By Jeffrey Hedquist
Would you walk up to a stranger and boss them around? Probably not.
So why do our commercials often consist of commands, not invitations? With only :30 or :60 to establish a relationship, why spend so much of it demanding something from the listener? Didn’t your momma teach you no manners? I think we just forget.
Do you think you’d get more cooperation from someone if, instead of telling them what to do, you involved them in the decision-making process so that the desired action became their idea? Don’t you love rhetorical questions?
Our audiences get hit with thousand of messages a day, many of them demands.
“Order now!”
“Saturday is your night to party!”
“Be there this weekend!”
“Don’t miss the opportunity of a lifetime!”
Make yours stand out by making them invitations.
Instead of an authority figure telling the listener how good something is, have the listener reach that conclusion for themselves.
“Look, I could tell you it’ll do this for you and you’ll experience that benefit, but only you will know if it’s right for you. Why not come in, try it out, ask questions and get answers. Make your own decision. If it’s right for you, you’ll know.”
Invite them. Intrigue them. Tease them. Lure them. Show them the consequences of their decisions.
“Does this sound like you? What would this (decision) mean to you? Would this help? Could you see yourself doing this? If you come in during our sale on Saturday, think you could save some money?”
Give them the ability to discover for themselves the “aha” experience. Then they’re participating with you instead of being sold something
If you knew that your family would be taken care of financially if anything ever happened to you, would that give you peace of mind?
Scan your copy for demands and try changing ‘em to choices. By asking instead of telling you’ll empower your listeners. They may use that power to enrich your client.
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© 2005 Hedquist Productions, Inc. All rights reserved.
