* * * * *
Now as to the other kind of original sales letter—the one that is merely the first of a series of three or more letters skillfully planned to build up interest until the climax, the purchasing point is reached. This letter is really a combination of the two kinds. If you can land the order with the first letter, you want to, of course. But you know you can expect to do this only in a small percentage of cases. So while you must put into the initial letter enough information to make your proposition clear and must give at least one good reason for buying, you must keep good convincing sales talk in reserve for the succeeding letters. And you must plan this first letter so that the re-enforcements to follow will logically support your introduction.
This can best be illustrated by a clever first letter from a very successful series. The manufacturer of a $5 fireless cooker planned a letter campaign to induce hardware dealers and department stores to buy a stock of his product.
The first sales letter of the series scored strongly on one or two points and at the same time paved the way for the second letter:
Dear Sir:
Are you ready for the woman who wants a fireless cooker but can't pay ten or fifteen dollars?
The aggressive advertising done by the manufacturers of fireless cookers and the immense amount of reading matter published in women's magazines about the fireless method of cooking has stirred up a big demand.
But just figure out how many of your customers can't afford to pay $10, $12 or $15.
Think of the sales that could be made with a thoroughly reliable cooker at $5—one that you could feel safe in standing back of.
It's here!
We had the $15-idea, and we worked out the prettiest cooker you ever saw at any price. But we got together one day and figured out that the big market was for a low-priced cooker that every woman could buy.
How to get a Jenkins-quality cooker, one that a retailer would be proud to sell, down to the retail price of $5 was the question. But we figured our manufacturing up into the tens of thousands, and the enclosed folder tells about the result.
Our advertising next month in the Woman's Home Companion, Ladies'Home Journal, Ladies' World, Good Housekeeping, Everybody's,Cosmopolitan and McClures will do big things for you if you have theJenkins $5 Fireless Cooker in your window.
We have a good sized stock on hand but they won't last long the way orders are coming in from far-sighted retailers.
How would a dozen do as a starter for you?
Yours truly,[Signature: Black & Black]
* * * * *
A letter of this kind should be effective because it gives enough information to make a sale in case the reader is an unusually good prospect, and at the same time it lays a good foundation for the second letter.
Are you willing to make more money on soap?
Yes, we suppose you are carrying many soaps, but when a distinctive soap is advertised as thoroughly as we are advertising WESINOD, it actually creates new trade, and of course you aren't sorry to see new faces in the store.
WESINOD SOAP has the curative and beneficial effects of Resinol Ointment, which is now used so extensively by the medical profession.
WESINOD SOAP is more than a cleanser: it is a restorer, preserver and beautifier of the skin, and as such is attracting the favorable attention of women.
Enclosed is a reproduction of our advertisement in the magazines this month and a list of the magazines in which the copy appears.
We are educating 10,000,000 readers to feel the need of WESINODSOAP.
A supply of our liberal samples and a trial order to be used in a window display will show you the possibilities.
May we send samples and a trial gross?
Yours for more soap money,WESINOD SOAP COMPANY
* * * * *
This is a strong selling letter that interests the reader, disarms his natural objection to adding an additional line of soap and presents briefly convincing reasons for stocking with Wesinod. While this letter is intended to get the order, it effectively paves the way for further correspondence
* * * * *
It is unnecessary to take up here the elements that should go into the sales letter—attention, interest, argument, proof, persuasion, inducement and the clincher. But it is well to emphasize three points that are especially important in the original letter in the series: confidence, price and the close.
You may be sure, that unless you win the confidence of your prospect from the start, your whole campaign is going to be a waste of time, paper and postage. Distrust and prejudice, once started, are hard things to overcome by mail, particularly when you are a concern or individual unknown to the man to whom you are writing.
Dear Sir:
''If your magazine pulls as well as the Blank Monthly I will give you a twelve-page contract.''
That remark wasn't meant for our ears, but one of our solicitors couldn't help overhearing it. It was made by a prominent advertiser, too. We wish we could give his name, but when we asked permission to quote he smiled and said he'd rather not. So, we'll have to refer you to our advertising pages.
But the remark speaks pretty well for the Blank Monthly, doesn't it? It's not surprising, though. The Blank Monthly goes into 151,000 homes. It is taken and read by the best class of technical, scientific and mechanically inclined men, representing one of the choicest classes of buyers in America.
Our subscribers are great buyers of things by mail. Dozens of our advertisers have proved it. They don't sell shoddy or cheap goods, either. That's why we believe your advertising will pay in the Blank Monthly. If we didn't believe it, we shouldn't solicit your business.
Try your copy in the June issue, which goes to press on April 27— last form May 6.
If you send copy TODAY, you will be sure to get in.
Very truly yours,[Signature: M. O. Williams]
* * * * *
The quoted language gives the opening of this letter an interesting look. The first three paragraphs are strong. The fourth paragraph is merely assertive, and is weak. A fact or two from some advertiser's experience would be much better
* * * * *
And so with this in mind, be careful of the tone of your letter. Be earnest, make reasonable statements, appeal to the intelligence or the experience of the reader and deal with specific facts rather than with mere assertions or claims. There is no inspiration to confidence in the time-worn claims of "strongest," "best," and "purest". Tell the facts. Instead of saying that an article is useful in a dozen different ways, mention some of the ways. When you declare that the cylinder of your mine pump is the best in the world, you are not likely to be believed; the statement slips off the mind like the proverbial water from a duck's back. But when you say that the cylinder is made of close-grained iron thick enough to be rebored, if necessary, you have created a picture that does not call for doubt. But watch out that you don't start an argument. Brander Mathews gives us a great thought when he says that "controversy is not persuasion." Don't write a letter that makes the reader feel that he is being argued into something. Give him facts and suggestions that he can't resist; let him feel that he has convinced himself. This paragraph fails of its purpose, simply because it argues. You can almost picture the writer as being "peevish" because his letters haven't pulled:
"This stock is absolutely the safest and most staple you could buy. It will positively pay regular dividends. We stand back of these statements. You must admit, therefore, that it is a good buy for you. So why do you hesitate about buying a block of it?"
