Simply Sales with Scott
Written By: Scott Koepf, Senior Vice President of Sales, Avoya Travel
That just might be the most famous piece of sales advice ever. And as a copywriter, knowing the real meaning behind those words can transform your writing – and your career.
For this month’s article I am going to share an article written by John Woods. The power of words and how to use them is as valid today as ever, if not more so. When you think about answering your phone, leaving a message or your conversations with customers, consider adding in the types of clauses and comments that the famous, yet not well known, Elmer Wheeler championed.
Who’s “Elmer Wheeler”? Born in 1904, Mr. Wheeler was well known as one of the pioneers of persuasion. Many years ago Texaco was looking to sell more oil to their customers. Too many people, without giving it a second thought, said “no” when a service station attendant asked “Check your oil today?” Wheeler suggested replacing the question with “Is your oil at the proper level today, sir?” Now asking something like “Is your oil at the proper level today, sir?” would seem to be just common sense. A line so simple you’d think most gas stations owners would naturally come up with it – but few did. Which is why Texaco paid Wheeler $5,000 for those nine words… a small fortune in the depression-riddled 1930s. They got their money’s worth and more. In one week, Texaco, attendants got under 250,000 more hoods. Another Wheeler sales triumph came when he was asked by the president of Barbasol to help them sell more shaving cream. The first slogan they tried was, “How Would You Like To Save Six Minutes Shaving?” Wheeler instructed their salespeople to then say “Barbasol. Just spread it on. Shave it off. Nothing else required!” When they tested it, they found it increased sales by 102%. A light bulb went off in Wheeler’s head, and he changed the slogan to “How would you like to slash your shaving time in half?” That adjustment increased sales by another 300%. Over the years, Wheeler tested 105,000 selling statements for 5,000 products. He eliminated 100,000 of them.
He summed up the philosophy behind what he called “Tested Selling” by saying… “Don’t think so much about what you want to say as about what the prospect wants to hear- then the response you will get will more often be the one you are aiming for.”
Great advice.
In his book Testing Sentences That Sell, Wheeler laid out his five “Wheelerpoints:”
I’d like to add my two cents to this one…
I’m continually surprised by how many waiters and waitresses don’t use this gentle sales technique. Most ask if you’ll be having wine with dinner. Few say, “Will you be having white wine or red wine with dinner tonight?” And, one more example form Wheeler for this point: He noticed that when a customer at the soda fountain requested a cola and was asked whether they wanted “small” or “large”, most chose “small”. He wondered what would happen if the clerk, instead, just said “Large one?” When they put it to the test, they found that seven out of ten people said “Yes.” This simple idea could have a dramatic impact on a fast food restaurant’s bottom line. If they sell 500 drinks a day and the difference between a small and a large is 50 cents, converting 70% of their drink orders to large translates into an additional $175 per day. Over a year, that’s an increase of $63,875!
The Wheelerpoints are as meaningful for all of us in the “persuasion business” today as they were when Elmer came up with them 60+ years ago.
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