Paul Hancox – The Presell System

If there was a system that could potentially make you more sales online, without any hard sell… and moved people closer to buying what you have to offer, until buying was the next natural and logical step…

…would you be curious to know more about it?

If so, read on… and I’ll show you my surprising discovery about making sales on the Internet.

Here’s Why You’re Throwing Away

Potential Sales Right Now.

There are two main ways to make sales online.

The first is to send people directly to a sales pitch.

But unless they’ve already been “warmed up” to the offer, most people won’t buy, for several reasons:

• They have what I call their “sales shield” up, where they’re skeptical of sales pitches.
• They doubt their own ability to get the results you’ve promised.
• They might not be ready to buy yet.

If you’re sending “cold” traffic to a sales pitch, you’re probably throwing away lots of sales and commissions.

The second way to make sales online is an improvement, but still has lots of potential for lost sales.

This is where sellers and affiliates offer something for free… a “lead magnet”… to build an email list of potential customers (i.e. leads). They can send follow-up emails to their list.

The question is:

How do you know what to send, that could have the biggest impact on sales?

Most marketers don’t know the answer to this question, so they just send out a mix of content and pitches… whatever they feel like at the time.

The danger here is… people may start to tune out.

After all, emails are easy to ignore, which is why open rates often plunge… and sales along with it.

As a result, sometimes the desperate marketer sends out more and more pitches, until their list becomes a “pitchfest”… which can practically kill it dead.

The good news is, there is a much better way to make sales online.

Here’s How I Discovered The “Dirty Little Secret” About Selling, And How To Make More Sales And Commissions Online.

My name is Paul Hancox, and I’ve been marketing on the Internet since 1999.

Along the way I taught myself copywriting, so I could sell more of my own products and services online.

I know how to write a sales pitch, and I understand all the elements needed to make a sale.

But one day I made a discovery that shook up everything I knew about selling online.

As an experiment, I wanted to see if I could make sales without using a sales pitch, but using “content” instead.

For one of my products, I replaced the pitch with a simple page listing the features and benefits of the product.

I then created a free report to offer potential customers, and 7 follow-up emails.

I PRE-SOLD the product as much as possible in the report and emails, but without using “hard sell”… so by the time they got to the end of the content, I had moved them to the stage where they were “ready to buy.”

To my surprise, my presell report and emails made more sales than the sales pitch had done!

The sales letter wasn’t bad. Instead, the presell content did a great job of pre-selling people on the product… to the point where they just needed a gentle nudge at the end, in order to buy.

Since my experiment, I’ve been able to confirm and test this with clients.

This is how I came to discover the “dirty little secret” copywriters don’t want you to know:

Just about anything that can done in a sales pitch to help make a sale, can also be done in presell content… and it can usually be done in a better and more subtle way!

There are 3 important reasons why:

(1) When you’re providing INFORMATIVE CONTENT, people don’t have their “sales shield” up. They are more receptive to what you have to say, and aren’t wondering, “what is this person trying to sell me here?”

(2) Unlike in copywriting, where a single word might make or break a sale… the right words don’t matter too much in preselling, because you’re just providing content.

(3) This means it’s also perfect for people who aren’t copywriters.

People are skeptical of sales pitches… but they LOVE content that is relevant to them, and helps inform them.

You can use your content to PRE-SELL… in ways that are often better than a sales pitch!

Let me give you a couple of examples of how “preselling” can be superior to “selling.”

Let Your Potential Customers

Sell To Themselves!

With traditional selling, you make the case for what makes your offer distinctive… so people buy from YOU instead of your competition.

As an example, let’s say you sell durable sofa beds (sleeper sofas) guaranteed to last 10 years of daily use.

In a sales pitch you’d explain the BENEFITS of your durable sofa bed, and what this could mean for the customer:

(1) They could use it as a second bed, saving space in their home.

(2) They could use their home office space as a second bedroom.

With “pre-selling” you can flip the whole sales process on its head… and have people selling to themselves!

For example, you could create articles on “saving space in the home” or “how to use your office space as a second bedroom”… planting the IDEA of saving space, without even mentioning your product.

If people read these articles and “buy into” the idea of saving space in their home, they’re a step closer to buying.

But they’re not ready to buy just yet.

They’d still need to buy into one more idea, before they’re ready to purchase a durable sofa bed from you – that of durability.

After all, if you’re going to use a sofa bed regularly, you need it to last.

