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THE LEVISON LETTER
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Action Ideas For Better Direct Mail,
E-mail, Web Sites & Advertising
Published by
Ivan Levison, Direct Response Copywriting
June, 2002
Volume: 17 Number: 6
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How to copywrite a letter that gets you an appointment
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It's a simple fact. The best way to sell anything is
face
to face.
When you're literally in the room with a prospect, you
can probe for areas of customer interest, read body-
language, sell with emotion and personality, answer
objections, and most importantly, close the sale.
In the old days, the Fuller Brush man, the Avon Lady,
and
other intrepid souls would make the rounds and work their
magic in person, right in the prospect's living room. (As
a young man, I sold door to door myself. I thoroughly
enjoyed it and it taught me a lot!)
Obviously, today, software marketers can't afford to
have
a sales force contact every single prospect personally.
So we use direct mail, e-mail, advertising, etc., as
proxies for a flesh and blood sales force. We must
depend, as Grey Advertising put it, on "salesmanship in
print."
This means that lead generation is the name of the game.
We use irresistible free offers to get people to raise
their hands and only then put precious human assets in
touch with them (telemarketers, regional salespeople,
etc.).
But you know, sometimes you don't WANT to generate leads.
You don't WANT a six-month sales cycle. What you want is
an APPOINTMENT. A chance to walk right into the decision-
maker's office, sit down with him or her, and make your
case in person!
One of the best ways to get a personal appointment with
a
key prospect is to send them a terrific letter which
paves the way for your personal call. The letter can't be
some soporific "Allow me to introduce myself" piece of
junk.
You've got to really spark their interest, make a great
impression, and be sure that when you call, you'll be
able to make that important appointment.
Here are some ideas for creating a door-opener letter
that can help make you a winner . . .
+ Don't use a #10 envelope. Go FedEx
Hey. You're not writing 600,000 people. You're contacting
just a few key prospects who you want to meet personally.
So make a splash by using an overnight service. That way,
you'll look major league and can be 100% certain that
your letter will get noticed. The guiding principle is,
when you're contacting a small number of people, your
cost-per-mailing can and should go up!
+ Consider a "dimensional" mailing
In the jargon of direct mail professionals, a dimensional
mailing is a package that actually has something stuffed
inside it (i.e. it has three dimensions). Often, by
adding an attention-getter, you can be sure your package
will get opened.
EXAMPLE: A while ago, I wrote a "get-an-appointment"
letter for Cris Parsons, a terrific graphic designer I
work with. The letter was sent to tech companies in
Sunnyvale where Cris has his home studio. A small rock
was stuffed into the envelope along with the letter. At
the top of the letter, I put the headline:
"Profit-building art direction and design
are just a stone's throw away"
The letters got opened and Cris received literally dozens
of appointments.
If you'd like to see the complete letter, I've posted
it
on my Web site at:
http://www.levison.com/cris
+ Make sure you've got something really important to talk
about
You should only try to set up an appointment when it's
appropriate. Want to demo something that's really hot and
will save the prospect a lot of money? Go for
a one-on-one meeting. Want to discuss creating a
strategic partnership that truly has upside for both of
you? Shoot for the meeting. But don't try set up an
appointment for some routine sales presentation. Save the
big guns for when you really need them!
+ Start your letter with punch
Don't pussy-foot around. Get to the point. For example,
I
recently rolled into a get-an-appointment letter for a
client like this:
"Dear Steve:
I want to ask you for something extremely precious.
Forty-five minutes of your time."
The letter went on to explain why such an expenditure
of
the CIO's valuable time made excellent sense.
+ Dramatize what will happen at the meeting
Don't simply say that you want to make an appointment
to
stop by and chat. Give it a little excitement:
"Key members of my team would like to fly to Chicago
and
meet with you at your corporate headquarters in July.
They have created a personal briefing that will give you
new insight into your competitors' technology plans . . .
etc."
+ Tell them what they'll learn
The letter you write is all about proving that a meeting
is worth having, so be very explicit about what
information you have waiting for them. Consider using
bullet points to break out the benefits.
+ Prepare them for your phone call
Explain that you will be calling to set up an
appointment. Let them know when you will be contacting
them. Make sure that if they don't answer their own
phone, their gatekeeper should know you will be in touch.
The take-away message this month? Keep up your lead-
generation efforts for sure. But if you ever need to meet
with a truly important prospect in person, a well-written
letter can be a great door opener.
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How To Get In Touch
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Ivan Levison
Direct Response Copywriting
14 Los Cerros Drive
Greenbrae, CA 94904
Phone: (415) 461-0672
Fax: (415) 461-7738
E-mail: ivan@levison.com
Web Site: http://www.levison.com
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Copyright 2005, by Ivan Levison, All Rights Reserved.
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