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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
January, 2008
Volume: 23 Number: 1
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How To Get Your Foot In The Door -
A Guide To Setting Up A Face-To-Face Meeting
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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, marketers can't afford to have a sales force contact
every single
prospect personally. So we use the Web, direct mail, email, advertising,
etc. as proxies
for a flesh and blood sales force. We must depend on, as Grey Advertising
put it,
"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 a graphic designer I used to work with.
The letter was sent to tech companies in Sunnyvale where he had 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 the designer received literally dozens
of appointments.
If you'd like to see the complete letter, I've posted it on my Web
site at:
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 2008, by Ivan Levison, All Rights Reserved.
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