Please answer the following questions: Identify a creative sale technique of a small enterprises. Describe it.2. Think about this hypothetical business idea: ANDY’S PIZZA SMALL BUSINESS If I had adequ
First, Identify Your Target Audience
You have to know exactly who your target audience is before you write your sales letter. Make a list of your leads and who these people are to get to know your potential customer. If you don't know who you're selling to, you don't know how to sell to them. Understand who's buying your product, who you're sending your sales letter to and gear your sales letter directly to them.
Know Your Customer by Name
Take the time to address your customers by name on the outside of the envelope and in your sales letter as well. A letter that reads, "Dear Mrs. Johnson," says a lot more to your lead than one that reads, "Dear Potential Customer" or "Dear Sir/Madam."
Write a Powerful, Engaging Headline
A well-written headline sets the stage for an effective sales letter. You can make it stand out by centering it, making the font large, bold, or in a bright color. Just make sure you choose the right words to grab your customer's attention right from the start. A 100 point headline in bold, red font still has to be written well, or your potential customer will stop reading.
Craft an Intriguing Introduction
The introduction should NOT be bland or pedestrian. It is usually where you make or break the chance of a sale, so make it count. Your intro may ask a question. It may pose a problem scenario, and then you provide the solution. Just make sure your introduction doesn't give the customer an easy way out. For example, if you're using a question as an introduction, make sure the customer can't simply answer with a, "no." If you ask a yes or no question, you can easily lose your customer because they don't have the problem you've posed in your question.
They stop reading, and your letter goes in the trash can.
Elaborate You Sales Message Using Subheads
Write your sales letter's subheads so that they help break up the text of your letter into sections. You don't want to drone on for three pages filling the paper with word after word. Use subheads, to sum up each section, invite the reader into that section and, most importantly, keep them reading your sales letter all the way to the end.
You Should Constantly Be Connecting With the Customer
Connect with your potential customer as often as you can by using a personal, friendly tone. Use this same tone throughout your sales letter. Identify with the customer's problem and provide them with the solution. By writing the letter as if the customer is your friend, your sales letter makes more of an impact than a letter that feels like a stuffy company trying to get a customer to buy something.
Pose a Problem, BUT ALWAYS Give the Solution
How will customers know they need your product if they don't even know they have a problem you can fix? Write your sales letter from the customer's point of view. Even if someone is a master seamstress and you're selling a glue that hems clothes in minutes, make every customer feel they can't live without your product. In this example, you have the opportunity to reach people who rip their pocket or need a quick hem without having a lot of time to fix the problem. Your product helps them do just that, no matter what their sewing experience level.
Just using a little of your special glue helps get them on their way.
State the Features and Benefits...Again and Again
You've posed the problem and given the customer the solution. Don't stop now. Keep stating the benefits and features of your product. If you don't keep the momentum going now, your sales letter will lose steam and not help move your customer to the end of the sales letter. Why is your product better? How will it directly help the customer?
Use Bullet Points for Easy Comprehension
When stating facts about your product, features, benefits, etc., it can be easy to get caught in a trap of using sentence after sentence as an explanation. Go back to the old, "Keep It Simple Stupid," philosophy. Use bullet points instead of long, boring sentences. Bullets also help break up the page visually, which also makes your sales letter more inviting to your customers.
Customer Testimonials Are Very Persuasive
If you have customer testimonials, they can be a great sales tool. They make you and your product credible while helping your customers state exactly what it is they like about your product. Use testimonials sparingly and shorten them up. Some of the most powerful testimonials are the shortest in length. If a testimonial is too long, trim it because you don't want to lose your prospect in a long, drawn-out testimonial.
Offer an Incentive to Help Close the Sale
A free trial, no risk-obligation or a special gift are just some of the incentives you can use to generate interest in your product. Using an incentive gives your sales letter more mileage with the customer because you're offering them something just for that select group of people receiving your letter.
Make Good Use of Your Call to Action
Your call to action tells customers what you want them to do. Call now! Hurry before this offer ends! This offer is not available in stores. Get a free upgrade just for calling. Use your call to action to direct customers to the next move, getting them one step closer to the sale.
Don't Forget to Add a P.S.
A P.S. is a golden nugget you should use in your sales letter. You can use the P.S. for important information you want to save until the very end, remind people that an offer will end on a certain date or use it to reveal other pertinent information you want to leave people with as a final thought. Many times, people who may be skimming your sales letter will read the P.S. If it's strong and persuasive enough, they may decide to read the entire letter when they might not otherwise.
Create a short, powerful headline. Center it on the page. Use large type, bold, or color—something to set it apart from the body of the letter. Experiment also with a font that is different from the one used in the text. But remember these rules of design: no more than two fonts, and do not mix two serif fonts or two sans serif fonts. Try a combination of one serif font, such as Times New Roman, and one sans serif font, such as Arial.
Start the body of the letter with a polite but personal tone.
Example: “Dear . . .” Use the potential customer's name. Talk to him or her as a friend.
Ask a question that lists the greatest benefits of your offer. How will your product or service make your reader's life better? Why is your product or offer better than your competitor's?
Example: “How would you like to receive (first benefit) and (second benefit)? Read on! This might be the most important letter you ever receive.”
Tip: DO NOT ask a question that can be answered with “yes” or “no.” You should control both the question and the answer!
Answer the question in one or two sentences. Explain why your product or service is essential or special. Achieving a better quality of life is a universal theme.
Examples:
“Here's why ...”
“Here's how ...”
Address doubts before your potential customer has a chance to think of them:
Examples:
“Sound too good to be true? I thought so when I first learned about . . .”
