words that work - copywriting

8/2/2019 Words That Work - Copywriting

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WORDS THAT WORK

© 2001 North American Sales Research Institute

The Brooks Group – 1.800.633.7762 www.thewordsthatsell.com

Use these words to improve your skills in selling,sales presentations, bonding with clients,copywriting, public speaking, reaching senior leveldecision makers, direct response, negotiating,mediating, prospecting, cold calling, websitecopy, business writing, public relations, businesspresentations, marketing strategy, brochuredesign, advertising design, positioning, persuasion,staffing selection, coaching and mentoring,psychological profiling, personal development,consulting, bargaining, motivating or inspiring,email marketing, NLP, body language,personalization, defusing tense situations, dealingwith objections, closing sales and maximizingconversion ratios.

with the

Entrepreneur (General)



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The Brooks Group www.thewordsthatsell.com 1-800-633-7762

The Words That Work was original research that was developed for useexclusively in the political arena. Based upon his fantastic success with politicalcandidates, Tom Travisano then went on to observe over 12,000 salespeopleover a 20 year period. His findings were then ready for real-world application asrelated to sales improvement and enhancement. Based on this subsequentresearch Bill Brooks joined Travisano as they wrote the blockbuster book, You ’ re Working Too Hard To Make The Sale , which was published through Business OneIrwin in 1995.

After the unfortunate death of Travisano, Brooks continued to develop the

concept that certain words work with great precision in specific sales situations

with varying customer types. Prior to Travisano’s death he and Brooks had

begun to produce an extensive library of terms and phrases that key decision

makers respond to most favorably as it relates to the overall sales relationship,

perception of products and services, benefits most sought, expectations of

vendor delivery and price. For example, the words that work best for a

Corporate CEO are not the same words that work best for an Entrepreneurial

leader.

Your purchase of Words That Work is a great and wise investment in developing

specific communication skills for your targeted market. It is not uncommon to

find that more than one report is helpful in recognizing and properly addressing

the prospect or audience of your desire. We recommend that you consider

additional reports for other types of buyers that are closely related to those in

your primary market. For instance a Primary Care Physician could also be an

Entrepreneur or a CEO type. Note that each library includes tips on how to

identify these types more specifically and choose your precise, exact words

accordingly.

Why Words That Work Truly Work



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The complete set of Words That Work packages includes separate profiles for:

Entrepreneur (General)

Entrepreneur (Financial Background)

Entrepreneur (Engineering Background)

Entrepreneur (Operations Background)

FranchiseeCEO (General Non-Entrepreneurial Background)

CEO (Financial Background)

CEO (Engineering Background)

CEO (Operations Background)

Corporate Executive

Chief Financial Officer

Chief Information Officer

Researcher

Human Resources (Training Executives)

Purchasing Agent/ManagerReal Estate Manager

Insurance Claims Adjuster

Facilities Manager

Architect (Principal)

Architect (non-Principal)

Attorney (Litigating)

Attorney (Non-litigating)

Accountant (Principal)

Chiropractor

Dentist/Orthodontist

Primary Care Physician

Medical/Dental Office Manager

Hospital Administrator

Hospital Materials Manager

Surgeon

Oncologist

Pathologist

Radiologist

HematologistSemi-conductor “Fab” Manager

Equipment Engineer

Process Engineer

Design Engineer



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Form A Special Instant Bond

Primary Want

To form a strong bond with this decision maker, include in your presentation

a description of what you believe he or she really wants.

Use Words Like ...

Being in charge

Call your own shots

Personal independence

Be your own person

Make the business run your way

Do whatever you want to do, whenever you want to do it

Have complete control over your business

Why They Work

Most Entrepreneurs aren’t trying to build financial empires for themselves.

Most of them they went into business to achieve a far more limited goal — a

steady, respectable paycheck without having to put up with a boss.

These decision makers could never accept a position in a large organization, no

matter how prestigious or well paying it might be.

If there’s a fact about these decision makers that rings most true, it’s that they’re

almost unemployable.



