In This Lesson: How to grab your customers attention and sell them on your sales pitch.
If you complete this lesson you’ll learn how to get your customers to actually read or listen to the sales pitch you’ve put so much effort into creating. If you don’t get this bit right, the rest of your hard work is literally invisible.
It’s time to go back to the beginning.
Don’t think for a second that because we’ve left it till last that your headline isn’t important. It’s actually THE most important element in your entire pitch.
Once you become a master sales pitch writer, you might start by thinking about your headline first. But, we’ve found it more useful to work on the headline last. After you’ve answered all the other questions and had time to ruminate on who your customer really is and what’s going to get their attention.
At this stage you should have a whole lot of information and ideas. So, the strongest themes, the boldest ideas that you want to shout out are more likely to become apparent to you. It’s these key ideas that we will test until we find the ultimate headline.
The Headline is everything.
Your headline announces the premise of your entire pitch. Your headline creates your first impression. In print or online it determines whether people read anything else, or just skip to the next distraction.
Likewise, it sets the tone in a video and answers the question – should I invest my time in this or not? In a live presentation, a headline determines whether the recipients imagination is excited or whether they switch off mentally and expect the worst.
It comes down to this, if your customer isn’t hooked by your headline, the rest of your pitch simply doesn’t exist.
Also important to know, is that there is rarely one perfect, ultimate headline. There will be various headlines that will appeal to different people.
So, whilst it might seem like a pain to have to come up with and test different headlines for our pitch, a better way to think of it is this – there’s a big pile of money on the table and when I find those optimised headlines that often perform 100, 200, 300, 400% better than an average headline. If I put in the work and test different headlines I get to earn that money!
Constructing a great headline.
Great headlines are all around us, on TV, announced over the radio, jumping out of Google ads all over the place and on the cover of every best selling magazine, newspaper and book in the store.
And what do those headlines do? They grab the attention of the people who they are trying to reach. They don’t speak to everyone, they speak directly to the prospective customer.
The key to a great headline.
There’s an entire art and science to headline writing alone. Hundreds of books have been written on the topic. But for the here and now, this is what I want you to consider… The vast majority of products you are likely to be selling will not be known, branded products that your customer is already heavily familiar with. (Unless you spent the last decade and a hundred million on advertising.) With this in mind your headline shouldn’t be about your brand name. And it shouldn’t be about your price. Neither of these things will attract your customer.
And that’s the key. Your headline has to attract your customer.
There are 3 things that will likely attract your customer. They can be used independently, or in combination.
1) Focus on the problem they are suffering.
2) Focus on the outcome they want.
3) Focus on the tribe they want to belong to.
Which ever general rule you follow, they are ALL ABOUT THE CUSTOMER. They are not about you or your product.
Examples of compelling headlines.
Here are some different options for constructing your headline;
Start it with “How to”
“How to catch a man and keep him”
Make a strong promise
“Lose 20lbs in 4 weeks”
Ask a question
“Do you know the 3 so called “healthy” foods guaranteed to PREVENT fat loss?”
Highlight the benefits
“Abs your girlfriend won’t be able to keep her hands off”
Speak directly to the target audience
“The busy woman’s guide to toned arms”
Explain a great offer
“Buy one pair of glasses at vision express and we’ll give you a second pair free”
Use curiosity
“Do you make these common nutrition mistakes that could kill your dog?”
Be specific
“6 pack abs in 12 minutes a day”
Make an announcement
“Finally, science has the answer to lowering your high cholesterol”
Introducing, the introduction.
Your headlines only job, is get your customers attention and have them read the next couple of lines. Those first few lines are your introduction. A good introduction sells your cynical reader on the idea of investing time in reading or listening to your sales pitch. It’s all about “what’s in this for me?”.
You don’t need to be creative with an introduction. It’s just a reduced version of the sales pitch you’ve just created. We focus on just the initial part of the pitch…
What’s the problem?
Why hasn’t it been solved?
How could things get better?
How could things get better?
How could things get better?
Example:
6 PACK ABS IN 12 MINUTES A DAY
You’d love to lose the office belly that’s been growing for the last few years right? But the harsh reality is, you’re a busy guy. You just don’t have the time to hit the gym every day. That’s cool, you’re about to learn how to get a six pack that your wife can boast about to her friends. An increase in strength and power. And the “positive side effect” that our testosterone boosting training methods will have on your sex life…
Get the idea? The headline captures their Attention. The introduction stimulates their Interest. Once they know “what’s in this for me” they’ll invest time in the rest of your sales pitch.
Remember, without a good headline and introduction, your sales pitch is invisible.
Putting It Into Action: Estimated Time – 90 minutes.
There are two steps to this process:
a) The first step is to look through your pitch and the notes above and come up with 3 or 4 possible headlines that you think are most likely to grab your ideal customers attention. If you’re smart, you’ll split test them to see which works best when you launch your pitch.
b) Step two is to write an introduction that acts as the bridge between your headline and your sales pitch. Just 3, 4, or 5 lines. It should answer the unspoken question “what’s in this for me?” or “why should I invest my time reading your sales pitch?”.
Leave both your answers in the comments.