COLUMNIST – SALES
Everybody sells! Julie Futcher prospect’s doormat (or inbox) with a single intent – to exchange your product or service for their cash.
Your ‘knock on the door’ Clearly, to give yourself the biggest chance of success, your sales letter needs to be pretty damn perfect – every single detail – from the content and style to the stamp on the envelope. Yes, even the stamp. Getting your sales letter right is a big deal, so we’re going to cover it in two parts, beginning with the envelope – your ‘knock on the door’.
Why is it that a lot of people believe that it’s only salespeople within an organisation that are responsible for selling? I’ve recently been working closely with a client who has been investing a lot of time and money into the generation of new customers. I delivered training to their sales team on how to maximise their sales calls and face-to-face meetings which achieved the goal, i.e. new customers. When we looked at generating sales from existing customers, it became apparent that
Your persuasion powerhouse
their customer retention wasn’t good. I was tasked
You’ve carefully selected your list. You’ve worked
stopped spending.
long and hard over every word, sentence, and paragraph. Your letter is a persuasion powerhouse with every key element firmly in place, including compelling benefits, powerful testimonials, a wonderful P.S. and an irresistible offer. But – all your hard work, your copywriting genius and painstaking attention to every tiny detail will count for nothing unless your prospect opens the envelope. So tell me – when you pick up your post from the doormat and sift through the assortment of postal flotsam and jetsam, which do you pick out first? Is it the magazine, the leaflets, the bills or the begging letters? I’ll hazard a guess it’s the one with the most appealing packaging – in other words, the most attractive envelope. But picking the most attractive might be a little bit like dating (What do I know about dating? It’s been nearly 40 years). What’s attractive to one may not appeal to another.
Let’s look at two distinct approaches –
to speak to some of them to find out why they had Interestingly, getting a cheaper deal elsewhere was not the main reason. What was, however, was the way in which they had been spoken to and/ or been dealt with by other departments. These included accounts, goods-in and admin support staff, all of which were not what you’d perceive to be “customer-facing.” As a result of their bad experience, they took their business elsewhere. During a training session to address this, the team were surprised to be there because “we’re not sales, it’s not our job!” This example shows why it’s not just “salespeople” who have a direct impact on the revenue generated from customers. Every person within a business has an influence! Customers, quite rightly, demand excellent service and communication and failure to give this, will have a detrimental effect on whether they return. Ensuring everyone within an organisation attends training to understand this, and how they must play their part, is essential. Revenue generated from repeat customers is easier and less costly to create.
Option 1 – Keeping it personal Here the aim is authenticity – making your prospect feel that this is you, in person, standing in front of them, chatting about your proposal. With this option, you need to avoid using teaser copy or illustrations. Your envelope should quietly state importance, dignity, value. Next – the stamp. Maybe just a detail – but it’s details that count. An envelope with a real stamp will have much greater appeal than a businessy-looking franked envelope. To add an even more personal, subtle touch, you might use a commemorative stamp.
The Sales Ace 01604 532004 julie@thesalesace.co.uk thesalesace.co.uk
