A good letter informs, a great letter sells

Regular readers of these articles (yes, I’m talking to you, Mom) are already familiar with our advice about cold calling: Don’t do it. A bold statement, indeed. That’s not to say that you shouldn’t call on new prospects, but just that you should warm them up with a well-crafted letter before making the call.

But what goes into the letter? Here are a few things to consider.

1. Always focus on benefits. While reading the letter, the reader will be thinking, “What’s in it for me?” You’d better have an answer.
2. Write to one person. You are not addressing an audience. You are talking to the one person reading the letter. It’s hard to be personal when you’re writing to a Madam or Sir. And being personal is the key to success.
3. Did we mention benefits? What you do is a feature of your service. What your service does for your clients is a benefit.
4. Hit a home run on the very first pitch. Grab their attention with the single biggest reason for them to buy. Too often, we find that big idea about five paragraphs down. If you don’t get them right away, you can bet you won’t have them when you say, “Call now,” at the end.
5. Be relevant and be specific. What is it—specifically—that makes your service so great? And why should your reader care? If it will save them 37 percent, don’t just say it will save them money, say it will save them 37 percent!
6. Do not write to inform or to raise awareness. Write to sell. Make it friendly, personal, readable—but make every word sell. If that letter isn’t generating income, it’s costing you money.
7. Write the letter in a way that would make you buy whatever it is you are selling. Would you put out cold, hard cash for it? If not, don’t expect your potential clients too, either.
8. Use an active voice. Be confident. Passivity is not for marketers.
9. Write until you are done. Clients always want to restrict letters to one or two pages. “Nobody will read them if they are longer,” they insist. They are wrong. People will read as long as they have a reason to read. If you have six pages of benefits that you can talk about in a compelling way, then write for six pages. But not a sentence longer.
10. Never end a page with a period. Split the sentence, split the paragraph—people need closure, so give them a reason to keep turning the page.
11. Use variety in your writing. Longer (not looooong) sentences, short sentences, varied punctuation—as with good food, presentation matters.
12. Write as if to a friend. Indent paragraphs, use a common font, avoid jargon—all those little things that make it easier to read. You can be stiff and “business-like” if you want, but you do it at your peril.
13. There is a place for cute and clever—your letter is not that place. Remember, your goal is to sell your services, not impress them with your wit.
14. Be clear. You reader may love your story but it will be wasted on them if you don’t tell them what to do next. Call now. Order now. Write a letter to your member of parliament now. Tell them.
15. Always, always, always include a postscript (P.S.). Believe it or not, a P.S. is among the first things to be read. Why not use it to restate the key benefit of your offer?