Don't you wish sometimes you had a magic wand? Not the Harry
Potter kind but rather the one that you could wave over your sales
territory and the prospects that reside in it and have many, if not
all of them, in a trance that would get them to take your call,
grant you that first in-person appointment and yes, make them
really want to buy from you? This may be just a dream for some, but
not for the entrepreneurs who take the contents of this article to
heart and put it to use. In the text that follows, I'll show
you how to create a special kind of correspondence that will get
your prospects in the buying mood before you pick up the phone and
call them.
What Your Sales Correspondence Has to
Do
At a bare minimum, your correspondence must accomplish two
simple objectives:
- Introduce your ideas in a way that's compels the reader to
take your call
- Establish your presence as an authority figure
To accomplish these objectives, you must be willing to ask
yourself a question that sounds simple, but really isn't: What
do your prospects want to read? I've asked that question to
more than 500 top decision-makers from various industries big and
small, and here's what I found out:
Content Continues Below
1. Choose your words carefully. Don't lose sight of
your audience! Make sure you use words and or phrases that will
pique the interest of the recipients of your correspondence. If you
miss the mark on this score, you'll unintentionally challenge
your prospect's ego, power, control and authority. Ouch!
Completely avoid any techno-babble, industry jargon and cute
little acronyms that may be common with your peers but tend to
mystify your prospects. Do this exercise: Take your local business
paper or monthly business magazine--like this month's issue of
Entrepreneur--and show it to any one of your customers
who's in the same industry and who has the same title of
whomever you're wanting to send your correspondence to. Ask
them to circle all the words and phrases that catch their
attention. Then make sure you use those words in you
correspondence.
2. Always use a headline. Just like a newspaper or
magazine article, each piece of correspondence you create must have
an attention-getting headline. On average, your prospects will
decide within about eight seconds whether or not to continue
reading just about anything you put in front of them--including
your correspondence. Therefore, your headline should blast the horn
for and about actual events and/or results, not hypothetical
situations.
Let's say, for example, you're selling laptop computers
to salespeople who need to communicate back to their office while
they're on the road. Here are a few examples of headlines that
should work with them:
"Work faster, not harder, with a keyboard and display
that's easy for you to see and read in direct sunlight while
our satellite link keeps you connected to your home
office."
Or:
"Salespeople can increase the time they spend in front of
their prospects and customers by as much as 50%--within two months
of using our solutions."
3. Make the first sentence of each paragraph count. What
you write--or don't write--in the first sentence of a paragraph
will greatly impact your prospect's desire to read the second
sentence. Therefore the goal of the first sentence is to get the
reader to read the second sentence!
Just how can you do this? Keep that first sentence short! Here,
again, think about the articles you read in a magazine or
newspaper. The first sentence in a paragraph is usually the
shortest one. It plants the seed and gets the reader to want to
read more. Here are a few examples of good, crisp opening sentences
for a paragraph:
- Make your job easier and more fun.
- Compliance will keep the feds off your back.
- Surpass required specifications.
- Shorten time to revenue.
As for the second sentence, let me ask you this: What do you
think the job of the second sentence is? That's exactly right!
To get the reader to dive headfirst into the third sentence. If
you're asking when does this stop, the answer is, not until
you're sure you've got the reader hooked!
4. Spell it out in your first paragraph. No surprises
here. The job of your first paragraph is to carry the entire theme
of your headline into the body of the letter and keep the
reader's interest. In the first paragraph, it's best to
make the following points:
- Establish your credibility by posing a profound relevant
question.
- Make a relevant statement from a credible source.
- Be sure you address the concerns of your reader...and nobody
else.
- Segue into the next element of your correspondence.
Here are two examples:
"During the past seven years, we've worked with 80
organizations in the manufacturing industry including ABC, XYZ and
BBB. Collectively, we've been able to increase revenues and
efficiencies while, at the same time, provide annuities that
continue to increase shareholder value every month."
