Business Correspondence Part 22

Are you willing to make more money on soap?

Yes, we suppose you are carrying many soaps, but when a distinctive soap is advertised as thoroughly as we are advertising WESINOD, it actually creates new trade, and of course you aren't sorry to see new faces in the store.

WESINOD SOAP has the curative and beneficial effects of Resinol Ointment, which is now used so extensively by the medical profession.

WESINOD SOAP is more than a cleanser: it is a restorer, preserver and beautifier of the skin, and as such is attracting the favorable attention of women.

Enclosed is a reproduction of our advertis.e.m.e.nt in the magazines this month and a list of the magazines in which the copy appears.

We are educating 10,000,000 readers to feel the need of WESINOD SOAP.

A supply of our liberal samples and a trial order to be used in a window display will show you the possibilities.

May we send samples and a trial gross?

Yours for more soap money, WESINOD SOAP COMPANY

_This is a strong selling letter that interests the reader, disarms his natural objection to adding an additional line of soap and presents briefly convincing reasons for stocking with Wesinod. While this letter is intended to get the order, it effectively paves the way for further correspondence_

It is unnecessary to take up here the elements that should go into the sales letter--attention, interest, argument, proof, persuasion, inducement and the clincher. But it is well to emphasize three points that are especially important in the original letter in the series: confidence, price and the close.

You may be sure, that unless you win the confidence of your prospect from the start, your whole campaign is going to be a waste of time, paper and postage. Distrust and prejudice, once started, are hard things to overcome by mail, particularly when you are a concern or individual unknown to the man to whom you are writing.

Dear Sir:

''If your magazine pulls as well as the Blank Monthly I will give you a twelve-page contract.''

That remark wasn't meant for our ears, but one of our solicitors couldn't help overhearing it. It was made by a prominent advertiser, too. We wish we could give his name, but when we asked permission to quote he smiled and said he'd rather not. So, we'll have to refer you to our advertising pages.

But the remark speaks pretty well for the Blank Monthly, doesn't it?

It's not surprising, though. The Blank Monthly goes into 151,000 homes. It is taken and read by the best cla.s.s of technical, scientific and mechanically inclined men, representing one of the choicest cla.s.ses of buyers in America.

Our subscribers are great buyers of things by mail. Dozens of our advertisers have proved it. They don't sell shoddy or cheap goods, either. That's why we believe your advertising will pay in the Blank Monthly. If we didn't believe it, we shouldn't solicit your business.

Try your copy in the June issue, which goes to press on April 27-- last form May 6.

If you send copy TODAY, you will be sure to get in.

Very truly yours, [Signature: M. O. Williams]

_The quoted language gives the opening of this letter an interesting look. The first three paragraphs are strong. The fourth paragraph is merely a.s.sertive, and is weak. A fact or two from some advertiser's experience would be much better_

And so with this in mind, be careful of the tone of your letter. Be earnest, make reasonable statements, appeal to the intelligence or the experience of the reader and deal with specific facts rather than with mere a.s.sertions or claims. There is no inspiration to confidence in the time-worn claims of "strongest," "best," and "purest". Tell the facts. Instead of saying that an article is useful in a dozen different ways, mention some of the ways. When you declare that the cylinder of your mine pump is the best in the world, you are not likely to be believed; the statement slips off the mind like the proverbial water from a duck's back. But when you say that the cylinder is made of close-grained iron thick enough to be rebored, if necessary, you have created a picture that does not call for doubt. But watch out that you don't start an argument.

Brander Mathews gives us a great thought when he says that "controversy is not persuasion." Don't write a letter that makes the reader feel that he is being argued into something. Give him facts and suggestions that he can't resist; let him feel that he has convinced himself. This paragraph fails of its purpose, simply because it argues. You can almost picture the writer as being "peevish" because his letters haven't pulled:

"This stock is absolutely the safest and most staple you could buy.

It will positively pay regular dividends. We stand back of these statements. You must admit, therefore, that it is a good buy for you. So why do you hesitate about buying a block of it?"

On the other hand, this appeals to the investor because it has genuine proof in it:

"No stockholder of ours has lost a dollar through fluctuation in the price of the stock, though we have been doing business for fifteen years. Our stock has been readily salable at all times. No dividend period has ever been missed. The quarterly dividend has never been less than 2-1/2 per cent. During the depression of 1907-1908 our stock maintained itself at 40 per cent above par when other industrial stocks were dropping to par or below. Surely, here is an investment worth your investigation."

Telling specific facts helps to produce conviction as well as to create confidence. Not every one is a genius in the handling of words, but every writer of a letter that is to bristle with conviction must use his imagination. He must put himself mentally in the place of the typical customer he is addressing and use the arguments and facts that would convince him. The writer should try to see himself enjoying the foods or service--picture his satisfaction. Then he has a better chance of reproducing his picture in the mind of the reader.

For instance, read this paragraph of idle a.s.sertions:

"Buy our hams once and you will buy them always. All of our meat is from young hogs, and is not tough, but is high-grade. Nothing but corn-fed stock is used. We guarantee the quality. We use good sugar in curing our hams, the best quality of saltpeter and some salt. The result is a natural flavor that can't be beat. We challenge compet.i.tion."

And now contrast it with this real description of the same product, calculated to create confidence in the trademark it bears:

"This mark certifies that the hog came from good stock, that it was corn-fed in order that it might be firm and sweet--that it was a barrow hog, so that the meat would be full-flavored and juicy--that it was a young hog, making the ham thin-skinned and tender--well-conditioned and fat, insuring the lean of the ham to be tasty and nutritious. The mark certifies that the ham was cured in a liquor nearly good enough to drink, made of granulated sugar, pure saltpeter and only a very little salt; this brings out all the fine, rich, natural flavor of the carefully selected meat, and preserves it without 'salty pickling.'"

Note how much more graphic the second paragraph is than the first, and every statement is backed up by a logical reason.

The testimony of other people, especially of those in positions of authority and those who would not be suspected of bias, has much convincing power. There is nothing in the contention that "testimonials are out of date." They const.i.tute the strongest kind of support. But get testimonials that really say something. The man who writes and says that he got out of the book he bought from you an idea that enabled him to make a profit of $50 the first week, says a thousand times more than the man who writes and merely says that he was pleased with his purchase.

Let price come in the letter just about where it would come in an oral canva.s.s. The skillful salesman of high-priced s.h.i.+rts doesn't talk about the $3 price until he has shown the s.h.i.+rt and impressed the customer. If price is the big thing--is lower than the reader is likely to imagine it would be--it may be made the leading point and introduced at the outset, but unless it is an attraction, it should be held back until strong description has prepared the reader for the price.

The method of payment and delivery must be treated effectively in the closing paragraphs. The following plans all have their use:

Offer to send on free trial for ten days or longer;

Offer to send for free examination, payment to be made to express agent when examination has shown article to be satisfactory;

Offer to send on small payment, the small payment to be a guarantee against trifling, balance payable on examination;