* * * * *
On the other hand, this appeals to the investor because it has genuine proof in it:
"No stockholder of ours has lost a dollar through fluctuation in the price of the stock, though we have been doing business for fifteen years. Our stock has been readily salable at all times. No dividend period has ever been missed. The quarterly dividend has never been less than 2-1/2 per cent. During the depression of 1907-1908 our stock maintained itself at 40 per cent above par when other industrial stocks were dropping to par or below. Surely, here is an investment worth your investigation."
* * * * *
Telling specific facts helps to produce conviction as well as to create confidence. Not every one is a genius in the handling of words, but every writer of a letter that is to bristle with conviction must use his imagination. He must put himself mentally in the place of the typical customer he is addressing and use the arguments and facts that would convince him. The writer should try to see himself enjoying the foods or service—picture his satisfaction. Then he has a better chance of reproducing his picture in the mind of the reader.
For instance, read this paragraph of idle assertions:
"Buy our hams once and you will buy them always. All of our meat is from young hogs, and is not tough, but is high-grade. Nothing but corn-fed stock is used. We guarantee the quality. We use good sugar in curing our hams, the best quality of saltpeter and some salt. The result is a natural flavor that can't be beat. We challenge competition."
* * * * *
And now contrast it with this real description of the same product, calculated to create confidence in the trademark it bears:
"This mark certifies that the hog came from good stock, that it was corn-fed in order that it might be firm and sweet—that it was a barrow hog, so that the meat would be full-flavored and juicy—that it was a young hog, making the ham thin-skinned and tender—well-conditioned and fat, insuring the lean of the ham to be tasty and nutritious. The mark certifies that the ham was cured in a liquor nearly good enough to drink, made of granulated sugar, pure saltpeter and only a very little salt; this brings out all the fine, rich, natural flavor of the carefully selected meat, and preserves it without 'salty pickling.'"
* * * * *
Note how much more graphic the second paragraph is than the first, and every statement is backed up by a logical reason.
The testimony of other people, especially of those in positions of authority and those who would not be suspected of bias, has much convincing power. There is nothing in the contention that "testimonials are out of date." They constitute the strongest kind of support. But get testimonials that really say something. The man who writes and says that he got out of the book he bought from you an idea that enabled him to make a profit of $50 the first week, says a thousand times more than the man who writes and merely says that he was pleased with his purchase.
Let price come in the letter just about where it would come in an oral canvass. The skillful salesman of high-priced shirts doesn't talk about the $3 price until he has shown the shirt and impressed the customer. If price is the big thing—is lower than the reader is likely to imagine it would be—it may be made the leading point and introduced at the outset, but unless it is an attraction, it should be held back until strong description has prepared the reader for the price.
The method of payment and delivery must be treated effectively in the closing paragraphs. The following plans all have their use:
Offer to send on free trial for ten days or longer;
Offer to send for free examination, payment to be made to express agent when examination has shown article to be satisfactory;
Offer to send on small payment, the small payment to be a guarantee against trifling, balance payable on examination;
Offer to sell on easy-payment plan;
Offer to sell for cash but with strong refunding guarantee;
Offer to supply article through local dealer on reader's authorization. With such an authorization, the advertiser has a good opening to stock the retailer.
The price feature offers one of the best opportunities to give the letter real inducement. If the price is in any sense a special price, make it clear that it is. Sometimes you can hang your whole letter on this one element.
Reduced price, if the reduction is set forth logically, is a strong feature. One publisher uses it in this fashion:
"We have just 146 sets of these books to sell at $18.50. When the new edition is in, it will be impossible to get a set at less than $25. The old edition is just as good as the new, but we are entirely out of circular matter describing the green cloth binding, and as we don't want to print a new lot of circulars just to sell 146 sets, we make this unusual offer. Now is your chance."
* * * * *
Advance in price is almost as strong. It's a lever to quick action:
"On the 1st of October the rate of the MESSENGER will go up to one dollar a line. If you place your order before the thirtieth of this month you can buy space to be used any time before January 1 next at seventy-five cents a line. After the thirtieth, positively no orders will be accepted at less than one dollar a line. As a matter of fact our circulation entitles us to a dollar a line right now.
"Don't let this letter be covered up on your desk. Attend to this matter now, or instruct your advertising agent to reserve space for you, and get a big bargain."
* * * * *
Price, in this case is, in fact, a part of the close. It spurs the reader to "order now."
Setting a time limit, in which a proposal holds good, is also a strong closer. A large book publisher finds it effective to make a discount offer good if accepted within a certain number of days.
Guarantee offers are strong. Don't content yourself with the old "absolutely guaranteed" expression. Be definite. "Order this buggy, and if, at the end of a month, you are not entirely satisfied that it is the biggest buggy value you ever had for the money, just write me, and I'll take the buggy back without quibbling. Could any offer be fairer? I make it because I've sold 246 of these buggies since January, and so far no man has asked for his money back."
The sum-up is as important a part of the sales letter as it is of the lawyer's speech or brief. It should concentrate the whole strength of the letter at the close, as, for instance:
"So you see that though our machine is apparently high-priced it is really cheaper by the year than another machine. Our offer of a free trial right in your own plant gives you absolute protection. It is quite natural, of course, for us to be desirous of getting your order, but we do not see how you can, from your own point of view, afford not to put the Bismarck in your factory."
* * * * *
And finally, help the prospect buy. The sales letter designed to bring the order must provide an easy method of ordering. In the first place, a great many people do not understand how to order. To others, making out an order is a task that is likely to be postponed. By making it easy for the reader to fill out a blank with a stroke or two of the pen, while the effect of the letter is strong, a great many orders will be secured that would otherwise be lost.
It should be axiomatic that if a letter is expected to pull business through the mails it must place before the recipient every facility for making it easy and agreeable to reply and reply NOW. How this can best be done will be taken up more fully in a separate chapter on "Making It Easy to Answer."
