English Writing for A Business Career: Sales Letters ( 销售函 )

English Writing for A Business Career:Sales Letters (销售函) Direct marketing (sending a sales letter by mail) is the most effective way to market your products and find new buyers. With all the new technology we have today (internet, fax, B2B, sales letter. But you cannot send just any letter. The sales letter that you send represents your company. If it looks good, you look good. If it looks bad, you look bad. If there are mistakes in the letter then the quality of your product is questioned. An estimated 97% of all sales letters go into the trash. It is important that your sales letter looks nice and is effective in order to be part of the 3% of letters that stay on the importer’s desk. Importers generally look at the first paragraph first. If they are still interested they skip down to the last paragraph to look for the seller’s web site address. Our research showed that US importers generally do not look at the second or third paragraph. Sales letters don’t sell anymore. Your web site does that now. Your sales letter has two functions. The first is to introduce your company and your products and the second is to direct the reader to your web site. Effective sales letters generally have four paragraphs and are arranged in the following manner:

English Writing for A Business Career:Sales Letters (销售函) • Paragraph 1: Attracting Attention A recent research study showed that US importers generally spend seven seconds looking at a sales letter to determine if they are interested or not. If within that 7 seconds you have convinced the reader that you have a product they would like to buy and resell then they will continue reading. Otherwise the letter goes into the trash. • Paragraph 2: Building Interest and Desire Once you have the reader’s attention you must give the basic details. Your goal is to show that you have a reliable product that the importer can buy from you and then easily resell in your city for a profit. • Paragraph 3: Convincing The Reader At this point you have the reader’s interest and have given the basics. This paragraph tells the importer the benefits of buying your product. Here you show the buyer how he/she will benefit from buying your product. • Paragraph 4: Request for Action This paragraph is short and has only one function: go to your web page for more information. It is very important that you put your web site address in this last paragraph and encourage the reader to go there to see more about your products. .

English Writing for A Business Career:Sales Letters (销售函) A Sample Sales Letter: Dear Sirs, Boris Textile Producing Co. Ltd. is a leading Russian manufacturer and exporter of socks and hosiery. The range of our product line, good quality, and competitive prices have made us one of the fastest growing companies of its kind in Russia. Located in Moscow, we produce a wide variety of socks and hosiery items in a cotton-woolen-nylon blend for men, women, and children. These socks are of good quality and are popular with customers. Our total production averages 10 million pairs per year, 70% for export and 30% for the domestic market. We at Boris Textile Co. will work with you to produce the types of socks or hosiery products that will sell well in your stores. We guarantee both our quality and on time delivery of shipments and our prices are very competitive. For more information please go to our web site at: www.boristextile.com.ru. Yours faithfully

English Writing for A Business Career:Sales Letters (销售函)（www.writeexpress.com) How to Write the Perfect Sales Letter • First, gather a few sales letters that grab your attention from your own mailbox. Give particular notice to the look, wording, and the way the information is organized. Keep those models in mind as you begin to write. • Create a short, powerful headline. Center it on the page. Use large type, bold, or color—something to set it apart from the body of the letter. Experiment also with a font that is different from the one used in the text. But remember these rules of design: no more than two fonts, and do not mix two serif fonts or two sans serif fonts. Try a combination of one serif font, such as Times New Roman, and one sans serif font, such as Arial. • Start the body of the letter with a polite but personal tone. • Example: “Dear . . .” Use the potential customer's name. Talk to him or her as a friend. • Ask a question that lists the greatest benefits of your offer. How will your product or service make your reader's life better? Why is your product or offer better than your competitor's? • Example: “How would you like to receive (first benefit) and (second benefit)? Read on! This might be the most important letter you ever receive.” • Tip: DO NOT ask a question that can be answered with “yes” or “no.” You should control both the question and the answer! • Answer the question in one or two sentences. Explain why your product or service is essential or special. Achieving a better quality of life is a universal theme. • Examples: • “Here's why ...” • “Here's how ...”

English Writing for A Business Career:Sales Letters (销售函) • Address doubts before your potential customer has a chance to think of them: • Examples: • “Sound too good to be true? I thought so when I first learned about . . .” • “I know this sounds outrageous. I'd be skeptical too.” • “Do these results sound unbelievable? I thought so too, but then ...” • Give a convincing answer: • Examples: “But the more I learned about . . . , the more I knew that I should give it a try. Here's why you should too ...” List three good reasons that demonstrate how your product will make the reader's life better, make him feel more secure, or motivate him to action. Keep the reasons short and powerful. Use statements that suggest positive results, facts, and figures. • Examples: • “Four out of five doctors recommend ...” • “Research shows that no other company can . . . like we can.” • “Four out of five customers agree that ...“ • Tip: Keep your vocabulary simple, short, and to the point.

