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where they will find the bottom line of why you re writing to them.
The P.S. summarizes the action you want your reader to take and re-
states the offer. Try not to simply repeat lines from the letter, but don t
depart from your theme either. Keep the P.S. focused and on point.
Remind the reader of the need for the immediate arrival of the check,
order, or reservation. I always include a deadline date for the order and
explain the reason for the deadline.
The P.S. should also remind the reader about the money-back guaran-
tee. The P.S. is a great place to offer your reader instant gratification by
providing a toll-free 1.800 number and online order options so your
reader can order immediately and perhaps have the product delivered
overnight.
Force an answer
Do everything in your creative power to force your reader to respond
in some way.
Ask your reader to send back an answer to your letter Yes or
No.
Asking for a response one way or the other requires the reader to
make a decision. You want to give your reader reasons to answer now
to make a decision.
The worst answer for a salesman is I ll think about it and get back to
you later. That means the answer is no.
But the prospect is also keeping his options open. The easiest answer
for your prospect to give is maybe.
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By requiring a yes or no answer on the spot, you are forcing your
prospect to face a moment of truth. If I answer no, I ll miss this oppor-
tunity forever is the thought you must create in the mind of the pros-
pect. The last thing you want your prospect to think is, There s no hurry.
There s no need for me to make a decision right now.
I ve seen women take exactly this approach with men. You either
ask me to marry you now, or that s it. No more waiting. Tonight we will
go out to dinner. If I don t have a ring on my finger by the end of dessert,
I m gone. Finito. You ll never see me again.
Yikes! the guy thinks. I guess she s not going to let me string her
along for another eight years. I better rush out and get that ring.
A weak salesman does not like forcing this moment of truth, or re-
quiring a yes or no answer on the spot. A weak salesman believes
that if he does not get a no answer, he still has a chance to make the sale
later.
Wrong. He has very little chance of making any sales with this
approach . . . because most people would rather never commit until they
absolutely must. A strong salesman knows that forcing a moment of
truth and requiring a decision on the spot will certainly produce more
definitive no answers. But he will also force many more yes an-
swers many more sales.
There are many methods of forcing a decision. You might say in the
P.S. If you decide not to subscribe, would you mind writing me a note
telling me why? Or, If you decide not to subscribe, please just write I
am not subscribing across the order form and mail it back to me. That
way I will know you received and read my letter, and I won t bother you
again.
I m sure you ve seen the Yes and No sticker on offers that come
through the mail. The marketer here is trying to force you to make yes
or no decision.
I m not a big fan of these stickers. They don t look like a real moment
of truth to me. But that s the effect these marketers are attempting to cre-
ate in the minds of their readers.
In a fundraising solicitation I mailed, I asked supporters of the
organization to return the booklet of Monthly Gift coupons and the
accompanying set of 12 reply envelopes if they had decided not to par-
ticipate in the monthly giving program I was promoting.
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Many of those who elected to return the booklets included a one-time
gift. Many of those who returned the booklets were too embarrassed to
do so with no gift at all.
So in all your mailings and sales presentations, always think of ways
to require a response one way or the other to force a decision.
Why long letters usually work best?
Testing shows that long letters usually work better than short letters.
This is yet another example of how direct marketing is counter-
intuitive.
Common sense would seem to dictate that short letters and short
presentations would work better. Who has time to read a four-page or
eight-page letter?
But all testing shows otherwise. Long works far better than short 85
percent of the time. A four-page letter will work better than a two-page
letter. An eight-page letter will work better than a four-page letter.
This is a general rule. There are, of course, exceptions.
The reason is this: About half the people who answer your letter with
an order will have read every word. The other half who answer will have
scanned your materials. The scanners read the first line, the P.S., and the
reply form, your headlines, and perhaps some of your underlined
phrases. And they will review the guarantee. Your scanners don t need a
long letter.
But about half your buyers want all the information before they make
a decision to buy. These people can t get enough information. And if you
fail to answer all their questions, they won t buy. You must write for both
audiences: Your scanners as well as those who want all the information.
Of course, there comes a point of diminishing returns. A 16-page let-
ter is overkill in most cases, and may drive your cost up too high, though
I have written a number of very successful 16-page letters. The fact that
it s 16 pages is enough to get a reader s attention, and suggests that the
writer must have a lot of important things to say.
Generally, a 16-page letter will out-pull an eight-page letter, but not
enough to make up for the increased cost.
But there are important exceptions to this rule. Subscription and
membership renewal notices should be short and look more like invoices
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than letters. A one- or two-page letter works best here and also keeps
your cost lower.
If the service, product, or cause does not need much explaining, a
short letter will work best. A dentist might send you a reminder that it s
been more than six months since your last check-up. No need, in this
case, for this notice to include a long letter describing all his services.
If the President of the United States is writing to his supporters asking
for contributions for his reelection campaign, he does not need a long let-
ter. The need is obvious. It does not require explaining. Everyone knows
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