Long sales letter suck January 2, 2010
Posted by Robert Puddy in : Business , trackbackI just posted this on a well know Marketing Forum, I felt is was such a great reply that it warranted seeing the light of day on my Blog… So here you go
this was in response to the perrenial question about how everybody hates long sales letters
We know people dont read long sales letters from start to finish…
Here is what they do (and why a good long sales letter works)
First they scan the headline and the first paragraph (so this should be your strongest reason for buying)
Then they scroll down to the price… Which is why your PS: and PPs should be right under the price, and they should reinforce the headline and strongets selling points. (there is room to add a 3rd USP in the PS that werent in the top of the fold)
Then if we still have them (IE they are the prospect we aimed at) then they will go back to the start of the letter and skim it. So the highlighted and boldened parts should be your short form sales copy, by that I mean if the bold parts were taken out and put on a seperate page it would read like a mini message and make perfect sense.
Now some of those will convert at that point… Still others will have questions
The rest of the sales letter is designed to answer those questions, and over come any objections
Different people will have different questions, which is why the long form letter comes into its own, use it to answer any conceivable question your prospect may have.
Not all the questions will be relevant to each prospect, but you must cater for everyone so the sales letter ends being long enough to make sure every question or objection that could come up is covered somewhere in the letter.
For those that just need the bullet points and the price they have them
For those that need the bullet points the price and a specific question answered they have them
For those just needing a short form letter they have them in the bolded parts
etc etc etc
Testimonials should be used to reinforce the message in the sales letter… for example if the sales letter says its easy to install any 5 year old can do it… then add a (real) testimonial here from someone who says… “wow im such a clutz with techy stuff and the install was a breeze thank you very much for making it so simple”
In ofline selling situations the salesman comes armed with a presentation for the prospect, which is pre written in most cases and has to be learnt parrot fashion… this is the short form sales letter. Any fool can be taught to deliver this… and it will result in some sales
The true selling only starts after the presentation has been delivered…
The best salesman know that in order to be the best you have to know how to counter the prospects objections…As a sales trainer i have seen new salesman get up from a presentation to leave at the first objection and sit down again as I counter that objection this can go on for minutes. In one case I watched a fledgling salesman get up 5 times to leave
5 times I countered the objection and in the end the customer (no longer a prospect) bought 7 units
The real selling starts once the short copy is delivered, remember that phrase…
The objection countering is the long form sales letter and the reason it exists… And the reason why if you just rely on the presentation that any fool can deliver your going to lose sales hand over fist.
Comments»
Hello Robert,
You are right about long sales letter.
I read sales letter as I read newspaper.
Headlines first, then ads in the end of the paper (price in sales letter)
then I go back from the beginning and read what´s interetsing me.
To Our Success
Kjell Lindstrom
By the way. I will put robertpuddy.com into my blogroll at www.kjell2success.com
With Testimonials Now You Have To Be State What You Can Make And What The Differences Between Someone Making A Lot Of Money And A Little Money Is. Based On FTC Guidelines.
Take care,
Ray Gollis
SELLING NOT TELLING
As usual Robert you state the obvious things sellers SHOULD be doing - because sellers all too often tend to get too involved with their own musings (telling) that the most obvious point (selling) gets missed. Ouch!
The fact is that most sellers do not concentrate enough on what is going on in the mind of the ‘accidental surfer’ at the precise moment when they suddenly click onto your landing page.
Really Puddy, you should be ashamed of yourself; because this is the type of article that makes people like me, feel almost guilty, or at the very least embarrassed, when proclaiming that they run a successful internet business. Good advice m8 - as usual.*****
X Yeah, I often get very long sales letters. It sucks reading them as it wastes time so I just ignore them. X
Robert i think that you touched on some very key points in this blogg,short but accurate thank you.
Robert this makes absolute sense to me. I have to admit that I’ve never had explained exactly as you did but it captures the human mind perfectly. Thanks
Well I am in agreement with you on some points and disagree with you on some others.
The information contained in a sales letter should be relevant to the item being sold. However the 10-15 page S.L. should be banned from the internet.
Most people Read the Headline and the 1st paragraph or two. Like you said. Then they skip down to the Price.
If they can afford it, and have money in their account, chances are they will buy. If not then you are out of luck. No money = No Sale.
I don’t care how good your sales letter is.
Sure the bullet point’s are good and the bold letters are each in their own rite, a selling point.
What I don’t believe is the fact that you need the all inclusive sales letter to get someone to buy your product or service. Maybe I’m wrong on this, but I believe in this theory.
That ’s my take on them.
Robert, you described perfectly the actions I take when I see a long sales letter. I look at the headlines and a sentence or two then go to the bottom to find the price. If still interested I return and read the letter or at least skim it if I’ve decided to perhaps try the product.
The only thing I dislike about these letters is when there are a lot of testimonials. Perhaps 3-5 is sufficient.
That long sales letters suck is a thought many people harbour, and a post about that is welcome.
There are tenets among marketers that need to be challenged.
Web 2.0 should be the guiding principle in the structure of sales letters.
Pre-selling works miles better than the straight selling hammering visitors with long sales letters.
One form of pre-selling in a sales letter can be achieved by integrating a Wordpress blog and TwitterTools, that in turn, integrates a blog and Twitter.
Hi Robert - I think that nobody could dispute what you are saying, but as far as Testimonials go, unless I know who the person is, I take no notice of them, especially when there are more of them than anything else.
