THE SELLING SECRETS OF MILLION DOLLAR SALES LETTERS
Regardless of what you're trying to sell, you
really can't sell it without "talking" with
your prospective buyer. And in attempting to
sell anything by mail, the sales letter you
send out is when and how you talk to your
prospect.
All winning sales letters "talk" to the
prospect by creating an image in the mind of
the reader. They "set the scene" by
appealing to a desire or need; and then they
flow smoothly into the "visionary" part of
the sales pitch by describing in detail how
wonderful life will be and, how "good" the
prospect is going to feel after he's
purchased your product. This is the "body"
or "guts" of a sales letter.
Overall, a winning sales letter follows a
time-tested and proven formula:
- Get his attention,
- Get him interested in what you can do
for him,
- Make him desire the benefits of your
product so badly that his mouth begins
to water, and
- Demand action from him - tell him to
send for whatever it is you're selling
without delay - any procrastination on
his part might cause him to lose out.
This is called the "AIDA" formula, and
it works.
Sales letters that pull in the most sales
are almost always two pages. For the larger
priced items, they'll run to at least four
pages - on A4 paper, or A3 folded in half.
If your sales letter is only two pages in
length, there's nothing wrong with running
it on the front and back of an A4 sheet.
However, your sales letter should always be
on letterheaded paper - have your letterhead
printed, and include a logo or business
motto if you have one.
Regardless of the length of your sales
letter, it should do one thing, and that's
sell, and sell hard! If you intend to close
the sale, you've got to do it with your
sales letter. You should never be "wishy
washy" with your sales letter and expect
to close the sale with a color brochure or
circular. You do the actual selling and the
closing of the sale with your sales letter -
any brochure or circular you send along with
it will just reinforce what you say in the
sales letter.
There's been a great deal of discussion in
the past few years regarding just how long a
sales letter should be. A lot of people are
asking: Will people really take the time to
read a long sales letter. The answer is a
simple YES. Surveys and tests over the
years emphatically prove that longer sales
letters pull better than the shorter ones,
so don't worry about the length of your
sales letter - just make sure that it sells
your product for you! The "inside secret" is
to make your sales letter so interesting, and
"visionary" with the benefits you're offering
to the reader, that he can't resist reading
it all the way through. You break up the
"work" of reading by using short, punchy
sentences, underlining important points
you're trying to make, with the use of
subheadings, indentations and even the use
of another color.
Relative to the brochure or circulars you may
want to include with your sales letter to
reinforce the sale - providing the materials
you're enclosing are of the best quality,
they will generally reinforce the sale for
you. But, if they are of poor quality, look
cheap and don't complement your sales letter,
then you shouldn't be using them. Another
thing, it will definitely classify you as an
independent home worker if you hand stamp
your name and address on these brochures or
advertising circulars.
Whenever possible, and so long as you have
really good brochures to send out, have your
printer run them through his press and print
your name and address on them before you send
them out. The thing is, you want your
prospect to think of you as his supplier the
company - and not as just another mail order
operator. Sure, you can get by with less
expense, but you'll end up with fewer orders
and in the end, less profits.
Above all else, you've got to include some
sort of ordering coupon. This coupon has to
be as simple and as easy for the prospect to
fill out and return to you as you can
possibly make it& A great many sales are
lost because this order coupon is just too
complicated for the would-be buyer to
follow. Don't get fancy! Keep it simple,
and you'll find your prospects responding
with glee.
Should you or shouldn't you include a self
addressed envelope? There are a lot of
variables as well as pro's and con's to this
question, but overall, when you send out a
"winning" sales letter to a good quality
mailing list, a return envelope will
increase your response greatly.
Tests of late seem to indicate that it isn't
that big a deal or difference in responses
relative to whether you do or don't
pre-stamp the return reply envelope. Again,
the decision here will rest primarily on the
product you're selling and the mailing list
you're using. Our recommendation is that
you experament try it both ways - with
different mailings, and decide for yourself
from there.
