When you write your sales copy remember that closing the sale is an extremely critical, and often overlooked, area of your sales letter writing strategy. Most people tend to focus their writing efforts on the headline and body forgetting that they have to actually ask their reader to buy their product…

If you remember this and build a powerful close into your copy you will have an immeasurable advantage over many of your competitors.

Let’s look at some ‘closes’ that start off with a price justification of your product…

When justifying the price you are charging for your product you can demonstrate the true value of your product by totaling up the cost of all the separate software you would have to buy if you didn’t buy the advertised product, then comparing the two costs. Of course the advertised product works out much cheaper yet has all the benefits (or more) of the separate packages combined.

What’s more, $197 is a relatively large investment but in the light of the comparisons drawn it seems such a little price to pay for the product – this comparison really does drive home the value of the product and entice the prospect to part with $200

“…it’d cost me ten times as much to get the same features with different packages and I’d still not get an integrated solution, Xsitepro really is the answer!”

This is a really effective tactic that you should look at using.

Another way to justify your price is that you show the cost of your time for a personal consultation to solve your client’s problems. If your hourly rate was $500 an hour and your client needed three hours of consultation in order for you to provide him with a solution, he’d get a bill for $3,000 instead of for a one time investment of only $97:

“…My hourly rate is $300 and it would take me three hours of consultation with yourself to arrive at a solution to your problem. This means that you would be billed for $3,000.”

“I know this is a lot of money therefore I have put this software package together that does exactly the same job as my three hour consultation, yet it requires only a tiny one-off investment of $97 on your behalf. What’s more you can use it time and time again without spending another cent. I’m sure you realize what a bargain you are getting.”

From the above paragraph you can see that I’ve compared three hours of my time against an investment of $97 for exactly the same solution as my consultation would provide. I’ve also added the rider that my client can use the software multiple times at no further cost.

This represents a real bargain to my client and I’ve told him how clever he is to recognize such a bargain! (Everybody likes to be buttered up a little!)

Next comes the good old…

Order Button or Order Form.

Tip:
If it’s been a few lines or paragraphs since you foretold your prospect’s future with and without your product you should remind him of this fact again.

For example, if you sell an E-book that teaches your prospect how he can slim down and get fit with the minimum of personal effort, you want him to picture the future by seeing himself slim, trim and attractive. Paint a picture of all the people who will be attracted to him once he has reached his goal.

You can also use reverse-psychology and make him see the poor future he faces if he doesn’t take action now. If used carefully this can spur him into action and make him buy just so he doesn’t have to face the terrible prospect you have just outlined.

Be careful that you don’t make the future seem so bleak that no solution can ever help him and he gives up hope altogether! This is a real danger if you don’t take a little care with reverse-psychology.

Using the previous example:

“…Unless you take action now you will be forever wishing you were slim and desirable to the opposite sex. Tell me, are you serious about finding a mate and living a happy and healthy life?…

If you are you will have no hesitation in pressing the order button now. I know you have the discipline to see it through, all it takes is that you make the first move, go on press the button – You’ll find your dream partner waiting for you on the other side.”

I am playing on the prospect’s fears of being an outcast and appealing to his need to fit in and find a mate. I’ve told him that he’s got the courage to take the first steps and that a happy and healthy life with his dream partner is waiting for him only if he makes the first move. There’s also quite a strong call to action at the end, to help him make the decision.

Post-Scripts

Post-scripts (PS) summarize and encapsulate your entire sales letter.

Often a busy prospect will scan your sales message and jump straight to the end where he will find the ‘PS’ waiting for him. You need to be ready for this and have a short, powerful statement outlining the benefits of your product and why your prospect must buy it from you.

If you can make your prospect see the value of your product, or arouse his interest, in a few lines of text he will probably backtrack through the letter looking for more information.

Sometimes you need more than one post-script to do this and it is not uncommon to see PS, PPS, PPPS, even PPPPS’s at the end of sales letters.

They also serve as reminders to your client of his problems and the benefits of your solutions.

They are usually followed by another order button followed by a call to action.

If you take a look at my sales letter http://howtowritekickbuttcopy.com/FYC2.html, you will see that the I’ve used three PS’s to summarize my offer followed by a call to action and the ‘BUY’ button.

In the PS’s. I remind the prospect of my powerful no-nonsense guarantee whereby he can try out my product without any fears of getting ripped off, reinforcing that he has nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Then I go on to remind him how much he stands to lose every year unless he invests in this copywriting manual. This is a classic use of the fear of loss technique.

The final PS is a confirmation of exactly how good the Copywriting manual is and how it easy it makes sales letter writing.

Note also that the legend on the buy button is not merely “Buy” it is something much more powerful:

‘Buy now’ always seems a little cold and lifeless and also gives the prospect the impression that he is going to have to shell out some of his hard earned cash.

So next time you write a slaes letter remember that the call to action and actually asking your prospects to buy are as important as writing the headline.

Speak to you soon,

Stuart.