Page 189 - 100 Great Copywriting Ideas: From Leading Companies Around the World (100 Great Ideas)

88 HOW TO DEAL WITH
HIGH PRICES

Objection handling is what salespeople call it. I do too. When
you’re planning a piece of copy you have to think not just of all the
reasons why someone might buy from you, but of all the reasons
why they might not. Price may well be one of those reasons. It’s
not necessarily confined to what we call premium-priced products
either. If you’re selling to the super-rich, then money really is no
object. Their only objection might be that it’s not expensive enough.

But in recessionary times, which we’re in as I write this, or when
you’re selling to people who keep one eye on the budget (whether
corporate or household), it pays, literally, to address the question of
price head-on.

The idea

From Time Out, a listings magazine
How do you make the purchase of a magazine subscription look
like small beer? The outlay isn’t that great to begin with, maybe a
few dozen pounds, but given that you don’t get all you paid for until
a whole year has passed, selling subscriptions needs some careful
finessing on price.

For Time Out, I wrote a mailing letter in 2006 to win back former
subscribers (lapsed/canceled in trade jargon). To convey the value of
the subscription, I told a little story:

And you have to admit, Time Out really is great value. On the
way to work yesterday I saw a girl outside Starbucks drinking
a grande caffè mocha and reading Time Out. You know

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