Simple Tips To Explode Responses To Your Sales Letters – Both Online And Off

Are you looking for some simple techniques that you can implement today that will drastically improve responses to your sales letters, emails, sales pages, etc?
Would you like tips that won’t require hours of study or years of practice? That will work for both lead generation and direct response? Tips that many of the country’s top copywriters use to explode responses to their promotions without having to change a word of their ads?
You’ve come to the right place.
So while none of these tips can take the place of a carefully honed letter, or expertly positioned email – they’re simple, require no writing skills whatsoever, and when used properly, can drastically increase responses to your promotions.
So without further ado…
Simple Sales Tips to Explode Responses to your Sales Letters
Offer a bribe. One easy way to see big increases in your responses is to offer a bribe… for most people, the easiest way to do this is offer some kind of Special Report or other informational booklet. Remember, as always when you’re writing sales and marketing correspondence, you want to put yourself in your prospects shoes. Think of it this way, as a homeowner, which offer sounds more enticing to you…
Reply today to receive more information on Strategic Realtors.
Or
Reply today and we’ll rush you a copy of our brand new report “Getting Top Dollar for Your Home in a Down Market.” This report is packed full of tips and tricks guaranteed to help you get more money out of your home!
Include a reply element. Whether you’re looking to generate leads or direct sales you always need to include a reply element. For best results, give people multiple ways to reply including a phone number, email address, website, and for direct mail, an inserted reply card.
For instance, if you’re a real estate agent (or other professional selling services) I’d recommend including something with three options:
Reply today and receive our recently published free report “Getting Top Dollar for Your Home in a Down Market”
Give me a call. I’m looking to list my house for sale soon.
Not interested right now. Try me again in ___________
This way you’re allowing for responses from absolutely everyone, whether they’re immediately interested in your services or not.
Affix an actual first class stamp – avoid using a meter. Metered postage can be an indicator that your letter is some sort of advertisement or solicitation. Using an actual stamp gives the illusion that the letter is personal correspondence and it stands a better chance of getting opened.
Use a plain white #10 Envelope. A plain #10 envelope with a an actual first class stamp affixed, as well as only your name and return address (no company logo) stands the best chance of getting opened. It furthers the illusion of a personal letter. Tricky… maybe,but very effective.
Personalize your mailing. Research has shown time and time again that personalized mailings will out-pull nonpersonalized mailings – and this is especially true when mailing to wealthy individuals or high-level executives. Personalization has also proven extremely effective when mailing to pre-existing customers. If for some reason you can’t personalize your mailing, be as specific with your salutation as you can. Dear Friend works for most mass consumer ads, but the more specific you can get, the better. Dear Homeowner would work for a residential real estate broker, Dear Sellwood area homeowner (if you’re mailing was that targeted) is even better. For b2b mailings, get as close to the persons title as you can. Dear Sales Director is best, but dear Sales Professional will also work well.
Add a P.S. According to an article in Target Marketing, Pat Friesen said that the “P.S.” is among the most widely read elements of a sales letter. In fact, 30 percent or more of all people will read the P.S. first! So what should you cover in your P.S.? You want to restate an important point (such as your bribe) or add an additional point that you didn’t cover in your body copy. You can also use the P.S. to highly the urgency for response… “Remember… we only have six widgets available at this price…”
Guarantee your offer. Offering a 15, 30, 60, or even 90 day money back guarantee can be one of the most powerful ways to increase your responses. Contrary to what most think, the longer your guarantee your product, the more likely your prospects are to buy, and the less likely they are to ask for a refund. Why? With a longer guarantee prospects feel as though they have all the time in the world to evaluate your product, and as a result, usually put it aside on a shelf for a rainy day. And yes, you should even guarantee your electronic products like e-books. Of course, there’s no way to actually get your e-book back once you’ve sent it, but you can use that as an additional selling point… “If for any reason you’re not satisfied, just let us know and we’ll promptly issue a refund and you can keep the book as our free gift!” Yes, you may get some dishonest people who’ll just return the product, but the increase in sales will definitely be worth the few returns.