The Ultimate Sales Machine - Chet Holmes [117]
You won’t regret buying from us. I will call you soon to sell you some more.
Sincerely,
Bernie
Of course, this is an exaggeration, but many sales letters can be boiled down to exactly this. They begin with an opening that is not personal and, in fact, belittles the salesperson. As stated, never apologize for taking their time. You must feel that your time is also valuable and they are lucky to be meeting with you because you are bringing them important insights and solutions. However, don’t put all the emphasis on you and your products or ser vices as this type of letter does.
Second, this letter is focused on the sale, not the customer. You can tell prospects all day long how great you are, but unless you know why they buy, you aren’t going to make the sale. Focus on them and the benefits your product or ser vice would have for them.
Third, there is nothing in here to endear you to this client. Get personal. Great follow-up letters have more than a little personal touch. Remind the prospect of a laugh you shared with him or something he said that really stuck with you.
I once pulled off the miracle of catching the senior vice president of Xerox on the telephone during his lunch hour. We talked for an hour and my boss at the time kept coming in and giving me the hard stare, thinking I was on a personal call. It sounded like a personal call. Laughing and talking about life. My boss became hotter and hotter, especially when I waved him away like “Stop bothering me.” When he heard me get off the phone, he called me into his office and said: “Who the hell was that? You were on the phone for an hour!” To which, I responded proudly, “That was the senior vice president of Xerox.” He continued, “What in the world do you have to say that would keep you on the phone for an hour!” And here I was amazed that I got deep enough rapport that this executive wanted to stay on the phone with me for an hour.
I then wrote a follow-up letter filled with personal stuff about the conversation. This same boss snatched the letter from me and said it was unprofessional to go into all this personal information. He then rewrote my letter, taking out all the personal references, and made it similar to the example of a bad follow-up letter I just gave you. Later, when he went home for the day, I used my original letter and sneaked to fax it off to the client.
I had many a battle with this particular boss. That is, until Xerox came in as the biggest sale in the history of the company. After I brought in many more large sales like this, the boss finally let me do things my way. But in the entire time I worked at that company, no one ever asked me how I was bringing in so many large advertisers. If this company had organized the workshops described in Chapter Three, every one would’ve learned all my insights. You’ll find that top producers are eager to share. I certainly was.
If you sell business-to-consumer, you may not have the personal interaction that you would in a business-to-business play. But you still need a personalized follow-up letter. Email makes this quite easy. I bought two suits a few days ago. The salesperson didn’t ask me a lot of questions, but I mentioned that I’m a public speaker, so he asked me for my card. When I got home later that evening, to my shock and surprise there was an email from him. Unfortunately, it was almost word for word the bad follow-up example given, but hey, I was impressed nevertheless.
That’s an example of retail selling where follow-up can be instituted. I’m not sure if this is the policy of the store, but it impressed me. If there is a salesperson involved, as in the suit example, use the structure I’ve provided. The sales rep should have asked me a lot more questions. Then his follow-up could have capitalized on my answers, beginning with some personal note. Make clients feel good about themselves. Let’s say he had asked me what I speak about. He then could’ve said something like, “I loved hearing about the topics you cover in your lectures. It must be exciting