How to Make Them an Offer They Can't Refuse!

Written for AutoSuccess Magazine
September 2001

By Scott Joseph

When questioned about how he was going to handle a tricky business situation, Michael Corleone simply leaned forward in his chair and declared, "I'll make him an offer he can't refuse." Silent nods followed. Everyone in the room knew that this statement settled the problem. Michael's "offer" carried enough weight to guarantee it.

While we all entertain fantasies of living in the Godfather movies (come on, admit it!), for us mere mortals, business situations aren't settled so easily. Well, our offers aren't accepted so easily, anyway. But one thing is true- the offers that we make in direct mail have to carry enough weight to guarantee success.

General advertising is fine, and name recognition is certainly important in business, but this is not what direct mail is for. Direct mail must carry a specific, powerful offer to the correct audience. It must elicit an emotional or logical response, and immediately motivate the customer to act.

So, how is this accomplished? First, the offer must be genuine and unique. What you are offering must be valid in the eyes of the consumer, but it must be remarkable enough to attract their attention.

Similarly, the offer must involve the consumer. The example verbiage shown here offers many techniques of immediately involving the consumer by appealing to both their emotions and sense of logic.

Appealing to their emotions generally involves the customer's need to feel important, fear of loss or exclusion, and appealing to their sense of pride and privilege, while keeping them in their comfort zone.

You can create a sense of urgency for the consumer to attend the event by limiting the promotion to only a few hours. This suggests the possibility of exclusion to the customer- they may be left out if they do not make plans to attend! Continue this exclusive atmosphere by stating that only a select few people have been chosen for the event. This feeds the customer's need to perceive themselves as important, receiving deals that the general public can't get.

Comfort your customer by ensuring them that their purchase will be easy. The lowest prices will be offered, and no difficult, uncomfortable negotiation will be required. Make the experience appear painless and simple, and keep the reader in their comfort zone!

Finally, personalize every letter with the customer's name. The easiest and quickest way to establish a connection with someone is to refer to them by name.

When appealing to a reader's sense of logic, you are carefully crafting an argument that would be foolish to ignore. This usually involves creating a sensible back-story for your mailer. Explain why this event is being held, and why the customer should expect a genuinely good deal on a vehicle.

Disassociating the dealership from the event encourages the perception that the promotion (and therefore the lower pricing) was required from a source higher-up than the dealer. If this can be seen as a nationwide event, or if it can be implied that it originates from the manufacturer, so much the better.

Of course, this only covers how you make your offer, and not what the offer actually is. The primary concern in direct mail is that your offer align. It must align with your other advertising, with your mailing list, with your creative, and within the mail piece. Only by presenting a solid, unique offer to a qualified, interested audience (and presenting it in a way that guarantees it gets read!) can your promotion succeed.

First, let me state the obvious. Don't undermine your offer with other advertising! The main point of sending someone a personal invitation to your dealership is to give them a better deal than the general public. You are suggesting that unless they come to your dealership during these hours on this day, they will not be able to get such a good price. Align your direct mail with other manufacturer offers and current sales. Nothing turns a mail piece into a joke quicker than suggesting to your audience that this is a very special event, and then having this mailing conflict with other advertising.

Next, align your offer with your list. Remember the order of importance in creating a direct mail piece: settle on your goal for the promotion first, then come up with the offer, pull a list to match, and finally put everything together with your creative efforts. Once your offer is solid, then consider the type of person that would respond to such a mailing. If you are trying to increase your secondary financing sales, target people with sub-prime FICO scores. If you need to reduce your trade-in inventory, target used vehicle buyers. If you are overstocked on minivans, target families with kids.

Just make sure that the list follows the logic of the verbiage- both the immediate offer and the supporting offers. If you are using the supporting offer of a giveaway for $5000 worth of free landscaping and you mail to apartment dwellers, the giveaway is worse than useless, it is funny.

Then, align your offer with your creative endeavors. Words and addresses may be the most important part of your mailer, but they won't sell it for you. The category of creative includes everything from the envelope, paper stock or invitation, to the layout, color, font, and design. This is an area that is too often overlooked. Make it easy for the reader to find the information that you want them to read.

Finally, read over a final copy of the verbiage to ensure continuity within the piece. Any supporting offers should make sense with and add strength to the main offer. Don't overwhelm your audience with different options as to what the mailer is about. Give them a main offer, give them one or two more reasons to come into the dealership, and then stop.

Once you have fine-tuned your offer and presented it in the most powerful way, the promotion will take care of itself. A small number of mailers will give you a big return. Think of it as Michael Corleone whispering a suggestion into someone's ear. You shouldn't have to speak loudly if you say the right words.

Read another AutoSuccess article:

April 2001:
Seven Advantages of Direct Mail for the Automotive Industry

June 2001:

Testing and Measuring the Effectiveness of Your Advertising to Improve Your Profit

July 2001:

Killer List Strategies For Your Direct Mail Promotion

October 2001:
The Secret of Out-Performing All Your Other Advertising!

November 2001:
The Number One Strategy to Out-Market Your Competition

December 2001:
Creative That Gets Results!

January 2002:
Secrets to Improve Your Sales and Profit With Direct Mail

February 2002:
How to Sell One to Two More Deals for Each 100 Pieces of Mail You Send!

March 2002:
The Seven Biggest Marketing Mistakes Everbody is Making, and How to Avoid Them!

April 2002:
Business Rules to Grow By!

May 2002:
The Only Three Ways to Grow Your Business

June 2002:
Your Customers are Speaking To You. Do You Hear Them?

July 2002
How to Attract Quality Traffic

August 2002
Make Money on Your Sales Event Before it Even Begins!

September 2002
Marketing Lists That Work!