One thing to remember particularly in the case of the original sales letter is that if possible it should have a definite scheme behind it. A reason for the offer, a reason for the letter itself.
A safe-deposit vault was well advertised by sending out letters that contained a special pass to the vault with the name of the reader filled in. Of course the letter gave a pressing invitation to call and allow the custodian to show the vault's interesting features.
Still another clever letter soliciting rentals of safe-deposit boxes proposed that in case the reader now had a box elsewhere, they would take the lease off his hands. In reality they merely gave him free rental until his other lease expired, but the scheme was cleverly planned.
A buggy maker wrote enclosing duplicate specifications of a buggy he had just had made for his own personal use, and suggested that he would have another made for the reader exactly like it and turned under the same careful supervision.
Letters that give the reader something or offer to give him something have similar effect. The letter about a new facial cream will command extra attention because of the small sample of the cream enclosed. In fact, one cold cream company finds it an effective plan to send a sample and a sales letter to druggists' mailing lists or to names taken from telephone books, telling the reader in the final paragraph that the cream can be purchased at the local drug store.
A letter offering a sample can of a high-grade coffee for the name of the reader's favorite grocer will bring a good response and afford the advertiser a strong hold on the grocer.
A favorite method of securing savings depositors is to send a good "savings letter" that offers a free home-savings bank or a vest-pocket saver.
Even calendars may be given out more effectively by sending a letter and telling the reader that a good calendar has been saved for him and asking him to call at the office.
A striking paragraph of a real estate dealer's soliciting letter is one that asserts that the dealer has a client with the cash who wants just about such a house as the reader of the letter owns.
A real estate dealer, whose specialty is farms, has this telling sentence in his original letter: "Somewhere there is a man who will buy your farm at a good price; I should like to find that man for you."
There is hardly a product or a proposition that does not offer opportunity to put some scheme behind the letter. And such a plan doubles the appeal of the original sales letter. But once more, remember, not to put all your ammunition into the first letter. Be prepared to come back in your second and third letters, not simply with varied repetitions, but with more reasons for buying. Make your first letter as strong as you can, but at the same time—pave the way.
The Letter That Will BRING anInquiry
Comparatively few propositions can be sold in the first letter; in most campaigns it is enough to stimulate a man's interest and get him to reply. This chapter gives specific schemes that have proved successful in pulling answers—in making an opening for the heavy artillery of the follow-up
* * * * *
Think what a problem you would have if you started out as a salesman to sell a certain article with no definite idea of where to find your prospects. You might interview a hundred men before you found one who was interested. That would be pretty slow and pretty expensive selling, wouldn't it?
And think what it would mean if you were to send out broadcast a thousand expensive booklets and follow-up letters only to receive one reply from the one man with whom you effected a point of contact. That, too, would be a prohibitively costly method of selling.
Yet one or both these methods would in many cases be necessary were it not for the inquiry-bringing letter. The inquiry letter is a "feeler"—the advance agent of the selling campaign. It goes broadcast to find and put its finger on the man who is interested or who can be interested, and his reply labels him as the man whom it is worth while for your salesman to see, or, who is at least worth the expense and endeavor of a follow-up series.
The inquiry letter is like the advertisement which asks you to send for a catalogue or booklet. The advertisement writer believes that if you are interested enough to write for the booklet, you will be interested enough to read his sales letters, and possibly become a purchaser. It is the same with the inquiry-bringing letter. It is simply a sieve for sifting out the likely prospects from the great mass of persons, who for many reasons cannot be brought around into a buying mood concerning your proposition.
The great advantage of the letter which induces the recipient to express his interest in an inquiry, is that you not only make him put himself unconsciously under an obligation to read further details, but you give time for the thoughts that you have started to get in their work.
The fact that a man has decided to ask for more information and has put that decision in writing is of considerable psychological value.
The one thing the salesman hopes to find, and the one thing the letter writer strives to create, is a receptive mood on the part of his prospect. The moment a man answers the inquiry-letter, he has put himself into a frame of mind where he waits for and welcomes your subsequent sales talk.
He looks forward with some interest to your second letter. At first there was just one person to the discussion. Now there are two.
In this respect the letter is like the magazine advertisement. Give all the details of a $500 piano in an advertisement of ordinary size, quoting the price at the close, and it is extremely unlikely to bring the reader to the point of deciding that he will buy the piano. It is better to deal with some point of interest about the piano and offer a fine piano book free.
And right here it is worthy of mention that interesting books with such titles as "How to Select a Piano," "How to Make Money in Real Estate," "Bank Stocks as an Investment," or "The Way to Have a Beautiful Complexion," make letters as well as advertisements draw inquiries of a good class.
In other words, offer an inducement, give your man areasonfor answering.
When you have written a letter calculated to draw inquiries, put yourself in the position of the man who is to get it and read it through from his standpoint. Ask yourself whetheryouwould answer it if you received it. Test it for a reason, an inducement, and see if it has the pulling power you want it to have.
If you are offering a book, for example, impress the reader with the real value of the book, magnify its desirability in his mind. A paper company does this admirably when it writes:
"The new Condax specimen book is a beautiful thing—not a mere book of paper samples, understand, but a collection of art masterpieces and hand-lettered designs, printed with rare taste on the various kinds of Condax papers. Many have told us it is the finest example of printing they have ever seen come from the press.
"We feel sure you would treasure the book just for its artistic merits, but we are not sending you one now because there is such a tremendous demand for it that we do not like to chance having a single copy go astray and we want yours to reach you personally. We are holding it for you and the enclosed card will bring it, carefully wrapped, by return mail."
* * * * *
Of course such a book must be designed to do the proper work when it gets into the hands of the reader.
