Sell The Benefit, Not The Feature. Here’s How To Do It.

Knowing why your customer needs your service is the first thing you need to know when writing copy. If you’re selling services, it can be quite hard to sell the benefit because you don’t have a physical product to show. In that case, you have to focus on other aspects like personal service, warranties, expertise or unique selling propositions. Read the rest…

Contributed by Bernadette Schwerdt .   Bernadette Schwerdt is the Founder and CEO of The Australian School of Copywriting. She is a professional copywriter and Australia’s leading Copywriting Coach. She is the author of Copywriting: Writing for Profit, is a contributor to Australian Business Solutions Magazine and features regularly on ABC radio as a marketing commentator. To download your free ebook: “How To Write Headlines That Sell” visit www.copyschool.com/courses.html. To hire a copywriter or to enroll in one of Bernadette’s courses, visit www.copyschool.com

Bernadette Schwerdt has written 7 article(s) for us.

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Tips On How To Get On Page One Of Google.

We’ve all heard the expression ‘Keep It Simple’. It’s a lofty goal in some ways as running a business seems to get more and more complicated every day.

When Ernest Hemingway coined that phrase, life was in some ways simpler – much simpler, but of course he didn’t have to grapple with computers, the Internet, search engine optimisation, social media and all those other tools we need to keep a business running. Sure, he had other problems but running a small business was not one of them. Read the rest…

Overcoming Your Fear of Sales

For many people, just the thought of sales evokes terror and fear. Many business owners and salespeople that I have met and worked with have experienced some type of fear relating to sales or the sales process and typically, it’s a ‘fear of rejection’. When I started my sales career, I faced the similar fears but mine was around cold calling and the fear of rejection over the phone.

I would only cold call as an absolute last resort or when my Manager forced me to do it. Funnily enough, once I got through 2 or 3 calls I was on a roll and I would be successful in making appointments. The hardest thing for me was to just pick up the phone and start dialing the number. It didn’t take me long to realise that calls lead to appointments, appointments lead to quotes and quotes lead to sales. Over time, I got better and better and I knew the number of calls I had to make to get appointments that would ultimately lead to sales. So my biggest fear became my biggest strength. Read the rest…

Sales Tools: Great tips on closing the sale

For many people just the thought of ‘asking for the business’ or closing the sale brings about paralysing fear of rejection and feelings of being too pushy. So what happens? It gets avoided at all costs and that doesn’t help anyone.

The problem with letting fear get in the way is that sales drag on way too long and they often get lost as a result of not following-up. Remember, if you don’t ask, you don’t get. Read the rest…

The Difference Between a Feature and Benefit and Why It Matters!

 I saw an advertisement a while back that promoted the benefits of getting your doona dry cleaned. In fact, I liked the advertisement so much that I actually took my doona in to get dry cleaned, only to find out that the cost to dry clean it was almost double the price of what I paid for it. Needless to say, I didn’t proceed.

But here’s what was interesting.  The advertisement stopped me in my tracks and compelled me to say “Gee, I need this service” when, three seconds before, I had never even heard of it.  It also highlighted a previously unknown ‘problem’ that I had (an unclean doona) which compelled me to take action and to visit the store. Read the rest…

Sales Objections – Clean them up and close the deal

Sales objections are simply reasons or concerns that a prospective client has as to why they won’t make a decision when you want them to. You will hear statements such as:

• Sounds good, let me think about it.
• It sounds great but not just yet.
• We do this already.
• We don’t get any complaints.
• Our reps do that.
• I’m really busy at the moment and just haven’t had a chance to look at it.
• I need to speak to my partner before I can make a decision.
• I’ll have a look at it and get back to you in a couple of weeks.

There are many reasons for objections and they are not always negative. Objections are a great indicator and qualifier as to whether you will get the sale – depending on how you handle them at the time. Read the rest…

The Top 3 Mistakes Most People Make When Writing For The Web

Writing for the web is similar to writing for any other medium but it does have some unique protocols that must be followed. This article outlines the 3 big mistakes business owners make when writing website copy and how to avoid them. Read the rest…

Criteria Based Selling – It’s all about the questions

The age of features and benefits selling is dead. Remember the days when we all watched John Cleese videos on how to close a sale! Oops, maybe just a few of us baby boomers remember those days. But modern day selling is all about understanding the needs of your customer, this is where criteria based selling comes in. Read the rest…

Am I Being a Pest When I Follow Up?

Did you know that one of the biggest gripes against salespeople by decision makers is the lack of follow up? Many people resist following up because they find it uncomfortable and don’t want to seem pushy or annoying and many people don’t follow up because they simply forget. This lack of follow-up presents a great opportunity for those who are organized and take the time to do it.

Follow up is important because: Read the rest…

Business as usual: What’s going to change?

Well  the 2010 year is well on it’s way, everyone is back in full swing brimming with positivity and confidence about the year ahead. As always at this time of year, it’s important to re-evaluate your goals and what you want to achieve this year. Remember, if  ‘nothing changes, then nothing changes’ so it’s important to reflect on what worked last year, what didn’t work and what you will do differently. Read the rest…