How to Write a Pre Approach Sales Letter that Delivers More Conversions
How to Write a Pre Approach Sales Letter that Delivers More Conversions
Before anyone engages in writing any business letter, the first question needs to be answered is "What is the purpose of the communication?" Upon successfully answering this question, then and only then can a well written letter be constructed.
So what is the purpose of a pre-approach sales letter? Years ago, the answer might have been to secure that first time appointment to just a friendly introduction to just a means to increase sales. Today, I believe the purpose is two-fold:
1. First attempt to showcase what makes you different or how you stand out away from everyone else
2. First demonstration of your core values
To stand out in the crowd or to be that Red Jacket as I like to say means that you have hone and executed these sales skills when crafting that pre-approach sales letter:
1. Fact finding specific to the market place
2.Research about the qualified prospect
3. Ability to speak and write a compelling story using the A.I.D.A. model
4. Relationship selling
Sales Coaching Tip: Many pre-approach letters fail because they are not sent to qualified prospects who have a need; a dedicated budget; are the decision maker and there is urgency to take action.
Additionally, your core values must always be present from each word you speak or write to your behaviors after you send that pre-approach letter. In other words, write truthfully and avoid using language that may suggest you are less than honorable and authentic.
Every qualified prospect has specific problems or issues that they know and may not know. These issues may be commonly shared within the marketplace or be specific to that qualified prospect. Your pre-approach letter must be able to showcase your understanding of these issues and how you can potentially solve these problems.
Once you have completed your research now you must write a compelling story. The A.I.D.A. model serves as a good and consistent guideline. First your message must get their attention. Accomplishing this step may include the packaging of your letter to those first few words and how they are positioned within the letter. Small Business Sales Coaching Tip: People remember the first few words and the last ones. Your pre-approach letter needs to build interest so that they read to the bottom of the letter instead of just skipping down to the infamous P.S.
Next, your compelling story must generate both Interest and Desire. You want your qualified prospect to keep reading and begin to feel emotionally connected to what he or she is reading. Small Business Sales Coaching Tip: People buy from an emotional level first and then justify those emotions with logic.
Finally, your pre-approach sales letter must end with a call to action. If well written and there exists urgency, your letter will have your qualified prospect picking up the phone and calling you..
Research continues to demonstrate that long, pre-approach sales letters have value because these letters tell a compelling story. I believe that shorter pre-approach sales letters also have value, but you must be very careful in their construction.
Your qualified prospect is very busy. However, when you write a purposeful pre-approach sales letter that communicates an understanding of the marketplace, addresses the most pressing needs or issues and provides a potential solution all within a compelling story, you will stand out away from all of your competitors.
How to Write a Pre Approach Sales Letter that Delivers More Conversions - To learn more about this author, visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
With email marketing campaigns to Internet landing pages now comprising a significant amount of the marketing budgets, some people have abandon the traditional, word processed pre-approach sales letter. Yet, taking this marketing and sales strategy may be somewhat short sighted.
Before anyone engages in writing any business letter, the first question needs to be answered is "What is the purpose of the communication?" Upon successfully answering this question, then and only then can a well written letter be constructed.
So what is the purpose of a pre-approach sales letter? Years ago, the answer might have been to secure that first time appointment to just a friendly introduction to just a means to increase sales. Today, I believe the purpose is two-fold:
1. First attempt to showcase what makes you different or how you stand out away from everyone else
2. First demonstration of your core values
To stand out in the crowd or to be that Red Jacket as I like to say means that you have hone and executed these sales skills when crafting that pre-approach sales letter:
1. Fact finding specific to the market place
2.Research about the qualified prospect
3. Ability to speak and write a compelling story using the A.I.D.A. model
4. Relationship selling
Sales Coaching Tip: Many pre-approach letters fail because they are not sent to qualified prospects who have a need; a dedicated budget; are the decision maker and there is urgency to take action.
Additionally, your core values must always be present from each word you speak or write to your behaviors after you send that pre-approach letter. In other words, write truthfully and avoid using language that may suggest you are less than honorable and authentic.
Every qualified prospect has specific problems or issues that they know and may not know. These issues may be commonly shared within the marketplace or be specific to that qualified prospect. Your pre-approach letter must be able to showcase your understanding of these issues and how you can potentially solve these problems.
Once you have completed your research now you must write a compelling story. The A.I.D.A. model serves as a good and consistent guideline. First your message must get their attention. Accomplishing this step may include the packaging of your letter to those first few words and how they are positioned within the letter. Small Business Sales Coaching Tip: People remember the first few words and the last ones. Your pre-approach letter needs to build interest so that they read to the bottom of the letter instead of just skipping down to the infamous P.S.
Next, your compelling story must generate both Interest and Desire. You want your qualified prospect to keep reading and begin to feel emotionally connected to what he or she is reading. Small Business Sales Coaching Tip: People buy from an emotional level first and then justify those emotions with logic.
