The Psychology of Selling
It was 1979. A home computer was almost unheard of and my calculator was the size of a paperback book.
I was working in advertising & retail management for a national company.
(This is no admission of age, I stopped aging years ago.)
There I sat, among a room full of strangers, awaiting the start of a course called “The Psychology of Selling.”
Little did I know the impact it would have. I use those lessons still today. They apply as much online as they did offline.
Just as the class was starting, a somewhat frazzled young man, tie askew and hair ruffled, hurried in the door.
The instructor, who reminded me of Groucho Marx, shrieked loudly; “DON’T SLAM THE DOOR!”
Then, he turned and looked at the class, grinning, and asked:
“What did you just visualize?”
The entire class started to laugh.
He laughed and said, “Please close the door quietly.”
The poor guy closed the door and slunk off to a seat, probably wishing a hole would open up in the floor.
The instructor grinned. “Not bad,” he said. “Not five minutes into the class and you learned Rule 2!”
He turned and wrote on a flipchart:
“People can not visualize a negative”
Wildly waving his felt marker, he explained that if we give people a negative command they visualize the opposite. That if you say “Don’t slam the door,” we visualize a door slamming.
That applies to marketing, too.
That’s why “call today” and “do it now” get better results than “Don’t wait”.
One brave soul (was that me?) raised a hand and asked what rule number one was. The instructor stopped. Flourished his hands dramatically and made a great show of capping the felt marker and placing it on the table.
Mr. Late was grinning at me across the room. I was beginning to wish for that hole in the floor.
In a very melodramatic manner, the instructor sauntered up to a young lady in the first row. He was whistling. I breathed a sigh of relief.
He grinned at her for a minute, then held out his hand and said, “Give me your pencil”. She did.
Grinning wider, the instructor walked through the rows of chairs waving the girl’s pencil over his head. “People – follow – directives”, he announced.
Suddenly he stopped. He pointed the pencil at yet another student. “If I told you to jump off a bridge, would you?” he asked. The student snorted and said no. The instructor went on to say that people – as a rule – will follow a directive if there is no apparent reason not to. Personal harm is a pretty good reason not to. Fear. Suspicion. Doubt. More reasons not to.
As a whole, we are even more inclined to follow a directive if it will result in a positive gain.
The discussion carried on, of course, but with that thought in mind, take a good look at your ads. Your articles. Your webpage copy. Do you include a directive? Every time?
The buzzword for it is a “call to action”. Are you telling people what “to” do? Or what “not” to do?
Test your ads. Test your copy. Make one small change – to the last sentence. Use a directive. A positive one, not a negative one. Keep a notebook and log the results with each change.
Sure, it takes a little time. You’re worth it. The difference… could be absolutely amazing!
I really enjoyed this post! You are an engaging writer and look forward to reading more.