How the Power of
"Extreme Specificity"
Can Educate Your Prospects
Away from Your Competition

By Drew Eric Whitman, D.R.S.
Direct Response Surgeon™

© Copyright MMI Drew Eric Whitman. All rights reserved.
Reproduction in whole or part is prohibited without
prior written permission from Drew Eric Whitman

 

Dear Friend:

This lesson is about a technique so deceptively simple, yet so powerful, if you apply it faithfully, you will leave your competition choking on your dust.

I call it the power of "Extreme Specificity" and your competitors will curse you to hell for it.

I'm not kidding, either.

It's simple. Here's what you do...

From this day on, start being extremely specific every time you describe your products and services. For example...

Last week I went to a little 50's-style fast food joint called "Nifty Fifties" in Philadelphia. This place does an incredible job of differentiating itself from the competition.

How?

First, by making sure that YOU know they never use frozen beef. Never use frozen fries. Never use frozen onion rings. That their hamburger beef is ground fresh daily. You can look through a window and see the nice man dipping the big, juicy onion slices into their homemade batter and then into their wonderful, herb-seasoned breading. They tell you what kind of oil they fry in. They tell you why it's to YOUR advantage to eat there rather than Burger King down the block. They don't just leave it up to you and HOPE you discover these things. They're proactive. They tell you.

I just said an amazing thing up there. Did you get it?
I said they tell you... in extreme specifics.

"Oh come on, Drew. People don't need to know all that... they just want a burger! They just want good food."

Don't be so sure about that.

One of the most powerful things you can do in
any sales situation is to educate your
potential buyer as to the beneficial details of what you're selling. Once educated--assuming
your product is at least as good as the competition--they will better appreciate what you're offering.

Take my audio tapes, for example.

I can tell you that I sell a 6-cassette tape album that teaches you how to write advertising copy, and say no more about it.

Or... I can tell you that I spent well over a year writing the script.

I spent 2 to 3 days a week for months cooped up in the recording studio.

It took about 3 months to do the initial recording to get it just right.

I then spent almost a month creating music and sound effects so you'd not only learn, but also be entertained.

I spent over $11,000.00 and worked my tail off!
(I would go on and on.)

Now... of course you don't need to know all that! But now that you do... let me ask you: Don't you naturally appreciate the product more? Don't you now have a better understanding of the value? Don't you now have a better picture in your head about these tapes?

Of course. I just told you!

And now that you value them more--if you ever considered buying advertising training tapes--you'd be more likely to buy them.

Get it?

HOT TIP: When you use visual language you automatically "install" pictures in people's heads. The more specific your words, the clearer the pictures.

If a hamburger joint can do it for their fast food... and I can do it for my cassette tapes ... why the heck can't YOU do it for YOUR products and services?

You can and should.

Think! What interesting story can you tell people about your product or service? 
How can you educate them?

(HOT TIP: Be sure your product or service is one of excellent quality or you may educate your potential buyer AWAY from you!) :-)

I did work for a company that sells Blue Green Algae, a nutritional supplement. They tell you everything you need to know about how the product works inside your body.

They EDUCATE you about how your digestive system works... how your small and large intestines process food.

They tell you about the benefits of flooding your body with their wonderful product and what your body does with the algae to make you healthier.

Now THAT'S an education!

Before reading their material, you'd probably know very little about how your body works. As a result, you might not appreciate the value of their offer.

Here's another way to use this technique:

QUESTION: What do most hardware stores do in their ads?

Not much.

They simply tell you what they have on sale that week. Boring! And ineffective.

But not Handyman Jacks! No way. They tell you that they have a daily inventory of over 350,000 nuts, bolts and nails... 32 grades of sandpaper... 3,500 hammers and screwdrivers ... 72 types of wire... 68 styles of keys ... hundreds of top-name power tools, etc. etc.

Now, let me ask you:

If you needed hardware and all you saw were the ads from both stores, and both stores were the same distance from your home, where would you go?

The answer is obvious.

EVEN IF EVERY OTHER HARDWARE STORE IN THE CITY DOES THE SAME EXACT THING... NO ONE ELSE SAYS IT! The one who does, wins.

