Writing Effective Sales Letters: A Creative Process, Lecture notes of Sales Management

VOL. 43, NO. 3 HEAD OFFICE: MONTREAL, MARCH 1962

On Writing a Sales Letter

SOME PEOPLE look upon the writing of sales letters

as an occupation that demands a minimum of effort,

but it is not so. This is one of the most difficult forms

of selling. It is a job you have to think about.

Writing a sales letter is as creative in its own way

as are short story and play writing in theirs. It is, too,

as dynamic as any other sort of salesmanship.

desire, and evoke action.

You may pique curiosity by opening with a state-

ment of something new, or of something old in a new

form or setting; you go on to show the benefit of this

new thing to the reader; you give proof of the efficien-

cy, durability and good value of the article; and you

gain a response by making it easy for the reader to

decide that he wants and can obtain this article.

Sales letters are one evidence of the change in

advertising technique. A sales campaign is no longer

effective, and the best method of carrying out its

Because of its directness, flexibility, variety and

economy, the sales letter furnishes a satisfactory

medium for a great deal of merchandising under these

circumstances. Its user can, so to speak, "call the

shots". He can limit his expenditure to a few dollars

or he can spend thousands, reaching a few selected

prospects or scores of thousands of secondary pros-

literature and unimaginative mechanically produced

letters are sent out. They seem to announce at once

"I am not worth opening".

writers’ products.

When you write a sales letter which turns out to be

particularly successful, you will find that you have

taken these steps: you determined the prospect’s

needs, you described goods or services to meet those

needs, you showed that the goods or services do meet

the needs, and you passed along your conviction that

your company’s goods had superiorities over those

of competitors’ goods.

Vital in this presentation is that you address the

pective customers to buy your company’s products

or to take some other action. To do this effectively

your letter should be, above all, clear and easy to

understand. It should, before trying to persuade,

succeed in convincing the prospect of the quality and

reliability of your goods.

Linking the interests and desires of your prospect

with your goods or services is a fascinating game.

If your letter shows logically, clearly and fairly

that the goods offered will satisfy important purposes