It is a mistake to tell a great deal in the inquiry-bringing letter, unless you can reasonably hope to close a sale. A man will act on impulse in ordering a dollar article, but he isn't likely to be impulsive about an insurance policy. If you give him the entire canvass on an insurance policy at the first shot, it will have to be of extraordinary interest and convincing power to close the sale. The subject is new. The prospect has not had a chance to think over the facts. He is suspicious of your power; afraid of hastiness on his own part. He is likely to give himself the canvass and decide "No," before giving you any further chance.
Appeal to curiosity. Arouse interest and leave it unsatisfied.
Remember that your inquiry letter is a definite part of your campaign. Therefore it must be consistent with what is to follow and must pave the way naturally for it. Seek replies only from those who can use and can afford to buy the article you have to sell.
A maker of a specialty machine got out an inquiry letter along this line:
"If you are tired of a salaried job, if you want to get into a big-paying, independent business of your own. I have a proposition that will interest you."
* * * * *
Of course he got a big percentage of replies, for what man does not want a big-paying, independent business of his own? But when in his follow-up letter he stated his proposition, offering state rights to his machine for $5,000, he shot over the heads of 99 per cent of the men who had answered his first letter. His inquiry letter had completely failed of its purpose. It was not selective, it was general.
Dear Sir:
I should like to have you consider buying the enclosed series of talks on advertising for use in your paper.
I am an expert advertising man and I have spent a great deal of time and energy on these talks. I know that they will produce results that will be very satisfactory to you for they are based on the real experience of an expert.
The price of these talks—that is, the right to use the talks and illustrations in your city—is $15, which you must admit is dirt cheap, considering the quality of the matter.
All the progressive publishers are jumping at the chance to get these talks at the low price I am quoting them.
If you do not accept my offer, one of your competitors will certainly do so, and you will lose prestige.
Hoping to hear from you at once and promising careful attention to your valued favors, I am
Truly yours,[Signature: G. L. Lawrence]
* * * * *
This letter has an unfortunate beginning. The writer starts by considering his own interests rather than those of the publisher. It is not tactful to begin with "I want-to-sell-you-something" talk. The second paragraph is merely an egotistic statement. No facts are furnished to impress the publisher. In the third paragraph price is introduced before desire is created. The fourth paragraph is a palpable boast that will not be believed and an insinuation that the publisher addressed may not be progressive. The suggestion about the competitor is likely to arouse antagonism. The close is hackneyed and the entire letter is rather an advertisement of the writer's inability rather than of his ability
* * * * *
Do not deceive. Nothing is gained by deception in a high grade venture. Your offer to give away a first-class lot in a first-class suburban real estate campaign will make a good class of readers suspicious of you. And though you may get many inquiries from those who are looking for something for nothing, the chances are that the inquiries will be of a very poor quality. Better get two per cent of first-class prospects than ten per cent that will only waste your time. You must not forget that it costs money to solicit people either by mail or by salesmen.
[Sidenote: Heading and first sentence introduce a subject of vital interest to publishers.]
What would it be worth to you to have a dozen more local advertisers buying your space regularly?
[Sidenote: Facts and arguments which show that the writer knows conditions.]
How much money would it mean to have in the paper regularly just a few of those who advertise poorly and spasmodically for a short time, then drop out and whine that "advertising doesn't pay?"
[Sidenote: As he has had such wide experience he understands the situation and his words carry conviction—touch a tender spot with every publisher.]
I know your problems. I have had soliciting experience as well as broad copywriting experience. I served three years on the advertising staff of THE BALTIMORE NEWS—the paper for which Mr. Munsey recently paid $1,500,000. I know how hard it is to get a certain class of local advertisers started. I know how hard it is to keep them going after they once start. Of course YOU know why some advertisers come in the paper but won't stay. They can't see where their money comes back, AND THE PLAIN TRUTH IS THAT OFTEN IT DOESN'T COME BACK simply because these advertisers don't advertise intelligently.
Your solicitors are not all skillful copywriters. Soliciting ability and copy-writing ability rarely go together. Even if your solicitors were all good copy-writers, they wouldn't have time to study each advertiser's proposition exhaustively.
But if you expect to keep your advertising receipts up to the high-water mark, you can't always do ALL SOLICITING and NO HELPING. You must assist the advertiser to get the full value of the money he spends with you. How? This letter answers the question.
[Sidenote: Clear and logical.]
Read the attached SECRETS OF SUCCESSFUL ADVERTISING. They are short, but they are interesting and they are practical. Note the plain examples of the good and the bad. These talks will encourage advertisers to begin and will help those who come in to get the worth of their money. If you sent all of your customers and prospective customers a book on Advertising—even if a suitable one were available—it might insult some. Perhaps only a few would read it thoroughly. Besides, it would probably cost you a hundred dollars.
These short talks can be used on days when you are not pushed for space. You can see that they look readable. They can be read in a minute or two. The cost is insignificant, considering the results that are sure to come from this campaign of education. Suppose only two or three new patrons came in as the result; you would get back your little investment over and over. Who will educate your customers and prospective customers if you don't?
[Sidenote: An effective, confident close that commands respect and consideration.]
I do not urge you. Just read the articles. I know what you, as a progressive publisher, will think of them. Let me hear from you as soon as convenient, for if you do not want the service, I shall want to offer it elsewhere. You are the only publisher in your city to whom I am now offering the service. I enclose stamp for the return of the sheets in the event that you do not keep them.
Yours for more and better advertising.[Signature: M. B. Andrews]
* * * * *
The question of how to open your inquiry letter is a big one. Good beginnings are as varied as the proposition which the letter presents.
The straight question usually commands attention. "Do you get the best price for your goods?" "Are you securing all the advertising patronage to which you are entitled?" "Couldn't you use an extra pair of good trousers?" "Do you collect 98 per cent of your accounts?" Openings of this kind rivet attention.
With some letter-writers, the direct command style of opening is popular: "Get more advertising. How? This letter answers the question." "Wear tailor-made clothes at the price of ready-made." "Make your money earn you six per cent." If these openings are chosen with the care that the advertising man uses in selecting headings for advertisements, attention will be secured.
