Copywriting secret of the masters how to add power negotiation tactics to your sales pitch - john forde
1. Copywriting Secret of the Masters:
How to Add Power Negotiation Tactics to Your Sales Pitch
by: John Forde
www.ProCopyWritingTactics.com
2. How to Add Power Negotiation Tactics to Your
Sales Pitch
Remember G. Gordon Liddy?
He helped engineer the plan to break into the Democratic National
Committee offices at the Watergate Hotel during Richard Nixon‘s presidency.
The break-in backfired. The burglars got caught. And eventually, Nixon
himself had to resign.
Even though Nixon‘s advisors knew there were big risks in Liddy‘s plan, they
went for it anyway. How did Liddy talk them into it?
By using the power of something called ―reciprocal concession.‖
Liddy first proposed the plan with a budget of $1 million. ―Ridiculous,‖ said
Mitchell, Magruder, and Dean. ―You‘re an idiot.‖
A week later, Liddy came back with the ―mission‖ budget trimmed to
$500,000. Again, no go.
But Liddy now had them where he wanted them.
He made his final pitch for a ―bare bones‖ version of the original – a version
pretty close to what he had imagined in the first place before he pumped it
up into the grandiose plan.
This one could be done for just $250,000. They went for it. Even though the
plan was just as risky as the first version.
Why?
Years later, Magruder said, ―We were reluctant to send him away with
nothing…‖
This is reciprocal concession in action. Both sides gave something, but Liddy
got a big part of what he had wanted in the first place.
Here‘s how it works…
At UCLA, they did a study where groups of students negotiated for a pile of
money. They were told observers were measuring their negotiation skills.
But beforehand, one student was secretly instructed to try three different
negotiation tactics with three different sets of students.
With the first group, he demanded all the money and wouldn‘t budge. With
the second, he made a reasonable demand that was only slightly in his favor.
With the last, he made the extreme demand first, and then backed off to
something more agreeable but still in his favor.
Guess which group gave him the most money?
In every test trial, the third group was the most generous.
www.ProCopyWritingTactics.com
3. The study found that the third group was more satisfied with the outcome –
even though they had given up more of the money. They were more
satisfied because they believed they had controlled the deal.
You can apply this principle in sales copy.
How much are you asking for the product? Could it be worth more? If not,
your copy needs to be stronger. If so, you can try this reciprocal concession
technique by saying something like this…
“My publisher wants to charge you $1,000 a year for this service. ‗Just to get
the same advice from a paid professional‘ he said, ‗would easily run a guy
four and five times that.‘
“Honestly, he‘s right. And I‘m confident what you‘ll get is worth at least 10
times that.
“But I‘ll tell you what…
“Suppose one year of service cost you just $750. That‘s the price I‘m
supposed to tell strangers when they come talk to me at the end of
seminars. And that‘s actually a very good deal.
“However… you and I, we share a common interest here…
“So I‘ve twisted my publisher‘s arm and worked out a special deal: One year
of my service – with all the things we talked about earlier – will cost you
only $500.
“Sign up for two years, and you‘ll get each year‘s worth of full service for an
even deeper discount – just $450 per year. Doesn‘t that sound fair?‖
Okay, ‘nuff said. I think you get the idea.
By presenting an almost preposterous offer and then backing off to the real
parameters of the deal, you get more agreement more quickly. And, usually,
you also get a customer who‘s more satisfied after making the purchase.
Find out more about the hidden art of persuading customers to buy with
compelling salescopy in AWAI‘s Accelerated Program for Six-Figure
Copywriting.
www.ProCopyWritingTactics.com
4. John Forde:A Master at Writing
More Controls More Often
"If you write copy … how many chances to sell your talents to the businesses
you know and trust have you overlooked? Company websites … local sales
brochures … online ads and sales letters … print ads in local papers … even
P.R. pieces or ezine editorial.
It might be the small gigs that get you started. It might be the big
opportunities that let you smack the cover off the ball at your first at bat.
Either way, I’ve met plenty of people who had no grasp about what role
copywriters play.
Masterson‘s [Accelerated Program for Six-Figure Copywriting] offers the
most thorough and well-organized approach to the subject I’ve seen
anywhere. There’s not a technique or secret in there that I haven’t found
helpful over the years. I owe a great deal of my own success to Mike
Masterson. And I tell him so regularly. As for the program, I’d recommend it
to anybody – not just direct-mail copywriters, but anyone who’s trying to get
a grip on what makes marketing work."
— John Forde
JOHN FORDE has been writing winning controls for going on two decades
now. He‘s made untold millions for clients in the financial, health, and travel
industries. John also works as a copy coach, hosting intense seminars for
two or three hundred marketers and copywriters at a time.
John Forde also writes the successful and very useful eletter, The
Copywriter‘s Roundtable.
www.ProCopyWritingTactics.com
