The lost art of letter writing - use of letters in advertising sales - includes related article

Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management, May 15, 1994 by Helen Berman

Written communication is intensely personal and can add a special dimension to the ad sales relationship.

Is written correspondence as obsolete as slide rules and carbon paper? It is for many salespeople. I often hear, "I know I should write more letters, but they're too time consuming. I don't have enough secretarial support. I'm not a good letter writer. People are too busy to read letters, and I'm not so sure letters do much good anyway."

Don't let such thoughts stop you from communicating in writing with your prospects and clients; if you do, you will be missing a powerful step in the selling process. Letters can help you prospect effectively, differentiate yourself from the competition, inform and sell all members of the advertising decision-making unit, and advance the action of the sale--just to list a few of their advantages.

But don't limit your thinking just to "letters." By mixing company-produced promotions, such as media kits, with your personal written communication, such as sales letters and notes, you can create a sales communication plan that reflects your resources and fits your needs. Here are just a few ideas that you can tailor to your particular situation.

The personalized media kit: Most media kits are flexible, made up of different pieces and individual fact sheets. Put the sheets that are most important for your particular client first. Then use post-it markers and hand-written page notations to help your prospect move quickly to the most relevant points.

Attach a cover letter that is an "executive summary" of your media kit. It should tell your prospects the most important ways advertising in your magazine will help them sell to their markets. And it should act as a guide, letting your prospects know what to keep in mind as they go through your media kit. Your prospects will probably use your letter to decide if they will even bother to look at your media kit, so make the letter brief, strong, and to the point.

The teaser letter: Do you need to break through the secretarial screen or convince your prospect to accept a call from you? Try the teaser letter. Its function is to grab your prospect's attention, lay out your bait, and close the next step--the phone call or face-to-face appointment.

Use the letter to position your publication, give one or two sales points, dangle a couple of juicy industry or product category tidbits, and indicate that there is much more information available for the price of a conversation.

Leave-behinds: These are your presentation after the presentation. During the sales call itself, you want to keep your prospects' attention on the conversation. Don't risk losing control of a group sales meeting by passing out too many materials. That can be distracting. Instead, use audiovisual aids to demonstrate your sales points. Tell your listeners that you will be giving them information to take back to their offices. Then, when you are finished, leave behind your written materials.

Sales proposals: Submit a sales proposal when you want to outline an advertising program in detail. You might want to include specific recommendations about size, color, frequency, position and copy, along with your advertiser's financial investment and appropriate discounts. This is also an excellent place to outline your merchandising and value-added programs, along with the costs and savings.

Notes and cards: These are for fast, short and more personal communication. Some salespeople have customized note cards printed. Use them as "thank you for your business" greetings. Keep lots of fun and serious greeting cards on hand for such events as birthdays, anniversaries, congratulations, career promotions, sympathy and so on. They are a quick and inexpensive way to remind your clients that you care.

News and industry tidbits: Sending your clients interesting articles you've read shows that you are on top of what's happening and are thinking about them.

Special reminders: Keep your promotion list up to date and send timely, attention-grabbing, useful information to your clients--such as how they can take advantage of new research, special issues and industry events. Be creative--use the language and themes of your market. For example, Pizza Today once sent out promotion that was pizza scented.

You may need to explain to your advertisers why your upcoming editorial is important to your readers and their buyers, and how the editorial creates a supportive environment for their advertising. If, for instance, your highly technical editorial is written for engineers, you may need to help your marketing-oriented advertising decision-makers understand what you are doing. Some publications are now producing newsletters to give their suppliers marketing tips.

As powerful as written communication can be, there is one situation where it doesn't work. Never use letters to deliver bad news. You might need to smooth some feathers with a phone conversation before you put the information in writing.

How to develop a communications strategy