Writing well is the key to sales success
June 30, 2008
Do you seduce your customers with words? Do you create such desire for your product or service that your customers did not have any choice but to buy? If you’re not getting these results from your written marketing materials - both printed and on-line - then you’re not getting the full value of your words.
In today’s service-based economy, we are reaching out to cultivate not only new customers, but the ones we already have. We are stressing service and customer appreciation more than ever. We are sending newsletters, e-zines, sales letters, post cards and personal notes - all in an effort to position ourselves as experts, and friends.
No matter what you are writing, your words must be several things. They must be powerful, dynamic, enticing, irresistible, and leave a very positive impression of you and your business.
Here are some tips to help you transform your writing from mundane to memorable:
- Have a strong lead. Your first paragraph must grip the reader, or they will toss it.
- Mention the benefits. Your customers and prospects aren’t looking for a description of your services. They’re looking for solutions to their problems. Tell them how your firm can solve their problems in a cost-effective way.
- Keep your message short, simple and clean. You may have a lot to offer, but don’t get carried away, Your readers are busy. Make it easy for them to understand what you’re selling or offering and how it benefits them. Avoid hyperbole.
- Avoid cliches. If it is “needless to say,” then why say it?
- Use adjectives, metaphors and similes. These will spice up your writing and keep your readers interested.
- Do adequate research. Meaningless rhetoric is a turn-off. It results from too much hype and too few facts and numbers to support your statements.
- Use your spell checker, and a dictionary! Nothing - absolutely nothing - is more damaging than a marketing piece full of spelling errors. Bad writing is offensive. A nicely written piece may not only get you attention - but business, as well.
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Jeff Rubin, a former newspaper reporter and editor and instructor at The Learning Annex in San Francisco, is The Newsletter Guy, owner of the Pinole, California-based newsletter publishing firm of the same name (http://www.thenewsletterguy.com). He’s written and designed more than 1,800 company newsletters since starting his business in 1981. He may be reached via e-mail at jeff@thenewsletterguy.com or by phone at (877) 588-1212. Jeff is also a professional speaker http://www.jeffrubinspeaks.com. His programs for companies, organizations, and professional associations concentrate on effective writing and marketing techniques, customer delight, and integrity for owners of small businesses.
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