In your presell content, you wouldn’t pitch your “exquisitely designed durable sofa beds guaranteed to last ten years.” That sounds too much like a sales pitch.

Just talk about the idea of durability, and the fact that most sofa beds aren’t designed to be used regularly.

Think about it. Anyone who buys into the idea of saving space in their home, or using their home office space as a second bedroom… and also that a sofa bed needs to be durable… is now primed to buy one of YOUR durable sofa beds!

Of course, there are other issues, such as affordability.

But here’s the bottom line, which none of the traditional sales courses teach you:

People usually “buy into” ideas before they buy “stuff.”

Memorize that line, because it’s probably one of the most important things you’ll ever read, when it comes to making sales… and you heard it here first!

Of course, before you’d consider buying a durable sofa bed, you’d have to have a need or desire for one, right?

But this could start with an IDEA you had about saving space, using your main room as a bedroom, or of using your office space as a second bedroom.

The desire then comes as a result of “buying into” one of these initial ideas.

An important part of pre-selling involves selling your potential customers on the IDEAS that will lead them naturally to want your product.

This is surprisingly easy to do when you know how, and has many benefits:

(1) If you’re just talking about an idea in content, people don’t have their “sales shield” up. They can “buy into” it more easily because… it’s just an idea!

(2) When people love an idea (such as using their office space as a second bedroom)… people will often sell themselves on it.

Heck, they’ll even sell others on it. (“Honey, I’ve found a great way we can make our office space even more useful…”)

(3) I’ve discovered that for just about ANYTHING you have to offer…

…there exists a set of ideas, such that when you present those ideas in a particular sequence, and prospects “buy into” each of those ideas… buying what you have to offer becomes the next natural and logical step.

I look forward to showing you how this is done. Yet this is still just a SMALL PART of what makes pre-selling so awesome!

Let me give you one more important example of how preselling can be better than selling.

“You Can Have It All, At The Push Of A Button.”

No Wonder People Are Skeptical of Sales Pitches.

Copywriters and salespeople are taught to “sell the sizzle, not the steak.”

In other words, sell people THE DREAM (the “sizzle”) – the life they could have, once they buy your stuff.

Sadly, copywriters are so good at this, they create customers who buy into the dream… but who weren’t sold on what they actually need to do, to get the results they want.

This leads to disappointed customers, negative reviews, refunds… and the loss of word-of-mouth business.

This is NOT the foundation of a thriving business that makes you and your customers happy!

Now, this isn’t entirely the fault of copywriters and salespeople. It’s not like they actually say, “you don’t have to do anything to get results.”

But the truth is, they often emphasize QUICK, EASY RESULTS… because that’s what people want, right?

Yes it is… but that’s because copywriters and advertisers have conditioned people to think they can have everything they want, almost without lifting a finger!

In reality, most people know… deep down… that if they want results, they probably have to work for it.

This is where preselling can help you make sales that actually stick, producing grateful customers who rave about what you have to offer.

With preselling, you can sell the sizzle AND the steak.

You can help people “fall in love” with the process they need to go through to get the results… or at least help them look forward to going through it.

This is critically important, because the process is the killer for most people.

Think about all those diet plans teaching people how to lose 200 pounds in 20 days (or whatever). Face it, the DESIRE to lose weight isn’t really the problem, is it?

The problem is getting people to STICK WITH the plan!

This is what really stops most potential customers from buying in the first place.

Even if they believe you have a solution to their problems, they might not believe THEY have the ability to stick with your solution.

In simple terms, they don’t trust themselves… so they don’t buy.

Given that people are skeptical of sales pitches, and skeptical of their own abilities… more “hype” and “selling” isn’t the answer.

The real answer… is “preselling.”

Preselling gives you the time and space to “sell the process” – that is, help people look forward to implementing whatever they need to do, to get the results they desire.

In short, it allows you to sell the sizzle AND the steak.

Of course, you still need to sell the “sizzle”… because people need the dream, to motivate them to action.

But with preselling, you can also sell the “steak.”

You can help potential customers understand what they need to do to make their dream happen… and fortify and inspire them to do this.

When you make this a part of your presell campaign, it could mean higher sales, happier customers, fewer refunds, more repeat business, glowing recommendations and word-of-mouth referrals.

THAT is the basis of a thriving business.

How To Create Your Own Presell Campaigns

That Naturally Move People to Buy

What I’ve shown you so far is really just scratching the surface of what you can do with preselling.

