Your Grand Opening: How To Start Your Marketing Documents So People 
Buy

What You're Selling



by Dr. Jeffrey Lant



It happened again today, as it does most days. The mail comes. It is packed 
with marketing materials that people have spent thousands and thousands 
of dollars to produce. I open them. And, as usual, my heart sinks.



The first one starts (and, sadly, I quote): "Fact Sheet.  The Personal 
Library Management Software. Introducing An Innovative New Personal 
Information Management Tool."



The second simply says, "Small Business" and gives the name of the person 
sending the document.



The third leads with the name of the sender and the words "Because you 
need a strong partner to find the right computer solutions."



As I review this paltry harvest, two things happen: I get frustrated trying 
to figure out what these people are selling, and I get angry that I have to 
spend my precious time finding out. Ordinarily the lethal mixture of 
frustration and anger would cause me to throw these expensively-produced 
documents away. But since I write these articles I keep them. It's the only 
reason for doing so.



Now, the people who produced these thing are all smart, they're all 
professionals, they've all spent a bundle of money producing these sales 
materials, they're all interested in helping me solve some problem. But not a 
single one of them has produced a document that grabs me by the throat and 
says, "Hey, Jeffrey, here's something for you." Thus, each of these marketing 
documents fails.



Which is why I'm writing this article. Because I just can't stand seeing so 
many people so consistently destroy the opportunity of getting the 
prospect's attention right from the start and thus increasing the likelihood 
that that prospect will become a buyer.



Grab Your Prospect's Attention Immediately



Selling starts from the first word your prospect sees. And, indeed, your 
first words had better be your strongest words, because if they aren't, they 
may be the last words your prospect will ever read.



Now, I ask you. Are these openings strong openings?



. the name of your company



. the name of your product



. a statement that could apply to anyone ("Because you need a strong 
partner to find the right computer solutions.")



. a fact list of features of your product



. a general description of what you do.



No, they most assuredly are not! And yet (try this for yourself) if you 
review the marketing materials that you receive this week, you'll find three 
out of four begin with these dull, unenticing, entirely selfish openings. 
Openings which don't give us any reason to read on. Openings which are 
about the person sending the material and not about you as prospective 
buyer. Openings which are mind-bogglingly boring and which present 
information like the sender is writing a term paper, instead of trying to 
excite your interest as a possible buyer.



THIS NONSENSE MUST STOP.



Before you write another marketing document, post these facts 
prominently:



. Marketing documents are about prospects and their wants, not about 
sellers and their products and services.



. Marketing documents are much more about benefits that features. 



. Marketing documents must be interesting, easy to read and packed with 
excitement.



. Marketing documents must open strongly and offer enough of an 
incentive to buy so that the prospect will be persuaded to buy immediately -
- not just after reading the whole document.



If your documents do not do this, then you need to master the techniques 
of The Grand Opening: the four ways to open your marketing documents so 
that your prospect will buy what you're selling.



Four Grand Openings



Remember these four words:



. Offer

. Testimonial

. Pain

. Benefit



They contain the secret to starting marketing documents that sell. Let's 
look at each.



Opening With An Offer



Have you ever gone into a store and bought something on sale merely 
because it was on sale? Of course, you have. And if you've bought because of 
the sale, you've bought because of an offer, a special condition that induces 
you to buy now. Learn from your own habits.



Give your prospects a special reason for buying now. The now, as much as 
(if not more than) the product or service itself is what gets your prospect to 
buy. What reasons can you think of for getting your prospect to buy now?



Reasons For Buying Now



The best list of offers I've ever seen comes in a new book by that prolific 
prodigy of persuasive prose, Robert Bly. In Direct Mail Profits: How To Get 
More Leads And Sales By Mail (see Resource Box for further information), 
Bly presents a list of 78 basic offers. Here are just a few:



. free brochure

. free trial

. free consultation

. money-back guarantee

. enter our contest and win prizes

. extra discount for payment with order

. seasonal sale

. extra quantity with paid order

. call toll-free number.



Several things should be apparent from this list:



. There isn't a business in the nation that can't make some kind of special 
offer to induce prospects to buy now.



. People buy all the time because of the offer, rather than the product or 
service it's attached to.



Thus, consider starting your marketing documents with an offer. 
Remember to restate your offer over and over again in the text that follows, 
right up to and in a post script that might reprise it yet again. Don't forgt 
offers are more interesting than the name of your company, than a general 
description of what you produce, or than a statement about your product or 
service features. Offers sell. The rest is just fact.



Opening With A Testimonial



Do people buy a product or service because it's delivered benefits to 
people like them? Of course, they do. All the time. That's why you should 
consider opening with a testimonial.



But not something general like, "The product really worked for me." No, 
indeed. Open with a testimonial that tells the prospect specifically what the 
satisfied buyer has achieved with it: the extent of what the buyer achieved, 
how long it took the buyer to achieve it, how much it cost the buyer to 
achieve it. 



The strongest testimonials are not general but specific. They don't say, "It's 
simply the best. I can't say enough about it." (an actual testimonial which 
came in the mail). But "Since I began using (name of product), I've increased 
my margin by 4 cents and my volume is up 20%." (another actual 
testimonial) The second is much, much better.



Why is the second better? Because, if you knew that people like you, just 
like you, had improved their margins by 4 cents and their volume by 20% 
wouldn't you want to know how to do it, too? If this is the case, why did the 
producer of the brochure in which this testimonial is found relegate it to the 
back page under the invigorating headline: "The Last Word", opening instead 
with the name of his company? It's utterly incomprehensible to me!