Gentlemen:
Your easiest profits are those you make by saving expense.
There is one way you can save rent; save wages; save damage to samples and still sell more goods.
Install a Patent Extension Display Rack in any department you like— picture, linen, notions, sporting goods, etc., and you will add 30 square feet of display for every foot you use. You will enable one salesman to do the work of two. You will save the time your salesmen now spend in getting out goods and putting them away. You will prevent the samples from becoming soiled.
Don't take the trouble to write us a letter, just pencil on the foot of this the name of the manager of the department you would like to begin with, and we will explain all about these display racks to him.
Yours very truly,[Signature: Smith and Deene]
P.S. Marshall Field & Co., of Chicago, bought the first Extension Display Rack we sold and they have been buying ever since. Their last order just received amounts to nearly a thousand dollars. Can you afford not to investigate?
* * * * *
The reference to easy profits at once interests every business man and the method of saving rent, saving wages and increasing sales is certain to be investigated. The third paragraph presents good argument—short and to the point. The letter is extremely easy to answer—just a few words with a pencil and that is all. Proof of the merit of the article in its satisfactory use by a large wholesale house is cleverly brought out in the postscript
* * * * *
Another good way to win the interest of the prospect is to offer to help him in his buying in some specific way. A firm selling diamonds by mail, for instance, does it in this fashion:
"Unless you are an experienced judge of precious stones, it is almost impossible to buy a diamond at random and be certain of getting value for your money. But you need not take chances. Our best expert has written a booklet telling just how to determine diamond value, how to detect flaws, and explaining the choicest cuttings. Whether or not you buy of us, this little book will be of inestimable value to you in buying stones. We will be glad to send you a copy for the asking."
* * * * *
Still other writers follow the declarative form of opening. "Allison Preferred has advanced to 106 in a week." "Yesterday we sold for $10,000 cash a property that was put in our hands only Tuesday." But inasmuch as the declarative form lacks a little of the inherent interest of the question or the command, it should deal with some point of particular "interest value" to the class addressed.
Style and interest value are just as important in the letter that is to draw an inquiry as in the letter designed to make a sale. Some think that just because a letter is fairly certain to reach a man if properly addressed, it is easy to get a reply. Far from it. Unless there is a good reason for a man answering a letter, he isn't going to do it.
Suppose that a furniture dealer, on receiving a new stock of furniture, writes a letter like this to a list of several hundred women:
"Our fall stock of furniture arrived on Saturday and is now on exhibition on our third floor. The showing is unsurpassed. Here you will find something to suit you, whether you wish oak, mahogany, walnut or birch. We invite you to pay us a call."
* * * * *
Some who would probably have come anyway may come in response to such a letter or may write for special information. But a letter of this kind is sure to bring results:
Dear Mrs. Brown:
I remember that when you purchased the mahogany bed last March you expressed a desire to buy a dresser that would match. In the new lot of furniture that we put on our floors only yesterday are several dressers that would match your piece perfectly. Come in and see them. I should like you to see also the dressing tables and chairs that match your dresser, even if you are not ready just now to get an entire set.
* * * * *
The first letter has little point to it. The second has personality and interest, and if signed by the salesman that sold the first piece of mahogany, is certain to bring the customer in if anything would.
A strong method of closing letters of this sort is to have final paragraphs of this style: "May we tell you more? This won't put you under the least obligation. If we can't show you that it is to your interest to take up this matter, it is our fault—not yours. Mail the card now and let us put all the facts before you."
A post card or a postal card should be enclosed in all inquiry- bringing letters. The request for further details should be printed, so that the prospect has only to sign his name and mail the card. In other words, make it easy for the prospect to answer. Another thing, don't print anything on the card that will make it appear that the prospect is committing himself. Paragraphs of this sort have proved effective: "Without committing myself, I give you permission to furnish me full information about the subject mentioned in your letter."
The card method is particularly good if the inquiry is to be followed up by a solicitor, for the card may be sent conveniently to the solicitor who will take it with him when he calls. It sometimes pays to have all the inquiries from a territory sent on cards addressed to a certain solicitor, though the inquirer may think at the time of inquiring that the one whose name appears on the card merely is the correspondent that wrote the letter. The advantage is that a prospect who sends in a card addressed to "Mr. H. E. Carrington, care of the Smith Publishing Company," has seen Mr. Carrington's name. When Mr. Carrington calls, the inquirer is sometimes flattered to think that the gentleman has been sent from the home office. As he has written a card to Mr. Carrington, he cannot with good grace deny an interview.
The man who writes and offers to do something without putting the least obligation on the inquirer who accepts the offer is hard to turn down. A writer of advertisements, after a courteous criticism on advertisements that he doesn't like, closes in this way: "I think I can show that it is to your interest to use some copy of my construction. If I can't, certainly it won't be your fault. May I show you what I think is a more profitable way of advertising these goods? If when you see my copy you are not more than satisfied to pay my bill, there won't be any ill-feeling on my part. The decision will rest with you."
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A townsite company, selling town lots by mail, uses a device that gets replies when ordinary requests would be disregarded. As the close of a three-page form letter this paragraph is used:
"We enclose letter that the railway company wrote us. Please return it in the enclosed stamped envelope, and tell us what you think of our plan."
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The next sheet following is a facsimile letter from a prominent railway official commending the plan, so making it easy for the prospect to add a few words of commendation.
This is a clever scheme to coax a reply out of the prospect—and it is certain that he carefully reads the letter from the railroad company before he returns it. No matter what the nature of his letter it gives an opportunity for a personal reply.
A clothing manufacturer has an effective method of drawing out a fresh inquiry or indication of interest from his mailing list by inquiring what satisfaction the reader got out of the last suit ordered, asking a criticism of service if the buyer has any to make, saying that anything that was wrong will be made right.
Writers of investment letters have found that it pays to emphasize the fact that only a small lot of stock is available. If the letter leads the prospect to believe that barrels of the stock will be sold, the effect will be prejudicial. The "limited quantity" idea is effective in selling other things.
