The story so far…
Here’s what we’ve learned already;
– People buy solutions to their problems.
– We must show that we understand their problems better than anyone else.
– We need to tell them the story of why we got started in this business.
– And we need to explain why previous solutions didn’t work.
– Then we paint them an optimistic picture of a future with our product.
– We turn our features into benefits.
– Then we uncover the hidden emotional value in the product.
– We position our product against the competition.
– We share good things that other people have to say about us.
– We educate with a free sample.
– Then we position our pricing.
– We craft a good offer, because everyone loves a deal.
– Then we give them a reason to take action right away.
– We remove the risk.
– We edit for emotion.
– We create a compelling headline.
And finally, we become disciples of a new religion.
One of the most common causes of failure in any venture is the unrealistic expectation of instant success.
We are animals driven by ego and our ego hates to fail at anything. At the first sign of possible failure on the horizon, the ego wants us to throw in the towel and avoid the impending pain. For a lot of people, the ego is so afraid of failure, it avoids even starting any process that might possibly fail. Of course as super human entrepreneurs it’s our job to kick that nonsense to the curb.
Put on your professional hat.
When it comes to perfecting the ultimate persuasive sales pitch for our business we need to give the process its due respect. We need to put our professional hat on and put our ego in its rightful place.
You see, what we have done so far is simply start a process that must continue for weeks, months, even years as your knowledge and understanding of your market deepens.
Every successful pitch you ever saw, heard or nodded your head too was the result of testing and refining over an extended period.
I’ve been lucky enough to get to know many of the world’s top copywriters, marketers and advertising mavericks. And they ALL follow the religion of testing.
They test headlines, openings, story lines, testimonials, benefits, prices, offers, button colors, images, the color of their shirts in the video, backgrounds, images. You name it, they test it until they arrive at the ideal pitch for their specific buying audience.
And when they finish testing and have the perfect pitch. They call it a control. And they start testing all over again to see if they can beat the control.
So, from this point on, I want you to see your sales pitch as a key asset in your business. But an asset that is ever evolving and must be nurtured, grown and strengthened. The strength of your sales pitch, based on your understanding of what your market wants, can be the most valuable asset your business owns.
Lets start the testing process today.
This isn’t a program about testing. But I don’t want to leave testing as an abstract theory, we’re going to start the process today. And we’re going to start by testing the last thing we created. A compelling headline.
Your turn…
Start testing, with your alternate headlines!
If you’re going to test your pitch online, you can set-up and start using Google’s free split testing service right away. Or you can try a commercial service like Optimizely.
It will alternate the headlines and run an A/B split test so that you can scientifically see which headline puts more money in your pocket and which headline is LOSING you money.
If you’re delivering your pitch through video, make two copies with different names. If you’re pitching live, make two copies of your powerpoint deck.
If you’re sending out letters, make two different version.
Do not put this final lesson off until “later”. Later never comes. Join the church of testing TODAY and tell us what you’re testing in the comments.
As this is your final lesson, take this opportunity to ask for any support you need to get your sales pitch FINISHED and out there in the marketplace TESTING its way to success as a valuable asset in your business.