Copywriting Lesson #6 - Writing Call to Actions and Sense of Urgency

In far too many cases, an excellent sales letter, at the end,
leaves the customer completely confused as to how they actually
go about getting the product they've been pitched. This is one
of the most critical parts of copywriting and constitutes the
element of sales writing where the greatest amount of mistakes
are made. 

This requires a specific and clear call to action being
presented to the customer. There should be no mystery as to how
they place their order and the more specific the means describe
the better; for the salesperson and the customer alike. 

Deliver the instructions in the same direct and clear fashion as
one might expect an ER surgeon to give instructions to their
staff or a military commander would direct their troops. Simple,
comprehensive and clear statements. 

Dont say "Call Now!" Say "Call 1-800-555-1212 and tell the
operator to place your order for Product X." 

Don't say "Send your order today!" Say "Fax your completed order
form, including billing information, to 1-800-555-1212. Be sure
to include a non-PO box address for delivery." 

These statements are basically commands and have the effect of
giving the customer all the information they need to complete
the order in a clear, concise statement. 


A call to action should be followed by the instilling a sense of
urgency into the whole affair. This requires specific
considerations which are detailed below. 

Why should they do it now? Instilling a sense of urgency into
the sale is so important that it merits its own section. Quite
often, this task is accomplished by making an offer that has a
definite expiration date. 

An example would be "Respond within 30 days and get 10% off!"
This gives the customer a reason to act sooner rather than
later. It also increases the element of making the offer they
can't refuse. 

Another example would be making an offer based upon rewarding
the first X number of clients. For example: "This offer is only
available to the first 100 customers." 

Time-limited offers not only add a sense of urgency, they
present a reward for acting quickly. When offering these soft of
pitches, it's important to keep honest in mind. 

The idea is to create urgency while still conveying that what's
being sold is valuable and useful to the customer. This plays
into the news aspect of sales writing. A product may be
available on a free trial basis because it is a new product on
the market or a remarkably improved version of an
alreadyexisting product. It may be offered at a discount because
a large amount of stock is available but not because there isn't
demand for the product. 

Let the customers know that they only have a limited time to get
in on the deal being offered, but make certain they have
adequate time to make the decision without feeling like they're
being hurried. For example, a 7-day special offer is only useful
for a week and will seem as if it were contrived if it's
extended for another week immediately afterwards. A 30-day
special offer is manageable, allows a customer to consider the
purchase and still has enough of a time limit that it requires
initiative and can increase the amount of sales while it is
active. 


After all that work put into gaining a customer's confidence, it
would be a shame to tear it all down by telling a lie. A lie
might not be intentional. 

If an offer is given on a time-limited basis, any materials
related to that offer must be updated in accordance with the
expiration of the offer. For example, if a webpage offers an
enticement to the first 100 customers, it should be revised as
soon as the first 100 customers have placed their orders. 

This has to do with the single greatest asset any salesperson
has: credibility. If the customer cannot believe the
salesperson's word, how can they have any justified faith in the
product itself? There are some ways to word these offers which
insulate the salesperson from putting their claims to the lie. 

Free trials are a good example of how one makes these
accommodations to protect their credibility. If a salesperson
has an offer that cannot be kept going forever while still
generating a reasonable profit, it makes sense to use qualifiers
that ensure that they're not over-promising. Closed, committal
statements versus more open-ended, unmanageable statements can
be described as follows: 

"Customers will get free resale rights to this book!" versus
"The first 30 customers will get free resale rights to this
book." 

"Free trial version available!" versus "Limited quantities of
free trial versions are available." 

In both examples, the latter statements are safe and the former
statements too broad and at risk of becoming lies. Should a
customer call in and ask for a free trial version based upon the
first statement and find out that there are no more free-trial
versions available, they're likely to feel as if they've been
deceived. In the second statement, they can simply be told that
the free trial versions have all been distributed already. In
that latter instance, they haven't been lied to and they won't
feel cheated, they'll simply be made aware that they acted too
late to take advantage of the offer. 

The importance of honesty is absolutely vital to understand. A
customer who feels that they've been cheated will likely view
the salesperson as a huckster and a fraud. While the salesperson
may be neither and simply be a victim of their own carelessness,
the reputation will likely be long-lasting and difficult to
remedy. Certainly, the salesperson can expect no further
business from that jilted customer.


To Your Success,
YOUR NAME

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