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Entrepreneurs are resentful toward any form of authority that’s exerted over

them. In fact, they lack the single characteristic every employee must have ...

being willing to obey the orders of a superior, even when you think the superior is

wrong.

On top of that, Entrepreneurs would never sit still for doing the things which

employees are expected to do:

1. Reporting their results.

2. Explaining their actions.

3. Justifying their decisions.

4. Appearing at times and places “on demand.”

5. Cooperating with a superior whose capabilities they believe aren’tany greater than, and probably inferior to, their own.

6. Accepting other people’s decision-making authority

Being cooperative employees runs against the fiber of their being. As a result,

the desire for personal independence — more than any other impulse — drove

Entrepreneurs to start their own businesses.

The impulse wasn’t profit or riches. It was freedom.

That’s an important distinction because it actually tells you the best way to

approach this decision maker ... and the approach you should avoid.

YYYYYou can summarize almost all the approaches salespeople use with

Entrepreneurs in two words: profitability and growth. In other words, they

promise either a better bottom line or a bigger business. A few promise both.

“Profitability” is only an intellectual abstraction for most Entrepreneurs. Theycan’t “feel it.” It has no emotional urgency or meaning for them.

Of course, they always nod in agreement and make the right comments when

the subject of profitability comes up. But the fact is, it doesn’t motivate them.

They relate more readily and eagerly to the amount of money they have in the

checking account or the cash register at the end of every day, or week, or

month.



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Cash has always mattered more to Entrepreneurs than profits ever could. It

represents a reality they understand and respect. When compared with the

real-world significance of cash, profits seem empty and theoretical … merely an

entry on a financial statement.

“Growth” raises the fear that they’ll lose control over their businesses, a fear

which comes from a perception that’s fundamental to how Entrepreneursapproach business.

They fear that a major increase in the size of the business will outstrip their ability

to manage it.

You need to understand that Entrepreneurs rarely use any kind of coherent

management techniques. They’re more likely to manage in a very hands-on

way. That’s why they have difficulty handling managerial challenges that they

can’t deal with directly and personally.

If a decision has to be made regarding inventory control, for example, they

have to “go and see for themselves” before deciding.

You’re having trouble collecting a Receivable? “Gimme the phone, I’ll talk to

‘em.”

You don’t like the way the product is being packaged? Just run down to the

loading dock and show the kid down there how to do it right … the way you did

it when you were doing the shipping yourself.

Managing a business is more an act of physical labor than intellectual insight for

them. So, they manage by direct, personal intervention rather than with

memos, policies and standards.

That, by the way, is one reason they’re so unwilling to delegate and why they

do it so badly when they finally take the plunge. Nothing of real importance is

ever written down and passed on to employees so they can learn how to do

their jobs satisfactorily. The result is a group of employees who are under-

informed, under-trained and under motivated.

Nobody in his or her right mind would delegate to people like that! Of course,

the fact that the owner made people that way always seems to escape his or

her attention.



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How to Make Your Product orService The Right Answer

Product and Service Want

To gain the best chance of having your product/service claims believed

and accepted, position it before you start to describe it.

Use Words Like ...

Designed specifically for your unique situation (e.g., “for small businesses”)

Practical

Street smart

Nothing theoretical or abstract about it

Won’t put any demands on your time

Won’t strain your resources

Why They Work

Entrepreneurs are attracted to products and services which they perceive

have been designed specifically for their unique situations.

If they had their “druthers,” Entrepreneurs wouldn’t buy a single product or

service that wasn’t designed and developed precisely — 100% — for their kind

of business, industry, application or competitive environment.

We were told by an Entrepreneur in the St. Louis area, for example: “I only buy

from companies that do business on the Missouri side.” He was referring to the

Missouri side of the Mississippi River. According to him, companies “over on the

Illinois side,” as he put it, do business in a totally different way. Therefore, he

couldn’t possibly buy from a vendor who was unable to accommodate the

difference between the two sides.



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By the way, when we asked him for a specific definition of the difference

between the two sides, he couldn’t tell us. But he was still convinced that there

was a difference!

