Imagine that you're someone who has just purchased a product or service after reading a well-written and persuasive sales letter. You pay the price of the product or service and eagerly await the product's arrival or to speak with a representative about using the service. Finally, the product arrives, or you're used up your service hours and you have not reaped any of the benefits touted in the flashy sales letter. Even worse, the product you purchased was broken or not satisfactory when it arrived and now it's going to be a hassle to replace it or get a refund. If this were you, how would you feel?
Potential customers are often wary about purchasing a product or service based only on a sales letter because there are no implied guarantees. The product can be damaged upon arrival, the service can provide little help, or the product or service is just not worth the price the customer might pay. There is one trick you can use to reduce these fears on the part of the potential customer. Use a guarantee in your sales letters that allows customers to shed the risk they would normally assume when making such a purchase.
A guarantee can be in several forms. You can guarantee free replacement if a product is defective, additional free services if a client is unsatisfied with the service you have provided, or even offer to refund the entire purchase price of the product or service if the customer is not completely satisfied. When you offer a guarantee, you are creating goodwill and confidence in your product or service. Many potential customers think, "Why would they guarantee their product or service if it didn't work as well as advertised?"
When you offer a guarantee in your sales letters, make sure the guarantee is risk-free. This means that you should not attach any strings to the guarantee. Some companies require that a product be returned unopened or in its original packaging in order to receive a full refund. If you've had the product for a month or two, and you've already thrown out the packaging, this can present a problem. Then you're stuck with a shoddy product and an emptier wallet. Making your guarantee risk-free means that you don't require customers to meet any conditions in order to receive the refund, replacement, or free services.
This is a marketing tactic that can create quite a lot of goodwill from customers. People are more likely to buy from businesses that stand behind their products and services than from businesses that are hard to deal with and inflexible if a product is damaged or a service has not benefited the customer. By offering a risk-free guarantee, you are telling your customers that you care about their experience with your company. You are also giving customers an easy way to solve problems, rather than making them go through a difficult process. This can even create repeat business from satisfied customers.
Once you've mastered the art of using risk-free guarantees in your sales letters, you may see an increase in the number of inquiries generated by a particular sales letter or even in the number of sales that result from a direct mail campaign. If you see results, it only makes sense to keep this tip in the front of your mind as you develop sales letters in the future.
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Saturday, April 5, 2008
Using 'Guarantees' in Your Sales Letters to Increase Sales
Using Testimonials to Create High-Impact Sales Letters
Sales letters can be an effective marketing tool when you use the right ingredients to develop a targeted sales piece that is directed at very specific audiences. When you write a sales letter, you need to introduce your product or service, outline its features and benefits, differentiate the product or service from those of your competitors, and convince the reader to make a purchase. The catch is, you must do all of this within a fairly short sales piece that needs to be very persuasive. One of the best tools you can use to help convince readers that they need your product or service is a testimonial from a satisfied customer.
When a customer gets satisfaction from using your product or service, ask the customer if he or she would be willing to write a short testimonial that outlines the experience that was delivered by the product or service. Perhaps your product saved the customer 50% off of their normal materials expense because the product utilized materials more effectively. Maybe the client that utilized your marketing consulting services has experienced a 30% increase in the number of leads derived from the marketing campaign you developed. If this is the case, let your clients tell your story in their own words. This can be one of the best methods of persuasion.
Never use a copywriter to write testimonials for you. These testimonials will never sound as genuine as those that can be given by customers. Another danger when using false testimonials is that the voice of each testimonial sounds the same, making it look like the same person wrote each and every paragraph.
When you ask for testimonials, ask for a long testimonial in the customer's own words. Many advertisers use very short testimonials that encompass one or two positive words about a product or service. This makes potential customers suspicious because it looks like an editor has cut down a lackluster testimonial into a rave review. You can always edit your customers' testimonials for grammar and spelling, but you should keep the wording the same. This will further help you to maintain a genuine appearance when using testimonials.
Use specific testimonials that describe how using your product or service has changed the lives of your customers for the better. Instead of "this is a great product," find a testimonial that says something like "I used XYZ Tools' new chainsaw and saved 50% of my raw materials from going to waste." This is a specific and measurable result that can entice prospects to make a purchase. If your business is service-based, let customers talk about how your service has improved the quality of their lives, saved them money, saved them time, or decreased waste.
Using testimonials from satisfied customers may not have occurred to you when you first sat down to write your sales letter. Once you solicit some genuine testimonials from customers and use them in your sales letters, you will start to notice a real difference in the inquiries about your product or service.
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