Do you really know your product? Take the TV shopping channel test…

Spend a few moments watching any of the TV shopping channels, and you’ll see the difference between those presenters who know a lot about their products, and those that don’t.

It’s the difference between…

“Sign up today for the zip up bootie slipper and enjoy its paisley pattern. You’ll be the envy of all your friends when they see you in a pair of these attractive slippers that you wear on your feet. Just look at that design, isn’t that just exquisite…?”

Sound a bit fluffy to you?

Now compare that to:

“Each pair of zip-up bootie slippers is flock lined for extra comfort and to make sure your feet stay toastie when the nights start getting colder. The soles are also half an inch thick and suitable for light outdoor use which means you don’t have to spend time slipping shoes on and off if you’re just popping into the garden or your yard for something…”

Getting to grips with the ins and outs of your product or service makes all the difference between writing fluff and writing informatively.

So what do you write about? –  Start with what YOU think is obvious

When I sit down with a new client I grill them (in a personable and friendly way) about their business, not just about what makes them different, but about their standard working habits as well. I want to know how they come up with their ideas, what materials they use, how long and how they carry out their consultation process is and how they actually deliver their service to their customers.

And I usually hear:

“Yes, but there’s no point in writing about that, all [web designers / life coaches / supermarkets] do that…”

The wonderful thing about studying these processes though, is that although your competitors probably have the same ways of working, they might not be communicating that to the target market.

And if that’s the case, you can have a great advantage to persuade your customers to choose you…

Story time

In the 1920s plenty of beer companies were telling customers about the “purity” of their beer. And by “telling,” I mean slapping the word “Pure” on all of their advertisements. As a result, the purity angle lost its effect because it was taken for granted that every good beer was pure.

So how did the Schlitz beer company raise its brand from the #5 position to #1 in just a few months using the purity claim?

Enter copywriter Claude Hopkins.

Hopkins made the effort to not just “tell” the public how pure the Schlitz beer was, he showed them by explaining in great detail all the steps Schlitz took to make its beer so pure.

He explained how white-wood pulp was used for a superior filtering process, how each pump and pipe was cleaned twice and each bottle sterilized 4 times before being filled with beer to ensure purity. He also showed them how a 4,000 foot well was used to provide the purest water and how the mother yeast cell had been chosen after 1200 experiments were conducted in order to find the best flavour.

And each step was a step that all other beer manufacturers took.

But only Schlitz beer explained this process to their customers.

As a result, they took the number 1 beer brand slot and increased sales significantly.

If you can explain in details some of the processes that you go through to offer your service or create your product, your customer is more likely to think:

Wow, they really know their stuff

And

Gosh, if they put in all that effort it must be good quality

If you had to talk for 5 minutes about all the brilliant benefits of your product would you be able to fill the time with useful details that sell your services and solve your customer’s pain?

Talking about your product in this way might just show you how much you knowledge you can draw upon when selling what it is that you do, or it might highlight areas that you’re stumbling on, (especially when it comes to those tricky benefits).

If you record yourself doing it though, you might even surprise yourself at things you mention verbally that you haven’t included before in your sales copy or web copy.

I’m going to be testing myself with this as well this week when I attend Speak Shoot and Sell, up in London where Carrie Wilkerson and Paul Evans will whip me into public speaking shape in just 2 days… Can’t wait!