Entrepreneurs have that obsession because they don’t like to make what’s

called a conceptual leap.

In other words, they don’t eagerly make the move from the general to the

specific, or from one application to another, or from one industry to another.

And they usually resist adapting a broad concept to their own situations.

They’re always suspicious that salespeople are trying to make them force a

square peg into a round hole.

As a result, salespeople often hear Entrepreneurs condemn their product or

service by saying, “That doesn’t apply to me,” or “My business is different, it’sunique.” Of course, they’re actually saying, “I’m unique, but you don’t make

me feel that way.” Never forget ... the owner and the business are practically

one-in-the-same.

The words “specific to his or her unique situation” will have different

meanings for different Entrepreneurs.

Those words are really a matter of perception. They might simply mean that

your product or service was designed for an entrepreneurial type of business, oran owner-operated business, or a small business. If you pay close enough

attention, the decision maker will tell you which one he or she wants to hear.

When a product or service is perceived as practical, street smart and not

theoretical, most Entrepreneurs believe that:

A. It will eliminate complexity from their lives,

B. It won’t strain the company’s resources, and

C. It won’t put additional demands on the owner’s personal time.

Entrepreneurs have no patience for complexity because it interferes with the

hands-on, quick-action performance they consider so vital to their personal

independence.



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When things are too complex and ambiguous, the path is open for the abstract.

And Entrepreneurs don’t trust anything abstract because — in contrast to

anything that’s thought of as concrete — it’s theoretical.

Anything that’s theoretical is automatically “ivory tower,” or academic, or

intellectual. Because it lacks the basic strength that comes from being “street

smart,” it doesn’t have any no-nonsense, hard-nosed practicality.

The Entrepreneur draws a clear distinction between “the street” and the rest of

the world. Only the street has the desirable virtue of being uncomplicated,

down-to-earth and easy to understand.

That’s why Entrepreneurs can be so frustratingly resistant to learning anything

but hard information that deals with “how to.” Anything that relates to “why” is

of very little interest to them.

Their bias can be summarized in the statement: “Don’t tell me why, just tell mehow.” Or: “Don’t tell me about the theory behind it, just tell me how to use it.”

As far as Entrepreneurs are concerned, stopping and thinking — which is what

theory and ambiguity make you do — is a colossal waste of time. It gets in the

way of doing. And nothing must be allowed to stop that. Nothing must get in

the way of action.

Entrepreneurs always seem to be running … form on fire to another, from one

crisis to another, from one challenge to another. There’s always a tension right

below the surface when you talk to them.

What are they tense about? Burning through their recourses.

It doesn’t matter how resource-rich the business might be. They can’t help buy

having either one of two perceptions about their resources — they’re either

completely insufficient or just barely adequate to do the job.

Earlier, we talked about the almost mystical relationship between Entrepreneursand their businesses. Here, we said that owners and their businesses are

practically one-in-the-same. Therefore, the Entrepreneur’s idea of “resources” is

very personal.



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If you listen carefully enough, you’ll often hear them say things like, “I pay my

bills.” Although they mean that the business pays its bills, they can’t stop

themselves from speaking in the first person — “They owe me money” is an

acceptable substitute for “They owe my company money.”

And since resources take on personal significance, they mean — over an above

anything else — the owner’s personal time.

Ironically, the decision maker might not even get personally involved in the

use of your product or service, but it still must be perceived as not placing

additional demands on his or her personal time.

Nothing that passes in and out of the doors of that business is thought of in

anything but the most personal terms.



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How to Make Your OrganizationThe Ideal Provider

Provider Want

To gain the best chance of having your company accepted as an ideal

provider, position it before you start to describe it.

Use Words Like ...

Flexible

Responsive

Accommodating/Willing to make accommodations

Never try to put a square peg in a round hole

Recognize your uniqueness

Thorough

Follow through on everything

Cover all the bases for you

Willing to do whatever it takes

Make sure every detail is covered

Why They Work

The Entrepreneur’s desire for flexibility from you is a reflection of two other

needs — personal independence and products/services that are designed

specifically for their unique situations.

