I'm new around here and wanted to make my first post not suck. So below you'll find my notes from the book "Triggers" by Joe Sugarman. It's one of the best copywriting/sales psychology books I've come across and I highly recommend it. You'll find lots of little nuggets of gold within it and the notes below.
They aren't organized into an outline or anything like that. Just kind of random notes from the entire book, what I felt was most valuable while reading it. This is one of my go-to pieces that I scan before I write any new copy, puts me in the right frame of mind and just reading these notes gives me a number of ideas for the project I'm working on.
***Triggers by Joe Sugarman - Notes***
In the selling process, it is important to bring out an objection very early in the sales presentation. It is equally, if not more, important to figure out a strategy for resolving the objection.
Very often, within a problem lies an opportunity so big it dwarfs the problem. Your job is to find the opportunity.
Just list on one side of a sheet of paper the objections your prospect might have about your product. Then, on the other side, list ways you can resolve those objections and turn them into opportunities.
An involvement device that ties in with what you are selling can be very effective. You are making them feel that they have already bought the product by carrying them through the mental imagery of actual product ownership.
A good involvement device in direct response advertising has doubled and even tripled response.
Whatever you say, you’ve got to walk your talk. If you say you are going to do something, do it.
“I realized early on that selling is a matter of capturing people’s attention and holding it with a good story.”
Establishing your authority is something that should be done in each sales presentation, regardless of how big or how little you are.
I compare my prices to products with similar features and point out that I’m providing a better value.
The human mind is set up to help itself avoid feeling bad, and unfortunately for us, its need to do so is self-perpetuating.
We buy on emotion and justify with logic.
Emotion is the single most important motivating factor in why people buy. It is the underlying basis of every buying decision.
People buy on an emotional level, using logic to justify the purchase, and use of the correct emotional words will enhance that selling process.
When you justify a purchase in the minds of the consumers, they have no excuse not to buy, and in fact may even feel guilty if they don’t.
(1) You buy on emotion and justify the purchase with logic. (2) View logic as the answer to the unspoken objection, “Why should I buy this thing?”
You should recognize greed as an important factor when selling your prospect. By providing more value than your prospect expects, you will enhance the power of this valuable trigger.
In a mail order ad or in person, technical explanations can add a great deal of credibility, but you must make sure that you indeed become an expert, and your statements must be accurate.
A satisfaction conviction conveys a message from you that says, “Hey, I’m so convinced that you will like this product that I’m going to do something for your benefit that will surprise you and prove how incredible my offer really is.”
Swipe copy:
“But what if you never buy from us and your two-year membership expires? Fine. Send us just your membership card and we’ll fully refund your subscription in full plus send you interest on your money.”
The ideal satisfaction conviction should raise an objection or the last bit of resistance in the prospects’ minds and resolve it, as I’ve indicated in Chapters 4 and 5. But in resolving it, go beyond what your prospect expects. The resolution should be a passionate expression of your desire to please the person you are selling and to remove the last ounce of resistance he or she may have.
“linking.” Basically, it is the technique of relating what the consumer already knows and understands with what you are selling, to make the new product easy to understand and relate to.
The minute there is a lot of publicity about something and it has the potential to turn into a fad, it could be a great opportunity to link it onto something that you’re doing, either to get publicity or to promote a product.
I take what is familiar to the prospect, relate it to the object I am selling, and create a bridge in the mind of my prospect.
The desire to belong to and identify with a group of people who own a specific product is one of the most powerful triggers in selling and marketing.
If you’ve sold your customer a product, consider the fact that the customer might also like to collect similar products.
There is no excuse for not at least considering a sense of urgency in every presentation you make.
The basic concept is to make the prospect feel that he or she is special—that you are really allowing that prospect to buy a particular product that few people can obtain regardless of price.
We all like to be treated as special, and one of the best ways to do it in a very emotional way is through the power of exclusivity.
Use simple, easy-to-understand words.
Simplicity in direct response is critical. It is also important in sales. Always make your offer simple. Realize that only after your prospect becomes your customer can you present more complicated offers and products.
Consider many of the creative ways to instill the feeling of guilt in your prospect.