English Writing for A Business Career:Sales Letters (销售函) • Now describe the special features and benefits of your product or service. A feature is something that makes your product or service extraordinary, essential or valuable. A feature describes what your product or service is or what it has. The benefit of the feature is what the feature will do for the reader. Bullet points are good to use here—they draw the eye to this important section. Benefits sell while features often do not. Many sales letters list benefits only. Others list both features and benefits. Writers often make the mistake of listing features only. • List three or five features with their special benefits. • Feature 1—Benefit 1 • Feature 2—Benefit 2 • Feature 3—Benefit 3 • Tip: Odd-numbered lists seem to work better than even-numbered lists. • Ask and answer one final question to lead the reader into the finer points of the offer. You may expand upon the features and benefits that you included in your answer. • Example: You may ask how we can possibly do all this? Here's how ...” Endorsements sell becausethey establish credibility. List several short, enthusiastic testimonials that reinforce the features and benefits you have listed. • Example: “But you don't have to take my word for it. Here's what our satisfied customers are saying.”

English Writing for A Business Career:Sales Letters (销售函) • Shoot holes in your competitors' offers. • Examples: • “No one can match this offer.” • “Do not buy this product elsewhere unless it has these features: One . . . Two . . . Three . . .” • “Sure, others will try to sell you a product of lesser quality, but can they offer you: One . . . Two . . . Three . . . ?” • Cost-to-value ratio is enormous. Boldly state that your product or service has a real value of at least ten times the price. These value statements need to be clear and crisp, with not too many details. Perhaps your product can save valuable time, or make a huge difference in lifestyle, or replace another higher-priced product, etc. • Examples: • “You'll get over ten times your money's worth in value! Guaranteed!” • “Extraordinary savings!” (or quality, add-on products, longevity, warranty, etc. ) • “We offer you unbelievable quality for only one-tenth the usual price.” • Summarize. Briefly describe the complete product or service. You can remind the reader about the features and benefits, but don't list them. Rather, add several similar features and benefits and place a high value on them. • Example: “So here's everything you get . . . • Price and urgency. Make a stipulation, then repeat the offer: • Example: “If you respond by (date), you pay only $______. That's right, for the price of two movie tickets and popcorn you pay only $______, if you respond by (date).”

English Writing for A Business Career:Sales Letters (销售函) • If this letter is to create a lead, tell your prospect what he/she must do to contact you by a certain deadline. Be sure to make it easy to respond by including your business name, phone number, web site, etc. Ask the customer for all of the information you need, such as first and last names, phone number, address, etc. Make an optional request for the customer's email address so that you can send future offers by email as well. • Premiums. Bundling a free bonus (a premium) for acting by the deadline is an excellent motivator. Be sure to give the bonus value—as much or more than the purchase price is a good idea. If you don't have an idea for a premium, you can search the web for e-books or informational reports for which you can purchase reprint rights—an excellent and inexpensive idea that has a high value margin. • Example: “Order today and I'll send you . . . —a $50 value! But remember, I am offering this free bonus for a limited time . . . so order now!” • No-risk guarantee. You've heard and read many assurances before. • Examples: • “Buy completely at our own risk . . . ” • “You pay nothing unless you are totally satisfied.” • “There is no risk with our complete satisfaction, money-back guarantee!” • “No questions asked. Simply return the product within 30 days and we'll refund your money in full.” • Add the clincher. • Example: “Remember, you keep the free bonus (es). Even if you decide to take advantage of our No Risk, Total Satisfaction, Money-back Guarantee, the bonus(es) are yours to keep—our gift(s) to you for simply trying our ...” These are all good business tactics, but consider adding a postscript to restate an important benefit and reinforce the urgency of the offer.

English Writing for A Business Career:Sales Letters (销售函) • Don't forget the envelope: your all-important introduction! • In order to get someone to open your envelope, you first need to get past the “junk mail” perception! • Use a teaser on the envelope —a few words that imply a benefit. • Examples: “Free $50 gift offer enclosed.” Use labels that express urgency. • Examples: • Urgent • Time-Sensitive • Express • Hand Deliver • Official • Use real stamps. Real stamps attract more attention than metered mail and you have your choice of which books to buy at the post office. • Tip: Don't but the reptile books of stamps with the pictures of poisonous snakes! • Use a return address and choose the font carefully. Use a readable script font such as Andy that looks like you have hand-written the letter. Credibility sells. This is the first place that you sell yourself or your company. Some people include their personal photos. The absence of a return address sends a junk mail message. • Use official-looking envelopes. Envelopes that appear to have been sent by a governmental agency are usually opened and read.