And...
"The above results are common for our business partners to
achieve. Team member resources previously unintentionally wasted on
inefficiencies are now channeled to generate on-time and
under-budget results."
5. Don't forget the silver bullet. In order to create
the best selling environment within the contents of your letter, I
strongly suggest you use brief statements of your ability
articulated in the form of bullets. Here are some examples:
- "In the words of [John Brown], President of [ABC], he
experienced 'an overwhelming increase in the efficiency and
positive attitude of our support staff.'"
- "Obtain greater market share by creating more new business
with prospects--in some cases, our customers have enjoyed 70%
more!"
- "Increase customer retention and eliminate erosion of
hard-earned market share.
- "Our customers see, on average, a 13% increase in
quarterly revenues."
6. Don't neglect your closing sentences. The main
purpose and point in closing your correspondence is to introduce an
element of uncertainty and doubt about whether or not you could
reproduce your success with this prospect.
For example, what if you said "Could your company realize
the similar or even greater substantial benefits? Frankly, at this
point it's too early to tell. But I'd welcome the
opportunity to learn more about your unique business needs and take
the first steps to find out." Or what about this:
"Whether your company can achieve these types of results is
difficult to tell. But one thing is certain: You're the one
person who can take the action necessary to help us quickly
determine what the possibilities are."
You want the reader of your masterpiece to say out loud,
"Why not? Why couldn't we do something similar or even
better?" But don't worry. This approach won't create
doubt in your prospect's mind about your ability or your
product, service or solution. It will add a dose of reality
to all the prior claims in your correspondence and that wins you
points in the credibility department.
7. Never forget a call to action. You must always give
the reader a choice of different ways that you or they can take
action at or near the end of the correspondence. There are two
different ways to do this:
- You state a day, date and time you're going to call
them.
- You give them two choices of days, dates and times that they
can call you.
8. Finally, craft a clever closing salutation. Not too
long ago, I received a letter from a high-net-worth financial
planner. The letter was printed on high-quality paper, and it
addressed several of my areas of interest. It also stated that this
firm paid close attention to all the many critical details that a
professional financial planner takes pride in doing for their
select clientele. It was all very impressive. I was shocked,
however, to see that the sender had neglected to sign the
letter!
Your signature, and the salutation that precedes it, is more or
less your personal brand. It leaves a lasting impression on your
prospects--and so does the absent-mindedness evident in botching
it. Therefore, you must be sure that it's the best it can
possibly be. Here are a few suggestions:
Don't:
- Close your correspondence with "Sincerely" or
anything close to it.
- Use any nicknames. For example, Clarence "Butch"
Dumstuff
- Put your closing salutation on the left-hand margin.
- Forget to sign your name!
Do:
- Sign your entire name.
- Put your title under your name.
- Put your company name under your title if it's nowhere else
in your correspondence.
- List your telephone number under your title, and don't use
your cell-phone number.
The actual words of your closing salutation should be as
original and unique as your handshake. Here are some examples of my
closing salutations. I offer these only as suggestions, of
course--you'll have to do some creative soul-searching to
develop your own:
- To your continued success!
- Make today a masterpiece!
- Looking forward to being part of your team!
- To a more predictable future!
- Have a productive day!
I know that's a lot of stuff to pay attention to, but the
fact is, if you want your correspondence to cast a spell on your
prospects, you'll have to put some time and effort into it.
I know that's a lot of stuff to pay attention to, but the
fact is, if you want your correspondence to cast a spell on your
prospects, you'll have to put some time and effort into it.
Tony Parinello is the "Executive Sales" coach at
Entrepreneur.com and has become the
nation's foremost expert on executive-level selling. He's
also the author of the bestselling book bearing the name of his
sales training program, Getting to VITO, the Very Important Top Officer, 10
Steps to VITO's Office.He is also host of Club
VITO, a weekly live internet broadcast.