Note: Don't hesitate to have your testimonial emphasize not only benefits 
but the offer itself. Thus: "My margins are up by 4 cents and my volume by 
20% with (name of product). That's great. But what's even better, is that I got 
a month's supply free when I took advantage of (name of company's) special 
offer." That's a testimonial and an offer, a double whammy.



Open With Pain



One of the two main reasons why people buy anything is because they're 
in pain (the other, usually less strong, reason is because they have an 
aspiration. Often, of course, their aspiration is to be rid of their pain.) Hitting 
them between the eyes with a strong statement about their pain, therefore, 
makes a lot of sense.



Which is a stronger opening?



"Facts about our new weight loss formula."



Or, "Of course, you want people to look at you. But not because you're fat."

 

The first statement is about the company and its product.



The second is about the prospect, who's abashed at his or her weight and 
wants to do something about it to avoid the pain of being fat. A good opening 
is a pain opening, because pain (and the desire to get rid of it) sells.



Many people feel squeamish about opening with a pain statement. It 
seems hard, cruel, calculating. One of my clients told me he couldn't open a 
marketing document that way because he was afraid his prospects would 
think he was coming on too strong and wouldn't like him. Yup, that's what he 
said.



The truth is, people in pain know they're in pain and are often desperate 
for help. Certainly, they are interested in knowing what you can do for them. 
They don't care a fig about you and your product. They are only interested 
in results, in what your product or service can do for them, specifically about 
getting rid of their pain. Thus, open with pain. The extent to which you drive 
home the prospect's pain is the extent to which you've gained his attention 
and begun to persuade him to buy what you're selling.



Open With A Benefit



There probably isn't a product- or service-seller in the nation who doesn't 
know he's supposed to pound home benefits about what he's selling, not just 
state features. Why then do the vast majority of marketing documents open 
with features?



Let's reprise the basics. A feature is a fact about the product or service 
you're selling. A benefit is what the buyer derives from the feature. Now, 
having read this, what do you think is more likely to get your prospect to 
buy: a fact about what you're selling, or a clear indication of what he'll get 
when he uses it? Put like this, the answer is obvious, isn't it?



Thus, open with a benefit.



"Using (name of product) will increase your margin by 4 cents and your 
volume by at least 20%! Result? More money for you and what you like to do 
with it!"



To make benefits work for you, write down every feature of what you're 
selling and force yourself to list the corresponding benefit. Then lead with 
the strongest possible benefit given the audience you're addressing. If 
several benefits are equally important, don't hesitate to use them all. To 
introduce them, use short, action sentences. Let the prospect know in no 
uncertain terms that using what you're selling will give him benefits that are 
meaningful to him.



Open With A Combination



Opening with an offer, a testimonial, a statement about the prospect's pain 
or with benefits which the prospect will get by using what you're selling will 
make your marketing documents stronger. I guarantee it. But don't hesitate, 
too, to combine these four motivators to make a stronger hybrid.



Try an offer + pain + benefit. "You are in default. Your home will be sold at 
public aucton in just 120 days. (pain statements). That's why you need a free 
one hour consultation with mortgage default specialist Jane Powers. (offer). 
She'll show you how you can keep your home -- or get your equity out 
before you're home is sold at public auction (benefit.)"



Try testimonial + pain + offer + benefit. "I like to be looked at. Love to be 
admired. But when I weighed 350 pounds people looked at me because I 
was fat. (pain) And I felt horrible. (more pain) Then a friend told me about 
Weight Loss. I look advantage of their free 15-day trial offer (offer). And 
now I know that when people look, it's because they like what they see 
(benefit). And at 150 pounds, they ought to." (The whole, of course, is a 
testimonial.)



See what I mean?



The extent to which you open your documents in a way that gives them an 
immediate reason to take action (offer), reassures them about results based 
on what other people like them have achieved (testimonial), reminds them 
of the pain they are in and the fact that they hurt (pain) and excites them 
with what they'll get by using what you're selling (benefit), is the extent to 
whicih your documents will be read and your products and services bought. 
And when this happens, your Grand Opening will produce a long-running, 
profitable show.

__________________________________________________________________
___________

Resource Box



Robert Bob has done it again in DIRECT MAIL PROFITS: HOW TO GT MORE 
LEADS AND SALES BY MAIL. Use this frank, detailed and eminently sensible 
book to make more sales by mail. 205 pages. 49.95 postpaid from The Sure-
Fire Business Success Catalog, 50 Follen St., #507, Cambridge, MA 02138 or 
with MasterCard and Visa from (617) 547-6372. Don't forget to ask for your 
free one-year subscription to this 16-page Business Resources Directory 
featuring 100 ways to make your business more profitable and efficient.

__________________________________________________________________
____________



Dr. Jeffrey Lant can help you create marketing documents that sell your 
products or services. Use MONEY MAKING MARKETING: FINDING THE PEOPLE 
WHO NEED WHAT YOU'RE SELLING AND MAKING SURE THEY BUY IT to 
improve your marketing and THE UNABASHED SELF-PROMOTER'S GUIDE: 
WHAT EVERY MAN, WOMAN, CHILD AND ORGANIZATION IN AMERICA NEEDS 
TO KNOW ABOUT GETTING AHEAD BY EXPLOITING THE MEDIA to get free 
promotion. Each is $32.50 postpaid from The Sure-Fire Business Success 
Catalog, 50 Follen St., #507, Cambridge, MA 02138 or (617) 547-6372. Ask 
for details on how Jeffrey can improve every marketing document you 
use.Many people feel squeamish about opening with a pain statement. It s