English Writing for A Business Career:Sales Letters (销售函) Additional Sales Letter Tips: • Price comes after the benefits. Unless you are offering a blowout bargain, and price is the main benefit of your offer, mention price after describing the benefits. • Sell the smallest units. If you are selling multiple units, then state, for example, “$4.50 a box” rather than “$45 per carton” to solicit the lowest amount of money. Accept charge cards if you are selling a high-priced item. • Supplementary Brochure. An accompanying brochure could visually show the product or graphs research data described in the sales letter. Although a brochure adds cost to your mailing, studies show results jump markedly. • Design. Keep the reader's eye moving by using several “tricks of the trade.” • Examples: • Vary paragraph widths • Add personal notes using a script font • Use different colors to mark key phrases

English Writing for A Business Career:Sales Letters (销售函) Dear Sirs, Boris Textile Producing Co. Ltd. is a leading Russian manufacturer and exporter of socks and hosiery. The range of our product line, good quality, and competitive prices have made us one of the fastest growing companies of its kind in Russia. Located in Moscow, we produce a wide variety of socks and hosiery items in a cotton-woolen-nylon blend for men, women, and children. These socks are of good quality and are popular with customers. Our total production averages 10 million pairs per year, 70% for export and 30% for the domestic market. We at Boris Textile Co. will work with you to produce the types of socks or hosiery products that will sell well in your stores. We guarantee both our quality and on time delivery of shipments and our prices are very competitive. For more information please go to our web site at: www.boristextile.com.ru .

English Writing for A Business Career:Sales Letters (销售函) A Typical Well Written Letter for An Agent Star Textile Exports, established in 1987, is one of the fastest growing agents in Turkey. We currently represent a number of major European importers, such as Blue Cloud Mail Order of France and others. We are happy to announce that we are now offering this same service to American import companies like yours. From our office in Istanbul, the heart of low cost and good quality ready-to-wear garments, we can supply your company with whatever kind of apparel you would like. The wide range of Turkish export companies that we work with insure you of getting just the items that you are looking for. Whether it be baby wear, children's wear, ladies and men's outer and underwear, leather wear, socks, belts, bags, shoes, or household items such as bed linen, towels, bathrobes, or table clothes we can make sure that you get the quantity you need at the best possible price. And our staff of quality controllers insure that the garments are well made. If you would like to take advantage of the services that Star Textile Buying Agency has to offer your company, please go to our web site at www.startextile.com, or contact us by fax at (90/212) 123 45 67. Thank you. We look forward to hearing from you.

English Writing for A Business Career:Sales Letters (销售函) How Not To Write A Sales Letter ----Every word in your sales letter must be chosen carefully. Do not use words that are pushy, like "prompt", and "ASAP", and "at your convenience". US importers do not like to be pushed into making a decision. ----Do not try to flatter the buyer with words like "esteemed" and "respected". US importers will give you an order because you have a product they want. Not because you tried to inflate their ego. ---- Do not use abbreviations. Using "B. Rgds" for "Best Regards" and "Tkx" for "Thank You" implies that you are lazy. No US importer wants to do business with someone who is lazy. ----Do not misspell any words or use bad grammar. Your sales letter is the only representation of your company that the buyer sees. In their eyes a poorly written sales letter means poorly produced products. ----Do not make the reader hunt for your web site address. The goal of your letter is to get the prospective buyer to go to your web site for more information and hopefully to give you an order. Put your web site address in the last paragraph and also in the contact information at the top of the letter. Make it easy for the buyer to get the information he/she wants and to contact you for more details and possibly a price quote.

English Writing for A Business Career:Sales Letters (销售函) REFERRAL FEES(转介费） FROM US, LARGER COMMISSIONS FROM YOUR CLIENTS - JUST FROM INFORMING THEM HOW THEY CAN "CASH IN" ON THE BUSINESS YOU'RE HELPING THEM TO SELL. Dear [broker]: As a business broker, you undoubtedly know that over two hundred thousand seller-financed business notes are created every year when businesses are bought and sold. But you may not appreciate the full extent of the opportunity for additional profits represented by that fact. Poser Investments, Inc., is the nation's largest purchaser of business notes. Every week of the year we pay out referral fees to business brokers who, by referring clients to us, help the clients obtain a lump sum of cash for otherwise non-liquid business notes. By showing your clients how to obtain cash for their business, you not only earn our referral fees, you also increase your commissions by closing sales that hang in the balance over the issue of cash. What distinguishes us from other companies is that we buy only business notes - with our own funds. Additionally, we are members of both the International Association of Business Brokers and the Business Opportunity Council of California. Not many companies in our profession can say that. Enclosed is a booklet that should answer most of your questions about how working with us can land extra money in your bank account from our referral fees and help earn additional commissions from gratified business sellers who can now fully enjoy their retirement or finance the purchase of a new business through you. I look forward to hearing from you. Sincerely, Janice Gaylord, Associate Poser Investments, Inc. • P.S. Please note that there is no cost for you or your client to call our office, and have me outline the available options for a specific business-note situation, or for me to answer any of your questions about how we might work together. So call me, Janice Gaylord, at 1-800-333-1527 today!

English Writing for A Business Career:Sales Letters (销售函)

English Writing for A Business Career: Sales Letters ( 销售函 )