Finally, your pre-approach sales letter must end with a call to action. If well written and there exists urgency, your letter will have your qualified prospect picking up the phone and calling you..
Research continues to demonstrate that long, pre-approach sales letters have value because these letters tell a compelling story. I believe that shorter pre-approach sales letters also have value, but you must be very careful in their construction.
Your qualified prospect is very busy. However, when you write a purposeful pre-approach sales letter that communicates an understanding of the marketplace, addresses the most pressing needs or issues and provides a potential solution all within a compelling story, you will stand out away from all of your competitors.
How to Write a Pre Approach Sales Letter that Delivers More Conversions - To learn more about this author, visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
 | |
 |
i like what i read
Commented on How to Write a Pre Approach Sales Letter that Delivers More Conversions. |
| |
Leave Your Feedback |
 | |
| |||
Leanne Hoagland-SmithAre your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website |
|||
David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
|||
Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
|||
Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
|||
John BrennanJohn Brennan Ed.D. Dr. Brennan is President of Interpersonal Development, LLC, a training and development firm. Interpersonal Development has provided sales training and coaching to more than 3,000 sales reps from over 100 companies. A native of Australia, Dr. Brennan received his doctorate from the University of Rochester. His dissertation researched the effectiveness of Behavioral Modeling Technology in training people in interpersonal skills. While he has spent most of his career designing or delivering training, he was also a Vice-President of Sales of a training and development franchise with operations in 25 markets. Dr. Brennan has designed and delivered sales training in North America, Asia, Europe, Australia and the Middle East. He has been a guest speaker at numerous national and regional professional conferences. When Microsoft wanted Best Practices articles on sales for their web site, they called Dr. Brennan. The results are at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX011387391033.aspx His firm’s clients have included Volvo, The Prudential, Merrill Lynch, Eastman Kodak, Gannett, Equifax Europe, the Economist Group and countless small businesses. - Visit John Brennan's Website |
|||
George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
|||
Kim CastleWith nearly two decades in the advertising and design business, with clients like Domino's Pizza, General Motors, Direct TV, Pedigree, Wolfgang Puck, Higher Octave Music, Hollywood Celebrity Products, Disney, and Paramount, as well as thousands of entrepreneurs around the world define, structure, communicate, and position their business for greater profits, BrandU(R) co-creators Kim Castle and W. Vito Montone discovered that entrepreneurs could experience the same power that big brands command for a fraction of the cost with the world's only process-based results-drive Integral approach to business creation. BrandU(R) is helping entrepreneurs grow with the power of extreme clarity from idea...to brand...to market(TM) and helping one million entrepreneurs become successful and whole so that they can make a difference in the world. Are you one of them? If you want to experience clarity all the way to the bank(TM), get started now at http://www.brandu.com. - Visit Kim Castle's Website |
|||
Anne BarrAnne Barr has over 26 years experience in sales and marketing, six years as a franchisee. She has assisted over 367 business owners and purchasers to achieve their goals in career change, transition and exit strategy. She holds the designation of Certified Franchise Executive from the International Franchise Association, Certified Business Intermediary from the International Business Brokers Association and Board Certified Broker from the Texas Association of Business Brokers. Anne is active in professional organizations, networking groups and volunteers for non-profit entities. As owner/operator of four successful businesses, Anne has proven people skills and enjoys helping clients find the right "fit" in business ownership. Visit www.FranchiseOpportunitySpecialist.com for more information about me and my company. - Visit Anne Barr's Website |
|||
|
To learn more about the Evan Elite Author Program please contact us. | |||
 | |
|  |
Subscribe to Leanne's articles
 | |
|
|  |
 | |
|
| |
 | ||
 |
||
 |
||
 |
||
|
| ||
 |
| Have you written articles that would be of value to entrepreneurs? Become an expert on our site by publishing them! Expose yourself to a wide audience, drive more traffic to your website and get more sales! Click Here for details. |
|
|
 |
| Modeling the Masters: Learn the true secrets behind Walt Disney's business success factors & grow your company! Video produced by Phanta Media |
|
|
 |
"Learn straight from Evan how you can Make a Full Time Income (And More) from a Website"
Click Here To Learn More |
|
|
|
|
Get advice & tips from famous business owners, new articles by entrepreneur experts, my latest website updates, & special sneak peaks at what's to come!
|
|
 |
 High Quality Sales Leads Optimize For Ask Checklist Managing Generations Relationships and Referrals Become a Better Closer! |
|
 | ||
 |
The Top 10 Guy Kawasaki Posts
Best Posts for Entrepreneurs | |
 |
Top 50 Marketing Blogs
Top Blogs To Watch In 2008 | |
| ||
 | ||||
| ||||
|
| ||||
| ||||
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||
|
Email us your ideas on how to make our website more valuable! Thank you Sharon from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for your suggestions to make the newsletter look like the website and profile younger entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez and Sean Combs!
|
|
|
| ||||||||||
|
| ||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||