Prompt Wizardry: Cast a Spell to Increase Sales

When my company focused solely on sales training and I was on the road 100 days every year, I met plenty of people looking for a magic wand they could wave to win the sales game. Well, guess what? We might be a lot closer to that with AI tools like ChatGPT.

ChatGPT is a generative AI system fueled by prompts. Think of prompts as the written incantations that power the spells you cast to collect information. The quality of your prompt determines the quality of the information returned to you.

It’s All About the Prompt

The best prompts are specific. They provide details about your audience, goal, tone, and the format for the answer. For example, let's say you use ChatGPT to help you write an introductory email to a cold lead.

This prompt is vague: Write an email to a lead asking for a meeting.

This prompt is more specific: Write a 150-word introductory email. Use a professional, conversational tone. The email is for a lead who is a marketing manager at a retail chain. The goal of the email is to ask for a 30-minute introductory meeting to discuss how I can assist them with their direct mail.

The more details you provide, the more likely you will be to conjure tailor-made content for your audience and your situation. I recommend keeping sentences short and direct, sticking to one thought per sentence. After all, we are talking to an AI brain, not a human, so don't expect ChatGPT to recognize the need to ask clarifying questions to provide a quality answer.

Don't like an answer? No problem! Hit the "Regenerate" button. The system produces a different response, or you can edit the prompt to sharpen the information's focus.

Often, the best way to make magic is by using iterative dialogues. Start with a broad-based prompt. Get an answer. Use the information in the response to write another prompt narrowing the topic. For example, you could ask, "What are the top two challenges marketing managers at retail chains experience when they want to use direct mail in a campaign?"

ChatGPT’s Response

1. Cost-Effectiveness: Direct mail campaigns can be expensive to execute. The costs include printing, design, and postage, among other things. For retail chains with multiple locations, these costs can quickly add up, making it a significant investment. Marketing managers have to carefully assess the ROI (Return on Investment) and ensure that the campaign will generate enough revenue to justify the expenditure.

2. Targeting and Personalization: In today's digital age, consumers expect personalized experiences. However, direct mail is often seen as a "one-size-fits-all" approach, which can make it challenging to target specific customer segments effectively. Marketing managers have to find ways to segment their customer base and tailor the messaging to make the campaign more relevant and engaging. This often involves complex data analytics and may require specialized software or expertise.

Both of these challenges require careful planning, budgeting, and execution to overcome.

The Next Step

Your next iteration uses that response to refine your prompt, such as, "Write a 150-word introductory email. Use a professional, conversational tone. The email is for a lead who is a marketing manager at a retail chain. The goal of the email is to ask for a 30-minute introductory meeting to discuss how I can assist them with cost-effective direct mail, better targeting, and increased personalization."

Becoming a Prompt Wizard isn't an overnight thing, but the way ChatGPT can help simplify sales tasks can feel a lot like performing magic. The system is free to try, so grab your keyboard and start casting those ChatGPT spells — you'll be amazed at how it transforms your sales game.