What Everybody Should Know… About How To Increase Sales By Using This Four Letter Word

Last week we talked about “The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions” and the marketing principle of “Relativity.” This week we are going to discuss a “Power Word” that has made businesses a fortune. But, what is so remarkable about this power word is that once again we will see how people don’t behave in a rational way when it comes to their buying decisions, but rather in a predictable irrational manner.

There are a number of power words and phrases that you should incorporate into your sales copy because of the effect they have on your prospect. Here are just some of the most powerful selling words and phrases that you should use:

• Free
• Transforming
• New
• Secret
• How to
• Big Mistake
• Three easy steps
• Guaranteed
• Risk Free
• 7 Tips
• Limited Time or Limited Number
• Sale

In this article, we are going to examine the power word “Sale”, because it’s a word that causes people to act irrationally and take action.

Let me share with you a true story of a friend of mine and how this four-letter word helped get him promoted into a senior management position for a large regional retailer. When he started with this retailer, he was in the grocery department of one of the stores in the chain. It all started when there was a contest on who could sell the most candy bars of this one major brand. That particular candy bar sold for 15 cents at the time.

He wasn’t doing so well when he read an article about marking a item on sale, but don’t reduce the price. Instead, raise the price. So, he took the 15-cent candy bars that weren’t selling very well and created a display and put up a big sign that said “Sale – 5 for $1.” What happened surprised even him. He started selling boxes of the stuff even though you could purchase the same item for 15-cents or 5-bars for 75-cents.

That shows just how irrational people are when they see the word “Sale”. But, the story doesn’t stop there. On day, he decided to improve his sign and he drew a squiggly red cloud around the word “Sale”. You would not imagine what happened next. He sold five times the number of boxes than he did with just the word “Sale”. Nothing changed other than drawing a squiggly red line around the word “Sale.”

In the end, he won the national contest, which eventually led to a promotion in his company. Who would have guessed!

Is it rational that someone would buy five candy bars for more money than they would pay at the regular price just because of the word “Sale.” Not at all, but that illustrates the power of the word “Sale” on the human psyche.

So how do you apply this tactic to your Internet marketing business?

People want a bargain and they are motivated to act when they see the word “Sale.” The word “Sale” leaves them with the impression that a product is only available at this price for a limited time and if they don’t act now, they are likely to miss the opportunity.

In your marketing strategy, you should use the word “Sale” or “Discounted Offer To The First 50 People.” It invokes a sense of scarcity, which causes people to act. The word sale has a well-defined meaning in your prospects mind: it means a bargain for a limited time. Act now!

Here is how we have applied this strategy with our Document Imaging software.

Our document imaging software has a base price of 5-concurrent licenses for $26,000. This price is cost prohibitive for many small businesses. Generally, once a year, we send a special onetime offer to our prospects that haven’t purchased a system from us. In virtually every case, they haven’t purchased any document imaging system because of price.

We run a 30-day sale where they can purchase 2-concurrent licenses for $1,200. You would be amazed at how many businesses decide to purchase a system at the sales price. We have them calling on the last day of the sale telling us they are sending a check next day FedEx.

You can see a number of strategies used on our document imaging website at http://www.disusa.com/.

Authors Bio

For the past 11 years, Randy’s principle business enterprise has been in the top 5 listings on Google for his industry. His list of clients includes the Department of Defense, Department of State, Municipalities, Fortune 500 Companies, College and Universities, and several hundred small businesses.

Today, Randy is using his acquired knowledge to help businesses learn how to grow through the savvy use of internet marketing techniques. His central focus is to take complex online marketing strategies and tactics and break them down into easy to follow step-by-step processes.

Randy has written and published articles on internet marketing strategies to show businesses how to make money online. You can access these resources and learn how you can make more money online at www.InternetMonetizationUniversity.com .