22 Nov 2008
The good old fashioned sales letter is often the first contact a prospective customer has with your company. Get it right and it could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship. Get it wrong and your letter will be filed under B for bin.
1. Woo-hoo I’m here!
You must grab the attention of the letter opener within about 4-8 seconds, so you’ll need a catchy headline or snazzy opening sentence.
Get straight to the point and don’t waffle: ‘I am writing this letter to you because I would like to take the opportunity to introduce our company blah blah blah’ will have your letter heading for the trash quicker than you can say ‘boring’.
2. What’s in it for me, me, me?
Tell your prospective customer about the benefits of your product or service – not the features. And try and stick to one quality benefit so the message remains clear.
So don’t say, ‘the new Quicko vacuum cleaner has a turbo capacity that is twice that of the most cleaners’. Instead say, ‘Quicko cleaners: clean your floors in half the time’.
3. We’re good. No, really we are.
Once you’ve outlined the benefits, let your customer see they are in good company by telling them who else bought your product: ‘50% of all homeowners now own a Quicko cleaner’.
5. What next?
Let the reader know what you want them to do next. So at the end of your letter have: Call a number; fill in a form; visit the website; order before next Wednesday and receive a FREE brush. <
6. P.S
After the sign-off include a PS. Research has shown that readers often read the headlines and the P.S before they decide whether they want to read the whole letter. So have something like: Visit our website at www.quickocleaners.co.uk before Wednesday 29th to receive your FREE brush.
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