Keep Them Wanting More

by Graham Denton

What do you do when a customer asks for literature? The typical response would be to provide a brochure or spec sheet, laying out the detail that the customer needs to make a decision. This sounds sensible, but author D. Forbes Ley disagrees. In his juicy manual The Best Seller, he makes a good case for the idea that giving out sales brochures is counterproductive: It may make it more difficult for your customer to buy.

Why? Because the typical brochure "explains too much." In telling prospects everything they need to know--maybe more than they really wanted to know--about your product, it virtually eliminates the need for you to go in and close the sale. Often that's exactly the outcome: You're shut out by your own good intentions, as the prospect says "I need a few days to study this" and the literature review quickly segues into a stalled sales process.

This is why Ley says you should rely on sales brochures only under very specific conditions. Stressing the value of suspense in selling--he sees selling as a specialized type of "show" business--he advises the salesperson to "always keep them wanting MORE." The correct use of sales literature, he says, is threefold. It's to create an image, to arouse curiosity, or to prove some very specific product-related detail.

Creating an image. The most general use of a brochure is to create a positive image--a favorable impression about your company in the customer's mind. When you use literature in this way, style is everything, because a shoddy brochure will tell the customer that you're a careless company. This is why the leading companies' promo pieces are so upscale and glossy. They convey an image of professional expertise, whatever the product, allowing the customer to draw the seemingly logical conclusion: "If the brochure is outstanding, the company is outstanding."

Arousing curiosity. When you use brochures in this way, your intent should be to stimulate curiosity without fully satisfying it. You can direct mail this kind of brochure or leave it behind with a customer, Ley says, because it won't close you out of the process. Ideally it should "tickle them with Benefits" without revealing too much about features, so that the customer's logical next step is to call you for more information.

Proving a point. You use a brochure to prove a point after you've talked to the customer, and she wants printed clarification about something you've said. Operational manuals, presentation binders, and spec sheets are examples of literature that can be used in this way, but Ley makes an unorthodox point about how you should use them: Never leave this type of brochure behind.

Instead, Ley advises using the "operational detail" literature as a "for customers only" inducement for them to do business with you. You can prove what you've said about the product by referencing the brochure, and you can use the brochure as a prop giving visual evidence. But do not leave the brochure in the prospect's hands. It's your company's private property, after all. You might promise them a "personal copy" if they decide to become a customer. But never give so much away that they won't ask you for more.