Ironically, small and medium-size businesses outnumber giant companies by as

much as 45-to-l.



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Yet, Entrepreneurs perceive that almost every element of society favors the

large companies and institutions … university courses, professional and

consulting services, trade shows, published articles, seminars, books, research

data, legislation, periodicals and just about everything else that teaches,

explains or reveals anything that has any value. And when they look at the

structure of that world, they perceive a rigid, unyielding indifference.

It’s too big and powerful for them to bend to their will, too impersonal to care

about them and too consumed by what’s of no interest or value to them. It

won’t yield to their needs or, for that matter, even pay attention to them.

Therefore, they only want to do business with a provider who considers them

important enough to warrant flexibility or, if you will, very special treatment.

The ideal provider must be willing to make accommodations to what

Entrepreneurs consider their unique requirements. Of course, that provider won’t

have to actually be flexible or make the exceptions. You simply have to beperceived as being willing to do so.

Remember, the need for personal independence is a statement to the effect

that “I’m different from all the others, so I should get unique treatment.” They’re

not claiming to be better than everyone else, only different from them.

That sense of uniqueness — in other words, having special needs — is the

main source of these decision makers’ highly suspicious attitude toward most

salespeople.

You might have noticed that they often begin the sales cycle with the

assumption that the salesperson doesn’t understand them and is just, “trying to

sell me something.” And, as we said before, that’s usually a square peg for a

round hole.

If Entrepreneurs are going to perceive that your product or service was

designed specifically for them (see earlier), they also must perceive that you

took all the necessary steps to make it the right way. That’s why they alwaysdemand that you be more thorough and disciplined than they are. This is what

we might call a “would have” or “should have” situation.



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If they blame their chaos on the lack of resources—which is a common

complaint— they want to be assured that you did everything they would have

done if they had sufficient resources to make sure that your product or service is

right for them. In other words, they would have done their own due diligence,

allegedly, if they had the time and money to do it. That’s the “would have”

side.

On the “should have” side, a few Entrepreneurs are honest enough to admit

that their lack of discipline has nothing to do with resources. In those rare cases,

they want to know that you did what they should have done.

Being thorough, therefore, means you’ll protect them from either uncontrollable

conditions (“what they would have done”) or from themselves (“what they

should have done”). In fact, the typical situation reflects some of both.

Although they are often short on resources, they’re also notorious for not being

thorough and they rarely follow through ... even when ample resources areavailable.

That well deserved reputation is a major contributor to their need for

independence. As we said before, they show a range of behavioral traits that

make them unemployable.



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Move Your BenefitsTo A Higher Level

Benefit Want

To gain the best chance of having your benefit claims believed and

accepted, position them before you start to describe them.

Use Words Like ...

Order (in the business)

Control

Be in control automatically

Order that reflects your personal wishes

No more chaos

Never tolerate disorder again

Why They Work

If there’s a word that reminds most Entrepreneurs of their businesses, that word

is “chaos.”

Every senior executive in every large company must learn to deal with a certain

amount of disorganization, and tolerate it. Entrepreneurs, on the other hand,

can’t deal with it and can’t tolerate it either.

When they try to deal with chaos, they become victims of their own

management style. If you recall from what we said before, running a business is

an act of physical labor rather than intellectual insight they manage by direct,

personal intervention.



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Consequently, they experience an exhausting drain on their energies whenever

they wear the manager’s hat. Being in charge wears them down, and

overcoming the disorder in the business is a challenge they’d do anything to

avoid.

If they accept the challenge, they know they’re going to be totally exhausted.

But if they don’t accept it, they have to tolerate it. And tolerating chaos is just asterrible an experience as trying to eliminate it.

Non-entrepreneurial executives view the companies where they work as

their place of business. Entrepreneurs, however, consider it practically their

home … the place where their entire existence is “on the line” every day. It’s

where the drama of their lives is acted out from minute to minute.

Their fate rests on everything that happens within those walls, where their

identity, value and purpose are being tested constantly. As we mentionedbefore, they consider themselves and the business to be almost the same entity.

