If-then promise

The pattern

This still is filed under If-then promise.

Define

A conditional contract: if you do this, you get that. The sentence can be tested against the reader's own case.

Mechanism

Specificity does the persuading. The if names the action. The then names the outcome. Hedging kills it.

Verdict

We can name both the action and the result without adjectives

Why it works

The ad opens with 'my lady' and a reminder, as if a shopkeeper were speaking to one customer, then says the largest stock of silks for dresses, wraps and linens is at this one shop. It names the Lyon mills the cloth comes from and closes with a small test: honour us with one visit and you will be sure these are the strongest fabrics at the lowest prices. Asking for a single visit rather than a purchase makes the first step cheap.

The big idea

One visit is all it takes: walk into al-Malika al-Saghira once and you will see its Lyon silks are the finest in strength and the cheapest in price.

The offer

Silks for dresses, wraps and linens, imported from the Chatillon Mouly Roussel mill in Lyon, at al-Malika al-Saghira, 7 Emad El-Din Street, opposite the English Telegraph, Cairo. The ask is one visit.

The proof

It names the source mill, Chatillon Mouly Roussel of Lyon, and claims the greatest and largest stock of silks.

Lines from the ad

الملكة الصغيرة

The Little Queen

لا تنسي يا سيدتي

Do not forget, my lady

فيكفي أن تشرفينا مرة واحدة

It is enough that you honour us with one visit

Steal this when

When your shop wins once people walk in, ask for one visit and state plainly what they will find.

The emotion

Written to Trust. It makes the Say move.

Instead of a purchase it asks for one visit, 'It is enough that you honour us with one visit', and names the Lyon mill the silks come from, so the first step is cheap.