How To Write A Great Sales Letter
How To Write A Great Sales Letter
6 tips for composing a sales letter that’ll hit the right note with your customers
By Kim T. Gordon | October 30, 2006
Editor's Note: The following article is excerpted from Kim Gordon's latest book,Maximum Marketing, Minimum
Dollars, (Kaplan Publishing).
Postal mail is an essential channel for following up leads generated by marketing communications or sales calls,
and sales letters are among the most popular tools in a small-business owner’s arsenal. You can write and send
them at little or no cost. And it seems there’s always the need for a good sales letter—whether it’s to follow up a
phone conversation, a meeting, or a lead generated from marketing communications. However, because most small-
business owners are not professional writers, sales letters can be challenging. It’s easy to go overboard and make
your letter too hard sell or, on the flip side, produce a letter with “no teeth” that doesn’t present your company in
the right light or move your prospect closer to making a buying decision.
Some people think writing a sales letter should be quick and simple, so they get frustrated after a short time and
either give up or settle for a letter that’s simply mediocre. In reality, even the best professional writers expect to
spend considerable time crafting an effective letter. But that doesn’t mean every time you send out a letter you
should spend hours creating it. Instead, it’s important to have a group of polished sales letters on hand that can be
easily modified to fit specific situations.
You can write a terrific sales letter. Start by taking a look at these six guidelines:
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Tip #5: Include a postscript.
This is one sales tactic that can be borrowed successfully from direct mail, although it’s not appropriate for every
type of business. It’s often helpful to include a postscript because recipients tend to read the salutation, then skip to
your P.S. before reading the body of your letter. So put your primary benefit or any special offer in your P.S. to
motivate prospects to spend time with your letter.
A great sales letter presents the benefits of your products or services and explains them with features. Plus, a good
letter always strives to move the prospect further along in the sales cycle by stating clearly what the next step must
be. Whether your goal is a one-to-one meeting, group sales presentation, or the opportunity to present a cost
proposal, close for it in your letter and then follow through as promised.
Kim T. Gordon is the "Marketing" coach at Entrepreneur.com and a multifaceted marketing expert, speaker,
author and media spokesperson. Over the past 26 years, she's helped millions of small-business owners increase
their success through her company, National Marketing Federation Inc.Her latest book,Maximum Marketing,
Minimum Dollars, is now available.