The CEO who envied his competitor’s sales, but didn’t like their ways…

Should your selling be more aggressive? A True Sales Story for marketers, copywriters - and anyone who sells.

Time to read: 1.5 minutes.

One morning as I was stumbling around Before Coffee, the phone rang. It was the CEO of a financial newsletter publisher.

Financial newsletter publishing is a multi-billion dollar business.

To make sales, it relies on killer copywriting. Financial direct response copy that take months to research, write and test.

I was very curious to speak with this CEO.

His company wasn’t one of the Big Cos. But his financial newsletter was highly respected.

He had the copywriting basics down. But I knew I could help him go further.

So that morning, we got on the phone for the first time.

I asked, mostly listened.

He gave me the run down. What his company stood for. Their strengths and challenges.

Where his sales were. Where he thought they should be.

He told me about the financial “guru” who wrote their letter. A real person. A compelling history. A nice guy.

To my surprise, he was wary of aggressive sales copy.

“I was reading your site,” he said. “I think this is the way we need to go…”

He told me about a conversation he had with a colleague at a Big Co competitor.

“Their mailing on cryptos? It brought in $15 million!”

“Big numbers…” I said.

“Right, and I struggle with it. Because their selling style is just not us.” He hesitated.

“Their sales copy… it’s, I don’t know. On the edge. But I envy their results.”

“Yes, I'm familiar with their style.”

“Don’t get me wrong. I get why their copy is compelling…”

“So do I.”

We chatted. He told me about a promotional opportunity coming up. Why he was poking around for a copywriter.

“So how do we get started?” he asked.

“How do you prefer to work with copywriters?”

I explained how I worked. He offered to send me a link to their back issues. I suggested next steps.

“I enjoyed talking with you,” he said.

“Same here.”

After Coffee, I pored over his site. Woke up the next day, one idea popping after another.

Pop, pop, pop. Raring to go.

24 hours later, no email. With a sinking feeling, I checked Junk.

Held my breath, followed up. Silence.

It happens in sales, right? The Call out of the blue… then Poof.

But weirdly, I felt encourged.

Let me explain…

When I wrote my copywriting web site, it felt as if I was sweating blood.

Damn it’s hard to write about yourself!

But grinding it out, I got super clear on who I wanted to work with (and who I didn’t).

I have a personal interest in financial topics. I invest, I research. I’m endlessly curious.

So I am very interested in financial copywriting.

But I am not interested in copywriting with sneaky, manipulative hype.

I wondered...

Would my “high integrity” approach to copywriting even fly?

Simplify. Get real. Be more human. Really? You’re out of your freakin’ mind…

Yet that morning, I realized.

This approach, it’s not for everyone.

But some companies are looking for something different.

Copy that gets results, of course.

And copy that builds on a foundation of trust.

Do you market or sell in the business space? What’s on your mind?

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