Sell the Sizzle, Not the Steak

What People Buy

When legendary ad copy writer and motivational speaker, Elmer Wheeler, in the 1930′s originated the line “Sell the sizzle and not the steak,” he was spot-on.

Ad copy is another form of guerilla marketing. You could write, “Mazda has four-wheel drive” — that’s steak. But how about, instead, “Zoom-zoom” — that’s sizzle!

Building Demand

Building demand for a product, not the product itself, is best not only for advertising, but also network marketing. 

The principle exploited by Wheeler is a global fixture in network marketing today.

Nobody who bought a drill actually wanted a drill. They wanted a hole. Therefore, if you want to sell drills, you should advertise information about making holes – NOT information about drills! – Perry Marshall.

When you’re engaged in network marketing, you’re in the field of marketing and marketing divides into activities that you should be aware of, and use:

• Advertising – literally, “adding to the word,” getting the word out.
• Positioning – owning a place in your prospect’s mind.
• Branding – associating a product name with a positioning in minds.
• Pricing – determining what the public you target will pay for product benefits.
• Product – the goods or service you sell, that the customer buys for its benefits.
• Customers – those people who have purchased product or opportunity from you.
• Service – delivery of beneficial effects to your customers and training to your distributors.
• Promotion – making something well-known and well-thought-of.

The hub, however, around which all points revolve is the need for an exchange among companies and people; in other words, sales. The purpose of marketing in all of its facets is to sell something, which is the purpose of network (MLM) marketing.

People buy what they will have as a result of owning or possessing the product you’re selling, not the product.

 

In his book Testing Sentences That Sell, Wheeler, an ad copy writer, laid out his five “Wheelerpoints:” (In parentheses, added MLM suggestions.)

Wheelerpoint #1. “Don’t sell the steak – sell the sizzle.” (Think about how this applies to your blogs today. People want benefits, not products. What can you do for them?)

Wheelerpoint #2. “Don’t write – telegraph!” (Back in Wheeler’s day, telegraphs were charged by the word. By saying “Don’t write – telegraph,” Wheeler meant “Make every word count.” Your first 10 words are more important than the next 10,000, when you have only seconds to catch attention.)

Wheelerpoint #3. “Say it with flowers.” (It’s not enough to make a statement to your prospect, you have to prove it. If you say, “I love you,” prove it by sending flowers. Does this remind you of Jerry Maguire’s ‘Show me the money!”?)

Wheelerpoint #4. “Don’t ask if – ask which.” (Offer your prospect a choice between something and something… never something and nothing. Abraham and Straus commissioned Wheeler to work out a way to sell more eggs. Instead of asking “Would you like an egg with that?” the soda jerk asked, “One or two eggs?” while holding an egg in each hand. The result? Wheeler’s words induced seven out of 10 customers to add at least one egg to their order.

Wheelerpoint #5. “Watch your bark!” (Wheeler, who loved dogs, reminds us that it’s not just what you say, but how you say it. In MLM, you don’t have to be a product expert; you just have to come across with sincerity and honesty.)

Wheeler’s words in summary of his “Tested Selling” philosophy, work well as good advice for network marketers today:

“Don’t think so much about what you want to say as about what the prospect wants to hear… the response you will get will more often be the one you are aiming for.”

Wheeler’s basic principles for ad copy writing lent themselves in his day to the sales profession and to Madison Avenue. Yet, the core of its success applies today to people buying and selling products and opportunities in network marketing (MLM).

Wheeler’s wit and experience are excellent tools in the hands and minds of networkers, especially for writing blogs and talking with prospects.

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