A sales letter is one of the most powerful tools in your marketing strategies. It just like having a sales person out promoting you product or service 24 hours a day 7 days a week. They never get tired, call in sick, or want to take the day off. The sales letter is there for you day after day, month after month with out fail.
So what is a sales letter? Well it a letter that present a product, service, or an opportunity to your prospect. It’s going to ask for a payment of some sort whether it mail in payment, phone in payment, or an online payment.
Now, here’s the basic construction of the sales letter.
Headline
Sub-Headline
Introduce Yourself
Talk About The Problem
Discovery Phase
Offer Phase
Benefit
Value
3rd Party Credibility
Guarantee
Call To Action
Close
P.S.
Lets take each step apart and talk about it.
The headline should be in a different color and font so that it stands out from the rest of the copy. It should also grab the prospects attention and drive their eyes into the sales copy.
The sub-headline is similar to the headline in that it also has a larger font than the rest of the copy. But, it is still not as large as the headline and it is not the same color. The sub-headline will elaborate on the headline and give more detail about what the prospect is going to get from the sales copy.
The introduction to yourself will let the prospect get to know you a little and feel more comfortable about spending their money with you. You should include your expertise and why you are qualified to talk about the subject in the sales letter. Basically you are gaining their trust.
The problem section is where you will talk about the problem that the product or service will resolve. You want to speak directly to the prospect about their problem. When they read this section they should be thinking it was written just for them. This is why having a target market is so important.
The discovery phase is where you give the light at the end of the tunnel. You show how you can provide a solution to their problem. This is where you tell them what you have to offer.
The Offer phase is where you have to make it clear to the prospect that they need what you offer to solve their problem. You really have to make the connection between their problem and your solution.
The benefit stage is very important. You should tell the prospect the result of using your product or service. Don’t just put vague examples of how they will benefit. Is going to stop pain? Will their car run longer? Will it lower blood pressure? You get the point, it has to be an actual end result of using the product or service.
The value section is not really exact because it will be different for everyone. The benefit might hold more value to one person that to another. But, basically you are going to open the prospect mind and show them how life could be with your product. Make it a question like “What would it be worth to never have to deal with ------------ ever again?” or try “How much money could you save if you did not have to get another car?” Use this section to engage the prospect.
3rd party creditability is the section where you can use testimonials to back up your claims. This can be family and friends, just make sure they don’t have the same last name. You can also put these testimonials through out the sales copy. Usually you want 3-5 testimonials per sales letter. Testimonials really give your sales copy a punch.
The Guarantee section is just that a guarantee. Most all good products have a company guarantee. Usually it’s “satisfaction guaranteed or you money back”. Everyone loves a guarantee because, it puts them at ease about making the purchase.
The call to action section is where you ask for the order. You don’t want them to think about it or come back latter. You want them to purchase now.
The close section is where you will wrap up with any final thoughts and sign off on the letter.
The P.S. section is one of the most important section of the whole letter. Here you can recap the benefits briefly and the guarantee. You also ask for the sale again. Sometime you can put a time limit on the offer or offer a discount if they order now.
If you like to look a some good examples of sales letters go to www.thegaryhalbertletter.com .
Next week I will go over prospecting and closing, see you then. Don't forget to leave a comment.
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