In a previous article I talked about the AIDA Formula and how it can help you enhance your sales. I also explained why it’s so important and elaborated a little on each aspect of the formula (Attention, Interest, Desire and Action). Today I will give you practical advice on how you can use this simple but very useful principle to your advantage.
How to get your prospect’s Attention?
- Take into consideration the media you’re using. It’s not the same television than one-on-one selling. Remember that the media is the message, so ask yourself how you would use the media to get yourself noticed.
- Find a way to generate empathy. Let your prospect know that you both speak the same language, that you know what he or she feels because you have been there too.
- Shoot your best line and fit in there all your promotional speech. If, for example, you’re selling advertising spaces in a magazine you can start by saying “I want to show you an opportunity to make your business known to over 5,000 premium customers countrywide”. Be assertive, avoid long explanations and say it in the quickest, most powerful way.
- Answer the next question: Why would they listen to me? If you don’t know the “heart” of our message and why you’re spreading it then you’re not ready to sell.
How to generate Interest?
- This has to be quick, this is the part where most of the sales are lost and most of the ads go unseen. If the interest is not hooked in a fast way after the attention, the later vanishes away. Be it in the Internet, the TV or in personal relations, if anything takes more than 30 seconds to reveal itself, it’s automatically discarded.
- Language seduces, so try to use the best of it, avoid using negative words. Use strong phrases. Use synonyms to say the same thing over and over again. If you repeat your message at least four times in a row using different words it will get to your prospect more clearly.
- Avoid using shy or ambiguous expressions, use sentences that project intention and certainty.
- Everybody loves a good story. Narrations and anecdotes are two good resources you can use to transmit your message because they make it more human. By the way, the more technical and specialized the topic you’re talking about is, the more human your anecdote has to be.
How to wake Desire?
- Target you message to a susceptibility of your prospect, try to transmit, in an emotional manner, that you can satisfy his or her needs and aspirations. The objective of this is not to manipulate or to deceive but to present your prospect with a solution to a problem.
- Stress the fact that the sale has to be done NOW. That the more time it takes the benefits will decrease and the cost will increase. You’re trying to awake the wish on your prospect to have what you’re selling right now!
- Image and details matter. When you talk about the benefits of your product, paint a defined image of how this product will make your prospect’s life better.
How to provoke Action?
- In marketing there’s the “call to action” concept. This is when the advertiser tells the public what is expected from them: call now, ask your doctor, visit the nearest retailer.
- Give a specific and concrete proposal or quote.
- In sales this is when the order form comes out and the sale is closed. Ask your client when delivery of the product or service is required as well what payment method is preferred. Have a pen handy to sign the order form.
