© 2010 Dream Merchant • 2309 Torrance Blvd. #104, Torrance, CA 90501 (310) 328-1925 email: Jkm316@aol.com INCREASE YOUR SALES BY INCREASING YOUR BELIEVABILITY
c2010 by Bob Leduc
People won't buy from you until they're confident you'll deliver exactly what they expect to get. You can help them develop that confidence by making certain every claim you make about your product or service is fully believable.
Here are three ways you can increase your believability with prospects...and generate more sales. All three work for any business. And you can use them with any marketing method including the Internet.
1. Use Testimonials--Testimonials from satisfied customers are powerful selling tools. They establish your believability because they prove you already delivered what you promised to other customers.
The most effective testimonials describe a specific result your customer enjoyed by using your product or service. For example, "In just two weeks, I lost 9 pounds, felt years younger and still enjoyed all my favorite foods."
TIP: Get permission to use your customers' names and addresses with their testimonials. Personal testimonials from real people are more believable than anonymous testimonials.
2. Provide Specifics--You can also increase your believability by converting general statements into specific descriptions. "It's fast, easy and inexpensive" may accurately describe your product or service. But a specific description of how fast, how easy, and how inexpensive is more believable.
Also, try to avoid using round numbers (like 10, 25, 40, etc.) in your claims. Instead, reduce them to specific odd numbers with fractions or decimals. Here's why...
Which of the following two statements sounds more authentic to you?
* Our clients average 30 percent more sales.* Our clients average 27.7 percent more sales.
Most people choose the second statement. Thirty percent may be the accurate number. But 27.7 is more believable.
BONUS: Specific descriptions also create impact and excitement. They motivate more of your prospect to buy.
3. Tone Down Your Claims--If the actual results you can produce for your customers or clients sound too good to be true, your prospective customers will assume they're not true.
I once developed a direct mail postcard that generated more than 20 percent replies when I sent it to names on a special mailing list. Most of the businesses I approached with a lead service using this postcard didn't believe I could really get that high a response rate for them.
The service was difficult to sell unless I substantially understated the projected rate of response. I eventually discovered that projecting a seven and a half to nine and a half percent response rate produced the largest number of sales. That rate was still a substantial increase for any company...and it was more believable than the actual rate of more than 20 percent.
SPECIAL ADVANTAGE: Understating the results your customer can expect also enhances your credibility. Imagine your customer's reaction when your product or service produces substantially better results than you promised.
How believable are the claims and promises you make to prospective customers or clients? Do you use testimonials and provide specifics? Are there any claims you need to tone down because they sound too good to be true? Prospective customers won't buy from you unless they fully believe every claim and promise you make.
Bob Leduc spent 20 years helping businesses like yours find new customers and increase sales. He just released a totally new edition of his best-selling manual, HOW TO BUILD YOUR SMALL BUSINESS FAST WITH SIMPLE POSTCARDS and several other publications to help small businesses grow and prosper.
For more information, contact Bob at:
Bob Leduc 7575 Rome Blvd. Las Vegas, NV 89131 Email: BobLeduc@SierraNV.net Phone: (702) 658-1707 after 10 AM Pacific Time Website: http://BobLeduc.com
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