Basic
psychology is about people's needs and their need to fulfil them.
Most of us have a distinct priority at any given time, one problem
that must be solved before all others, a "one thing at a time" mentality.
You
will be unlikely to interest a homeless man in a new car, until he's
fulfilled his basic need for shelter first - unless he plans to live
in the vehicle, I suppose.
Understanding
this principle and seeing how it applies to selling, will enhance
your sales performance zillion-fold. Sell one thing at a time and
concentrate on that. Sell other things as "back-end" once the immediate
need is fulfilled. Don't confuse, don't stray from the point, do stick
on the blinkers and keep to the target and the matter in hand.
Don't
overlook the obvious.
Make
sure you put the words "Click Here" on a banner. People respond to
simple commands. Serve up testimonials next to your products or your
newsletter sign-up form. People want to belong to groups: they'll
want to belong to your "club" if it is seen to be a good one and endorsed
by others.
Use
colours that convey the right image and incite the right actions.
Want to be seen as an authority? Use black and yellow. Conservative
and business-like? Dark blue, maybe a bit of grey. Business-like and
money-orientated? Blue and green - which so many large corporate sites
have adopted.
Positioning
of elements on a web page also makes a big difference. Apparently,
whatever is at the top-right of the screen is what's most likely to
get clicked. The average eye is drawn to that position - nothing to
do with Windows' exit button being up there, I'm sure! This and 90%
of the population being right-handed, to me, makes a strong case for
right-hand navigation, with your best offer in pole position.
Words:
I could write tomes on what you can do with them! But I won't make
an idiot of myself, instead read what great copywriters like David
Garfinkel, who is the author of Killer Copy Tactics and widely acclaimed
as "The World's Greatest Copywriting Coach" says. He uses psychology
to great effect: http://www.roibot.com/kc.cgi
The
main point with words is to get to the emotions of your visitors.
It has been said time and time again, but all anyone is interested
in, is what your product or service will do for them. They do not
care who you are or how many bells your widget has: they want to know
if it will save them time or money, make them more desirable to the
opposite sex or solve some problem they have. You need to show them
the problem and how your offer solves it for them.
Some
of these things are seemingly very small, simple and insignificant,
which is the beauty of them and, at the same time, the very reason
why most people will overlook them. Using the right format in terms
of colour, design and wording will have psychological influence on
your visitors, which turns them into subscribers, buyers or whatever
it is you desire.
Great
to have power, isn't it?
I know,
I know, it all sounds awfully manipulative and in the wrong hands,
I'd tend to agree with you. But I am not talking about making people
do something against their will. I am saying that this is nature and
harnessing it: guiding people in the direction that they would naturally
go is a far more logical way of obtaining the result you require.
Think
about the rules of Judo or Karate, where you utilise your opponent's
own strength to gain advantage. Pushing them further in the direction
that they were already going will have them over a lot easier than
it would have if you'd struggled to use your strength against them
in the opposite direction.
The
same goes for mental engagements. People - that includes you and me,
whether we wish to admit it or not - do react in almost predictable
ways to these stimuli. It is our nature: instinct and it surely makes
sense to work with that, rather than against it.
Otherwise,
you are fighting against people and nature: giving yourself an uphill
struggle, creating an unnecessary battle and a hurdle to be overcome.
Don't make it hard for yourself or your prospective clients. Know
who they are and what they need, fulfil that and you are well on your
way to success.
Pamela
Heywood is webmistress of
http://www.tucats-design.com
- Building Your Online Business Instinctively.
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