An investment letter that brought good results where the signer of the letter knew all those to whom the letter was sent made the statement that four or five shares of stock had been put aside for the prospect. Practically no more information was given in the letter, but full information was offered on receipt of request. The request gave opportunity for the salesman to call. This "putting aside" idea may be applied to clothing and other commodities. Its efficiency lies in the fact that it gives a definite point to the letter.
In the letter that angles for an inquiry, do not tell too much. Whet the appetite and arouse the curiosity. Make them hungry to learn all about it, make them come back like Oliver Twist and ask for more. But it is fatal to paint a proposition in such brilliant colors that there is a chance for disappointment when the prospect gets his additional information. Nor should an offer of a free booklet or free samples be made so alluring that the letter will be answered out of idle curiosity when the recipient is really not a prospect at all.
Schemes without number can be devised to get a reply and only enough should be put in such a letter to stimulate a reply, saving up the real arguments and the big talking points for the letter that aims on getting the actual order.
How ToCloseSales ByLETTER
Suppose that your most obstinate "prospect"—a man in the next block on whom your cleverest salesman had used every tactic and had been rewarded only by polite turn-downs until he had lost hope— should call up some afternoon and ask you to send over a salesman. Would you despatch the office boy? Or would you send your star salesman? Yet if that prospect lived a hundred miles away and sent in a letter of inquiry, one out of two firms would entrust the reply to a second or third-rate correspondent—entirely forgetful that an inquiry is merely a clue to a sale, and not a result in itself. This chapter shows how toGET THE ORDERby letter
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The man who inquires about your goods isn't "sold" by a long ways. He is simply giving you an opportunity to sell him. Inquiries aren'tresults, they're simplycluesto possible sales, and if you are going to follow those clues up and make sales out of them, you need the best men you can find and the best letters those men can turn out to do it. Inquiries of good quality are costly, frequently several times as costly as the advertiser figures in advance that he can afford to pay. Yet, strange to say, many advertisers will employ $50 or $100-a-week ability to write advertisements that will produce inquiries and then expect $10 or $15 men to turn them into sales. As a matter of fact nine times out of ten the hardest part of the transaction is to close the sale.
An inquiry is merely an expression of interest. The reader of the advertisement says, in effect, "All right, I'm impressed. Go ahead and show me." Or, if he hasn't written in reply to an advertisement, he sends an inquiry and invites the manufacturer or dealer to tell what he has. To get the highest possible proportion of sales from each hundred inquiries, requires that the correspondent be as skillful in his written salesmanship as the successful man behind the counter is with his oral canvass and his showing of the goods.
If the truth were known, it is lack of appreciation of this point that discourages most concerns trying to sell by mail, and it is the real secret of a large percentage of failures.
A clock manufacturer notified the advertising manager of one of the big magazines that he had decided to discontinue his advertising. "The inquiries we get from your magazine," he wrote, "don't pan out." The advertising manager thought he saw the reason why and he made a trip down to the factory to investigate. Reports showed that in two months his magazine had pulled over 400 inquiries, yet out of that number just seven prospects had been sold.
"Will you let me see your follow-up letters?" he asked. They were brought out, and the advertising manager almost wept when he read them. Awkward, hackneyed, blundering notes of acknowledgment, they lacked even the merest suggestion of salesmanship. They would kill rather than nourish the interest of the average prospect. He sent the set of letters up to the service bureau of his magazine and a new series of strong convincing letters, such as the clock deserved, were prepared.
On the strength of these he got the advertiser back in and the next month out of 189 inquiries, forty-six clocks were sold. Think of the actual loss that manufacturer suffered simply because he did not really appreciate that inquiries aren't sales!
Get this firmly in mind and then get the proper attitude toward the inquirer. There is a big difference between the original sales letter and the answer to the inquiry. You haven't got to win his interest now. You've got that. But you have got to hold it and develop it to the buying point. Your man has asked you something; has given you the chance to state your case. Now state it in the most complete, convincing way you know how.
Dear Sir:
We are pleased to receive your request for "Wilson's Accounting Methods," and a copy goes forward by today's mail. Do not fail to notify us if it fails to reach you within a day of the receipt of this letter.
Your attention is particularly called to the descriptive matter on pages 3 to 9, inclusive. We are confident that among the forty stock record forms there illustrated and described you will find a number that will save time and labor in your office. You will see that our stock forms are carried in two sizes—3 by 6-1/4 inches and 5 by 8 inches, the smaller size being furnished at $2 a thousand and the larger size at $2.50 a thousand, assorted as you desire.
Should you desire special forms to meet your individual requirements, we can furnish them to order, printed from your copy, on one side of linen-bond stock—your choice of five colors—at $3.50 a thousand.
On pages 116 to 139 you will find complete descriptions and order blanks of our special introductory outfits, ranging in price from $1 to $22.
We make these attractive offers to enable our customers to select outfits that can be installed at a very small cost, and we ship any of our stock outfits with the distinct understanding that if they are not entirely satisfactory they may be returned to us at our expense.
Under the liberal conditions we make, you incur no risk in placing an order, and we trust that we may be favored with one from you right away. By purchasing direct from us—the manufacturers—you eliminate all middleman's profits and are sure to get proper service.
Let us hear from you.
Very truly yours,[Signature: Anderson & Anderson]
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A letter that sums up well the principal features of the goods described in detail in the catalogue and the strong points of the manufacturer's plan of selling. The letter is closely linked with the catalogue. Such a letter as this is a strong support to the catalogue
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A good way to get at this is to put yourself once more in the other man's place. What doyoulike to get whenyouanswer an advertisement? And how do you like to get it? First of all you like a prompt answer.
"I have had some experiences lately," says one business man, "that have made me feel that promptness and careful attention to all of a correspondent's requests are fully as important as the literary part of business correspondence. I am interested in an enterprise in which material of various kinds will be used—sample jars, mailing cases, and so forth. I have been writing to manufacturers in the effort to get samples and prices.
