How to get people to buy
when they have no intention of buying:
“The possibilities for good and evil here
are immense:”
Before I show you the exact sequence of steps that Kate Smith — resulting in 42% of her buyers coming from those who had absolutely no intention of buying — I must make sure you read the Grave and Important Warning.
You need to be aware that Mass Persuasion is powerful — just as I have claimed from Day One. As I stated in the last post, this warning is not a marketing ploy. It is absolutely real and it is dead serious:
Mass Persuasion master tip:
Do No Harm
Please read this very closely. It is the Key of Golden Keys:
Mass Persuasion is like a weapon, like a loaded gun.
If you line up a number of techniques in sequence (audience, product, sequenced language), then fire it, results will happen.
You can treat people poorly (through various forms of abuse) and get the sale. You can target people who don’t need the product whatsoever (name your situation) and get the sale. You can get people who are not prepared for the product (highly toxic agricultural products sold to illiterate poor people without protective wear or training in its use) to buy it. You can get people who are morally inappropriate for the product (children for adults-only magazines) to buy it.
But each of these misdeeds will return to you, multiplied and overflowing.
Therefore, you must make and keep a promise to yourself before pointing the Mass Persuasion weapon at any audience:
“In all I do, I will respect the dignity of individuals, make sure my product is appropriate for them, and, above all else, I will do no harm. I will follow a standard that’s higher than the law: I will do the right thing.”
The Structure of the Mass Persuasion:
step by step
The opening address to the rational men:
“Now, I’d like to talk to the men. Oh, you men have been sending in your orders, too. I don’t mean that, but I’ve got something on my mind that concerns the men of this nation and I’d like to talk it over.”
The indictment or accusation:
“It’s been said that listeners who pride themselves on being rational don’t phone in pledges for bonds because they feel such a purchase is the result of emotional pressure. I’ve been told that to men, buying bonds is a form of business, that it’s handled like a business deal. I’ve been told that men buy their bonds through banks. Oh yes, some of these people say, ‘Men like to hear Kate Smith sing songs, but when she tries to play on their emotions and begs them to buy just one more bond, they balk. Because bond-buying is the result of planning ahead, the result of budgeting and bookkeeping. Bond-buying is a careful considered investment, not to be undertaken at the sound of a voice, at the stories of atrocities committed on American boys who are prisoners of the Japanese, American boys lying in hospitals, wounded and maimed. That’s emotionalism.”
Casting out the money-changers + I forgive you, for you know not what you do:
“Yes, that’s what they say, some of these wise people who know only the world of dollars and cents, profit and loss, the jingle of the cash register, the cold figures in a bank book. That’s what they say and gentlemen, I tell you now, I . . . DON’T . . . BELIEVE . . . IT! I say THEY LIE, these people who think our American businessmen don’t like emotionalism, don’t harbor sentiment in their hearts.”
She continues to reinforce the image of the man who has a heart by listing occupations that most of the men will identify themselves with:
“I say they lie, because these businessmen, these factory workers, these office employees, these older men who are doing a job at home are Americans, and coming closer to their homes and their hearts, they’re the fathers of these sons for whom I’m working today.”
She now invites the Prodigal Son to come back home:
Lifting them up to the sacred level:
“They are the fathers of these splendid boys who have gone into battle, not because they liked war, not because they had any inner urge to bomb and kill and destroy, not because they yearned to leave the little town or the big city that was home. They went because of the ideals, and sentiment, and love of country. They went for the highest motives that young men can have, the same motives that sent you, their Dads, to war, in 1917: the willingness to give their lives to keep a free America free, and to bring new freedom, new blessed peace to enslaved countries across the sea. They went because little children were being bombed as they recited their lessons in school, or as they sang their hymns in church on Sunday. They went because they felt that burning inner urge to fight for the right.”
She now closes the sale:
Absolve your sin and enter the Promised Land:
How? Buy a bond and set yourself free:
“Nobody can tell me their fathers here at home aren’t bursting with pride. Nobody can tell me that they can sit down coolly and separate sentiment – emotionalism, if you want to call it that – from bond-buying. Nobody can tell me that it’s just a matter of bookkeeping or planned investment, when they lay those invasion dollars on the line. . . . How about you, Mr. America? Are you going to count the cost, and add up careful investments, and do planned bookkeeping when our kids overseas have some accounts of their own to balance – to balance in blood. How about you? Will you listen to your heart – now?”
Finally, she utters her closing phrase (which she repeated 65 times during her 18-hour marathon):
“Will you buy a bond?”
The result? Of all her buyers, 42% had no intention of buying — but they bought.
Mass Persuasion master tip:
Selling a market that doesn’t identify with your main theme:
Please read this very closely. It is the Golden Key to effectively selling a market segment who does not identify with your main theme or appeal.
The copywriting techniques here are laser-guided:
- Only images consistent with the leader are used. In this case, Kate Smith as the protector of national moral conscience.
- Only appeals consistent with the images are used, which reinforce the images.
- By suggesting the yet-unbuying audience might be among those with lesser, selfish motives, she builds up their inner conflict and emotions of guilt and shame.
- By suggesting they are actually separate from those who are selfish, the scriptwriters give them a way to redeem themselves and get rid of their painful emotions.
- They use an assumptive close (assume they have bought) to lift them back up to the high level: by welcoming them back into the group and embracing them.
- And the close: You are now part of the group. Set yourself free from this past pain forever. Buy a bond.
As you now can see very clearly, the warning above is not a marketing ploy. You need to be aware that Mass Persuasion is powerful — just as I have claimed from Day One.
Nearly half of Kate Smith’s buyers had no intention of buying. But they bought, because she used Mass Persuasion on them.
You will quickly see that, in the hands of a morally reprehensible person, it is manipulation on a grand scale.
Mass Persuasion is like a weapon, like a loaded gun. A gun itself is not evil. You need to use it for good and commit no harm.
Building trust through credibility … demonstrating your sincerity … using themes to tap into emotions … knowing how to repeat messages effectively. No doubt all of these are important in your business, and I know that you are bright enough to recognize that crucial fact.
They are easy to understand and to practice. And it’s critical that you start practicing them now.
Why? Because of something I haven’t talked about with you before:
There is a dramatic and permanent change taking place in our economy and how we do business.
The future you and I are headed into is not going to be like the recent past you and I have been experiencing. We are not returning to how things were before 2007.
This permanent change is not because of our “Great Recession.” This change started 30 years ago, and the Recession is only accelerating it.
This permanent change is not because of the internet, although the internet also is accelerating this change.
My greatest fear for you is this: if you merely hunker down with your business and try to survive the winter until the spring thaw returns you to how things were before 2007, I’m very concerned you’re waiting for a spring thaw that won’t come.
The bright spot in all of this change? It’s bringing you opportunities, if you know how to recognize them.
I’ll give you the details. In the next message you receive from me in 2 days — for Ripper Marketing subscribers exclusively delivered only to your email inbox rather than posted on this public blog. Keep a careful eye out for it. In 2 days.
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