Writing
a sales letter that draws customer's attention,
develops interest towards your product and finally
lead to a successful transaction is more of technique
and skill than knowledge of English or mastery
over grammar.
In part I of this series, we discussed essential
features of an effective sales letter. In this
part, we discuss specific tasks with examples.
Here's how to write an effective sales Letter
- step by step.
Task number One - Draw Reader's
Attention
In today's busy life and hectic work schedule
- customers are unlikely to give you more than
few seconds to impress them. In most cases, the
battle to draw customer's attention is won or
lost within seconds of first encounter.
So, if your website takes more than 20 seconds
to show anything substantial - you are likely
to lose many customers. For sales letter the time
limit is even less - about 6 seconds. If first
few lines of your sales letter can not draw recipients
attention - it may be heading for trash folder.
Try your best to get customer's attention within
the first line of your letter. It's the most important
line in your entire communication. Remember, you
are up against a lot of competition for the attention
of your reader - every word, every sentence of
your letter is important ! Here are few examples
on how to start a sales letter:
- Asking a question in which the answer is guaranteed
to be "yes" is a good way to start
Example: "Would
you like to reduce your packing cost by 50%
?" "Wouldn't you prefer to have your
cargo handled by the leader in the field ?"
- Another way to start a sales letter is to
write a sentence that will surprise or shock
the reader
Example: In 2001 -
we helped over 500 small businesses like yours
to export to Latin America
- However, if you are contacting the customer
for the first time or if your company is unknown,
you might start with a more conservative and
general introduction of yourself.
Example A:
ABC Glass Works is a leading Indian manufacturer
and exporter of handmade glass beads. The range
of our product line, good quality and competitive
price have made us one of the fastest growing
companies of its kind in India.
Example B:
XYZ Buying Agency, established in 1991, is one
of the fastest growing agents in India. We currently
represent a number of major US and European importers,
such as Walmart, Le Peng, Feng Sui and others.
Example C:
Genford Trading was founded in 1987 to serve
the automobile component industry in Delhi. Since
then we have expanded our market year by year
to where we now have customers in 12 countries
around the world.
Task Number Two - Building Interest
and Desire
Having successfully attracted customer's attention,
your next task is to hold on to this and convince
him/her of the value of your product in a logically
coherent fashion.
The best way to hold on to customer's attention
is to build interest by describing how your product
can help him/her. Use colorful, descriptive words
if necessary - but never forget the marketing
maxim - benefits sell, not products.
In this paragraph you must show the reader that
he/she
- needs your product (e.g. a new model of an
existing product)
- could use your product with greater ease
and less time (an easier packaging system)
- should not be without your product (insurance)
- would lead to better margin (cheaper price)
- bring better quality than his/her existing
line
- would sell more (a new line of garments that
his/her competitors do not have access) etc.
Sentence by sentence, in a logically coherent
fashion, you lead the reader through your sales
pitch. If he/she closes eyes he/she should be
able to see the new business, increased sales,
more profit, greater convenience and comfort etc.
Example A:
Located in Panipat (near Delhi), we produce a
wide variety of carpets, durries, curtains and
other home furnishing items in 100% cotton for
home as well as office. The carpets are of good
quality, popular with customers and sell well.
Our total production averages 50 thousand pieces
per year, 80% for export and 20% for domestic
market.
Example B:
We are happy to announce that we are now offering
this same service to European import companies
like yours. From our office in Tirupur, the heart
of low cost and good quality readymade garments,
we can supply your company with whatever kind
of apparel you would like.
There are two more tasks of convincing the customer
and lead him/her to an action. We shall discuss
about that in next issue.
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