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First Class, Inc. |
www.firstclassinc.com |
(312) 322-1002 |
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:
l)
Get their attention;
2) Get
them interested in what you can do for them;
3) Make
them desire the benefits of your product so badly their mouth begins to
water;
4) Demand
action from them - tell them to send for whatever it is you're selling
without delay - any procrastination on their part might cause them to lose
out.
This is called the "AIDA" for short, and it
works. The sales letters that pull in the most sales are almost always two
pages with 1 1/2 spaces between lines. For really big ticket items, they'll
run at least four pages - on an 11 x 17 inch sheet of paper 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 one sheet of
8 1/2 x 11 paper. However, your sales letter should always be on letterhead
paper - your letterhead printed, and including your logo and 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
that sale with your sales letter - any brochure or circular you send along
with it will just re-enforce 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 simple and time-tested yes indeed!
Surveys and tests over the years emphatically
prove that longer sales letters pull even 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, under lining
important points you're trying to make, with the use of sub-headlines,
indentations and even the use of a second color.
The brochures 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.
Finally, and above all, make sure that the list
you are mailing to are actually people who can use your product or service.
There's nothing worse than having a great sales letter, and mailing it to
people who will never have a need for what you are selling.
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