The need Entrepreneurs have for order is the need for proof that their lives

aren’t being squandered. But because they deeply dread the challenges

associated with their personal-intervention management style, they’d rather get

control of the business in a different way … automatically.

They perceive that business problems are attributable to people — to

themselves and their employees — which is why they tend to explain problems

and failures in human terms.

Since being in business is an intensely personal experience for them, it’s not

surprising that successes and reverses are almost always seen as the result of

human performance.

Blind, impersonal forces like marketplace dynamics might interest academics

and other ivory tower types, but they’re just idle speculation to the Entrepreneur.

If a problem persists, people have to change the way they work in order tosolve it. Period.

However, in starting their own businesses, they made the statement that they

have no interest in changing themselves. They are what they are, and are

stubbornly proud of it, even when they criticize themselves.



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At the same time, they’ve grudgingly reached the conclusion that: (A) their

employees won’t change either, or: (B) they don’t know how to change their

employees, or (C) they can’t summon up the energy to make the effort.

One solution is to give the assignment to another person. But, in the rare cases

where that occurs, Entrepreneurs put themselves back in power as soon as

someone makes a decision they don’t like.

Because they could never surrender genuine control of the business to anyone

else, except when they’re ready to pass it to their hand-picked successors,

order must come in some kind of automatic way ... so that order comes to the

business without the owner having to intervene or change people’s behavior. In

effect, it just happens, automatically. And it happens the way the Entrepreneur

wants it to.

It doesn’t take a great leap of logic to reach the point toward which the

evidence points – Entrepreneurs want their businesses to be reflections of their

personal identities.

These decision makers thaw such personal value and identity from the business

that it becomes an extension of themselves. It’s as much a part of them as their

children. And like all other parents, they want their offspring to show something

of themselves.

In no way is this an ego trip or anything as shallow as that. It’s a matter of

personal survival.



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Make Your Price A True Bargain

Price Want

To gain the best chance of having your price accepted, position it before

you start to quote it.

Use Words Like ...

It costs the same as (see below)

It doesn’t cost any more than (see below)

Why They Work

Many types of decision makers are likely to talk endlessly about things like

cost-effectiveness, but the Entrepreneur is one of the few who’s really serious

about it.

The reason is simple — no matter how large the business becomes,

Entrepreneurs always perceive that buying anything means taking the money

out of their own pockets.

Earlier, we said that running a company is an intensely personal experience for

Entrepreneurs. Consequently, they consider the company’s cash their personal

money ... just as they consider the furniture their furniture, the equipment their

equipment and so on.

The ideal product is perceived as being worth the money, producing a

tangible benefit on a virtual one-to-one basis for each dollar spent. And the

best way to describe that is through what we call “graphic” terms.

In other words, choose a symbol that’s familiar to your decision maker and use it

as a model against which he or she can compare the price of your product or

service (e.g., “It cost the same as a set of tires”)



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Using Some of the Words ThatWork for this Decision Maker

In a letter ...

Dear

(Form a Special Instant Bond): There’s nothing like being your own

person ... doing whatever you want to do, whenever you want to do it.

(How to Make Your Product or Service the Right Answer): To help you get

|there, a product or service has to be specific to your unique situation. It

also should be practical and very street smart.

(Move Your Benefits to a Higher Level): But, even the best product or

service won’t do you much good unless it comes from people who are

willing to do whatever it takes to make sure every detail is covered.

(Move Your Benefits to a Higher Level): Then, you’ll have control over a

business that reflects your personal wishes.

(Make Your Price a True Bargain): And whatever you buy should never

cost

more than ____________(see “Positioning Your Price,” above).

I like to think that (your product or service) and (company) itself can be

all that for you. But, you should be free to make that decision for yourself.

(STATE YOUR PURPOSE FOR WRITING THE LETTER, WHAT YOU

WANT THE DECISION MAKER TO DO, COMMUNICATE YOUR NORMAL

SALES MESSAGE, AND FINISH THE LETTER.)



