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Tell Your Prospects What to Do and Get More Sales

Francis Lui

March 17, 2009

A common mistake is not telling the prospect what to do at the end of your copy.  From our point of view, it seems obvious on what the prospect should do next.  We think the prospect should be able to figure it out himself.  Spelling out the obvious might even insult his intelligence, we think.

But, of course it's obvious to us... because after all, we wrote the copy.  Unfortunately, it's not always obvious to the prospect on what to do next.  If the prospect doesn't know what to do, she's not going to bother figuring it out and will toss the copy aside.  And you'll lose her sale.

So what should we do?  We should tell the prospect what to do.  Don't assume the prospect knows what to do next.  Even if it's obvious, you'll have to spell it out clearly and specifically for him.

So if the order has to be sent in by mail, tell your prospect to send in her order by mail and the exact address to send it to.  If the prospect has to call a number, tell her to pick up the phone and call.    Tell her the exact number to dial.  If the prospect has to click on a link to go to a Web site, tell her to click on the link.  If the offer is only available for a limited time, tell the prospect to order now.   

When telling the prospect what to do, another thing is to add urgency to get him to act now rather than later.  If you don't add urgency, the prospect will put it aside and end up forgetting it.

You've probably had that experience yourself.  You may have asked someone to do a favor for you.  But that person said he'd do it later or when he gets back home.  The next time you see him, you find out he completely forgot about it. 

That's because he put it aside and then accidentally ended up forgetting it.  This often happens with prospects as well.  So you must remember to add urgency.

One way to add urgency is to make your offer available only for a limited time.  For instance, if the prospect orders in the next 10 days, you'll throw in a free bonus.  Or you can offer a discount. 

Another way to add urgency is to say there's only a limited supply available.  For instance, you could say there are only 500 copies left of your home-study program.  Once it's sold out, the next shipment won't come until several months later.

Telling the prospect what to do at the end of your copy is a simple, but often missed step.  If you're missing this step, you're missing out on sales.  So add this step at the end of your copy.  Tell your prospects what to do -– and watch your sales go up.

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