|
|
HOW TO WRITE A BETTER SALES LETTER
by Brian Konradt
Too many sales
letters are shaped into paper airplanes and flown into trash cans because
writers write sales letters that sell their services or products. These writers
have never listened to the quietly-whispered secret that says their sales
letters should sell solutions, not services or products, to yield the best
results.
Solutions are jewels; they shimmer in sales pieces.
Prospects will peruse your sales letter if they discover you have a
solution (or solutions) to their existing or future problem or problems.
To write a "solution-savvy" sales letter follow the copywriter’s
adage: write "client-centered" copy. Zero in on the prospect, his business, his
needs, his problems. Then pitch yourself as the person or company who can
fulfill his needs and solve his problems. Crown your claims with clients whom
you’ve worked for and specific results you’ve achieved on solving
similar problems.
Here are four softly-whispered secrets to write a
solution-savvy sales letter:
• SECRET #1: FOCUS ON THE
CLIENT’S NEED OR PROBLEM
As a writer writing for this
client’s business and industry, you should know the type of needs and
problems the client faces regularly — or could face in the future. Zero in
on a specific need or problem that is hurting the client’s profitability
or productivity. (Note: prospects are more motivated to contact you if you
pitch yourself as a writer who has a solution to a present problem, rather than
a future or potential problem).
• SECRET #2: FOCUS ON THE
BENEFITS OF SOLVING THE PROBLEM OR MEETING THE NEED
Tell the prospect
what he and his business can gain if his problem is solved. Usually, it means
an increase in profitability or productivity. Maybe both. Also stress the
possible consequences of not taking action now to solve this problem.
• SECRET #3: WHAT IS THE SOLUTION?
Here is where you
present your solution. First, describe the service you are recommending. A
press kit? Direct mail package? A series of ads?
— Tie it into
the client’s needs. The client may have a new product to promote; he
needs a low-cost marketing method that will produce lucrative results.
— Stress your uniqueness to undertake this task. Why you —
and not someone else? What qualifications do you brandish and what type of
specific results have you achieved for similar businesses with the same type of
problem?
— Offer secondary solutions that also may work to
solve the client’s problem. These secondary solutions also may be
alternatives that the client’s competition is using; if this is the case,
point out their weaknesses and emphasize why your primary solution is better.
• SECRET #4: THE "CLIENT-CENTERED" CONSUMMATION
The
closing of your sales letter should show the client that the benefits
predictably outweigh the costs. If the client is investing $6,000 for you to
write a DM package, the client doesn’t just get a DM package; he receives
exposure for his new product, generates new leads and sales, targets specific
segments of his market, increases his company’s profit, etc.
Secondly, recommend a call-for-action schedule. Tell the client when
you’re available, how long the project will take, and when he can expect
it by.
Here’s a list of common solutions that clients often seek.
Your solution is the:
• least expensive
• best value
• most reliable
• most advanced
Your solution
offers:
• the most flexibility
• the highest return for the
client’s investment
• the highest quality
• the most
competent controls to measure results
• Your solution saves time
• Your solution will produce the highest customer/client satisfaction
• Your solution eliminates or automates the most labor-intensive
operations
• Your solution profits on new or emerging trends
© B. Konradt
Brian Konradt is a freelance writer and
founder of FreelanceWriting.Com (http://www.freelancewriting.com), a free web site to help
writers master the business and creative sides of freelance writing, and
BookCatcher.com (http://www.bookcatcher.com), a free website to help authors
promote their books.
RECOMMENDED RESOURCES
1)
How to Write Blockbuster Sales Letters by Benjamin
Hart
2)
How to Write Sales Letters That Sell by Drayton
Bird
3)
How To Write Proposals, Sales Letters & Reports by Neil
Sawers
[
VIEW ALL BOOKS
] |
|
|
Free e-book: The Lousy Writer's Guide to Writing
Persuasively
(
DOWNLOAD NOW!
) |
|
| Readability
Formulas ~ Find the
reading levels of your
materials with these popular
reading assessment
formulas. |
| Book Formatting
Software -
Wizards For Word helps format
your papers in
APA Style,
Chicago Manual of Style, MLA
Style, and
Writer's Market
Style. |
|
 |
|
