I was re-watching Jaws last night.
My favourite scene is the “fingernails on the blackboard” scene. That’s where we first see Captain Quint, and where he makes his pitch to the townsfolk:
“Y’all know me. Know how I earn a livin’. I’ll catch this bird for you, but it ain’t gonna be easy.
Bad fish! Not like going down to the pond and chasing bluegills and tommycods. This shark, swallow ya whole. Little shakin’, little tenderizin’, down you go.
And we gotta do it quick, that’ll bring back the tourists, that’ll put all your businesses on a payin’ basis.
But it’s not gonna be pleasant! I value my neck a lot more than three thousand bucks, chief. I’ll find him for three, but I’ll catch him, and kill him, for ten.
But you’ve gotta make up your minds. If you want to stay alive, then ante up. If you want to play it cheap, be on welfare the whole winter.”
And that’s a pretty good sales pitch. He dimensionalises the problem… creates a sense of urgency… justifies his price.
Most businesses would make a LOT more money if their copy did just these 3 things.
But, as we saw, even though Quint gave a great sales pitch, the town turned down his offer. They tried to cut costs by doing it themselves… and it backfired.
And that’s like sales copy. You might get OK results if you do it yourself. You might be making OK money…
But, if you want to maximise your results, you need a professional.
Want to know more? Send me a message me and we can talk…
All the best,
Steve Gibson
