Real Tax Business Success
Lesson - 34
Insider Message Tricks
How To Make A “Killer” Marketing Message
Author: Chauncey Hutter Jr.
Repeat yourself.
Have you ever heard the nutritionists say, “Strive for 5?” They are trying to encourage people to eat at least five fruits and vegetables each day. Well, I’ve got another one for you.
STRIVE FOR 7! That means: Try and state your main offer or your most compelling benefit for using your tax services seven times on any given promotion. Obviously, advertising space will have effect on this, but you know what the goal is.
Tax business owners wonder, “How in the heck can I state my offer seven times without sounding like a bumbling idiot?” Well, here’s how.
Make a straightforward statement or promise in the beginning of your ad. Incorporate the same idea into your guarantee. Add a “YES” and then state your guarantee in the copy of your response form. Then you can have a satisfied client basically say the same thing in a testimonial. You could tell a story backing up this same promise or guarantee. Add a few bullet points building up the specific benefits of this same offer. And then finally say it in so many words in your P.S. at the end.
(That’s how you can effectively repeat yourself seven times and not sound like a fool.)
Why go to all of this trouble? Now you know what my answer is ALWAYS going to be to a question like that. INCREASED SALES!
Repetition is REQUIRED for impact. If you want to be an effective seller of your services, you are going to have to tell ’em the offer or main benefit, tell them again and then finally tell them some more!
If you’ve read or studied anything about what I teach on the subject of length , you’ve heard me say, “The more you tell, the more you sell!”
This is very true. But many people get “caught up” in the idea that long sales copy doesn’t get read. NOT TRUE if your message in your sales letter is being read by the right targeted prospect. As long as you’re not being boring, your sales letter can be over 100 pages! (If it takes that long to tell your WHOLE SALES STORY, then that’s what you have to do.)
The big marketing myth among those NOT in the know is “keep your sales letters short and sweet so your prospects will read them.”
But the REAL truth is if you’ve done a good job up front (like you are supposed to) at selecting your market, the longer your sales letter THE BETTER!
I’m a personal believer that long sales copy outsells short, hands down. That doesn’t mean that short copy can’t sell because there are plenty of examples where it does just fine.
My point is, in order to be effective in your sales pitch, you have to use internal repetition throughout your sales copy. To do so means you will be writing more copy and having a longer sales letter.
That’s OK! Don’t be afraid of a “longer” sales pitch in writing. I’ll bet if you test the two ways (long vs. short), you’ll find out for yourself what I always keep saying, “The more you tell, the more you sell!”
Wimpy Messages
Boy, I see a lot of “wimpy” advertising out there in the tax industry! In most cases the tax professional is basically advertising a “glorified” business card look (name, company, contact info, and slogan).
If you are going to be serious about getting some more business from your advertising, then you need to start giving good reasons for people to use you and then ASK THEM TO DO SO!
Why just do business card type ads, to “get your name out there?” (Out where? What is it doing? How is it helping you? Give me specific examples and show me where advertising like this is beneficial?)
You can’t, so stop doing this kind of WASTEFUL advertising! And start being BOLD by making your target clients powerful, specific, irresistible offers, and then call them to ask immediately! (That’s NOT wimpy advertising. That’s REAL marketing!)
Hopefully you’ve heard of Zig Ziglar. (He’s one of the most famous sales trainers in the world.)
Zig has many quotes that I like, but this one fits the topic we’re discussing to a tee.
“Are you a professional salesman or a professional visitor?”
Now let’s take his question and apply it to our industry. “Are you really selling your tax services or do just a lot of people in your town know you are in the tax business?”
There’s a difference between “making the sale” and making some acquaintances.
If you have MORE people coming up to you on the street saying they saw your ads instead of saying, “Can I come by your office today or do I need to make an appointment for you to prepare my taxes for me,” you’ve got a problem.
You need to work on your “call to action” ASAP! Here are four specific things you can do to change your advertising or update your current response device to increase your response!
The 4 action points are:
- Tell your client exactly WHAT you want them to do
- Tell your client exactly HOW you want them to do it
- Tell your client exactly WHEN you want them to do it
And finally,
- GIVE THEM A CLEAR INCENTIVE TO DO IT AS YOU HAVE REQUESTED IN #1 THROUGH #3!
If you want to increase your current response, (AND YOU WANT TO STOP BEING A WIMPY ADVERTISER) then these are NON-negotiable!
Chauncey Hutter Jr.
Tax Marketing Expert
Chauncey Hutter, Jr, is a best-selling author and leading marketing consultant and success coach to the tax industry. Mr. Hutter grew his father’s $50,000 per year tax preparation business to a multi-million dollar empire with 24 locations, 400+ employees and over 27,000 tax clients all coming from his marketing campaigns.
For more info on Real Tax Business Success, go to www.taxmarketing.com
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