A persuasive, convincing sales letter is a valuable
marketing tool. It's also versatile. I regularly use the same
text successfully in all the following formats:
* Printed letter for
postal mail
* Email message (personal and on an autoresponder)
* Posted as
a Web page
* Printed circular for postal mail
Over the years I
developed a model to follow when I need a new sales letter. It consistently
produces a profitable letter on the first attempt. This model loosely
follows the well-known AIDA formula (Attention, Interest,
Desire, Action). But I organized the parts of my model letter in
a specific sequence proven to work best. You can copy this same model
to create your own successful sales letters.
SECTION 1: GET ATTENTION
FAST WITH A LIST OF BENEFITS
A sales letter must capture the reader's
attention immediately or it won't get read. Most people
accomplish this by stating their biggest benefit at the top of
their letter. I've found something that works even better. Start your
letter with a list of 5 or 6 benefits. Place the biggest benefit first
followed by other benefits in declining order of importance. Here's the
format I usually follow:
How would you like to...
* Biggest
benefit
* 2nd biggest benefit
* 3rd biggest benefit
* and so on . .
.
Prospects won't be able to resist reading more when you shower
them with all those benefits.
SECTION 2: BUILD INTEREST BY
EXPLAINING HOW YOU CAN PROVIDE THE BENEFITS
Here's where you describe the
features of your product or service. It's the least important part of your
sales letter. Try to limit this section of your letter to only 1 or
2 short paragraphs. It may be important to mention the triple layer of
new space age insulation built into your picnic cooler (a feature). But
that's not why customers buy it. They buy it because they want to enjoy ice
cold beverages all day long when they're outside on a hot summer day
(the benefit).
SECTION 3: DEVELOP A DESIRE TO BUY WITH LOGICAL
PERSUASION
Most people buy things on impulse, then look for
logical reasons to justify their emotional decision. This section
of your letter is where you inject 4 powerful tools to convert the
reader's emotional interest in your product or service into logical reasons
to buy. They are:
1. A compelling reason to buy from you instead of
your competition. This is called your "USP" or "Unique
Selling Proposition". It's a unique advantage customers get only if
they buy from you.
2. Testimonials from satisfied users. (You do have
some, don't you?)
3. Your guarantee. A strong guarantee can easily
double the number of orders produced by your sales letter.
4. A
powerful offer -- the best offer you can afford.
SECTION 4: STIMULATE THE
READER TO BUY NOW
I often see sales letters and Web pages end abruptly
with a weak statement like, "Order Now", followed by a printed order
form or a link to an online shopping cart. You'll get more sales by gently
maneuvering your customer toward the ordering process with the following 3
steps.
1. Command your prospect (in a nice way) to order or buy. For
example:
Don't delay. Take advantage of this Special Price Offer. Call
NOW to place your order or complete the coupon below and send your order by
email, Fax or postal mail TODAY!
2. Explain how to order. This can be
part of your command statement like in the example above. Make it easy
for customers by providing as many different ways to order as you can
(Online, postal mail, FAX, telephone, etc.).
3. Provide an order form but
make using it optional. This applies online and offline.
Follow this
model when you create your next sales letter. You'll produce a highly
effective sales letter -- FAST.
