Peanut and I are heading to New York for the weekend. Which means, I’m working from the car today. And I just spent the past two and half hours taking a big ol’ bite out of this 7 hour drive.
While I was driving, I had an opportunity to test out the “Zipper Method.”
Unfamiliar like I was since they don’t teach this in driving school?
The Zipper Method is a superior way to merge when a lane gets shut down. Instead of hustling over to the open lane, you stay in the lane you were in for as long as possible, i.e. right before the cones pop up in the closed lane.
This makes everything much faster, safer, and move more smoothly. It makes complete logical sense too: Using more available road will cut down traffic jams bigly.
But there’s one giant problem with the Zipper Method:
People LOATHE when you do it. A big, fat majority of fellow drivers will despise you, might even chase you down, or pull an even worse road rage-induced stunt.
Y’see, people don’t make logical decisions. They make emotional ones. Understand this as a copywriter, and prosper you will.
It doesn’t matter that this should be taught at driving school… or that it makes logical sense to use both lanes as long as possible… or any other stat, fact, or figure you’d think would convince people to adopt this method.
And yet… most ecom brands send emails like people make logical decisions when they don’t. Every purchase decision is an emotional decision. And copy void of “emotional meat” doesn’t make as many sales as those stuffed to their gills with emotion and drama.
More:
This little highway lesson is also a cautionary tale about listening to your customers. Often, gurus peddle advice like “ask your customers what they want, they sell it to them.”
But this overlooks the “Zipper Method Mistake.”
Not only is the average person not the sharpest knife in the kitchen, but even worse is this:
Every buying decision is an emotional one. But asking your customers what they want results in a logical answer. But logic ain’t gonna sell them—even if they tell you it will.
Human nature is funny like that cully.
But lots of lessons packed into this smol email.
If you need help applying them, hit reply, and lets chat. (Next week - when I’m back in me office).
John
PS - Excuse any typos - the sun’s shining directly on my laptop screen.
Comentarios