In contrast, statements with specific facts can generate strong believability. Of course, the specific facts must be honest and accurate.
Using specifics instead of generalities and facts instead of approximations will make a dramatic difference in the believability of your presentation. Be specific in your statements and your facts to build credibility and believability.
As a salesperson, simply being aware of the psychological trigger of familiarity, to make a person comfortable with your product or service, is important when selling. So keep your name in front of your prospect.
First, you’ve got to get the prospective reader to start saying “yes.” Second, you’ve got to make statements that are both honest and believable.
In a print advertisement, the moment the reader thinks, “No” or even, “I really don’t believe what he is saying” or, “I don’t think that relates to me,” you’ve lost that reader. But as long as the reader keeps saying “yes” or believes what you are saying is correct and continues to stay interested, you are harmonizing with your prospect.
Ending phrases with head nodding tags like “couldn’t you?” and “wouldn’t you?” and “don’t you?” are more forceful in obtaining a “yes” answer.
you present yourself as a credible person or a knowledgeable authority representing a credible company, then what you say will create a feeling of confidence on the part of your prospect.
Whatever you are selling, with the proper credibility, you will automatically engage the power of hope—a powerful force that could motivate, inspire, and even trigger a sale.
If I had to pick the one major psychological factor that makes direct marketing so successful today, it would be curiosity.
Curiosity can be used when you mention some benefit or payoff at the beginning of an ad that you are going to reveal somewhere later in your copy.
I end the paragraph with a very short sentence that says, “But there’s more.” Or I might end a paragraph with, “But what I’m about to say is even more interesting.”
“And if you think that what I’ve just said is important, just wait until you hear this.”
Your goal is to harmonize not only with the marketplace but in particular with your customer.
Provide a little suspense, so that the reader has to come to a conclusion on her own using intuition, thought, sensation, and emotion, and you’ve got a very good force working for you.
Anything that causes the mind to work hard to reach a conclusion creates a positive, enjoyable, or stimulating effect on the brain. The opposite is true if the mind does not have to work because the conclusion is obvious.
It seemed that the more truthful and frank my ads were, the more positively the consumer responded. I soon realized that truthfulness was one of the best advertising lessons I had ever learned.
They aren't organized into an outline or anything like that. Just kind of random notes from the entire book, what I felt was most valuable while reading it. This is one of my go-to pieces that I scan before I write any new copy, puts me in the right frame of mind and just reading these notes gives me a number of ideas for the project I'm working on.
***Triggers by Joe Sugarman - Notes***
In the selling process, it is important to bring out an objection very early in the sales presentation. It is equally, if not more, important to figure out a strategy for resolving the objection.
Very often, within a problem lies an opportunity so big it dwarfs the problem. Your job is to find the opportunity.
Just list on one side of a sheet of paper the objections your prospect might have about your product. Then, on the other side, list ways you can resolve those objections and turn them into opportunities.
An involvement device that ties in with what you are selling can be very effective. You are making them feel that they have already bought the product by carrying them through the mental imagery of actual product ownership.
A good involvement device in direct response advertising has doubled and even tripled response.
Whatever you say, you’ve got to walk your talk. If you say you are going to do something, do it.
“I realized early on that selling is a matter of capturing people’s attention and holding it with a good story.”
Establishing your authority is something that should be done in each sales presentation, regardless of how big or how little you are.
I compare my prices to products with similar features and point out that I’m providing a better value.
The human mind is set up to help itself avoid feeling bad, and unfortunately for us, its need to do so is self-perpetuating.
We buy on emotion and justify with logic.
Emotion is the single most important motivating factor in why people buy. It is the underlying basis of every buying decision.
People buy on an emotional level, using logic to justify the purchase, and use of the correct emotional words will enhance that selling process.
When you justify a purchase in the minds of the consumers, they have no excuse not to buy, and in fact may even feel guilty if they don’t.
(1) You buy on emotion and justify the purchase with logic. (2) View logic as the answer to the unspoken objection, “Why should I buy this thing?”
You should recognize greed as an important factor when selling your prospect. By providing more value than your prospect expects, you will enhance the power of this valuable trigger.
