Your country needs You !
After a jaunt around my local town I’m convinced more than ever that someone needs to be saying this…. I was really shocked at the levels of customer service on offer, OK, so I know I’m a professional in this area and I’m looking at this aspect and watching for it – but I saw four examples in a time period of just an hour of customers putting stuff back because they got tired of waiting at tills to be served, or they got a dumb answer from an assistant in a shop who didn’t understand what they were asking…. Its painful to watch !
Anyways, here’s some of them to wet your appetite…
YOU – We want to know how we can learn better, improve our health, have a better time, make more money, solve our problems etc, so the more you use the word YOU in your conversations and copy the better it will be for you! (Just a note, do you think that old world war two poster would have worked as well, if it had read “Our country needs us? )
FREE – Don’t we all like to get something for free? People are drawn to an advert offering something for free (especially if its something they want or has a perceived value) But it gets their attention – if you are trying to attract subscribers to your shop newsletter – give them something for free and watch your subscribers go up. Actually, this one always makes me mad, because I like to think of people as being noble and not orientated by free things at all, somehow above it all, but time and time again, I’m proved wrong !
NEW and NOW – People are always talking about the latest thing, there’s a fascination with the latest thing. Its because people always want to know what’s new? If you’re writing some copy for your shop you could start a headline with the word “New….” Even if your product isn’t really very new, you could substitute the word New, with the word Now … “Now available…” or “Now back in stock…” Now is also a pretty cool selling word.
WHO, WHAT, WHICH, WHEN & HOW, These are great headline words when you’re trying to write copy for your shop. When you use these words you answer questions and let people know your information in a clear and concise way.
Just as Bakers have baking tins, fishermen have lines, retailers should have them too, ready to plop out and run for the till… Fizzy words that sell, that positively zing (my favourite current word)
One of a retailers tools in the toolbox, should be words, after all you spend most of the day talking to people… so you should be interested in words that sell? After all, why would you choose to use words that don’t if you have an option – unless you’re unaware that your choice of language is so important.
Why would you agree its expensive when you can say its luxurious, and a real treat ! It could be lush, opulent, lavish, sumptuous, glamorous, distinctive, refined, elegant, intricate, exquisite or rare (among other words – I could go on) or you could just agree with the customer that it’s a bit pricey…?
Words have power, so with the help of your staff (and maybe a dictionary) start compiling a list of words that sell, positive, upbeat, zingy words that can help you convert customers to happy chappy Z reports !
