Last updated on November 17th, 2020

Updated November 9, 2020

Did you know that buying a car could result in lightbulb-moments about writing sales page copy?

Didn’t know that? Me neither. 

It was only when we ventured into the new car market, visiting showroom after shiny showroom and being exposed to the sales-hungry ramblings of a salesperson’s mind.

It was during an inordinately long spiel about how a particular car from a competitor brand isn’t the right fit for us that I realized how similar in-person selling and online selling really is.

The above-mentioned spiel was prompted without taking the time to understand what we were looking for or our family’s unique needs and MOST importantly, without any sound knowledge of the competition’s product.

Can you see where I’m going with this?

Surprise, surprise! 

Whether you’re selling luxury cars, high-ticket courses, or affordably priced downloadable products, you need to know HOW to sell to a fellow human. 

More often than not, we end up alienating the humanness out of the sale which means we end up forcing our idea of what they need to hear down their throats. 

Aggressive, cookie-cutter, one-size-fits-all, my-way-or-the-highway approaches aren’t marketing. 

They’re bullying. Plain and simple. 

And the worst part is… 

Your copy may be making these mistakes without you even realizing it. 

Time to identify and fix these “tactics” and sell the way we’d like to be sold to. 

With empathy, engagement, and education. 

Sales Copywriting: How Not to Sell, Sponsored by Unknown Car Salespersons

 

1. Not Taking the Time to Understand Your Customer

This one is huge.

When we visited car showrooms, do you know how much time they spent on getting to know us better? 

Precisely 15 seconds and two questions – who would be driving the car and do you drive a lot every day.

Ummm… there’s a LOT more that goes into customer research and unfortunately, showroom after showroom failed this crucial step magnificently.

That is exactly why my proprietary copywriting process starts with a deep dive into not just the offer and the audience but also the brand. 

That is why my copywriting framework starts with Connection and ends with Connection. 

You need to CONNECT before you write a word of copy.

Because when you don’t, you can be sure that folks will fall off your sales page faster than a toddler on a trampoline.

2. Being Vague or Generic About Your Offer

So when you go to buy a car, you’re buying a car, right? That much is specific but everything else is so vague. 

What’s the difference between say, the Audi A3 and the Audi A4, besides the features that were a jumbled mass of numbers and tech specs that made no sense at all to my non-tech brain?

Why would I want to go for the BMW 3 Series instead of the 5 series?

Vaguespeak is the bane of salespeople. #truth

Ask yourself… Is your offer clear as perrier or is it as murky as day-old dishwater?

Will readers have to spend more than 10 seconds trying to figure out what it is that you’re selling?

Do you skip over the important part of explaining the differences between two variations of the same offer in a way that will appeal to your customer?

Are you focusing on the features and forgetting about WHY those features matter? 

If yes, you’ve just lost the sale. Sad but true.

3. Taking Way Too Long to Ask for the Sale

Again, using the same example from what I learned from car salespeople was that some of them didn’t show any keenness in asking for the sale at all. 

Now, these are people who work on commission so you’d think they’d fall over their feet wanting you to buy, right?

Wrong.

BMW, for instance, took a full ONE week {7 DAYS!!} to respond to our email to them about booking a test drive for the X1 and the 3 series.

The lesson in this is… 

Wait too long to ask for the sale and the customer would either lose interest and forget why they signed up to hear from you OR  they wouldn’t know HOW to work with you and as a result and will take their business elsewhere. Guaranteed.

4. Showing Little or No Knowledge About the Competition

This part was the most shocking for us.

Executive after executive blatantly misquoted facts, figures, and features when talking about their competition.

Now since Mayank is a gearhead and loves cars a little less {maybe!} than he loves Manini and me, he could see through the misrepresentation quickly and easily.

People do NOT want to be bullied or lied to their faces. 

Most consumers want to make an informed decision. There is a reason 59% of consumers consult friends and family before making a decision. Purchase decisions are governed by research. 

Chances are your customers, especially the ones who’re tuned into the market, will do the same.  

They’ll come to your site armed with recommendations or research from different sources, sources they trust. 

Your sales copy has one job – show them that the decision they make with you is in their best interest. 

And do that with integrity. 

The copywriting lesson here is… 

… you need to show your customer or client why your offer is better than the competition with facts and benefits. 

If you skip this part entirely or worse, misrepresent them, it’s frighteningly easy to lose credibility in your niche.

The easiest way to do this is to highlight the different options your customers may be considering and then, do a weighted analysis for each. 

5. Explaining Features, Rather than Benefits

Have you gone through a brochure for a new car? I love the images but none of them paint a picture of what I’d experience when sitting behind the wheel.

I mean… sure it’s helpful for me to know the car has electronic seat adjustment? 

But it’s even more helpful AND attractive for me to know that with that electronic seat adjustment, I’ll be able to move my seat back with half a click and not struggle with unresponsive levers ever again. 

How can you apply this to your sales copy? 

Translate your features into front-loaded benefits. 

Talk about WHY they need that workbook along with the module. 

Position the group coaching calls you’re including as a way to get access to your brains on their business and how these calls will give them a double shot of clarity and confidence. 

Share the real reason you’ve got those bonuses in the offer and how do you see them using them to fast-track results. 

Benefits bring clarity and lead to resistance-free decisions. 

6. Not Sweetening the Deal

Deals don’t always translate into discounts. 

Sweetening the deal can be as simple as making it super simple for people to buy from you. 

For us, it means we offer interest-free payment plans. Even for our online programs. 

It goes against the grain of online marketing but it aligns with our value system. 

It also makes it easier for our clients and customers to work with us, over and over again. 

There are several ways you can sweeten the deal for your offer and use your sales copy to highlight that. 

• Offer program-specific bonuses. Not flimsy freebies-masquerading-as-a-bonus but a real, solid piece of content that adds value to your program. 
•  Offer one-on-one access without putting it behind a 5-figure paywall. 
• Offer LIVE implementation sessions to take action on what you teach. 

Yes, we do all of this in Profits on Tap and we’ll be doing ALL of this for Ready-to-Sell – my flagship program on mastering evergreen launch strategy and writing evergreen launch copy that doesn’t reek of aggression, bullying or grossly inflated claims. 

7. Doing Urgency All Wrong 

Finally and most importantly, you know how car salespeople get a bad rap for being pushy?

Yeah, well if they switch pushy with playing the urgency card with actual concern and interest in helping you make a decision, chances are they’ll convert waaaaaay better.

Urgency converts. It propels our brains into action and spurs us on towards faster decision-making. It just does.

For instance, with the car guys, the Audi guy was the one who called us and gave us the news that prices would be going up from April 1st. We checked the news and found out that he was right.

THAT got us moving fast.

So… for your sales copy, how are YOU building customer-focused urgency into your offer? 

What is customer-focused urgency? 

Customer-focused urgency is when you show your prospective customers WHY signing up now will help them solve their struggle. FAST. Like the Audi salesman shared how the price will go up. Buying then would mean we’d save money. So yeah, we took fast action. The urgency worked. 

Customer-focused urgency is when you don’t fake discounts or timers just because the world is doing that. 

Customer-focused urgency is where your intent is to serve and help your prospect make a decision they feel confident about. 

Not pushed or shoved towards. 

Your prospects need to click that “buy” button and get really excited about what happens next. 

There you go, ladies and gentlemen, 7 ways your sales copy may be turning your brilliant gem-of-an-offer into cyber crud and how you can stop that from happening right away.

Sidenote: We did end up buying a car and no, it wasn’t from the guy who forced his opinion down our throat.