Eliminate An Objection With A Direct, No-Nonsense Apology

Since I’ve started learning about internet marketing, I’ve checked my physical post for sales letters. Most of them have been crap, but I recently received one I liked. It was from a charity and started by identifying an objection:

I know you didn’t ask me to write to you. Yet, here I am — writing to you anyway — expecting you to give up a few moments of your time. You’re probably just thinking, “oh dear, not another charity asking me for money.”

Having identified this objection, the question is how can the copywriter eliminate it?

While I was considering this sales letter, I was also reading Impro by Keith Johnstone, which is about improvisational acting.

On pages 50-52, he discusses the various ways you can ward off verbal attacks. Johnstone presents two siblings, A and B, who live together. B notices that someone has opened his mail.

B: Why did you open my letter?
A: Is it open?
B: You always open my letters.
A: I don’t know who did it.
B: No one else has been here!

It’s plain to see that making excuses is a bad tactic for A in this situation. I suppose an excuse can be effective if it is a great one, but it’s easy to appear as if you are avoiding responsibility. And even if you have a great excuse, it’s probably better to not present your excuse immediately anyway.

You can use a different tactic:

B: Did you open my letter?
A: Yes.
B stops the attack. He pauses.
B: Yes?
A: Yes.
B: Well, what did you do it for?
A: I wanted to see what was inside.

While B is still likely to be angry, you can see how A’s honesty disarms B. B is more likely to calmly consider A’s reason for opening the letter.

The sales letter uses this tactic to great effect:

I know you didn’t ask me to write to you. Yet, here I am — writing to you anyway — expecting you to give up a few moments of your time. You’re probably just thinking, “oh dear, not another charity asking me for money.”

If that’s the case then I’m sorry.

The power of that one-line apology astonished me. It’s hard to be angry with someone who is willing to expose themselves like this. I found myself completely disarmed.

Common sense tells me to deflect criticism and objections when writing copy. Admitting weakness seems like the last thing you should do.

I think most prospects believe this too, and for that exact reason they are expecting excuses.

By not conforming to their expectation and being completely honest, you make yourself trustworthy. This means that when you finally recommend a product or service, it is a recommendation that is worth something. You’re not hiding anything; you’re presenting it accurately, warts and all.