i have a timed exam on 25 July at 1:30 pm cdt for gmgt pls look below for the format and details

Persuasive Sales Letter Thill’s Chapter 7 Thill’s Exercises 7A, 7C on Page 238 Dr. Rakesh Mittoo Analyse Sales Goal  Are you making a sale of a product or a service, or are you promoting a charity or a cause? Yes, Direct Mail Sales Letter  Encouraging an inquiry about a product?  Sending a brochure?  Arranging a demonstration?  Sending an invitation for a visit to your store? Dr. Rakesh Mittoo Analyse Product to Identify the Central Selling Point  Design, construction of the product, and the raw materials used  Use and performance and the benefits  Product support (warranty, service, price payment plan, home delivery, coupons, discounts, etc.)  Comparison with competition  What is the central selling point?  price?  service?  quality? Dr. Rakesh Mittoo Analysis for a Non - Profit  What’s the problem you’re solving?  How urgent is the problem? Or need? Why does it matter to solve it for the community?  What support does it need?  Which groups are you helping?  What support does it get from tax dollars, user fees, or ticket sales?  What are the goals? How much it costs to achieve the goals?  What are the benefits to the receivers of your service(s)? Dr. Rakesh Mittoo Decide Target Audience  Ask:  Where will your letter go? Or To whom are you writing? Are you addressing a widely based audience ? Are you writing to a category based audience  What will attract the customer’s interest?  Needs  Interests  Age  Income  Education Dr. Rakesh Mittoo Adapt Your Sales Request to Audience’s Needs  Consider these questions the readers will be asking when they are reading you message: Why should I? Says who? Who cares? So what? What’s in it for me? What’s in it for you? Dr. Rakesh Mittoo AIDA Pattern is Indirect Strategy  A = Gaining Attention  I = Creating Interest  D = Building Desire  A = Motivating Action  Also Reducing Resistance Dr. Rakesh Mittoo Gaining Attention  Opening paragraph:  Short, engaging, and relevant  Does not reveal the request immediately  Provocative message:  Use effective headline to elicit immediate response  Highlight typography  Focus simultaneously on sales purpose and reader’s interest. Dr. Rakesh Mittoo Gaining Attention  Free offer or bargain (Here’s how to save $500 on your next vacation.)  Promise (You can raise your investment income by 10% every year.)  Question (Geicho’s ad: Would you like to buy car insurance and save 15%?) (Do you yearn to earn 10%..?)  Quotation or proverb (Necessity is the mother of invention — or the mother of innovation.)  Product feature or application (Ipod: Millions of Songs, Thousands of Games, Countless Hours of Fun)  Testimonial Dr. Rakesh Mittoo Gaining Attention  Startling statement (Let the poor and hungry feed themselves. For just $100 they can. — By a charity)  Personalized action setting/story  Relevant current event (The sales tax on cars will jump a whopping 4% effective next month)  A comparison  Personalized statement using receiver’s name  Solution to a problem (The backpack is designed to endure kids’ dropping and dragging and kicking.)  Anecdote Dr. Rakesh Mittoo Creating Interest  Describe the product clearly and emphasize the central selling point.  Example:  “The Air Miles Travelers' Insurance will rid you of the high costs — and accompanying anxieties — of sickness or injury in foreign countries.”  Ask yourself: How will the product make a difference to the reader? Dr. Rakesh Mittoo Building Desire  Desire: an emotional response that propels people to action  Desire is created by presenting specific facts and appeals.  Discussing the benefits of the product sets the stage for discussing price. Dr. Rakesh Mittoo Use Rational Appeals (Logos)  They are associated with reason  Making money, increasing efficiency, making best use of resources, improving health, and ensuring safety.  Banks’ appeals: savings, earnings, or returns  They are appropriate when a product is expensive, long - lasting, and important for security, success, health, and wealth.  Logical Appeal: “I am going to slash the regular rate of $36 a year down to only $28, saving you a full 22 per cent. This means you get 12 information -filled issues of Science Digest for only $2.33 a copy. You save even more by subscribing for 2 or 3 years.” Dr. Rakesh Mittoo Use Credibility Appeals (Ethos)  Logic of presentation/persuasion  Supporting with specifics  Emphasizing benefits over features  Choosing appropriate words: positive, objective, success -oriented, and concrete language  Not exaggerating your claims  Character or Celebrity Appeal: “I use this product, so you should, too”  “Consumer Reports is on your side. We’re a nonprofit consumer protection organization with no commercial interests whatsoever. To put it bluntly, we don’t sell our magazine to big companies and private groups — we’re accountable to no one except to consumers….” Dr. Rakesh Mittoo Make Emotional Appeals (Pathos)  They’re associated with status, identity, ego [pride, love, satisfaction] and are based on our senses and feelings.  “Dance on…a Paris balcony high above the Seine.

Seek romance and youth and laughter in charming capitals on five continents. And there you’ll find the beguiling perfume that is fragrance Jamais.”  Use concrete details for emotional appeals.  They’re used when a product is inexpensive, short -lived, or non -essential. Dr. Rakesh Mittoo Motivating Action  Offer a gift.  Promise an incentive.  Guarantee satisfaction.  Mention discounts, premiums, sweepstakes, contests.  Set a deadline.  Limit the offer.  Use postscript — strongest motivator Dr. Rakesh Mittoo Reducing Resistance  Testimonials — enhance credibility  Attractive warranty  Trial offers  Free samples Dr. Rakesh Mittoo Emphasize Savings  Delay mentioning price.  Show price in small units.  Compare price with that of competitors.  Use imperative sentences and action packed language.  End with a specific request for action Dr. Rakesh Mittoo Questions for Thill’s Document 7.C, p. 238 1. Comment on the opening. How good is it in grabbing attention of the primary audience? 2. How will this letter be viewed by secondary audiences in the organizations? 3 . What is the central selling point? Choice or variety, service, convenience, cost, or quality? 4 . What rational and emotional appeals are used? What kind of credibility appeal could be used? 5 . Where should the details regarding the main food items and the menu be presented? In the letter or separately included but mentioned in the letter? 6. What details are missing? How does lack of specific or concrete information affect audience’s response? 7. How effective is the closing? 8. Comment on tone and “You” Attitude. 9. Comment on content and organization. Dr. Rakesh Mittoo Questions for Thill’s Document 7.A, p. 238 Read this persuasive message. (1 ) Analyze the strengths and weaknesses of each sentence. (2) Assess whether each paragraph follows guidelines for persuasive messages. Consider the following: 1. Opening — how effective is the opening? 2. Strategy — Does it use direct or indirect strategy? 3. Tone — Polite or Blunt Does it establish a negative or a positive relationship with the audience ? How about the use of you -attitude? Comment on the sentence structure and tone. 4. Organization and closing 5. Will it get the response desired or the information requested? Dr. Rakesh Mittoo