When you know ALL of the preselling techniques I’ll be sharing with you, you’ll be excited to think about what you can achieve… and you’ll have a massive advantage over other sellers and affiliates in your niche.

This is because most of them don’t have a SYSTEM for pre-selling.

They might just send traffic directly to a sales pitch… which is throwing away tons of sales.

Or they might offer a lead magnet and build a list… but then they send out semi-random content as an excuse to pitch to their list. (This is still potentially throwing away lots of sales, and readers are likely to tune out of the sales pitches.)

Fortunately, there is a much better way.

It’s a way to create and send out content that is not random, but carefully crafted to presell in a powerful way.

It’s designed to create a flow of thoughts and ideas… leading people to naturally conclude that what you have to offer is right for them.

Along the way it also…

• builds your authority,
• presells the benefits of what you have to offer, before people even know you’re offering anything!…
• completely neutralizes objections before they can ever arise,
• helps people WANT to take action, so they’re far more likely to get results.

It’s ideal for product creators who want to sell more, and for affiliates who want bigger commission checks.

It’s also great for writers and copywriters who want a system to create great content that pre-sells.

(It also doesn’t matter whether you want to presell physical or digital products and services, either as the product creator or as an affiliate. It also works for activities, ideas, philosophies and belief systems.)

Very simply, I call it… the Presell System.

It’s a step-by-step system for how to put together a presell campaign… including how to create lead magnets that lead people to naturally want what you have to offer, and email sequences that presell.

In short, it’s a blueprint for how to create amazing presell campaigns that “sell without selling.”

What You’ll Learn In The Presell System

The Presell System consists of 10 “Core” components. These contain the core concepts and techniques at the heart of a powerful presell campaign:

CORE 01: IDENTIFYING AND EXPANDING YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE

This component helps you identify your ideal target audience.

However, these aren’t the only people who might buy what you have to offer.

I’ll give you an exclusive way to widen out your target audience, so you can attract even more potential customers to your offer.

It’s also a useful method for preselling fairly generic products and services.

CORE 02: FINDING THE PROCESS AT THE HEART OF YOUR OFFER

At the heart of what you have to offer is a “Process.”

For courses and programs, the Process is what prospects need to follow, to get the results they desire. For services, you follow a specific Process to give prospects the results.

For other types of product, the Process is the set of features or steps that allow customers to get the results they want.

Identifying your Process is critical, so you can presell it in your content… making people more likely to buy then use what you’re offering, love it, and rave about it to others!

CORE 03: BETTER THAN BENEFITS

Traditional “selling” focuses on the outcome of buying, in terms of benefits, i.e. what the customer gets out of your offer (such as saving them time or money).

However, I’ll show you even better ways to think of these outcomes, that will help you presell what you have to offer.

CORE 04: STAND OUT FROM THE CROWD, THEN PRESELL THE DIFFERENCE

What makes your offer different from that of the competition?

I’ll show you ways to presell this difference… so when you finally reveal what you have to offer, people are primed to want yours!

Even if what you’re offering is pretty generic, it doesn’t matter. I’ll show you a “magic element” to add to your presell campaign, so people will still want to buy from YOU!

CORE 05: THE BRIDGING IDEA: THE MOST IMPORTANT PRESELLING TECHNIQUE THAT NOBODY ELSE IS TEACHING YOU

What if there was a single idea… such that if you were to create a report or video around this ONE SINGLE IDEA, people who read the report or watched your video became primed and ready to buy what you had to offer?

You’d want to know what the idea was, right?

I have great news. There is almost certainly such an idea, for what YOU have to offer.

I call it the Bridging Idea.

When people “buy into” this idea, buying what you have to offer becomes the next logical and natural step.

But it gets better.

Your “Bridging Idea” can also be keyed to what makes your offer distinctive… making it hard for anyone to come along and copy your idea!

You can use your Bridging Idea to supercharge your preselling and stand out in a crowded marketplace.

(If I could only teach you ONE THING about preselling, it would be this. It’s probably the single most powerful preselling technique… and nobody else is teaching it!)

CORE 06: HOW TO ETHICALLY KNOW THE THOUGHTS OF YOUR POTENTIAL CUSTOMERS.

Imagine knowing all the key thoughts your prospects needed to have, in order to buy what you had to offer.

You would have a “road map” for how to take them from skeptical prospects, to customers and fans.

This is effectively what I’m giving you in this component.

Use it to ethically guide your potential customers to where they’re ready to say “Yes” to your offer… as soon as you introduce it to them. No “hard sell” needed!

