 
Writing
a direct mail sales letter
Writing
a direct mail sales letter
Your direct mail sales letter is your salesman (or saleswoman). Just
as you would not send a scruffy and badly informed sales person to see
a valuable prospect, make sure that your direct mail sales letter presents
an image that you would be proud of.
Please
remember that a successful direct mail sales letter is (or should appear
to be) a very personal item. Although you may well be very aware that
you are sending many thousands of letters, the recipient should feel
that you have written just to them. Every mailer or letter should
be personalised as much as possible, with their name and perhaps job
title. Remember, a letter, or at least an envelope, that is not personalised
is just a leaflet. Everything about your letter should make them feel
that you are interested just in them. Ideally, you should appear to
care about them, about their wishes, their likes and dislikes and their
value to your company.
1.
Write a short and to the point letter. You have to gain your prospect's
attention immediately. Don't waffle and ramble on about your company
and how much you love it. Use a headline stating the facts that apply
to your propect and what is in it for them. They really don't care about
you!
2.
Put your best offer first - in the headline.
3.
Use the word "You". Try not to use "we", "our"
or "us". Remember, they only care about themselves, not you
or your wonderful company.
4.
Sell the benefits to them of buying your product or service,
not its features.
5.
Use bullet points to make the benefits stand out.
6.
End your letter with a "call to action". Try using "Return
the order form today", "ring me now", "Fax your
order today". Tell your prospect exactly what they should do now
and make it easy for them. A deadline is useful, so that your offer
does not get put in a pile and forgotten.
7.
Use a P.S. People often read just the headline and the P.S.
8.
Read the letter aloud. If it sounds pompous or stilted, write it again
- and then again if necessary.
9.
Do not be afraid to use incorrect grammer. You can start sentences with"And"
if you wish. or Also. Use words like "Let's", "Don't"
"Can't" "Shouldn't". They make your letter seem
friendly. Aim to be a pal, who is doing them a favour. make your
letter read as if you are speaking it to them.
10.
Use an established mailing house to handle your mailings. The savings
that they can offer on postal discounts, data cleaning and efficient
timing will far outweigh what you pay them. Devote your time to your
business, not to licking envelopes.
11.
After you feel you have perfected your letter, read it again the next
morning. You will have forgotten your enthusiasm by then and are more
likely to read it as your prospect will. You will also pick up silly
mistakes in grammer and spelling.
12.
Show the letter to as many people as possible before you send it. Ask
your wife, husband, boyfriend, girlfriend and colleagues' opinions.
And listen to them! Start a collection of sales letters that have been
sent to you and compare them with the above points. Yes, you can do
better than them. Direct mail works and you can make it work for you.
The
letterhead
- make your direct mail sales letter stand out from the crowd
Sales letters should be sent on A4 paper (unless they are incorporated
into a mailer or leaflet. The paper should be white or a light colour
and should be well printed. Many successful direct mail companies now
use full colour letterheads for mailings
as it is then easy to incorporate an image of your product or service.
Use a quality paper, ideally laser-guaranteed brilliant white 100gsm,
as this will accept laser personalising successfully and show that you
value yourself and your offer highly. Never send a badly produced or
photocopied mailing letter. You are just wasting your money if you do.
CPM also produce Direct Mail printing in-house
Starting
your direct mail sales letter
The
name and address
The recipients name and address should be printed in the correct position
for a window envelope (if used). Your mailing house will take care of
that. If you do not know your prospects name, use their job title instead.
The
salutation
"Dear....." The salutation is very important and needs a lot
of thought. My name is "Porter" and I once had a letter addressed
to "Mr Poofter". They did not get a sale! If you know the
name and title of your prospect, start with "Dear Mr Johnson".
This is easy with men, but more difficult with ladies. They may be Miss,
Mrs, Ms. An easy way around this if you know their first name is to
address them by it. "Dear Susan", for example. You can always
excuse your familiarity in the first line of your letter. Dear Susan,
Sorry to be so familier, but I was not sure of your title, Please let
me know in your reply". Whatever you do, try to ensure that it
is totally correct. The problem with personalisation is that people
get easily offended if you get it wrong. You can always address your
prospect by both first name and surname. "Dear Susan Smith,".
If
you are sending a business letter and don't know the recipients name,
use their job title. "Dear Service Manager" is much better
than "Dear Sir or Madam" which should be avoided if at all
possible.
The
body of the sales letter.
This should always always contain AIDA.
Aida is very good at what she does and should always be included in
every letter. Aida stands for:
1.
Attract
2. Interest
3. Desire
4. Action
Attraction
The best way to "Attract" is to start the headline with the
word "YOU". We are all most interested in ourselves and the
word "You" will always attract. Compare the following headlines:
"You'll
love this!"
with
"Our products are very good value"
or
even "Have we got news for YOU?"
with
"We have an announcement"
The
word "You" is very powerful. Use it to attract. Try to understand
what your prospect is looking for and offer it to them. An easier life?,
more money?, prestige? Success with the opposite sex? Sell benefits
NOT features.
Interest
Once you have their attention, you must then hold their interest. Remember,
you sell them on the benefits of your product or service, not its features.
You
don't sell a non stick pan, you sell "Cook appetising meals with
amazingly easy washing up".
You
don't sell a burglar alarm, you sell "Sleep easy and feel secure
- all night through".
You
don't sell perfume, you sell "Sink into your loved ones arms, for
a night to remember".
Desire
This is when you grab them by the throat (and wallet). You have attracted
them, interested them and now you have to make them want what you have
to sell. Try to keep one of your unique selling points back for the
end, as a closer.
"Order
today and we'll send you two for the price of one".
"You'll never get another offer like this".
"I've reserved a free gift for you"
Action
This is the critical bit. You have to ask them to do something. Ring
a special number, post the reply card, send a cheque. Decide what you
want your prospect to do and tell them how to do it.
"Ring
our sales hotline now on 01234 87654"
"Post the reply card today for more details"
"E-mail me now at sales@costafortune.net.com
"Send your cheque today to ensure fast delivery and your free gift"
Always
tell them what action they should take to get the benefits that you
have outlined in your letter. If possible, put a time limit on their
actions. "Reply today for a free gift" or "You must reply
within seven days to get this offer". If not, people will put it
somewere safe and you'll never hear from them again.
Attention
getting
Do not be afraid to use underlining, bold type or larger font sizes.
You are not taking an English examination.
Use
bold type to get your message across. You can underline important points
The
Postscript
By far the most effective end to the letter is a P.S. It is a powerful
attention getter in its own right. People will often read the P.S. before
the rest of the letter. Use it to emphasise your call to action. "Please
return the order form TODAY- stocks are limited". A handwritten
(or apparantly hand written) P.S. can look even better, especially in
another colour such as blue.
P.S.
Don't forget to order before the seven-day deadline!
If
you need help with any of the following, just click the link.
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