A Kikabink News reader wants to know why he has to:

read as many as 15 pages or more at times of sales page to get a damn price… and even then at the end of the long ass pages they still do not tell you the price until you click to order. Maybe I am old fashioned, but I want to know the cost now and not later…

In the last two feature articles I likened sales letters to sales people. Well, let me ask you… how many times does a top salesperson introduce himself or herself and tell you what the price of their product or service is straight away?

Now, they might do this to work out whether or not you’re a legitimate prospect who can afford their product, but if they suspect you are willing and able to buy, chances are they’ll start their sales presentation by asking you lots of questions about your circumstances, problems, goals, needs, wants, etc in order to tailor their presentation to you. Then, based on what you’ve revealed, they’ll present their product or services as the solution to your problem or the passport to the opportunity you seek. Then they’ll build more and more value into what they’re offering. And then, when they’ve sold you on the product, they’ll explain how the price is a mere fraction of the true value of their solution.

Or something along those lines.

Point is, like a sales person, a sales letter is designed to reinforce your desperate need for a solution (to solve your problem or achieve your goal), persuade you that the product on offer is the ideal solution, build up even more value, and then, when you’re convinced that the product on offer must be worth many times more than you’re capable of paying, introduce the price as being a mere fraction of what the product is worth.

The process of building up your desire and your perception of value in the product BEFORE introducing the price is integral to making the sale for the kinds of products on offer via sales letters. Sure, it may not be necessary for selling a tin of baked beans, but for items that require much more persuasion, this process is usually necessary.

And, once again, there’s a reason why the most successful direct response companies structure their sales letters in this way. It’s NOT to deceive you. It’s to sell you. And, yes, I’m sure we could all argue about the sometimes fine line between being misleading and selling. (I’ve given legal advice on that line plenty of times). But I truly believe that any company that aims to be in business for the long haul - and I’m thinking of 9-figure direct response marketing companies such as Agora Publishing and Boardroom, Inc. - just can’t afford to mislead.

So the aim is not so much to ‘hide’ the price, but to present it in the best possible way, at the best possible juncture within the structure of a sales letter.

Of course, if you want to know the price straight away, it’s generally a simple matter of using the ‘find’ button in your browser and typing in the dollar sign! And if the sales letter doesn’t reveal the price (something I DON’T agree with), just click on ‘Order’ to see what it is. You won’t have to hand over your credit card details to see the price. (If you do, just leave the site).