The Dreaded “Instant Prospect Ick.”
Jul 8, 2024
I can drive hundreds of leads to your door. I can write the perfect ad for you. I can make the messaging on your website perfect. I can devise a strategy that brings customers begging for your services… But if you confuse your client even once… It's over.
Literally ONE wrong message is enough to give your clients the “Instant Prospect Ick.”
To illustrate, let me tell you a story:
I met one of my clients to round up the month and discuss the next steps. We brought them 22 leads in three weeks. Previously they were getting 1 or 2 leads a week. That’s a 10-20x increase! And each new customer is worth a minimum of $200/month. That’s $4k+ of potential additional monthly revenue.
So, we should have been cracking open the champagne in a nice restaurant, celebrating right?
WRONG… Why? One problem. They didn’t close even one sale!
I put on my detective hat… “How are you following up with these prospects?”
“We email them.”
“OK, do you call them?”
“No.”
“Ok, what do you email them?”
“I use ChatGPT.”
🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️
The solution became obvious.
A. Call your leads when they provide a phone number. It’s too great of an asset NOT to.
B. Talk like a human in ALL communication.
ChatGPT doesn’t talk like a human. It spits out confusing drivel. And confusing drivel doesn’t sell.
So let’s talk about what sells…
Occam’s Razor: the simplest explanation is most likely the right one.
In marketing, the simpler things are the better the results.
When we get a client a ton of interest and they don’t sell, it’s typically down to one thing. Confusion. You’re probably confusing customers and don’t even know it… And it can creep in at any point in the advertising or sales process. People are terrible at following complicated instructions.
Remember this:
Confuse your prospects (even slightly) and they’ll swipe away faster than you can say “Would you like to make a booking?”
Imagine a man wearing a 3 piece suit, black shoes, and a BROWN belt on a dating show. Instant ick. Instant swipe left. Instant no.
Here’s what to do instead:
Sell Your Services, Easy
The one thing that matters at the end of the day is how many people buy your product.
The goal of an ad can be one of a few things:
- Get a response,
- Get read,
- Collect an email address,
- Set up a call.
Every step must have one clear goal. Any more than that becomes confusing. It’s like asking somebody to do too many things. The whole goal is to make it easy to say "Yes!"
Now, in the example I gave you earlier where our client used ChatGPT, it turns out they were sending a Lord Of The Rings sized text to their prospects. They were asking for way too much. Here’s what we spotted:
A long-winded, 2 paragraph welcome message.
Mentioned two services instead of focusing on one.
Asked the prospect to respond by making a decision between the two.
Ended the email with two more bulky paragraphs full of drivel.
Here’s how we turned around the messaging in their email to focus on one goal:
Subject line: Your Application To [company name]
Hi [Lead],
You’ve made a great decision in applying for [service] at [company name].
We will be in touch soon. In the meantime, we have availability for a trial day this Friday.
Here’s what you need to know:
Simple, important information
By the way, you’re entitled to a trial day for $X.XX. If your [type of animal] is a good fit we will then schedule a free follow-up consultation to discuss full onboarding.
To book your trial day now click here.[INCLUDES LINK TO DIRECT PAYMENT]
We will be in contact soon,
[owner name]
P.S. If you have any questions please reply to this email and we will get back to you shortly.
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This is 3x shorter than the original. To write with this kind of clarity, you have to put yourself in your customer's shoes. Ask yourself:
Am I saying too much?
Am I asking too much of them?
Is this confusing?
Make it easy. People like easy.
P.S. If you’re hitting a bottleneck at any point in your advertising or sales process get in touch and we will be happy to take a look at your marketing for you.