"In several cases it really seemed to me as if the manufacturer was trying to test my patience by waiting from three days to a week before answering my letter. Several of them forgot to send the samples they referred to in their letters. In other cases the matter of samples was overlooked for a few days after the letter was written or the samples were ordered forwarded from a distant factory without any explanation to me that the samples would be a few days late in arriving. In still other instances references were made to prices and sizes that were not clear, thus necessitating another letter and a further delay of a week or ten days.
"As I had to have all the material before I could proceed with any of it, one man's delay tied up the whole job.
"Really when one has a chance to see the dowdy, indifferent way in which a great many business concerns take care of inquiries and prospective customers, the wonder is that there are so many successes and not more failures.
"How refreshing it is to get a reply by return mail from an enterprising man who is careful to label every sample and to give you all the necessary information in complete form and to write in such a way as to make you feel you are going to get prompt, careful service if your order is placed with him. It is a pleasure to send business his way, and we do it, too, whenever we can."
It is easy enough to look out for these things when a regular method is adopted. With a catalogue before him, the correspondent should dictate a memorandum, showing what samples or enclosures are to be sent and how each is to be marked. By referring to the memorandum, as he dictates, the references will be clear.
Cherish both carefulness and promptness. You don't know what you sometimes lose by being a day late. An inquirer often writes to several different concerns. Some other correspondent replies by return mail, and the order may be closed before your belated letter gets in its work, particularly if the inquirer is in a hurry—as inquirers sometimes are. You may never learn why you lost the order.
When you cannot give full attention to the request immediately, at least write the inquirer and tell how you will reply fully in a day or so or whenever you can. If you can truthfully say so, tell him that you have just what he wants and ask him to wait to get your full information before placing his order. In this way you may hold the matter open.
Dear Sir:
Replying to your esteemed favor of recent date would say that we have noted your request for a sample of Royal Mixture and that same has been forwarded.
This tobacco is absolutely without question the finest smoking tobacco on the market today. This statement will be substantiated by tens of thousands of smokers.
We hope to receive your valued order at an early date and remain
Truly yours,[Signature: Brown & Co.]
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The first paragraph of this letter is so hackneyed that it takes away all personality, and there is nothing in the second paragraph to build up a picture in the reader's mind of an enjoyable tobacco
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Now as to the style and contents of your letter, here's one thing that goes a long way. Be cheerful. Start your letter by acknowledging his inquiry as though you were glad to get it. "Yours of the 15th received and contents noted," doesn't mean anything. But how about this: "I was glad to find on my desk this morning your letter of the 15th inquiring about the new model Marlin." There's a personal touch and good will in that. A correspondence school answers a prospective student's inquiry like this: "I really believe that your letter of the 6th, which came to me this morning, will prove to be the most important letter that you ever wrote." An opening such as this clinches the man's interest again and carries him straight through to the end. Don't miss an opportunity to score on the start.
Dear Sir:
Your order for a sample pouch of Royal Mixture is greatly appreciated. The tobacco was mailed to-day.
To appreciate the difference between Royal Mixture and the "others," just put a little of it on a sheet of white paper by the side of a pinch from a package of any other smoking tobacco manufactured. You won't need a microscope to see the difference in quality. Smoke a pipeful and you will quickly notice how different in mellowness, richness and natural flavor Royal Mixture is from the store-bought kind.
If you are not enthusiastic over its excellence I shall feel greatly disappointed. So many discriminating pipe smokers in all sections are praising it that it makes me believe that in "The Aristocrat of Smoking Tobacco" I have produced an article that is in fact the best tobacco money can buy.
Royal Mixture is all pure tobacco, and the cleanest, best-cured and finest leaf that the famous Piedmont section of North Carolina can produce. The quality is there, and will be kept as long as it is offered for sale. Depend upon that.
The more you smoke Royal Mixture the better you'll like it. This is not true of the fancy-named mixtures which owe their short-lived popularity to pretty labels, fancy tin boxes and doctored flavors. I give you quality in the tobacco instead of making you pay for a gold label and tin box.
The only way to get it is by ordering from me. Royal Mixture goes right from factory to your pipe—you get it direct, and know you are getting it just right, moist and fresh.
Right now, TO-DAY, is the time to order. A supply of Royal Mixture costs so little and means so much in pipe satisfaction that every hour of delay is a loss to you. It's too good to do without. Money refunded promptly if you are not satisfied!
If it is not asking too much of you, I would like to hear within a day or two just how the tobacco suits you. Will you not write me about it? Be critical, as I desire your candid opinion.
Respectfully yours,[Signature: Wallace E. Lee]
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The letter is here rewritten, making it interesting from the first line to the last. It makes one feel that Royal Mixture is something unusually good
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Second, be sure youanswerthe inquiry—every point in it. You know how provoked you are when you ask a question and the correspondent in replying fails to answer. Be sure you answer all the questions of the inquiries you handle. Give letters a final reading, to be sure. It is often advisable to quote the inquirer's questions or to use side-heads so he will understand you refer to the questions he asked.
For example, suppose a real estate agent receives an inquiry about a farm. The inquiry can be clearly answered by adopting a style like this:
We are very glad to give you details about the Abbott farm inPrescott County.
LOCATION.—This farm is on the macadam road between Frederick and Whittsville, three miles from Frederick. There is a flag station on the D. & L. railroad one and a quarter miles from the farm gate on the macadam road.
TRANSPORTATION FACILITIES.—There are six trains a day on the D. & L. road that will stop at the flag station mentioned. These trains give a four-hour service to Baltimore.
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This style of letter is a great aid to the writer in bringing related points together and thus strengthening description and argument.