In a mail order ad or in person, technical explanations can add a great deal of credibility, but you must make sure that you indeed become an expert, and your statements must be accurate.
A satisfaction conviction conveys a message from you that says, “Hey, I’m so convinced that you will like this product that I’m going to do something for your benefit that will surprise you and prove how incredible my offer really is.”
Swipe copy:
“But what if you never buy from us and your two-year membership expires? Fine. Send us just your membership card and we’ll fully refund your subscription in full plus send you interest on your money.”
The ideal satisfaction conviction should raise an objection or the last bit of resistance in the prospects’ minds and resolve it, as I’ve indicated in Chapters 4 and 5. But in resolving it, go beyond what your prospect expects. The resolution should be a passionate expression of your desire to please the person you are selling and to remove the last ounce of resistance he or she may have.
“linking.” Basically, it is the technique of relating what the consumer already knows and understands with what you are selling, to make the new product easy to understand and relate to.
The minute there is a lot of publicity about something and it has the potential to turn into a fad, it could be a great opportunity to link it onto something that you’re doing, either to get publicity or to promote a product.
I take what is familiar to the prospect, relate it to the object I am selling, and create a bridge in the mind of my prospect.
The desire to belong to and identify with a group of people who own a specific product is one of the most powerful triggers in selling and marketing.
If you’ve sold your customer a product, consider the fact that the customer might also like to collect similar products.
There is no excuse for not at least considering a sense of urgency in every presentation you make.
The basic concept is to make the prospect feel that he or she is special—that you are really allowing that prospect to buy a particular product that few people can obtain regardless of price.
We all like to be treated as special, and one of the best ways to do it in a very emotional way is through the power of exclusivity.
Use simple, easy-to-understand words.
Simplicity in direct response is critical. It is also important in sales. Always make your offer simple. Realize that only after your prospect becomes your customer can you present more complicated offers and products.
Consider many of the creative ways to instill the feeling of guilt in your prospect.
In contrast, statements with specific facts can generate strong believability. Of course, the specific facts must be honest and accurate.
Using specifics instead of generalities and facts instead of approximations will make a dramatic difference in the believability of your presentation. Be specific in your statements and your facts to build credibility and believability.
As a salesperson, simply being aware of the psychological trigger of familiarity, to make a person comfortable with your product or service, is important when selling. So keep your name in front of your prospect.
First, you’ve got to get the prospective reader to start saying “yes.” Second, you’ve got to make statements that are both honest and believable.
In a print advertisement, the moment the reader thinks, “No” or even, “I really don’t believe what he is saying” or, “I don’t think that relates to me,” you’ve lost that reader. But as long as the reader keeps saying “yes” or believes what you are saying is correct and continues to stay interested, you are harmonizing with your prospect.
Ending phrases with head nodding tags like “couldn’t you?” and “wouldn’t you?” and “don’t you?” are more forceful in obtaining a “yes” answer.
you present yourself as a credible person or a knowledgeable authority representing a credible company, then what you say will create a feeling of confidence on the part of your prospect.
Whatever you are selling, with the proper credibility, you will automatically engage the power of hope—a powerful force that could motivate, inspire, and even trigger a sale.
If I had to pick the one major psychological factor that makes direct marketing so successful today, it would be curiosity.
Curiosity can be used when you mention some benefit or payoff at the beginning of an ad that you are going to reveal somewhere later in your copy.
I end the paragraph with a very short sentence that says, “But there’s more.” Or I might end a paragraph with, “But what I’m about to say is even more interesting.”
“And if you think that what I’ve just said is important, just wait until you hear this.”
Your goal is to harmonize not only with the marketplace but in particular with your customer.
Provide a little suspense, so that the reader has to come to a conclusion on her own using intuition, thought, sensation, and emotion, and you’ve got a very good force working for you.
Anything that causes the mind to work hard to reach a conclusion creates a positive, enjoyable, or stimulating effect on the brain. The opposite is true if the mind does not have to work because the conclusion is obvious.
It seemed that the more truthful and frank my ads were, the more positively the consumer responded. I soon realized that truthfulness was one of the best advertising lessons I had ever learned.
