There is a famous saying in economics, loss looms larger than gains, it is the idea that the pain of losing financially outweighs any pleasure derived from gains.
You need to keep this in mind when structuring emails and producing content. Identifying what troubles your clients is crucial for communication and sales conversion.
Although not a new idea, the ‘pastor’ method is effective. A pastor is a spiritual guide for people similar to shepard and their flock.
The basic structure should include these elements:
Pain
Amplify
Solution
Transformation
Offer
Response
Start with a simple explanation of a pain you have gleaned from them and then amplify that point. One example is the fear that at the height of the Covid pandemic many businesses would have to go online or shut down completely. A business owner who doesn’t adapt by building an online presence is likely to lose their company.
The solution is to go online fast, the difference between driving to DC from New York and getting a high speed train. The difference between a solution in a sales pitch and a solution in content is that the latter will be explicit and more educational.
Now you really want to drive the message home and focus on transformation. For this part try not to talk about yourself, instead create a kind of teleportation device so they can mentally transport themselves to where they would be, after they followed the steps you recommended.
Ideally this is a positive place where their business is thriving and not a post-apocalyptic hellscape.
Now comes the offer, this is a continuation of the transformation but with more emphasis on what you can deliver. In this part you can also talk about the mutual benefits to their business and yours.
And finally the response, this is where you tell clients how and where to buy your services or, in the case of content, how to engage with your business. At this point you don’t just want to tell them how, but also why it is important to engage with you or buy your services.
