by Todd Brown
It’s been said from the shrewdest of salesmen… “People buy products and services from people they like and trust. And, people like people who are most like them.” This is why establishing the feeling of commonality (rapport) with your prospect is such a critical step in the marketing and sales process.
It’s also why the use of something coined – “the common enemy” – is such a powerful copywriting gambit.
If you’re not familiar with the “common enemy” within copywriting, it’s a tactic to gain rapport with your prospect by bringing-up and highlighting the person or entity they blame for the existence of their problem (the problem you’re focusing on in your sales letter and the one your product or service eliminates).
Talking to medical doctors in your copy about the horrors of getting reimbursement from the dreaded insurance companies is an example of using the “common enemy” tactic. So is talking about the “evil IRS” to folks undergoing the pleasures of a tax audit.
When employed correctly, this can be a very powerful sales technique. Because people tend to band together when facing a common enemy. And, when used in your sales letter, it significantly increases the level of rapport your prospects will feel for you (which is always a plus when selling anything).
But, what do you do if there is no explicit enemy to bring up and side against with your prospect?
I first learned about the power of the “secret enemy” from Michael Masterson.
To paraphrase; the “secret enemy” is something the prospect doesn’t realize is causing their problem or hasn’t thought of… that you can highlight and bring-up in your sales letter to create that needed rapport and further your sale.
For instance, if you were selling a diet pill for men, you could talk about how the cause of your prospect’s weight struggles is not due to their lack of will-power or self-control… but… is actually because of the hidden and insidious sugars slipped-in under the radar into their “organic” snacks. In this case, the hidden sugars are the “secret enemy”.
If you were selling a gardening book, you could talk about the sneaky little nocturnal bugs that quietly devour the precious plant roots within your prospect’s garden leaving them to stand-by baffled over the lack of flourishing vegetables and their vacant garden. In this case, those darned bugs are the secret enemy.
The point is just this…
If you can identify and side with your prospect against a common or “secret” enemy in your sales letter you significantly increase your feeling of commonality and rapport, and hence, bolster your chances of closing the sale.
Remember, “People buy products and services from people they like and trust. And, people like people who are most like them.” If you feel the same way your prospect does about your prospects’ enemy, you’re viewed in a much more favorable light.
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this is true in my ebay selling i would some times use this too sell a item. currently im looking for a more permanent solutions ebay is kind of iffy. i will be useing that in the sales letter if i can figure out a product lol.
This tactic goes back to the beginning of time. The Us v. Them mentality that creates such a emotional bond millions of men have died for their causes. Not too many marketers employ this, so it’s a “sneaky little trick.” In our business our enemy is “what THEY don’t want you to know.” Borrowed from Kevin Trudeau :)
Todd offers a sound and proven technique for selling personally or using the written word. However, with people pressed for time, the need for shorter copy and upfront placement of the selling proposition is making it more difficult to employ the common enemy approach. I think this will force us to find a technique that can be presented in a couple of sentences and sustained. I didn.t say it would be easy.
The patented secret enemy is not our friend. I agree bonding with your customers, and visitors especially if your a Blogger is the key to making your home business viable.
Really funny matter
I am sorry for my comment,it is really helpful to others