CORE 07: AUTHORITY = TRUST = SALES. USE YOUR PRESELL CONTENT TO BUILD YOUR AUTHORITY.

For products that aren’t impulse purchases, people like to feel they’re buying from an expert who knows what they’re talking about.

This expertise gives you authority, which builds trust and gives people the confidence to buy from you.

Using the 16 techniques I’ll reveal in this component, I’ll show you how to use your presell content to build your authority in a big way… so prospects view you not just as an expert, but The Expert.

If you’re an affiliate marketer, you don’t have to be an expert yourself… but there are things you can do to build the authority of the product creator, helping you potentially make more sales.

CORE 08: THE HIDDEN POWER OF STORIES

Stories can be entertaining… and they also have a “hidden power” that can be used to presell.

I’m not talking about stories like, “Mr and Mrs Jones came round for dinner the other day, and they admired my shiny new durable sofa bed.”

Those are the stories most advertisers use, but this is still “selling”… and since people know they’re being sold to, their “sales shield” goes up.

In preselling, a story doesn’t have to be related to your offer… at least, not directly.

I’ll show you how to use storytelling to build a case for your offer, before potential customers even know you have anything to offer!

Preselling stories can fly effortlessly under the radar, and make far more of an impact than a story in a sales context.

CORE 09: BREAK DOWN AND NEUTRALIZE ALL BARRIERS TO BUYING

Anything that potentially stops someone from buying, that you have a reasonable influence over, is what I call a “barrier.”

These include classic objections, such as “I can’t afford this” and “I haven’t got the time for this.”

In “selling” you have to deal with objections, otherwise you’ll lose sales.

For online selling, people might not state an objection, but they still might think it… and if you haven’t dealt with the objection in your sales pitch, they will simply leave without buying.

However, I’ll show you ways you can use preselling to neutralize objections altogether… so they never even come up in the first place!

I’ll also show you what objections really are… which is not what most people think. This insight will forever change the way you think about “selling.”

CORE 10: ELIMINATING ALTERNATIVES

When it comes to buying products, people almost always have at least some choice.

I’ll show you how you can use your presell material to gradually eliminate alternatives… so people see what you have to offer as THE RIGHT CHOICE for them.

CONTENT GENERATOR: HOW TO PUT ALL THE PIECES TOGETHER

It’s important to realize that the Presell System isn’t simply a collection of random preselling techniques you just cobble together.

The real power of these techniques comes when you use them to presell in a gradual, step-by-step manner.

This is why I also have a “Content Generator” component, which shows you how to put together your own powerful presell campaigns.

In addition, I’ll show you 11 ways to create great presell content fast… even if you think you suck at writing.

I also have a special method for outlining and creating awesome presell reports, which ensures that none of the essential preselling components are left out.

BIG EXAMPLES: INCLUDES 5 PRESELL CAMPAIGNS

One of the best ways of learning how to create your own presell campaigns is to see plenty of examples.

As well as specific examples for the techniques I’ll be sharing with you, I’ve also included the material for FIVE presell campaigns… so you can see how everything fits together.

These campaigns cover information products, services, and other products such as software.

A recent customer told me that they could see how just ONE of these campaigns could be worth thousands of dollars!

I’ve also included the outlines and drafts, so you can see how everything is pieced together in the first place.

I’ll show you how to create your own presell material and put together a complete campaign, including email sequences.

The good news is, you don’t have to be a great writer to use this system. When it comes to preselling, the ideas you share are more important than the words.

You could also outsource the content writing. However, most writers don’t know how to create presell content in the unique way I’ll be showing you… so even if you intend to outsource, it’s a good idea to follow the Presell System, at least to plan and outline your campaign material.

Who Is The Presell System For?

• If you’re a product creator or service provider, and you want to widen your target audience, build a bigger list and make more sales… then the Presell System is definitely for you.
• It’s perfect if you want to build a more sustainable business from sales that stick. It’s also ideal if you want happier customers who love what you have to offer, use what you’re offering, tell others about it and come back for more.
• If you’re an affiliate marketer, and you want to stop throwing away sales, and make bigger commission checks… then you’ll find my system invaluable.
• Writers, bloggers and copywriters will love it, because it means they can use the Presell System to create great preselling content for themselves and their clients.
• It’s also great for people and organizations that want to presell activities, ideas, philosophies and beliefs.

More courses from the same author: Paul Hancox