Remember: It is not important that people NEED to know all that information. I mean, who really cares how many nails and bolts you have, as long as you have what they want. But you see, the psychology behind it is what makes it so potent. Since few other stores say these things, people judge as better the one that DOES say them! They feel their inventory must be more complete... that the business is more successful somehow.

By the way, please don't say, "Yeah Drew. Your examples are not for my type of business so it probably won't work for me." These examples are simply vehicles for me to demonstrate the technique to you.

Don't kid yourself. This "educate-the-consumer" idea works for any business--no matter what kind of product or service you sell.

But for now, let's explore the case of two nice, little Italian restaurants.

Restaurant #1 tells you they have wonderful home cooking. They list things that most Italian restaurants list in their ads. Chicken parmesan ... spaghetti... manicotti, etc. Maybe they feature a coupon. B-O-R-I-N-G! Gee guys... the idea in advertising is to STAND OUT!

Now let's look at Restaurant #2. Ahhhh. They too list what they serve and give a coupon, but they say more. They differentiate themselves in the marketplace with things like, "We make our bread fresh every day, golden and crusty. Our pasta is made from scratch. We use only fresh herbs in all our recipes. Only pure, cold-pressed 100% virgin olive oil is served. Spring water fills your glass... mellow Italian music fills the air... and softly glowing candles light your table."

Wow! Can you feel the difference?

Yes! It's actually a feeling. You get a better feeling for Restaurant #2. They tell you more. They are not just trying to SELL you. No. They are actually wooing you, aren't they? Their words put pictures in your head!

Look in your local newspaper or Yellow Pages. How many Italian restaurants go this far to educate you about what they do? Hey! EVEN IF EVERY OTHER ITALIAN RESTAURANT IN THE CITY DOES THE SAME EXACT THING... NO ONE ELSE SAYS IT! The one who does, wins.

Read that last sentence again.

And again.

And never forget it.

So ask yourself... "What can I say about my product or service that may be obvious to me, but the market knows little about?"

"How can I educate them about what I'm offering in such a way that the very description will add value to my offer?"

"Can I tell them about the processes used... the time, money and effort expended?"

"How can I point out the major benefits of my product--like the Nifty Fifties fast food
joint--and make people begin to question the quality of my competition?"

Start yakkin'! Tell, tell, tell. And don't worry about how long your sales copy is.

There's an old maxim in advertising that says,
"It can't be too long, only too uninteresting."

And another says,
"The more you tell, the more you sell."

If people are in the market for what you sell, you won't believe how much they'll read. If they're not in the market for what you sell, they won't make it past your headline.

Remember: You're writing for those who are likely candidates to buy. So load 'em up with relevant information. Offer an excellent product. The educated consumer will then be your best friend... and customer!

Until we "meet" again in the next lesson, I leave you with this wonderful quote:

"Forgiveness is the fragrance that the lavender leaves on the heel of the shoe that crushed it."

Success to you, my friend!

Drew Eric Whitman, D.R.S.
Direct Response Surgeon™

P.S. Would you like to spend 4-1/2 hours with me and learn how to persuade people like an ad-agency pro? In my 6-cassette audio program, "How to Create Power-Packed Ads, Brochures & Sales Letters that Make Money NOW!" I teach you how! Come on... try it for ONE FULL YEAR risk free. CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS!

 

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Drew Eric Whitman, D.R.S. -- is an outspoken, humorous and philosophical advertising trainer, speaker and columnist with 15+ solid years of hands-on experience. His newspaper and magazine articles teach thousands of business people how to use simple, but powerful techniques of Madison Avenue psychology to help them boost their advertising results.


He was a Senior Direct Response Writer for the direct response division of the largest ad agency in Philadelphia. He was also Senior Direct Response Copywriter of one of the largest direct-to-the-consumer insurance companies in the world. He created powerfully effective advertising for small retail shops, to giant, multi-million dollar organizations, including Faber-Castell Corporation, Texaco, Veterans of Foreign Wars, American Automobile Association, Amoco, American Legion and many others.

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