.
So you engage in a process that continues to incorporate these six elements that I mentioned before. You want to take them through the sales letter step by step, and continue to move them towards the benefits of working with you or buying you product, and help them to move away from the pain they are currently experiencing by not having your service.
If you use these elements in your sales letters, it will increase your conversions dramatically.
The greatest thing about a sales letter is that it does all of the work for you, and it is a repeatable process, which means you can use the sales letter over and over again, and it will close the sales for you. This works especially well online, but can be used for offline selling as well. So, if you are a person that hates to sell, and you can’t stand the thought of pitching someone on the phone or in person, a well written sales letter can dramatically reduce the amount of personal contact you have with someone. Of course, you will have to talk to a real life person at some point, so I would suggest getting comfortable with closing on the phone and in person.
The object of a sales letter is to sell your product. It doesn’t matter what it is, you want to sell it on that page. It could be something tangible that gets delivered to their home, it could be a private or group coaching program, it could be selling someone on a continuity product or service, but the goal here is that you want to close the person on your product.
The benefit of selling face to face, or over the phone is the ability to read your prospect, and make sure that you are building some good rapport with them. You have the benefit to see if you are losing them, at which point you can adjust. You don’ t have that benefit with a sales letter, so you have to be focused and on point. You’re not writing the next Twilight series here, so don’t tell stories. You are selling a product that is going to make you money without you having to do any talking, so keep that objective in mind when writing your sales letter. The goal is to get them from beginning to end of the letter, and have it result in profit for you.
Part Two of this series will cover the format of a sales letter, so make sure to have a pen and paper ready.
