Business Correspondence Part 34

The payment is not in sight--it hasn't yet turned the corner.

"Billed in the regular way" catches our order where we would postpone action if it meant reaching down into our pockets and buying a money order or writing out a check. The payment looks afar off--and it will not seem so much if the account is paid along with the rest of the bills at the first of the month.

SCHEME 11--THE FIRST INSTALLMENT AS A "DEPOSIT"

Where goods are sold on "easy terms" and a first payment required, many correspondents refer to the remittance as a "deposit." In the strong guarantee it is expressly stated that in case of dissatisfaction, the "deposit" will be returned.

Even the deferring of the payment a few days helps to pull an order.

It is not that a man is n.i.g.g.ardly or that he does not want the article but it is the desire, rooted deep in human nature, to hold onto money after it has been hard earned.

"To facilitate your prompt action, I am enclosing a convenient postal card order. Our s.h.i.+pping department has had instructions to honor this as readily as they would your check. There is no need to send the customary initial payment in advance. Simply sign and mail the enclosed card; when the file comes, pay the expressman the first payment of $2.00."

Here the payment was very small and it was deferred only a few days, but long enough to make it _seem easier_, and the orders were much larger than when cash was required with the order.

SCHEME 12--SENDING GOODS FOR INSPECTION

"Take no risk" is the rea.s.suring line in many advertis.e.m.e.nts and letters. "Send no money--take no risk. We do not even ask you to make a deposit until you are satisfied that you need the Verbest in your business. Simply send the coupon today and the Verbest goes forward at our risk."

Such offers pull best when simply worded and contain some such phrase as "Without obligation on my part, you may send me." It gives rea.s.surance that there is no catch and inspires the confidence that is the basis of the mail-order business.

Then there is the argument that the device or equipment will pay for itself--a powerful leverage when rightly applied.

Here is the way the manufacturer of a certain machine keeps the cost in the shadow:

"There is no red tape to go through. Simply sign the enclosed blank and forward to-day with the first payment of $3.00. The Challenge will go forward promptly. And the balance you can pay as the machine pays for itself--at the rate of seventeen cents a day."

Simple, isn't it? You forget all about the cost. The paragraph is a cleverly worded "Do it now" appeal and the cost is kept entirely in the background.

SCHEME 13--THE EXPENSE VERSUS THE INVESTMENT ARGUMENT

A companion argument is that the device is not an expense but an investment. Here there is no attempt to put the cost price in the background but to justify the outlay as a sound investment--a business proposition that is to be tested by the investment standard. This is a strong argument with the shrewd business man who figures the value of things not on the initial cost, but upon the profits they will earn and the dividends they will pay.

The whole proposition must be shaped in such a way that it is easy for the prospect to buy. He must want to buy--and the experienced correspondent realizes that every word and phrase must be avoided that is capable of being misconstrued. There are no details so small that they do not have a bearing on the success of a campaign.

SCHEME 14--THE RETURN POSTAL FILLED IN FOR MAILING

And now that you have made clear your proposition and shown your proof, now that you have led your prospect to the buying point, the next step is to make him send you the order. And the only way to do this is to follow the example of the good salesman: put the pen in his hand, your finger on the dotted line, and slip the order blank before him. The salesman does these things because he knows that he might lose the sale if he asked his prospect to hunt up a pen, a letterhead and some ink. He knows the value of making it easy to buy. And in selling by mail you must do the same. Don't guide him on to a decision to order and then leave him at sea as to how to do it.

Show him exactly what to do. It is easy enough simply to say, "Write me a letter," or, "send me $2.00." The very man you want most to sell may not know how to write a clearly worded order. Even if he does, the fact that you ask him to go to the trouble of getting his writing materials may serve to postpone the act and lose him the desire to buy. So give him the order ready to sign, with as few changes as possible required. And give him an addressed return envelope to send it in. If no money is to be sent with the order, put it on a post card. "Sign and mail the card" borders on the extreme of simplicity in buying.

You cannot be too simple in your method of soliciting orders.

