Will a persuasive selling ability trump the quality of a sales funnel?

It sounds like more of a personal issue to me - you quote a WSO as saying that it will "affect (your) bottom line" and you seem to think that means that you won't be able to do it unless you resort to being a slimy and aggressive salesperson?

Don't let your preconceived notions get involved here - of course it has an effect, and of course you can still get along fine without it. No business has been created on the laurels of one marketing concept and certainly none have been closed down for the same. Do you want to make what you have to offer sound as valuable as possible to the customer? Absolutely. Does that mean you have to ignore the flaws and be dishonest about what you're selling? Not at all.

Using the real estate agent analogy, say you're selling a run down house in a really bad area. If you tell your clients that it's a mini-mansion in one of the nicest neighborhoods in the country then do you really think your customers will believe you and buy the house for twice the market value just because you said it was? Similarly, what if you told them that it was a great starter home in an affordable community? Would they react the same way or maybe would they give it a few more seconds thought?

Bottom line is this is business. If you have something with enough value to someone else then they'll exchange value (usually monetary) for it. As someone once said, you can polish crap and it's still crap. You can put it in a nice package but it's still crap. If you find a mushroom farmer though, he'll still offer you a few dollars to use it as soil. Find your mushroom farmer or get a better product, that's down to the businessman.

A lot of either or questions lately.

Persuasive selling ability should be ingrained into the sales funnel.

A sales funnel is more than just copywriting and .html. It's the construction of logic, a message, and your ideas.

It's important to package that logic in a pretty package, and a smooth transition that makes sense, though.

To be honest, really sexy copywriting throughout the entire duration of a sales funnel is ultimately more important than the quality of the product.

I'm not saying to create crappy products, but ultimately copywriting & persuasive sales ability is more important.

People say not to judge a book by its cover.

But... They do.

Just my $.02.

:]

An average product with good marketing will always outsell an awesome product with poor marketing. I think that is what you were asking?

Incredible free offer + personality driven emails = results

I get what you're saying. The quality of a product doesn't magically get better because of the ad copy, or sales page copy. Just keep in mind that you wouldn't need a sales letter written by Gary Halbert to sell a product to someone who already trusts you. Hence the super importance of having an email list - and knowing how to build solid relationships with your subscribers with personality driven emails.

Also keep in mind that crap products will ultimately determine the life time (or lack thereof) value of a customer.

The big reason to keep your sales promises in line with reality is
for FUTURE SALES and referrals. A sharp marketer/copywriter
can fool someone once, but rarely can they do it over and over again.

The best marketers get the bulk of their sales from past customers.

In my experience the 'giant guru marketers' are not the ones to emulate.
They are always looking for "Replacement Customers" rather than
"Repeat Customers".
_____
Bruce

if you want to make real money, youd use persuasive selling in a sales funnel

"Persuasive selling ability"... you mean like mind reading? I'd stick with the model that has always worked (and probably will forever work) of attracting leads and putting them into a sales funnel.

Think of it like dating a hot woman. You see her and think she is hot. You then get talking to her though and find out she is as dull as a butter knife. You're not going to go back for seconds are you? So even if you use persuasive (even misleading) tactics to get people to buy your first product, if there i no substance behind it they won't come back and buy more from you. Repeat sales are where the money is at.

Sounding pushy and annoying is not being persuasive. It is someone thinking they are being persuasive.

Being persuasive is, crazy enough, persuading people to purchase from you. This means they trust you. They believe what you say. They know your product or service is good.

The idea that if you want to be persuasive you have to be a "pushy real estate agent" is pretty counteractive and just plain wrong.

Just stop worrying about what other people are doing and be honest with your customers.