What My Masseuse Can Teach You About Customer Service
It’s not very often these days that you can find good customer service. Long gone are the days of human interaction, smiles and overall good behavior towards customers.
In fact, 9/10 times you call any company, at least one of the following things happens:
- You speak with someone who speaks unbelievably broken English.
- You know more about the subject than the customer service rep.
- It takes you more than 5-10 minutes before you even talk to someone.
- The company simply isn’t willing to help you out and would rather take a short term gain over long term customer satisfaction.
And that’s only on the phone. How about when you walk into a store?
- The employees pay no attention to you.
- If they do pay attention, they’re miserable.
- There are no thank you’s, pleases, or your welcomes. If there are - it’s under their breath.
And then there’s my masseuse.
A few months ago, my Mom was getting a massage and all of a sudden got extremely dizzy.
You see, my Mom has MS (multiple sclerosis), and sometimes experiences very strange symptoms. Since we don’t know what’s going on because they’re so strange, the doctors all advised us to simply take her to the hospital to make sure.
Now, keep in mind that my masseuse didn’t know all that. She knew my Mom had MS but not very much besides that.
So there my Mom is, complaining that she’s dizzy during her massage.
Now before I go any further, what would you do in this situation? Would you tell her to go home? Would you charge her? Would you call the ambulance or the lady’s family?
Instead of being a miserable business owner and charging my mom and simply sending her home or just calling an ambulance - she actually took her to the hospital, cancelled the rest of her appointments for the night (losing out on probably about $80), and sat with us at the hospital for about 2-3 hours.
Now how is THAT for customer service?
Needless to say, she’s now my masseuse as well as my fiancee’s. I also tell every single person about her that I can - generating her a considerable amount of business.
Have you done anything for your customers or clients lately that would make them do the same? My goal as a copywriter is to eventually get to the point where I literally don’t even need to advertise - that people will get referred to me by word of mouth so often that I have no advertising expenses.
And I’m willing to give my clients such good customer service that hopefully I can make that happen.
To living the life you’ve always dreamed…
Jeremy
Can Strange Headlines Catch The Attention Of Your Readers?
Think back to a time when you read a strange headline that you didn’t full understand.
Did you read the article…or did you simply ignore it, thinking it was going to be a story you didn’t care about?
Some copywriters argue that your headline needs to explain what the article/sales letter is going to be about. They all say that it needs to be benefit-driven in order for the prospect to take a look.
To me…that’s a load of BS.
One of my favorite copywriters is Clayton Makepeace - who also happens to be probably the most successful copywriter living today.
Do you think he cares about benefits in a headline?
No!
He cares about what’s going to get the reader to start reading whatever he’s writing. THEN he lays out the benefits for the prospects.
He cares about emotionally driven strange headlines - which almost always turn out to be catchy headlines.
I completely agree with him. Although benefit-oriented headlines are great for short copy, in longer copy you have more room to explain the strange headlines you thought of.
Take this headline for example (which I find hilarious):
“New Zealand Scientists Use Balloon to Measure Cattle Farts”
Now, you probably would want to read that article wouldn’t you? I know I do. There are probably very few people who wouldn’t take a look at that article - and those people are probably boring old farts who have no sense of humor.
As a copywriter or business-owner, you know that the more people that start reading - the better. Once they read that first line of text, they start down what Joe Sugarman calls the slippery slope.
And the farther they read - the more sales you make.
People love to hear about strange things. Even if your copy isn’t about something strange, just make a strange headline that’s catchy and your prospect will instantly be hypnotized by your writing.
The next time you’re writing copy try to think of some strange, catchy headline that will suck your prospect into your article in a split second. Even if you just want to test it!
Your clients will thank you and your bank account will grow much larger - much faster.
To the life you’ve always dreamed,
Jeremy
Nonprofit Copywriting Resources And Tips To Make You More Money
Nonprofit copywriting (copywriting for non-profit organizations) is a great way to earn a living while also contributing your share to your country or even the entire world.
Almost everyone alive, no matter who they are, wants to help others. The problem is - there’s only so much time to go around and we get caught up in doing things for ourself…forgetting everyone else!
But if you’re a copywriter and also want to help others in the meantime, nonprofit copywriting is the way to go.
Here are a few tips that should get you started. We’ll start with the resources…
Where To Get Nonprofit Copywriting Information
As with any copywriting niche, there are a few things you should be reading to start understanding the mindset of non-profit organization prospects. You can start with the following publications:
Philanthropy
http://www.philanthropyroundtable.org
Food For Thought
http://www.compasspoint.org
Philanthropy Journal
http://www.philanthropyjournal.org
Chronicle of Philanthropy
http://www.philanthropy.com
By reading into these publications you’ll have a better understanding of the emotions you should be hitting on, as well as the problems the organizations you’ll be working for are currently facing. And as well all know, if you can show a business you can solve their problems - you’re going to get hired!
A Few Nonprofit Copywriting Secrets
This next sentence may sound harsh, but realizing I’m saying it not to be cold-hearted but rather to help you out.
When writing a fundraising letter, you have to forget about what’s happening to the people you’re trying to help. Although it seems like that’s what would “sell” people to make donations, it really doesn’t.
Again, it all comes down to the benefits.
You should focus on exactly what happens to their money when they make donations. Talk about how each dollar is going to give 10 kids clean water to drink. Mention that with each $10 - they’ll be able to save 3 lives.
Now that I think about it…that’s exactly what made me start donating. Funny how that works, isn’t it?
Diving a bit deeper, think about the trust issues most people have with non-profit organizations. They want to make sure their money is going to actually do something instead of paying for the directors new BMW. That means you need to keep pounding into their heads exactly what their money is going to do.
If you want to mention how bad the situations are - do it like this…
Pick an area you want to talk about. For example, if it’s a river cleanup project you can mention how dirty the river area is. But follow it up by talking about how their money is going to not only clean it up, but also provide extra drinking water. Talk about how a new community area will be which will be the only clean place these children can play.
Get what I mean?
Who Are You Selling To?
As with any other area of copywriting, nonprofit copywriting requires that you know exactly who is getting the message.
Is it a first time donation, someone who’s never heard about the company, or someone who’s been donating for years?
Make sure you know exactly who will be getting the letter, and try to put yourself in their shoes and figure out what they’d want to hear.
Although nonprofit copywriting isn’t the most lucrative niche in the world, it’s probably the most fulfilling - provided you’re writing for a credible organization.
Stick with it though, and you’ll get in with some of the national organizations where you can make as much money as copywriters in almost any other niche.
To the life you’ve always dreamed…
Jeremy