You don’t need a sledgehammer for your copy

There?s an old saying you might have heard of. ?You don?t need a sledgehammer to crack a nut.? If you?re running a business, you certainly shouldn?t apply the same kind of force with customers. That way you?re unlikely to get any.

We?ve all heard stories recently about the demands put on people to make charitable donations. Sometimes with tragic consequences. While that obviously wasn?t the intention, it left the people concerned feeling under unacceptable pressure. That the contributions they made were never good enough. That they could always spare more if they wanted to. Even if they couldn?t. Just how many potential contributors have now been put off committing themselves because of it?

The point is too much pressure can be counterproductive. It makes people think twice about leaving themselves open to further demands. If you?re hoping to make your business successful, you want customers to stay with you and recommend you to others. Something they won?t do if they feel uncomfortable.

If your business is online people are naturally more wary of being taken for a ride by ruthless companies. Or individuals come to that. Trust plays a major part in their decisions about dealing with someone they don?t know personally. And who can blame them?

Bearing in mind customers will only have their own interests at heart, it?s not a good idea to give the impression you only care about your own. For one thing your motives will arouse suspicions. For another it?s doubtful they?ll want to take the risk with someone they?re unsure of.

It?s reading your copy that?ll help them decide what sort of person they?re dealing with. They?ll either back off immediately or read on with interest. The friendlier and more relaxed you are, the more they?ll be too. But of course it isn?t just the words that need to be reassuring. It?s the way you treat them that counts.

They need reassurance about their safety online for a start. That whatever they pay for lives up to your promises. And that if it doesn?t you?ll put things right without fuss or recriminations. And you certainly won?t be pestering them for evermore once you have them in your clutches. It?s really not too much to ask is it?