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Should you mention your skills/experience in sales copy?

by remotedb
14 replies
I'm an IT veteran of nearly 30 years, I'll be offering some related services in the near future and am working on my first Ad Copy. My question is whether I should focus on my skills and experience as it pertains to my products or just on the products and what they can do?

Or should I do both?
#copy #mention #sales #skills or experience
  • Profile picture of the author LP Copywriter
    It is important to establish credibility with the reader, and talking about your vast experience in the field is an easy way of doing so.

    However, the copy should always focus on the benefit of the customer, so when describing your skills remember to make sure you clearly indicate how your knowledge translates into value for them.
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  • Profile picture of the author webmaster705
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    • Profile picture of the author wordwizard
      Yes, definitely! IF it's relevant to the sales letter that is. A lot of the really compelling sales letters do have a section with the writer's experience.

      Both for credibility AND to demonstrate you really understand where they are coming from and what they're dealing with (as applicable).

      Oh, wait, I was assuming that you were writing your own copy.

      The above is mostly true if the sales letter is for your own product. If you're writing the letter for someone else, double-check with them! Sometimes it might work perfectly, but often it may not.

      One time though, my own experience really worked well, so I incorporated my own story into the letter for her product and passed myself off as one of her friends.
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  • Profile picture of the author Zentech
    Both. If your experience is a selling point, then you want to emphasize it. For that matter, if your hair color (just for example) were a selling point, you'd want to emphasize that, too. Don't leave legit selling points on the table - but remember to focus overall on the prospect and his or her needs. You want to make your qualifications clear to establish authority, but at the same time, don't make the copy all about you. It's got to be all about the prospect, what they need/want, and how you're going to deliver it better than anybody else.
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  • Profile picture of the author travlinguy
    YES!

    Your experience is your MAIN selling point.
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  • Profile picture of the author MouseandMice
    I disagree.

    It depends on your niche (I know, I know, everyone says that-- but it is true).

    There are times (many, in fact), when blabbing on and on about your experience will make a prospect bored and they will stop paying attention.

    Sometimes it is better to just pile benefit after benefit.
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  • Profile picture of the author AwesomePossum
    I disagree too....

    I don't believe that experience should be a main selling point.

    Customers ONLY care about RESULTS.

    With that said...your experience is something worth focusing on. 30 years of experience is always a great leverage point.

    Experience adds value to the product but ONLY if the customers actually want it ; )

    "Specific, External, and Tangible benefits"(Eben Pagan) is a golden element to money making copy.

    How does a 20 year old kid bust into the IM scene with ZERO EXPERIENCE? ($50,000 in mu first 4 months(it'll quadruple in the next 2 months))

    Benefits and results....I UNDERSTAND MY CUSTOMERS ON A DEEP LEVEL AND I GIVE THEM WHAT THEY WANT.

    Pretty simple


    Hope this helped a little bit

    Aaryn
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  • Profile picture of the author Bill Jeffels
    If you've been a veteran of IT for 30 years and you're offering a service related to that then yes you should mention it.

    That automatically shows your prospect that you have experience and credibility and that is a benefit to your potential customer.


    Bill Jeffels
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    • Profile picture of the author Ross Bowring
      Your authority in IT is a major reason why people will trust you enough to buy your solutions.

      So, absolutely you should use reference your experience in your letter...

      Early and often.

      --- Ross
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  • Profile picture of the author Hans Klein
    How does your experience benefit your customer?

    For instance, the benefit of 30-years in IT may be that you've seen and done it all. No problem is too big of a challenge. Maybe there even a story in there.... when you faced a critical challenge and came-out of it the hero that saved the client a critical amount of time and money.

    So, yeah, include it. But, also explain how it benefits the client and focus on the result- aspects of your credentials.

    This is opposed to how most folks talk about their credentials.

    They say, "Been open since 1955" or "I've got 30 years of experience," "I have a degree" Answer "So what?"

    The benefit of being open since 1955 would be that this isn't a fly-by-the-night operation. We have over 1,000 testimonials and have serviced 50,000 clients during this time.

    Anyway, good luck with your new site!
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  • Profile picture of the author Alex Cohen
    Originally Posted by remotedb View Post

    I'm an IT veteran of nearly 30 years, I'll be offering some related services in the near future and am working on my first Ad Copy. My question is whether I should focus on my skills and experience as it pertains to my products or just on the products and what they can do?

    Or should I do both?
    Don't take this the wrong way, but if you have to even ask that question, you don't know enough about persuasive ad copy to write a very good sales letter.

    Establishing credibility is very important - it helps with believability. Without believability, your prospects won't buy.

    Learn how to write effective sales copy before launching your product. If you don't know where to start, here's an article you should find helpful ...

    Boost Your Response Blog Archive Writing Your Own Sales Copy

    Alex
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    • Profile picture of the author AwesomePossum
      Originally Posted by Alex Cohen View Post

      Don't take this the wrong way, but if you have to even ask that question, you don't know enough about persuasive ad copy to write a very good sales letter.

      Establishing credibility is very important - it helps with believability. Without believability, your prospects won't buy.

      Learn how to write effective sales copy before launching your product. If you don't know where to start, here's an article you should find helpful ...

      Boost Your Response Blog Archive Writing Your Own Sales Copy

      Alex
      Alex,

      I honestly think he's looking to find the area of focus...like the balance between benefits and the security(experience or money) of the buy.

      Of course it's good to establish presence and yeah believability and comfort is key...doesn't mean he needs to go around boasting...30 years, 30 years...oh btw 30 years....oh this reminds me of my 30 years experience and how much of an expert I am.



      hahahahah....

      but yeah come to think of it...what is your product for actually? That'll definitely help with finding the balance of benefits vs experience.

      What are the benefits to your product?

      That'll make all of this a bunch easier ; )


      Aaryn
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  • Profile picture of the author MouseandMice
    I still do not understand why everyone is jumping around saying "YES! DO IT!" without asking "What is your product"...
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  • Profile picture of the author ArturRubinstein
    I´m no expert. But heck, you got 30 yrs experience. Who can say this about himself?!

    Without thinking to deep about it, it seems insane to not play it out somewhere.
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  • Profile picture of the author Zentech
    I think he needs to mention it just enough that credibility and authority are created, paving the way for him to hammer benefits and results. Mentioning it early in the copy once or twice should be sufficient.
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