How to write sales letters

Every day we all receive many letters offering us everything from more credit cards to holidays. The challenge is to ensure your letter is not filed in the waste bin but read and acted upon.

Sales letters should be like having your best salesman in front of your customers and prospects every time. You decide who receives the mailing, what is says, when it goes, and how many people see the letter.

Using letters in mailings is one of the most flexible cost-effective marketing tools and it is personal. It is one to one communication so please use the recipient’s name. Tell them you have what they want or need.

GAP wisdom for powerful sales letters:

Why are you mailing?  What action[s] do you want your reader to take?

Who are you mailing?  Customers or prospects?

What is in it for the reader? Why should the reader read your letter? What benefits will the reader gain from your service? Solve a problem for the reader. Tell the reader what you want them to do next. Make it easy for them to respond.

Why? Explain to your reader, why they should choose you, why they should read your brochure or visit your web site, why they should give you an appointment, why they should spend their money with you.

How are you going to say it? Have a picture in your mind of the person you want to talk to, use their style of language. Short simple messages are best. Donít confuse the reader with jargon. When you have finished, read it out aloud, does it sound natural? Ask someone else to read your letter; do they understand what you are saying?

Focus on the customer. Abolish ‘we’ ‘our’ and replace with ‘you’. Use words like New, Free, How to, Benefits, Now, Solution, Sale, Gain, Alternative, Winning.

Give examples and show how your product or service solves their problem.

A good tip is to begin the sentence with the customer’s need, interest or problem and end with your company’s solution.

Make it easy to read. Use, headlines, colour, underlining, bullet points, bold, italics, subheadings indents, paragraphs and pictures for impact. Short sentences with no more than 16 words work best, as do simple words.

Headlines. Use your headline to attract attention. For example: Searching for documents taking forever? Here’s your answer. Develop a list of headlines and try different ones to see which get the best response.

The body of your letter.  Start with your most important benefit.  The more information you include the more you will sell. Include all the reasons why the customer should act. When you are trying to sell a product or service off the page longer copy is better. Try to include evidence of credibility such as testimonial comments.

Next page. If your letter is going over the page always try to have the page break in the middle of a sentence, the reader will be more likely to turn over to continue reading.

Highlight. Highlight a customer testimonial or some key features in a box. Known in the industry as a ‘Johnson Box’

What not to say. ‘For further information’ ‘We hope you find the enclosed of interest’ ‘Please do not hesitate to contact us’ ‘Assuring you of our best attention’ These put the emphasis back on the reader to do something and you are not in control.

PS. A PS usually gets read. Try to include one in your letter. Use the PS to reinforce the offer, or prompt action.

Start small and check. Send a mail shot of say 30 and check with some of the recipients. Did they receive it? Did they read it? Were they interested? What else do they need?

Check everything and check again. Print a hard copy of your list and letter before sending. Read your letter out aloud, does it sound natural? If you find proof reading difficult try reading the letter backwards. Amend as necessary. Check the response address and phone number.

Follow up. By frequent mailings, phone calls and personal visits. Read everything even the no thank you’s, and find out why.

Persevere. Keep trying new lists, new ideas, different approaches, and sending at different times. Make sure you monitor everything. Create a system so you know which mailings went to each contact

Snatch. Build a snatch file of letters you receive, both ones you like and dislike and use for ideas. Think, how can I use the ideas and improve on them for my business.

For more ideas, hints and tips

More articles hints and tips are at your fingertips any time at our web site www.gapmanagement.co.uk

For personal help and advice:

Email me at: gareth@gapmanagement.co.uk or phone 01226 290288

Best wishes

Gareth

GAP Management Ltd
PO Box 292
Barnsley
S75 3YB

01226 290288