If your proposition will admit of saying, "Pin a dollar bill to this letter and mail," say it. If more details are needed, make them as simple as possible.

JOHNSON DYE ORDER AND COIN CARD (BE SURE TO ADDRESS YOUR ENVELOPE VERY PLAINLY)

JOHNSON DYE COMPANY BOSTON, Ma.s.s.

SEND ME __ PACKAGES OF JOHNSON DYES, AT TEN CENTS EACH, AS MARKED IN THE ORDER BLANK BELOW. I ENCLOSE IN THIS COIN ENVELOPE BELOW, TOTAL

SIGN VERY PLAINLY _______ CENTS

NAME______________________________________ ADDRESS_________NUMBER, STREET, OR BOX, POST OFFICE, COUNTY, STATE ------------------------------------------------------------------ DON'T FAIL TO FILL OUT THIS [words behind HAS HE (ANY) JOHNSON drawing of DYES FOR WOOL?_____ MY DEALER'S NAME_________ envelope] HAS HE (ANY) JOHNSON DYES FOR COTTON?____ ADDRESS__________________ HAS HE THE JOHNSON DYE COLORS ORDERED WRITE PLAINLY BELOW? _____ ------------------------- -------------------- JOHNSON DYES JOHNSON DYES FOR WOOL FOR COTTON

_______LIGHT BLUE _______LIGHT BLUE _______DARK BLUE [Envelope: PUT _______DARK BLUE _______NAVY BLUE YOUR MONEY, COIN _______NAVY BLUE _______BROWN OR BILL IN HERE] _______BROWN _______SEAL BROWN _______SEAL BROWN _______GREEN _______GREEN _______DARK GREEN _______DARK GREEN _______PINK _______PINK _______SCARLET _______SCARLET _______CRIMSON _______CRIMSON _______CARDINAL RED _______CARDINAL RED _______TURKEY RED _______TURKEY RED _______GARNET _______GARNET _______BLACK _______BLACK _______PURPLE _______PURPLE _______YELLOW _______YELLOW _______ORANGE _______ORANGE _______GRAY _______GRAY

_A manila enclosure that contains a small envelope suitable for sending coins or bills. The directions not only cover all points on the order but give the company information for its follow-up_

SCHEME 15--THE MONEY ORDER READY FOR SIGNATURE

If you want him to send a money order, help him to get it by enclosing a money order application filled in except for his name.

Avoid the possibility of giving the order blank a legal appearance.

Simply have the order say, "Send me ----" and as little more as is necessary. Show the prospect that there are no strings or jokers in your blank. Make it so simple that there is no possibility of misunderstanding its terms.

If the article is one that is sold in much th same way to every purchaser, it is best to print the entire order, leaving only the date line and the signature line blank. If the purchaser has to choose between two styles of the article or between two quant.i.ties, the order blank may be printed, so that the quant.i.ty not wanted may be crossed out.

SCHEME 16--ORDERING BY MARKS

In dealing with an unlettered cla.s.s of people, it is well to put a footnote in very small type under optional lines or words and to instruct the purchaser to "Cross out the style you do not want" or "Put an X opposite the quant.i.ty ordered."

In case of articles that are sold for cash and also on the easy payment plan, it is better to have two separate order blanks printed on different colors of paper, one plainly headed "Cash Order Blank,"

and the other "Easy Payment Order Blank." Avoid the "Instalment Plan." The name has lost standing of late; the wording "Easy Payment Plan" is better and more suggestive.

SCHEME 17--THE COIN CARD

The coin-card method is a winner for sales under a dollar. The card, with its open holes inviting the quarter or the fifty-cent piece, and the order blank printed conveniently on the flap--captures much loose money.

The post office department will furnish money order applications with the name of the advertiser printed in the proper s.p.a.ces. These printed applications should be sent for the prospect's convenience in cases where a money order is likely to be used. They insure that the advertiser's name will come before postmaster's written in the preferred form, and they also relieve much of the hesitancy and embarra.s.sment of the people that do not know how to make out an application.

SCHEME 18--SENDING MONEY AT THE OTHER FELLOW'S RISK