Articles by Larry Chase - Internet Publisher, Speaker, Author and Consultant

Larry Chase - Internet Marketing Consulting

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Eavesdropping on Inner Dialog

Really good direct marketing copywriters know that their copy must be "in dialog" with the reader. The copy has to gain credibility in the reader's mind, and thereafter bring up salient points and concerns precisely when and in the order the reader is apt to raise them.

So how does a good copywriter know how and when to address what points along the way? One time-honored practice is to be acutely aware of one's own inner dialog when on the receiving end of the sales process. Hereunder, I share with you, dear reader, my inner dialog and travails of a considered purchase still underway.

I've been buying and returning lounge chairs for the past three weeks. Yes, it's a joyous thing to buy such an item as it fulfills a primeval nesting instinct to further define my rustic abode and by extension, me. But there's also stress mixed into the process. What happens if I come to dislike the purchase? I'm stuck. So inside me rage the forces of joy and angst. A good salesman or copywriter knows this to be universally true.

Barcalounger #1: Macy's had a sale. There were an overwhelming number of lounge chairs to look at, plus swatches, plus catalogs filled with even more lounge chairs. Yikes. None are what you'd call attractive. But then again, these things are built for comfort, not looks.

Friend Silvia found one that was at least handsome. It was leather, though I was looking for cloth. Nevertheless, the leather color solved matching issues with a brick wall and an olive drab couch. I sat in it. I thought I was in heaven. Turns out I wasn't.

I had shoveled a city block of snow that day, so that whenever I sat down it felt like heaven. But I didn't realize this at the time. The $970 chair was delivered six days later. I sat in it, now with my shoes off, and realized my feet didn't touch the ground. I felt like a Lilliputian. I couldn't gain any traction to use the rocking mechanism. Back it went.

Barcalounger #2: I went to another store and saw an oxblood Barcalounger which looked pretty good. I was very aware of the need to be able to touch the floor in my stockinged feet. They did. Bingo! The sales guy was writing the order up. I pointed out the chair felt nice and low, maybe too low. He paused in writing the order up. What could he say? He continued to close on the sale by asking for my shipping address. This chair was $1250.

I left thinking I was relieved this process was over. But that chair was very low and the foot rest bumped on the ground as it swung up and into position. The sales guy explained that away by saying, "Kids were playing on it and broke it." "It'll be fine," I told myself...

I kept thinking about the price, though. My thoughts crystallized when I said to myself "It doesn't have that thousand-dollar 'ah' feeling. For $1,250, it should feel like home and the best place to be in the universe." It didn't.

Now, there was a pit in my stomach. Was I obsessing? Or did I just not want to go through the uncomfortable process of calling off the sale? The fact that I was talking to myself (out loud) whilst walking down the street to dinner told me I had to blow it off. OK, how? Yechh.

I called him, apologized for his time and explained it wasn't working for me. The chair was to low. He said it would be three inches higher. POW! That was too high, like the first Barcalounger. The Macy's guy did say all Barcaloungers are the same height. Chair Number 2 bites the dust.

I passed a furniture store that had very low slung furniture exclusively. I went in. Once you sat down in anything, you just couldn't get up again. I felt good about feeling definite on this type of furniture. My faith in my furniture decision-making abilities was restored.

I then went to M. Katz Furniture in the Lower East Side here in NYC. They are the only La-Z-Boy retailers in Manhattan. The guy in the doorway was saying something smartassed about my using a cell phone. I though it was doubtful I'd buy from these guys. I know how important it is to me to feel comfortable, buying from someone I feel I can trust in case it isn't right.

I walked through this store thinking I wasn't going to find much. I almost left. I saw something in the back. It was a stationery rocker with footrest, and it leaned back and didn't look like some animal out of Star Wars. It was very comfortable, even with my shoes off.

I began to picture it in my home and how I'd use it. I thought of the objections I had. The fabric, the color, and the attitude of the sales guy I encountered. It was a Sunday and sales guys are so hard to come by. That in itself puts a type of pressure on the customer.

They gave me a few hundred thousand swatches to look at. I found a nice burgundy corduroy. I was proud of myself for weeding out the only tasteful sample in that mound of swatches. I was emotionally vested now. But how would I know if this would work in my apartment, against the brick wall, the olive drab couch and the light wood floors? And what about that cranky sales guy?

Then another, more "accessible" salesman comes over and asks what I'm thinking. I told him I was not sure about how it would look in my place. He cuts a piece off the swatch, and tells me to take it home and see for myself if it worked. My skepticism melted instantly. I put a down payment on the chair the next day.

I wanted to test my buyer's remorse. Maybe I'm a masochist. So, I went to the store that handled Ekornes chairs thereafter. These are very unusual looking chairs, but they are ergonomically very good and I'm into ergonomics.

The sales guy came over and made himself available to me. I set his expectations right away by telling him I was first researching and not buying just then. He understood but advised me that the free shipping offer expired in two days. He didn't dwell on trying to close me. Rather he explained the benefits of the chair.

He talked in first person about how his muscles would tire after sitting for hours in most chairs because after the muscles initially relax they start to work again because most chairs don't fully take the burden off the muscles. That's why he'd be stiff after getting up from most chairs after an hour. I related totally to this story. He really had me.

I asked him for his card and said I might be back in touch. He gently reminded me about the free shipping. It wasn't intrusive. I knew and he must know that people more often than not change their minds. They think they're looking for one thing and fall in love with something else. I was looking for a cloth chair and wound up buying two leather chairs before I went back to buying a cloth chair.

I'm explaining this whole saga to my close friend Neil Raphan, as we sit in front of my fireplace on Po Ang bentwood chairs I bought from IKEA last fall. He sees the humor in it and asks why I just don't get another Po Ang chair like the ones we're sitting in. He knew I wanted those for over 20 years. "I don't know," I said, "I'm getting tired of these chairs, I think. My butt is lower than my knees. I'm not sure I like that."