What infomercials have to teach us about persuasion

The best sales book I’ve ever read is titled “The Accidental Salesperson.” It delivers on its promise of “more usable information per chapter than anything on the market.” The book is written by sales expert Chris Lytle.

One of the key themes in the book is wrapped in a single quote from its author. Mr. Lytle says, “Life is one big seminar and lifelong learners get more out of life.”

Treating life as a seminar means being observant. It means paying attention to the lessons that are all around us. Here’s an example from Lytle’s own experience.

He came across a brochure one day advertising a $129 seminar that promised to teach how to write brochures that sell. Anybody claiming to have the secrets to effective brochures was presumably using those techniques in his own brochures. So Lytle took the hint. Rather than spending the time and money attending the seminar, Lytle spent three hours analyzing the brochure and sucked the intellectual marrow out of its bones. He then incorporated all the ideas into his own brochure. Lesson learned and put in action.

Lytle did a similar analysis of infomercials, those annoying long-form commercials that go on and on about anti-aging moisturizers, body building equipment and get-rich-quick real estate schemes. They’re all over the airwaves these days.

Lytle figured that infomercials must sell a ton of product because they cost a lot of money to produce and were being aired on national television in big numbers. So rather than changing the channel – as most of us do – he took notes on how the advertisers put together their sales presentations so he could emulate their time-tested wisdom. He observed and he learned.

What he found is that every infomercial uses the same basic three-step formula. It was a formula that was succeeding for them over and over again.

1) Set forth the problem.

2) Explain the solution.

3) Demonstrate how your product or service provides the solution.

Each infomercial begins with a statement that speaks directly to the audience about their problems – a problem common to many people, one that a large proportion of the audience could identify with. Once audience members thoroughly identified themselves with the problem, whether real or imagined, the advertiser explains the solution.

But, Lytle explains, they don’t show you the product right away. Instead, they show everyday people who have already benefited from using the product. Those people supply testimonials that not only talk about the success of the product, they talk about the other products they tried in the past that didn’t work. That makes the advertised product even more of a dream come true because it really works. Along the way the viewer’s confidence in the product grows.

“Ultimately the inventor of the product … comes on and tells the story of how he discovered an amazing secret and how thrilled he is that he can make the world a better place,” Lytle writes in his book. “The storytelling adds credibility and makes the audience feel connected to the people behind the product.”

The advertiser then demonstrates how the product works – oftentimes over and over again, emphasizing its ease and practicality.

Those are the basics, but here are some other points Lytle makes.

>> The infomercial narrator often preemptively raises objections that might be forming in viewers’ minds and quickly dispels those objections. A powerful technique that speeds the sales process along.

>> Infomercial narrators also play the strength-in-numbers card by assuring listeners that thousands or millions of satisfied customers have already purchased the product and reaped its life-changing benefits. So why not you too? People usually feel more secure about a buying decision if many others before them have taken that step. It gives them the psychological comfort they need to make the big decision.

>> A toll-free number is prominently and repeatedly displayed to get the sale while the prospect is most persuaded. This, along with the narrator’s voice, is the infomercial’s way of asking for the sale.

These same persuasion techniques can be used in your own spoken or written sales proposals, Lytle says, even if you’re selling something with far less sensational performance claims. The three-step formula can work in various formats.

Lytle gets into more detail in his book. But you get the big picture. Study what works and apply those techniques to your own efforts. People have already done the market testing. Now you can ride on their coattails.