How to Write a Sales Letter that Works
Three Elements that Every Letter Must Have...
The importance of learning how to write a sales letter
cannot be emphasized enough.
With customers constantly bombarded with marketing
efforts through television, print, and online ads, professional sales people
and marketers need to make an effort to stand out.
And, though there are
thousands of articles that outline the step-by-step process of how to write a
sales letter, few properly address the three most essential elements of sales
letter success: knowledge of one’s prospects, case studies, and a proper call
to action.
Knowledge of Prospects
Generic sales letters almost never work.
Think about the
path here. Rather than a blanket advertisement, sales letters are meant as a
personalized invitation to engage with your business.
When you take the time to
specifically contact a customer about a product or service without taking time
to know that customer, you waste both your time and theirs. Instead, consider
each customer as a separate entity; consider who they are and what they want
from you and your business; consider their concerns and interests; even
consider doing a psychological profile of the customer in order to more
accurately speak to their needs and wants.
Case Studies
The use of example and case studies is important if you want
to prove that your product/service/company is worth the prospect’s time.
This
is a classic case of showing, rather than telling.
While it is important to
explain the benefits of doing business with your company, offering an example
of what those benefits really mean will set yours apart from other sales
letters which lack this key ingredient to success.
Call to Action
The final element of an effective sales letter is a strong,
clear call to action. Indeed, this is really the essence of a sales letter unto
itself.
You cannot leave your prospects to their own devices, but rather must
specifically outline their next steps towards doing business with your company.
Do you want them to call you? Email? Fill out a form?
Clearly state your goals
in sending the letter in a powerful and lasting way. Leave no question in the
prospect’s mind as to your intentions.
Learning how to write a sales letter is about more than
step-by-step instructions.
In addition to following the basic guides that we
learn in business school, it is also important to include key points that will
set your sales letter apart from the rest.
Customers are busy, and they need
specific points to pick your company and your sales letter out from the bevy of
offers they receive each day.
Taking care to use knowledge of your prospects,
case studies, and clear calls to action will help to accomplish this goal and
move you one step closer in the sales cycle.