“I know this sounds outrageous. I'd be skeptical too.”
“Do these results sound unbelievable? I thought so too, but then ...”
Give a convincing answer:
Examples: “But the more I learned about . . . , the more I knew that I should give it a try. Here's why you should too ...”
List three good reasons that demonstrate how your product will make the reader's life better, make him feel more secure, or motivate him to action. Keep the reasons short and powerful. Use statements that suggest positive results, facts, and figures.
Examples:
“Four out of five doctors recommend ...”
“Research shows that no other company can . . . like we can.”
“Four out of five customers agree that ...“
Tip: Keep your vocabulary simple, short, and to the point.
Now describe the special features and benefits of your product or service. A feature is something that makes your product or service extraordinary, essential or valuable. A feature describes what your product or service is or what it has. The benefit of the feature is what the feature will do for the reader. Bullet points are good to use here—they draw the eye to this important section. Benefits sell while features often do not. Many sales letters list benefits only. Others list both features and benefits. Writers often make the mistake of listing features only.
List three or five features with their special benefits.
Feature 1—Benefit 1
Feature 2—Benefit 2
Feature 3—Benefit 3
Tip: Odd-numbered lists seem to work better than even-numbered lists.
Ask and answer one final question to lead the reader into the finer points of the offer. You may expand upon the features and benefits that you included in your answer.
Example: You may ask how we can possibly do all this? Here's how ...”
Endorsements sell because they establish credibility. List several short, enthusiastic testimonials that reinforce the features and benefits you have listed.
Example: “But you don't have to take my word for it. Here's what our satisfied customers are saying.”
Shoot holes in your competitors' offers.
Examples:
“No one can match this offer.”
“Do not buy this product elsewhere unless it has these features: One . . . Two . . . Three . . .”
“Sure, others will try to sell you a product of lesser quality, but can they offer you: One . . . Two . . . Three . . . ?”
Cost-to-value ratio is enormous. Boldly state that your product or service has a real value of at least ten times the price. These value statements need to be clear and crisp, with not too many details. Perhaps your product can save valuable time, or make a huge difference in lifestyle, or replace another higher-priced product, etc.
Examples:
“You'll get over ten times your money's worth in value! Guaranteed!”
“Extraordinary savings!” (or quality, add-on products, longevity, warranty, etc. )
“We offer you unbelievable quality for only one-tenth the usual price.”
Summarize. Briefly describe the complete product or service. You can remind the reader about the features and benefits, but don't list them. Rather, add several similar features and benefits and place a high value on them.
Example: “So here's everything you get . . .
Price and urgency. Make a stipulation, then repeat the offer:
Example: “If you respond by (date), you pay only $______. That's right, for the price of two movie tickets and popcorn you pay only $______, if you respond by (date).”
If this letter is to create a lead, tell your prospect what he/she must do to contact you by a certain deadline. Be sure to make it easy to respond by including your business name, phone number, web site, etc. Ask the customer for all of the information you need, such as first and last names, phone number, address, etc. Make an optional request for the customer's email address so that you can send future offers by email as well.
Premiums. Bundling a free bonus (a premium) for acting by the deadline is an excellent motivator. Be sure to give the bonus value—as much or more than the purchase price is a good idea. If you don't have an idea for a premium, you can search the web for e-books or informational reports for which you can purchase reprint rights—an excellent and inexpensive idea that has a high value margin.
Example:“Order today and I'll send you . . . —a $50 value! But remember, I am offering this free bonus for a limited time . . . so order now!”
No-risk guarantee. You've heard and read many assurances before.
Examples:
“Buy completely at our own risk . . . ”
“You pay nothing unless you are totally satisfied.”
“There is no risk with our complete satisfaction, money-back guarantee!”
“No questions asked. Simply return the product within 30 days and we'll refund your money in full.”
Add the clincher.
Example: “Remember, you keep the free bonus(es). Even if you decide to take advantage of our No Risk, Total Satisfaction, Money-back Guarantee, the bonus(es) are yours to keep—our gift(s) to you for simply trying our ...”
These are all good business tactics, but consider adding a postscript to restate an important benefit and reinforce the urgency of the offer.
Don't forget the envelope: your all-important introduction!
In order to get someone to open your envelope, you first need to get past the “junk mail” perception!
Use a teaser on the envelope—a few words that imply a benefit.
Examples: “Free $50 gift offer enclosed.”
Use labels that express urgency.
Examples:
Urgent
Time-Sensitive
Express
Hand Deliver
Official
Use real stamps. Real stamps attract more attention than metered mail and you have your choice of which books to buy at the post office.
Tip: Don't but the reptile books of stamps with the pictures of poisonous snakes!
Use a return address and choose the font carefully. Use a readable script font such as Andy that looks like you have hand-written the letter. Credibility sells. This is the first place that you sell yourself or your company. Some people include their personal photos. The absence of a return address sends a junk mail message.
Use official-looking envelopes. Envelopes that appear to have been sent by a governmental agency are usually opened and read.
Additional Sales Letter Tips:
Price comes after the benefits. Unless you are offering a blowout bargain, and price is the main benefit of your offer, mention price after describing the benefits.
Sell the smallest units. If you are selling multiple units, then state, for example, “$4.50 a box” rather than “$45 per carton” to solicit the lowest amount of money. Accept charge cards if you are selling a high-priced item.
Supplementary Brochure. An accompanying brochure could visually show the product or graphs research data described in the sales letter. Although a brochure adds cost to your mailing, studies show results jump markedly.
Design. Keep the reader's eye moving by using several “tricks of the trade.”
Examples:
Vary paragraph widths
Add personal notes using a script font
Use different colors to mark key phrases
