Email seems cheap and easy. Yet after some brief flirtations,
bank marketers are once again favoring direct mail thanks to this media's
ability to be highly personal, reliable and measurable.
E-mail can be extremely effective.
But direct mail remains the best way to reach
the most targeted list.
Sales letters are the most customized form of direct-mail
marketing. Ideally, copy should be as
personal as possible. "One-to-one
communication should not be a myth," says Bob Singer of Financial Marketing
Systems, "but rather a goal." Individualized
direct mail is possible if your copy and mail list is based upon collected
customer information, analysis and targeting.
Brochures, fliers, and photographs on letters, however attractive
and expensive, tend to be impersonal and often identify your correspondence as
"junk mail." By contrast,
sales letters should address the customer by name and need. You're one step
ahead.
The idea is to offer solutions that speak directly to your
customer's problems and challenges, whether that's saving time or money, or
simply avoiding a hassle.
To help you prepare the "write" sales copy for your letter, here
are 10 tips from a cross-section of sales experts, coaches and trainers. The first two points apply specifically to
prospects or customers with a very loose association to your organization:
1. Build trust. Besides the benefit billed at the letter's
opening, you can bolster interest and inject pizazz by adding high-profile
endorsements from associates or former clients. "I put a testimonial quote
from a marquee name at the top of my letter," says Anne Miller, a New
York City sales trainer who leverages compliments from
such clients as Salomon Smith Barney, Estée Lauder and The New York Times.
2. Get to bona fides, quick. "You need to establish
credibility and be believable by the second paragraph," says sales coach
Daryl Logullo at Strategic Impact in Vero Beach,
Fla. This is where you explain who you are,
why you're so cool (or smart or cheap or special or useful) and what you have
to offer. How you package that information, of course, varies with your targets
and your products.
Some options:
• Case study
• Customer success story
• Key benefits of your product
• Define a problem and to solved it
For cross sales to existing customers, focus on these points:
3. Build relationships. Similarly, don't get caught up in pushing
services or products. You want to develop a long-term relationship with the
customer, not pressure him into one discounted sale. Use your letter to
investigate whether you can solve customer problems or meet needs. Try to build
a relationship that will last into the future, and both your company and
customer will benefit.
4. Stay in touch. No
relationship, whether business or personal, can be sustained if you only have
contact only once, or only in a very great while.
According to Mark Rodrigues, president of the database marketing
company, The Biltmore Group, "Relationships depend upon three factors. First, somebody has to initiate contact (that's
the letter you write). Second, talk about something of mutual interest (that's
a relevant product recommendation based upon your analysis and targeting). And,
third, stay in touch fairly frequently."
Rodrigues adds, "Even if the customer doesn't respond
immediately, eventually they will have a need you can fulfill. When that need occurs, the customer will turn
to the company that is asking for their business. In this competitive environment, you've got
almost no shot if you're not reaching out and building a relationship.
5. Emphasize reading ease. "Make it easy to navigate so your
reader reaches for it first-ahead of the competition's," says Deborah
Dumaine, author of Write to the Top:
Writing for Corporate Success.
6. Make it memorable. One of the advantages of a sales letter is
that prospects can tuck it away for later action. "Great mailers have
staying power-sometimes they will end up on a refrigerator door or a bulletin
board for years," says Wilson Zehr, chief executive of LaunchPoint, a Portland,
Ore., direct-mail provider. He suggests you
include reasons for your customers to spend more time with the letter and
therefore more time considering your offer. For example, a computer repair
service might include the top 10 tips for PC maintenance.
7. Include a call to action. "Inform the reader about what
he or she should do next," says Joe Hage at MRA, a branding agency in
Syracuse, N.Y. "An example is: 'Please call me on my cell phone
(917-555-0000) before Friday, the 28th.'" Or, say you'll follow up with a
phone call or more material. Then, of course, make sure you do.
8. If you need an immediate response to a specific product offer,
include an incentive. Always explain when, why and how customers should act,
says Patti Abbate of Sunrise Public Relations in Needham,
Mass. "Then, include an incentive for
acting sooner, such as a discount, special offer or something free."
9. Resist "Bulk Mail Letters." The best sales letters,
especially when dealing with your own current list, are quite
individualized," says Shel Horowitz, author of Principled Profit: Marketing That Puts People First. Tap your database for information about a customer's
sales history and preferences. Then send specialized letters whenever it's
appropriate. "If you notice it's been six months since a customer has been
in, it might be time for a friendly 'We miss you' letter with an offer specific
to that customer," suggests Horowitz.
10. Hit the right notes. "Your letter should sound personal
and friendly," says Cathy Rodrigues, a personal coach from Lincolnshire,
IL
(www.cathyrodrigues.com). Match your letter copy to the way you want to be perceived. Cathy is a frequent contributor to the All But Dissertation Survival Guide.
