Every day we get them, that piece of mail just begging you to buy that new car, renew your membership or take that exotic trip. What makes you read one over the other- and not want to throw it in the trash? Many times, it’s the content and the thing that grabs your attention within the first 30 seconds. If it doesn’t look interesting or important to you, you throw it away, right?

So, how do you hook your customers and make them want to read your letter? Besides a creative or attention getting headline and clearly laid out benefits of your product or service, there are many other things that go into to writing a sales letter. Remember- your customers don’t necessarily care about you, but what you can do for them.

Below are 10 tips to help you craft your message to increase your results.

• Get to the point, be clear and concise and write at a grade school level. We live in a fast world and people want to be able to digest and understand their information quick. Avoid a formal letter, big words and simplify your language. Never write a letter that is longer than one page.
• Include features but focus on the benefits. When writing your letter always think like your intended audience. What do they want and how will they benefit? Always think that when they are reading your message they are thinking, “What’s in it for me?”
• Make it memorable. Make people want to hold on to your letter. Include tips, advice, or a checklist. You could even make an additional insert they can cut out or hang in their office.
• Watch your design and layout. People are turned off by lots of text and obnoxious design. Try to use short paragraphs and bullets and/or numbered lists. This will make it easy to read and more appealing to the eye. Certain programs such as Microsoft Office and Adobe Creative Suite offer pre-set templates that can accomplish this and leave you with a professional looking product.
• Included a call to action. They’ve read the letter, now what? Give your customers direction of what they should do after they read the letter. Include a call to action, such as “Pick up the phone and call today!” or “Visit us on the web!”
• Include an incentive. An incentive will always get people to pick up the phone. Why should the customer act- A special discount? A chance to win? A limited time offer? Usually, including a deadline or limited time offer increases the rate of responses because of the limited amount of time to act and an incentive will give then the extra push.
• Build trust and credibility. Nothing speaks louder for your product or services than a satisfied end user. Customer testimonials are always a good thing to include in a letter. However, if you use names and companies, make sure you get a signed authorization.
• Make your letters individualized. Get a point of contact every chance you can. If you have one, use your database to gauge your customers. When was their last purchase? How long have they been with you? Target accordingly and make sure your message matches your intended audience- A broker in California isn’t going to care about a deal in Tennessee. This show you are taking the extra step and taking time to know your customers needs.
• Develop relationships. People want to feel like they belong. Don’t just push products, help to solve their needs. The purpose of your letter is to open doors and raise awareness. The sale is the next step in the process and comes after you build up rapport and credibility.
• Think about the response. Make sure you can handle the response. You don’t want to send 7,000 letters and not have a way or plan to respond. If you are expecting a response, include a business reply card with pre-paid postage. Don't lose an inquiry for the cost of a single stamp. This will make it easy for your customers and increase your chances of contact.

Responses[1]

Posted by Alli Amrhein on June 30, 2011 2:14:45 PM EDT #