Tony Parinello recently released a new book which is more timely and relevant than ever before. Entitled, Five Minutes With VITO-Making the most of your selling time with the Very Important Top Officer, authors David Mattson, CEO and a partner at Sandler Systems, Inc. and Tony Parinello have been generous to share some chapter excerpts with me that I now have the opportunity to share with you.
Since writing a powerful sales letter is a key element of your successful selling strategy, here are Tony and David’s Four critical tips for writing sales letters that deliver results. Enjoy!
Excerpt from Chapter 20
Radical Tactics for Explosive Results
Throw your old selling strategies out the window – it’s a whole new world out there.
When the economy changes this much, this quickly, it can leave even the best sales people with dry pipelines and smaller deal sizes. This doesn’t mean that prospects have stopped buying or that it’s impossible to make as much or more than you made last year. You can still hit your numbers if you know how to adapt.
The best sales professionals are flexible and intuitive. They recognize that a shift in the economy or their industry requires a shift in their selling strategy. Their success is achieved by trying something new rather than clinging to what worked in the past.
Instead of hammering the phones twice as hard as you used to, ask yourself “Who is spending money right now?” Don’t be surprised how high up in an organization you have to go to find someone who can make a purchase. Your usual suspects probably have lost their budgets, along with their authority to make most decisions.
Today’s real prospects – the ones with buying power – have titles like CEO, owner or president. So says experts and authors David Mattson and Tony Parinello, the authors of Five Minutes With VITO, Making the most of your selling time with the Very Important Top Officer.
The people at the top are the people you should concentrate on selling to, because they are still buying. Stay focused on the strengths of your product or service, but understand that these prospects value things differently today then their subordinates. You won’t get VITOs interest by talking about features and functions or anything else that falls short of helping the company 1) make money, 2) increase productivity, or 3) reduce defects and other drains on profitability. It doesn’t matter if you sell IT services or cleaning products, the person at the top wants to talk to you if you make a clear case for positively impacting the bottom line.
Now more than ever it pays to be persistent, unconventional and smart when you’re prospecting. In order to get attention, you may need to break some rules.
Four Critical Tips for Writing Sales Letters That Deliver Results
Four critical tips for writing sales letters that deliver results
Writing a powerful sales letter is a key element of your successful selling strategy. Variations of this letter can be used for contacting every prospect on your list. You cannot afford to make a mistake on this versatile tool.
Critical Tip #1
NO logos. NO letterhead. NO slogans.
NO corporate branding.
Your sales letter should not include anything that easily identifies you or your company. Force your prospects to read your letter before deciding whether or not they know you – or want to know you.
Critical Tip #2
Keep it on one page.
Sure, you have lots that you want to tell your prospect. The problem is that your prospect will not read more than one page of information. Keep your sales letter short, to the point and leave lots of white space.
Critical Tip #3
Use eye-catching headlines.
If you want your sales letter to be read, it should be easy to scan. Your prospect isn’t going to spend time looking for the most important information. Make your headline brief, direct and to the point. Thirty words max.
Critical Tip #4
Never fold your sales letter. Don’t use your company’s standard envelope. Hand-write the address.
In order for your prospect to read your letter, they have to notice it first. Use a large 9×12″ envelope with a handwritten name, title and address, and a return address with no company name or persons name. Do not put anything else (such as pens, business cards or oddly shaped objects) inside. This is not direct mail, it’s the beginning of a business relationship.
To order the book or for more information click here.