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In the form of advertising copy …

Being Your Own Person

There’s nothing like being your own person ... doing whatever you want

to do, whenever you want to do it.

To help you get there, a product or service has to be specific to your

unique situation. It also should be practical and very street smart.

But, even the best product or service won’t do you much good unless it

comes from people who are willing to do whatever it takes to make sure

every detail is covered.

Then, you’ll have control over a business that reflects your personal

wishes. And whatever you buy should never cost more than _________(see“Positioning Your Price,” above).

We like to think that (your product or service) and (company) itself can

be all that for you. But, you should be free to make that decision for

yourself.

(COMMUNICATE YOUR NORMAL MARKETING MESSAGE, STATE WHAT YOU

WANT THE DECISION MAKER TO DO, AND FINISH THE AD.)

Important:

Always put the Words That Work in generic terms, as if you were describing

“universal standards.” Remember, their purpose is positioning. Once you

communicate them, you can then use whatever words you normally deliver to

the decision maker about your product/service, your benefits, your company

and your price.



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Words That Don’t Work With This Decision Maker

Avoid using these words and phrases to describe you, your company or yourproduct/service.

Meanwhile, use them to describe your competitors. You never have to criticize

them in front of the decision maker if you know how to describe your

competitors with Words That Don’t Work .

Organization

Sophisticated

Employee

Theoretical

Standardized

Uniform

The same for everyone

Structured

Procedures

Growth

Profitability



POPULAR WORDS THAT WORK PACKAGES

Chief Executive Package Entrepreneur PackageCEO (General) Entrepreneur (General)

CEO (Financial Background) Entrepreneur (Financial Background)

CEO (Engineering Background) Entrepreneur (Engineering Background)CEO (Operations Background) Entrepreneur (Operations Background)

Entrepreneur (General) Franchisee

Chief Financial Officer


Corporate Employee Package Independent Professionals PackageCorporate Executive Architect (Principal)

Human Resources (Training Executives) Architect (Non-Principal)

Chief Information Officer Litigating Attorney

Researcher Non-litigating AttorneyPurchasing Agent/Manager Accountant (Principal)

Facilities Manager Primary Care Physician

Chiropractor


Franchisee

Macro Medical Package Independent Medical PackageHospital Administrator Primary Care Physician

Hospital Materials Manager Surgeon

Surgeon ChiropractorRadiologist Medical/Dental Office Manager

Hematologist Dentist/Orthodontist

Oncologist

Pathologist

Primary Care Physician

Chiropractor


Medical/Dental Office Manager

Engineering Package Properties PackageEquipment Engineer Real Estate Manager

Design Engineer Insurance Claims Adjuster

Process Engineer Facilities Manager

Semi-conductor “Fab” Manager Purchasing Agent/Manager

Facilities Manager Architect (Principal)

Researcher Architect (non-Principal)





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Combination Packages -The Entire Words That Work Set of Library Profiles $877

Macro Medical Package $267Chief Executive Package $177Entrepreneur Package $127Independent Professionals Package $217Corporate Employee Package $147Hospital Package $195Independent Medical Office Package $127Engineering Package $177Properties Package $147

Individual Profiles - $ 28 per profileEntrepreneur (General)Entrepreneur (Financial)

Entrepreneur (Engineering)Entrepreneur (Operations)FranchiseeCEO (General Background)CEO (Financial Background)CEO (Engineering Background)CEO (Operations Background)Corporate Executive (Non-CEO)Chief Financial OfficerChief Information OfficerHuman Resources (Training)

ResearcherPurchasing Agent/Manager

Facilities ManagerAccountant - PrincipalArchitect – PrincipalArchitect - Non-PrincipalAttorney – LitigatingAttorney - Non-LitigatingPrimary Care PhysicianSurgeonPathologistOncologistChiropractorDentist/OrthodontistRadiologist

HematologistHospital AdministratorHospital Materials ManagerOffice Manager in a Medical or

Dental PracticeReal Estate ManagerInsurance Claims AdjusterDesign EngineerSemiconductor “Fab” ManagerProcess EngineerEquipment Manager

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