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What Baby Chicks Can Teach You About Handling Your Prospects

by: Ray L. Edwards

The best way to chase your prospects away is to show
them that you really need them! This may appear
strange at first but truth is sometimes stranger than
fiction.

I've seen this repeatedly in cases where my website
visitors would sometimes ask for some clarification on
my offers. I noticed after a while that 99% of those
who inquired by email or phone never made the purchase.
Frankly, this was quite puzzling to me.

First I thought that maybe my heavy Caribbean accent
drove them away. But then again what of my emails? I
doubt that you can hear an accent through the written
word.

Then I recalled the saying:

"Follow love and it will flee,
Flee from love and it will follow thee."

You see, sometimes you can appear so desperate to make
the sale that you drive the customer away. The
prospect senses this in your voice and `persuasive'
emails and they shy away. It's a strange human
phenomenon that people like to buy but they don't like
to be `sold'. The customer frequently wants to feel as
though he is in control of the buying process.

Nobody wants to know that they were pressured into
making any decision and this includes buying. This is
where the whole psychology of offering your products in
different colors and versions comes in – you are giving
the customer a choice.

So here is a typical email that I would get from a
prospect:

Hi Ray,

I was just at your website and think that I like your
ebook. I've been burnt before by some useless junk
that I've bought on the web. So I have some questions
that I hope you don't mind answering. (Questions about
the product follow ...)

You seem to be an honest person but I just want to know
if you'll really refund my money if I didn't like your
ebook. If I don't hear from you then I would just go
and purchase another product. No hard feelings.

Signed,

Prospect.

Now, originally an email like this would get me into
high gear in `defending' my product and listing all the
virtues that were already stated on the sales site. As
I mentioned before I often never heard from these
customers anymore and so I had wasted my time trying to
close the sale.

Sometimes I would just ignore these letters as I had
labeled these people as just `doubters' or `freebie
seekers' who would not have made a purchase anyway.
This was until I got a really harsh anonymous email
that blatantly accused me of just trying to trick
people out of their money. Me? I take the time to
return shopping carts to their storage area in the
parking lot – you can't get any more honest than that!

Anyway, after recovering from this `e-blow' I replied
to the email suggesting that the sender did NOT make
the purchase. In fact I insisted that he saved his
money so he'll not be ripped off. I was not fully
prepared for the reaction. He wrote back this time
giving his name and said that he was only `joking'.
Needless to say he bought the ebook.

Some Copywriters refer to this technique as
"Intimidation". If you act as though you do not really
care about the sale you're more likely to make the
sale! This is because you immediately place the
prospect on the defensive.

So what do baby chickens have to do with all this? You
see I've learned from handling baby chickens that if
you squeeze too tightly you can suffocate the little
feather bundles. Yet at the same time, if you open
your hands fully they will jump out. You have to
master the art of `not too tight but not too loose
either'.

If you parade the fact that you don't need your
prospects you're holding them too loosely. But if you
chase them down and keep pounding at them with emails
or phone calls then you can suffocate the purchasing
life out of them. A balance must be struck and only
experience will teach you that balance.

At first I was too aggressive and they ran away. Then
I simply ignored these prospects as just plain losers.
Finally I found the middle ground and it simply said;
"I want you but I don't need you."

When you think about it, gaining a new customer isn't
too different from winning the heart of your one true
love. If you're too aggressive and send very expensive
gifts for every occasion your lovebird will likely be
scared away. Just skip some phone calls from your
usual schedule and you'll have her wondering (that's
another word for `thinking') about you.

And trust me, it works just as well with your prospects
as it does with your potential life partner. I know …
I've been happily married now for 8 years and counting!

About the Author

Ray Edwards can provide you with a FREE professional
critique of your website and so increase your
conversion rate. Your website is your 'salesman in
print' and you'll be shocked to discover how small
changes can make a big difference in your bottom line.
Check it out now:
http://yourwebsiteconversion.com?site=ez