If the inquiry involves the sending of a catalogue, hook the letter and the enclosure together by specific references. It adds immensely to the completeness of your letter. And don't be afraid to repeat. No matter what is in the catalogue or booklet that is sent along with the letter, the letter should review concisely some of the most important points. The average person will pay closer attention to what is said in the letter than to what appears in the catalogue. The letter looks more personal. For example:
On page 18 you will see described more fully the cedar chest that we advertise in the magazines. Pages 20 to 28 describe higher-priced chests. All these chests are of perfect workmanship and have the handsome dull egg-shell finish. The higher-priced models have the copper bands and the big-headed nails. Use the order blank that appears on page 32 of the catalogue, and be sure to read the directions for ordering that appear on page 30.
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These descriptions and references tie the letters strongly to the enclosures and thus unify the entire canvass.
The woman who gets a letter telling her that the refrigerator she inquired about is described and illustrated on page 40 of the catalogue sent under separate cover, and then reads some quoted expressions from people in her town or state who have bought these refrigerators, is more likely to order than if a letter is sent, telling her merely that the catalogue has been mailed under separate cover; that it gives a complete description but that any special information will be given on request. The first method of replying makes it appear that the correspondent is enthusiastic about his refrigerators and really wants to sell the inquirer one. The second method is cold and indifferent. If your goods permit the sending of samples by all means enclose some with the letter. They permit the actual handling of the article, which is so great an advantage in selling over the counter. And then insure attention. No man, for example, will throw away a haberdasher's letter referring to spring shirts if samples are enclosed. The samples will get some attention, though the one who received them may not need shirts at the time.
Samples also give an opportunity to emphasize value. For instance, it is a good plan to say: "Take these samples of outings to your local store and see if you can get anything at $25 that is half as good as what we are offering you." The fact is, few people make such comparisons, but the invitation to compare is evidence of the advertiser's confidence. For that matter, few people ask for refund of money on honest merchandise, provided the refund is limited to a brief period; but the promise of instant refund when unsatisfactory goods are returned, is a great confidence-creator.
It is not always possible for one correspondent to handle the entire inquiry. In that case it is well to let the answer indicate the care exercised in preparing it.
A part of a letter may sometimes advantageously refer to some other correspondent who can deal more thoroughly with a technical matter under discussion. A large mail-order concern employs a man who can tell customers in a tactful way just how to make coffee and tea, and he makes satisfied customers out of many who otherwise would believe that they had received inferior goods. This same man is also an expert in adjusting by letter any troubles that may arise over the company's premium clocks, and so forth.
Unless such technical matters are extensive enough to require a separate letter, they can be introduced into other communications by merely saying:
"On reading what you have written about the engine, our expert has this to say:"
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Dear Sir:
Your esteemed inquiry has been received, and we are sending you one of our booklets.
In case none of the samples suit you, let us know what colors you like and we will send more samples.
We can save you money on trousers. A great many of the best dressers of New York and Chicago are wearing trousers made by us.
You run no risk in ordering, for if the trousers are not as I represent them or do not fit you, we will correct the mistake or refund your money.
We urge you to order immediately, as we may not have in stock the patterns you prefer.
Trusting to receive your order at an early date.
Truly yours.[Signature: Edward Brown]
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This letter starts out with a hackneyed opening and not enough emphasis is put on the samples. It is a mistake to make the suggestion that the samples sent may be unsuitable. The third paragraph starts out with an assertion unbacked by proof and the second sentence is a silly boast that no one believes. A man does not pay his tailor the full price until the trousers are completed. It is a weak selling plan to try to persuade a stranger to send the entire price to an advertiser whom he knows nothing about. The plea for an immediate order on the ground that the pattern may not be in stock later is a weak and unfortunate method of argument. The final paragraph is as hackneyed as the first, and fails to impress the reader
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Dear Sir:
Here you are! This mail will bring you a sample book containing some of the neatest trousers patterns you have seen in a long time. Tear off a strand from any of them and hold a match to it; if it doesn't "burn wool" the laugh is on me.
You may wonder why I can undersell your local dealer and yet turn out trousers that "make good." Certain conditions, of which I shall tell you, make this possible.
In the first place, trousers are my specialty. Other tailors want suit orders above all, but I have built up my business by specializing on trousers alone.
I buy my fabrics from the manufacturers in large quantities at wholesale prices. The saving—the money that represents your retailer's profit—comes to you.
I don't need an uptown "diamond-front" store, with an exorbitant rental. Instead, I employ the best tailors I can find.
The trousers I make are built, not shaped, to fit you. We don't press them into shape with a "goose," either. All our fabrics are shrunk before we cut them at all. Sewn throughout with silk, the seams will not rip or give. And style—why, you will be surprised to see that trousers could have so much individuality.
I could not afford to sell just one pair of trousers to each man at these prices. It costs me something to reach you—to get your first order. You will order your second pair just as naturally as you would call for your favorite cigar.
I am enclosing three samples of $6 London woolens. These have just come in—too late to place in the sample book. Aren't they beauties?
Please don't forget that I guarantee to please you or to return your money cheerfully. I ask for the $1 with order only to protect myself against triflers.
May I look for an early order?
Yours, for high-grade trousers.[Signature: Chas R. Greene]
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An interesting beginning, inviting proof of quality. Facts show why low prices can be quoted, followed by graphic description and logical argument. The samples give point to the letter and the plain, fair selling plan makes an effective ending
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Then again, make your letterclear. Good descriptions are just as important in answers to inquiries as in letters that have the task of both developing interest and closing a sale. All that has been said in previous chapters as to the value of graphic descriptions and methods of writing them applies with full force to this chapter. The letter that is a reply to an inquiry can properly give more detailed and specialized description than a letter that is not a reply to an inquiry, for in writing to one who has inquired the correspondent knows that the reader of the letter is interested and will give attention to details if they are given clearly and attractively. Generally speaking, a sales letter that is in response to an inquiry should make it unnecessary for the reader to ask a second time for information before reaching a decision.
And this leads to one big important point: do your best to close the sale in this first reply. Don't leave loop holes and uncertainties that encourage further correspondence. Give your letter an air of finality. Lay down a definite buying proposition and then make it easy for your man to accept it.
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