Due 2 hours work. english writing

Persuasive Sales

Letter

Thill’s Chapter 7

Thill’s Exercises 7A, 7C on Page

238

Dr. Rakesh Mittoo

Analyse Sales Goal

 Are you making a sale of a product or a

service, or are you promoting a charity or a

cause? Yes, Direct Mail Sales Letter

 Encouraging an inquiry about a product?

 Sending a brochure?

 Arranging a demonstration?

 Sending an invitation for a visit to your store?

Dr. Rakesh Mittoo

Analyse Product to Identify the

Central Selling Point

 Design, construction of the product, and the raw materials used

 Use and performance and the benefits

 Product support (warranty, service, price payment plan, home delivery, coupons, discounts, etc.)

 Comparison with competition

 What is the central selling point?

 price?

 service?

 quality?

Dr. Rakesh Mittoo

Decide Target Audience

 Ask:

 Where will your letter go? Or To whom are you

writing? Are you addressing a widely based

audience? Are you writing to a category based

audience

 What will attract the customer’s interest?

 Needs

 Interests

 Age

 Income

 Education Dr. Rakesh Mittoo

Adapt Your Sales Request to

Audience’s Needs

 Consider these questions the readers will be

asking when they are reading you message:

Why should I?

Says who?

Who cares?

So what?

What’s in it for me?

What’s in it for you?

Dr. Rakesh Mittoo

AIDA Pattern is Indirect

Strategy

 A = Gaining Attention

 I = Creating Interest

 D = Building Desire

 A = Motivating Action

 Also Reducing Resistance

Dr. Rakesh Mittoo

Gaining Attention

 Opening paragraph:

 Short, engaging, and relevant

 Does not reveal the request immediately

 Provocative message:

 Use effective headline to elicit immediate

response

 Highlight typography

 Focus simultaneously on sales purpose and

reader’s interest. Dr. Rakesh Mittoo

Gaining Attention

 Free offer or bargain (Here’s how to save $500 on your

next vacation.)

 Promise (You can raise your investment income by 10%

every year.)

 Question (Geicho’s ad: Would you like to buy car

insurance and save 15%?) (Do you yearn to earn

10%..?)

 Quotation or proverb (Necessity is the mother of

invention—or the mother of innovation.)

 Product feature or application (Ipod: Millions of Songs,

Thousands of Games, Countless Hours of Fun)

 Testimonial Dr. Rakesh Mittoo

Gaining Attention

 Startling statement (Let the poor and hungry feed

themselves. For just $100 they can.—By a charity)

 Personalized action setting/story

 Relevant current event (The sales tax on cars will jump a

whopping 4% effective next month)

 A comparison

 Personalized statement using receiver’s name

 Solution to a problem (The backpack is designed to

endure kids’ dropping and dragging and kicking.)

 Anecdote

Dr. Rakesh Mittoo

Creating Interest

 Describe the product clearly and emphasize the

central selling point.

 Example:

 “The Air Miles Travelers' Insurance will rid you of

the high costs—and accompanying anxieties—of

sickness or injury in foreign countries.”

 Ask yourself: How will the product make a

difference to the reader?

Dr. Rakesh Mittoo

Building Desire

 Desire: an emotional response that propels

people to action

 Desire is created by presenting specific facts

and appeals.

 Discussing the benefits of the product sets

the stage for discussing price.

Dr. Rakesh Mittoo

Use Rational Appeals (Logos)

 They are associated with reason

 Making money, increasing efficiency, making best use of

resources, improving health, and ensuring safety.

 Banks’ appeals: savings, earnings, or returns

 They are appropriate when a product is expensive, long-

lasting, and important for security, success, health, and

wealth.

 Logical Appeal: “I am going to slash the regular rate of $36 a

year down to only $28, saving you a full 22 per cent. This

means you get 12 information-filled issues of Science Digest

for only $2.33 a copy. You save even more by subscribing for

2 or 3 years.”

Dr. Rakesh Mittoo

Use Credibility Appeals

(Ethos)

 Logic of presentation/persuasion

 Supporting with specifics

 Emphasizing benefits over features

 Choosing appropriate words: positive, objective, success-oriented,

and concrete language

 Not exaggerating your claims

 Character or Celebrity Appeal: “I use this product, so you should,

too”

 “Consumer Reports is on your side. We’re a nonprofit consumer

protection organization with no commercial interests whatsoever. To

put it bluntly, we don’t sell our magazine to big companies and

private groups—we’re accountable to no one except to

consumers….”

Dr. Rakesh Mittoo

Make Emotional Appeals

(Pathos)

 They’re associated with status, identity, ego [pride, love,

satisfaction] and are based on our senses and feelings.

 “Dance on…a Paris balcony high above the Seine.

Seek romance and youth and laughter in charming

capitals on five continents. And there you’ll find the

beguiling perfume that is fragrance Jamais.”

 Use concrete details for emotional appeals.

 They’re used when a product is inexpensive, short-lived,

or non-essential.

Dr. Rakesh Mittoo

Motivating Action

 Offer a gift.

 Promise an incentive.

 Guarantee satisfaction.

 Mention discounts, premiums, sweepstakes,

contests.

 Set a deadline.

 Limit the offer.

 Use postscript—strongest motivator

Dr. Rakesh Mittoo

Reducing Resistance

 Testimonials—enhance credibility

 Attractive warranty

 Trial offers

 Free samples

Dr. Rakesh Mittoo

Emphasize Savings

 Delay mentioning price.

 Show price in small units.

 Compare price with that of competitors.

 Use imperative sentences and action packed

language.

 End with a specific request for action

Dr. Rakesh Mittoo