The Art of The Offer

  Most good selling hinges not on the cleverness of the seller, but on the strength and good value of the offer.

  Look around at the world of online marketing.  You'll see the most absurd offers put forward by self-involved marketers who understand nothing of how to win customers. They may get lucky from time to time -  some of these sites are making money; they could make  lots more with an offer which both appears great to the buyer  and actually delivers great value.

  Formulating a persuasive offer can be challenging.  Not only must the product be put together and the selling done well; also there are bonuses to be thrown in and convincing reasons to act now given.  We can study what has worked in the past.   

  The seller and the copywriter must still create the offer afresh every time - because times and customer attitudes change.  The same offer that pulled in orders like gangbusters a year ago could be flacid today because of shifting fads, current events,  new technology, any number of reasons. 

  Once you discover a winning offer  the same appeal may work year-in, year-out.   When response begins to sag it's time for a reformulation or a copy tune-up.   Some offers have "legs" - some are faddish and short-lived. 

  Influential Advertising Minds

  In the 1950s Rosser Reeves coined the term "Unique Selling Proposition" - an idea of it's time which is becoming increasingly challenging to apply.  A USP gives a "brand" or company an ability to sell on it's own terms.  Customers are more wise today though and not so responsive to being SOLD. 

  Geoff Ayling, the Australian author of "Rapid Response Advertising " reformulates the idea of the USP into something which serves the same purpose but is more in the pocket of the customer - the "Customer Buying Advantage"   - rather than focusing on what makes XYZ brand so special and desirable we now can search for ways to make the customer's experience more relevant to him.

  You will find Ayling to be highly influential in my own writing and thinking.  It is because we live in changed times that Ayling's advertising practices are more useful today  - in a new age of customization and unheard of variety of customer choice and bueyr skepticism we need new tools to capture more business.

  Robert Collier is venerated among copywriters. He died in the 1950s so his stuff is quite old-fashioned. I admire not so much his cleverness as a writer (which he denied mostly) but his ability to locate an offer and present it in a logical and exciting way.

  Never in Collier’s writing do you get the sense that he was trying to get one over on the reader. No, it was all about offering:

- superior goods,

- at superior value

- and then he tells us WHY he can offer such quality at such a price - often using reason WHY persuaders. 

For example:

a - We only have a limited quantity at this price because we got the raw materials cheaply and they have gone up in price now and you’ll never see such a sweet offer as this one.

b - We have a limited number of "seconds" or "scratch and dents" to offer to you, our select customers.

c - The author has conceeded to make his book available in one printing to the widest possible readership buy reducing his royalties dramatically in order that every one who wishes to own a copy should not go without one.

  Take Away Selling

  These arguments for the reader to take action NOW are timeless. They fall into the class of "take away" selling. Making this sort of offer credibly can be a challenge  with some of today's products.  In reality your "limited supply" will be sometimes be limited only to the number you can sell - and if your prospect perceives a lack of congruency the illusion will be lost.  In many cases it can be worked more seamlessly into an overall strategy of up-selling and down-selling to make every buyer feel as if he got a great bargain; offering a limited number of coaching spots for example.

  Satisfaction is everything. If you can succeed in making your customer pat himself on the back because of his wisdom in accepting your offer you have won over a friend. Try not to disappoint him.

  Try every time to give more than you get in making the offer.  Your best customers will respect your need to make a profit.   You convincingly show them that you are not out to only get their money, but also to do them a great favor at a very fair price.  When this happens then you have won and the customer wins too and will tell people so.