Selling is a tough job, and sometimes you may need to appear tough in order to get sale.

As a salesperson (whether in person or in print) you don’t have to appear to customer as being needy of sale. Many times, opposite can work quite effectively, that is, to make customer think of purchasing your product or service as a special privilege.

Here are a number of ways that you can “bully” customer into buying from you.

1. State that only a LIMITED number is available.

This is a commonly used technique to push customer over finish line. Presenting your offer as limited in quantity nudges prospect to act now since offer may not be available later. Companies that manufacture luxury line vehicles often use this technique by manufacturing only in small batches. Think of Hawley Davidson motorcycles for example. Only a limited number is manufactured so as to keep price high.

A limited time offer works just as well, even though it is less compelling since buyer may still procrastinate depending on time window that is given. On other hand, a limited number offer may go at any time. This places a bit more pressure on prospective buyer.

2. Place pre-qualifications on prospect before they can buy.

Many business opportunity type offers normally indicate that company is looking for a “few top leaders” in a particular geographic area. You are then required to call and listen to a recorded message that will further ‘qualify’ you to work with company. In this way rejection is placed on side of customer not seller.

Another slant to this same technique is to simply state that this offer is not for everyone. And only a few special people will recognize offer for what it is. This of course appeals to person’s ego and pride. Again they are placed in defensive position not seller. They are ones on rope.

3. Show how most people will grab this offer.

This appeals to “band-wagon” or “herd instinct” that is common to us as humans. We don’t want to be left out of new trend or crowd. It’s all about ‘keeping up with Joneses’. Show how thousands have already ordered and how your operators cannot keep up with all calls coming in. Any statement which can show that other people are flocking for this offer will work here.

4. Demonstrate very strong credibility in your copy.

Why Write a Brief? Even with something as simple as a small piece of copy, a proper brief will save you time and money.

The agency will also have a better chance of getting work right first time, so you get quality of work you expect.

Plus, it gives you something to measure agency's work against; i.e. how well they responded to and met brief.

What is a Brief? A brief (sometimes called a 'creative brief) tells agency what objective you are seeking to achieve. It answers 'where are we now' and 'where do we want to get to' questions.

Ideally, brief should be a written one. It focuses attention and provides foundation for your marketing campaign. The brief should be agreed by both you and agency before work begins and it can to some extent form a sort of contract.

The length of brief does not matter as much as ensuring that it contains key information and objectives. Tell agency what business problem is, what you wish to achieve and how you will evaluate success.

What Exactly Do you Put in a Brief? The format of a brief depends on task. A website creative brief will need to contain different information from one for a brand-building press ad campaign for example. However, below are some basic guidelines:

1. Project information Include your company name, contact details, project name and project manager, brand or product/service name, agency name and date.