Act Now...

Setting limits can make people want more. Shoppers grabbed 3 or 4 cans of soup when it was advertised on sale with no limit, in a study by the University of Illinois. When the the ad read "limit 9" people bought twice as many -- an average of 7 cans each!

The same technique that works in consumer marketing, works in business-to-business marketing. Setting limits or deadlines creates a sense of urgency. We are all motivated by urgency at some time or another. It could be urgency of a broken furnace on a cold January night. Or the urge to buy a Coke on impulse.

I used this technique in a direct mail letter for an entrepreneur program at the University of Illinois at Chicago. "For the best learning environment, class size is limited. So, contact us immediately..." reads the postscript. The response? We're almost at our goal. So call today!

- Phil Sasso