Any letter, whether it’s a one off to a CEO, or for a sales team to pump out, is only as good as it’s opening.
As the talented Mr Bird says, “If they don’t start reading, they can’t carry on reading.”
The opening is everything.
And it doesn’t matter what angle you use – just get them to start.
(Flattery works well, I used that in spades to my letter to the CEO of HSBC).
But most of the time, just hitting them square in the face with a pain point, and how you can fix it, works a treat.
I’ll give you an example. Here’s some parts of a letter I wrote for a firm that creates bills for lawyers.
The opening was easy enough – after asking the client some questions, it was apparent the whole industry seemed to revolve around making low offers and then holding out.
So that was the opening – now we had the prospects bumping from sentence to sentence.
What now? Well, remember the second most important thing I’ve learned from Drayton: “What can you do that nobody else can?”
Here’s how I slipped those in:
And that’s pretty much the bare bones of a good sales letter.
Did it work?
Yes, I know, this letter is decades old. You may wonder why all the examples I use are so old.
It’s simply because clients paid a reasonable amount for these sales letters.
Because of this, clients are reluctant (understandably) for me to use recent examples so others (competitors) can use them for free.
But don’t worry. Stick with me and you’ll soon be writing killer sales letters all by yourself.
Here’s the one of the biggest tips I’ve picked up along the way – all thanks to a chap called Drayton Bird.
Best
Al