This lesson happened when my son Jason was about to start college. It was an exciting time for the whole family and a great accomplishment for him to be heading off to school.
Plus it would be the start of what should be the most memorable four years of his life. (I know, it might take him five years, but we’re only paying for four! Or, as John Belushi put it best in Animal House, “There goes seven years of college down the drain!”)
So we went to his summer orientation program and attended the first big session together. The parents were asked to stay in the auditorium while the kids went on to their own series of programs.
The woman responsible for the parents’ orientation program shared a lot of information with us, and then explained that after the kids all got settled into their dorms and started classes, it could be a while before they actually called home.
It didn’t matter, she explained, how many times you tried to reach them or how many messages you left; they were just going to be too preoccupied with everything else going on in their lives at that point, and calling home would be as close to the bottom of their list as it could possibly be.
She then offered a suggestion she said was guaranteed to get their students to call right away. Here’s what she said to do:
Send a greeting card telling them how proud you are of them; how much you miss them, and how you’re hoping they’re adjusting well and enjoying school. Then end the letter with this sentence: “…by the way, I hope the $50 I sent comes in handy.”
Of course, you “forget” to actually put the $50 in the card. She says that within ten seconds of reading the card, you’ll get a frantic call from your child.
So what’s the big lesson here? You’ve probably already figured it out. You have to find the key that motivates your customers or prospects to stop what they’re doing and take action NOW! That is, the specific action your marketing piece is encouraging them to take.
It may be getting them to sign up for membership or to renew an existing membership. It might be getting them to purchase a new and innovative product. Or it could be getting them to utilize your services or invest in additional resources your organization is offering to help them be more successful.
The problem is that people are overloaded. Between work, family, and other life demands, they simply have too much to do. You have to give them an incredibly good reason to stop whatever they’re working on and pay attention to you.
All of which means you have to find the raw nerve, which when properly stimulated will cause them to jump out of their chair and do what you want them to do. By the way, it doesn’t necessarily have to be a painful nerve you hit; you could find something they really want, and convince them so thoroughly that you can deliver it so that they’ll stop whatever they’re doing to take care of it right now.
Of course, then you have to actually deliver, but if you can’t do that in the first place, you shouldn’t be in business anyway.
For an exercise this month, just take one of your marketing pieces. It could be a sales letter, an ad, or a brochure. Read it completely from start to finish. Then comb through it line by line. See if you can find the trigger that will propel the reader into immediate action.
If you can’t find it, then change or rewrite the piece so that it’s there.