Now days there is software around that will generate Testimonials for you, so you never know who is truthful and who is not. I only run 2 on my site, and they must be contactable in some way before I will use them.
Old saying, “Treat others as you want to be treated yourself” works for me.
Happy New Year, Robert!
Congrats on your new/up and coming grandchild.
You never see a long sales letter for a hamburger, nor a car. that’s because we all know what they are. When someone wants to sell a premium product (which most of us here do), it requires more explanation.
The long sales letter has to explain the unique aspects of the product, its benefits, overcome objectives, and share success stories. not easy to do in a paragraph.
Look at infomercials. Ever see one that lasted 2 minutes? then 58 minutes of a blank TV screen? LOL. ‘Course not. That’s because if you are going to buy the George Foreman Grill they need to show you all the cool things it does. Takes an hour.
Funny we never hear about the great Informercial debate: “Should infomercials be 5 minutes or 60?”
Thanks for all you do, Robert!
Scott
Hi Robert Ben here, i am not one for reading long drawn out sales letters or even sites they go over the same thing only put another way some times i would just click out of them, I like your Blog, Ben.
Robert, if there is one thing i cannot stand is the dreaded sales letter that is so long i even forget what the headline said in the beginning.
Personally short and sweet straight to point and i wish they would do that with those dreary long drawn out videos that try to capture your attention,i don’t know which one is worst, its like over kill gone out of control.As for me i just delete or switch off.
If a person needs more info after reading a short blog/sales letter surely they will go back and get more info if they are interested. That’s what i do,and don’t those testomonials galore do your head in.
I read this long salesletters exactly in this way but normally I didn’t return to the top.
Long salesletters are for me out of time, you can easy use a review or blog for this questions, without testimonials but with disclosures.
What I like on the seller sites are the folder ‘nomally asked FAQ’ and demo sites.
I buy in other way, I use different sources for informations and than I compare the products.
Robert,
This makes perfect sense from a marketing perspective, very informative. It is a template I will use in future, as it has opened my eyes a bit. I was firmly in the “against” camp because I have seen so many that simply repeat the same hype paragraph after paragraph, not really answering any questions. They (many so-called gurus) could all learn from this post too!
Thanks!
Hi dear Sir,
I hope you are satisfy my answer
The Long Sales Letter is a copywriting tool that’s frequently used by web marketing experts to bring them increased visibility and dramatically impact their sales. Is this something you should use in your own business advertising campaign?
Thanks YOU Sir,
Hi Robert, I am new to Internet Marketing, but really hate the
long drawn-out sales letters or even long videos.
Hope there are a few folks out there that will get the message!
All the best in 2010,
Helen
Hi Robert,
Thank you for the long saletter suck! I hve to agree with you they do! short and to the point!
Heidi
Thank God for you Robert, you were the only source I could find online that said what I have always thought about stupid long sales letters. It’s probably why I haven’t found an online business that works yet. I can’t afford anymore wasted time, either make it straight and sweet or don’t bother saying anything at all. I am boycotting all long sales letters from here on out.
[…] Robert addressed an attitude that seems to be more widely held than by just myself, that is that long sales letters suck! We have all seen them, and if you are like me you see them on a daily basis; my issue is with […]
[…] Read the rest here http://robertpuddy.com/long-sales-letter-suck/ […]
Hi Robert,
I would say the people who have commented saying they “agree with you” that long sales letters suck (e.g. #20) obviously didn’t read past the headline, or at least not very far…
Guess they are never going to read a long sales letter either.
And perhaps by not taking the time to get the details on the products and systems that do work, this could be an explanation of why they are still looking?
I’d also say that these people probably aren’t your customers/weren’t going to buy anyway.
As in so many cases where you see something and wonder why people keep doing it when you yourself perhaps think it’s a waste of time - the simple answer just might be…. because it works.
I think it would probably be fair to say that YOUR long sales letters have brought you a few customers in your time.
With regard to your love of live events I have to say that the reason I became your customer was because - I met you at a live event.
That said, I look forward to seeing you again in Bristol in May!
Cheers,
Paul
Kiwi in South West Scotland
gmarris
Nice article about RobertPuddy.com ” Long sales letter suck, just have to say you have done a good job and thanks for sharing your story I am into information publishing, you can check my website and tell me what you think of it.
hi robert
I know people do not like long sales letters but the new thing now which is taking off in a big way is even longer video sales presentations lol.
There is enough content in them usually to keep you there waiting for the final details of the offer and then after what seems like forever then you get hit with the price, It seems the price of the items being sold with the video format has just led to daft prices as if there was a load of extra work involved,anyway I think the video link emails are going to be destined for one thing and one thing only in the end and they will be instantly deleted….
Hi Robert,
I couldn’t agree more, having read dozens of salesletters in their entirety as a customer and a student of IM.
I’ll bet the majority of individuals who read your post probably read a good number of the responses to see what others had to say and the funny part is… all of this information is about as long as a long salesletter.
Thanks for that breakdown because after reading so many salesletters, the process you described is pretty much how I read them nowadays.
Cheers.
This is for Robert. How do I get my bonus for buying Joels Keyword Rockstar? Every e-mail I have sent you has bounced, even the support e-mail doesn’t work! I am used to this from across the pond but Bristol! I could drive there in 30mins.
Brian Reed