LECTURE 7 SALES AND PUBLIC RELATIONS LETTERS SALES

LECTURE 7 SALES AND PUBLIC RELATIONS LETTERS

SALES AND PUBLIC RELATIONS LETTERS Business Lexis • • facilitate (v) flair (n) flashy (adj) “hard sell” (n) • • to make easier unique style showy, attractive a direct, forceful, and insistent method of advertising or/and selling; high-pressure salesmanship

SALES AND PUBLIC RELATIONS LETTERS Business Lexis • • gimmick (n) grab (v) nuance (n) patronage (n) premium (n) promotion (n) scope (n) solicit (v) • • clever device or trick to take quickly delicate difference trade of customers award, reward advancement in position extent, range to seek, request

SALES LETTERS Introduction Three categories of sales letters: • direct mail • retail • promotion. All of them share a common purpose – to sell a product or service.

SALES LETTERS Direct Mail Sales Letters Direct mail/mail order attempts to sell directly to the customer through the mail. It does the entire selling job. Solely on the basis of the description and inducements in the letter, the customer is urged to buy — to mail a check and wait for his or her purchase to arrive.

SALES LETTERS Direct Mail Sales Letters A direct mail letter must: • include a “hard sell” • grab the reader’s attention with its physical appearance • develop the reader’s interest through appealing headlines • provide a thorough physical description of the

SALES LETTERS Direct Mail Sales Letters product by including several pictures from different angles • convince the reader of the product’s quality and value • facilitate action by clear directions for ordering plus a reply card, a postage-paid envelope, and a “send-no-money-now” appeal or the offer of a premium.

SALES LETTERS Sample of a Direct Mail Sales Letter

SALES LETTERS Retail Sales Letters Retail sales letters are commonly used by retail businesses to announce sales or stimulate patronage. These letters can be aimed selectively – at the specific audience most likely to buy. If an electronics store, for example, is holding a sale on electronic phone books and digital diaries, it might send letters only to businesspeople and

SALES LETTERS Retail Sales Letters professionals instead of, say, homemakers or educators. By doing this, they would reach customers with the clearest need for the product. A letter announcing a sale must contain: • the reason for the sale (a seasonal clearance, holiday, special purchase).

SALES LETTERS Retail Sales Letters • the dates on which the sale will take place. • an honest description of the sale merchandise (including a statement of what is and is not marked down). • comparative prices (original price versus sale price or approximate markdown percentages). • a statement encouraging the customer to act quickly.

SALES LETTERS Sample of a Retail Sales Letter

SALES LETTERS Sales Promotion Letters A sales promotion letter solicits interest rather than an immediate sale. It is written to encourage inquiries rather than orders. Like other sales letters, it stimulates the reader’s interest and describes the product without any detail. Customers desiring further information are invited to send in a reply card, contact a sales representative, or visit a local dealer.

SALES LETTERS Sample of a Sales Promotion Letter

SALES LETTERS Sales Letters All of the sales letters have certain features in common: they convey enthusiasm for the product, employ evocative language, demonstrate the writer’s knowledge of both product and customer, and illustrate the advertising principles known as AIDA: • Attention: The letter opens with a gimmick

SALES LETTERS Sales Letters to grab the reader’s attention and create the desire to know more. • Interest: The letter provides information and plays up certain features of the product to build the reader’s interest. • Desire: The sales pitch appeals to one or more personal needs (such as prestige, status, comfort, safety, or money) to

SALES LETTERS Sales Letters stimulate the reader’s desire. • Action: The letter makes it easy for the reader to buy and encourages immediate action.

PUBLIC RELATIONS LETTERS Public relations letters are the letters written for the purpose of strengthening GOODWILL. They are: • social business letters, such as invitations, thank-you notes, and letters of congratulations • letters, similar to advertising, such as announcements of openings or changes in store facilities or policies

PUBLIC RELATIONS LETTERS • letters, which are simply friendly gestures, such as a note welcoming a new charge customer or thanking a new customer for his or her first purchase. A specific kind of public relations letter is designed to demonstrate a company’s interest in its customers.

PUBLIC RELATIONS LETTERS A Friendly Gesture

PUBLIC RELATIONS LETTERS This letter is written inviting complaints. Its purpose is to discover causes of customer dissatisfaction before they become too serious.

PUBLIC RELATIONS LETTERS To avoid complaints (and of course encourage business), large companies frequently send informative letters that educate the public.

PUBLIC RELATIONS LETTERS

PUBLIC RELATIONS LETTERS Whatever the main purpose for a public relations letter — to establish, maintain, or even revive business — remember that ALL public relations letters must be FRIENDLY. Their real purpose is to create a friend for the company.