The Letter That Will Bring An Inquiry

Comparatively few propositions can be sold in the first letter; in most campaigns it is enough to stimulate a man's interest and get him to reply. This chapter gives specific schemes that have proved successful in pulling answers--in making an opening for the heavy artillery of the follow-up

Think what a problem you would have if you started out as a salesman to sell a certain article with no definite idea of where to find your prospects. You might interview a hundred men before you found one who was interested. That would be pretty slow and pretty expensive selling, wouldn't it?

And think what it would mean if you were to send out broadcast a thousand expensive booklets and follow-up letters only to receive one reply from the one man with whom you effected a point of contact. That, too, would be a prohibitively costly method of selling.

Yet one or both these methods would in many cases be necessary were it not for the inquiry-bringing letter. The inquiry letter is a "feeler"--the advance agent of the selling campaign. It goes broadcast to find and put its finger on the man who is interested or who can be interested, and his reply labels him as the man whom it is worth while for your salesman to see, or, who is at least worth the expense and endeavor of a follow-up series.

The inquiry letter is like the advertisement which asks you to send for a catalogue or booklet. The advertisement writer believes that if you are interested enough to write for the booklet, you will be interested enough to read his sales letters, and possibly become a purchaser. It is the same with the inquiry-bringing letter. It is simply a sieve for sifting out the likely prospects from the great mass of persons, who for many reasons cannot be brought around into a buying mood concerning your proposition.

The great advantage of the letter which induces the recipient to express his interest in an inquiry, is that you not only make him put himself unconsciously under an obligation to read further details, but you give time for the thoughts that you have started to get in their work.

The fact that a man has decided to ask for more information and has put that decision in writing is of considerable psychological value.

The one thing the salesman hopes to find, and the one thing the letter writer strives to create, is a receptive mood on the part of his prospect. The moment a man answers the inquiry-letter, he has put himself into a frame of mind where he waits for and welcomes your subsequent sales talk.

He looks forward with some interest to your second letter. At first there was just one person to the discussion. Now there are two.

In this respect the letter is like the magazine advertisement. Give all the details of a $500 piano in an advertisement of ordinary size, quoting the price at the close, and it is extremely unlikely to bring the reader to the point of deciding that he will buy the piano. It is better to deal with some point of interest about the piano and offer a fine piano book free.

And right here it is worthy of mention that interesting books with such titles as "How to Select a Piano," "How to Make Money in Real Estate," "Bank Stocks as an Investment," or "The Way to Have a Beautiful Complexion," make letters as well as advertisements draw inquiries of a good class.

In other words, offer an inducement, give your man a reason for answering.

When you have written a letter calculated to draw inquiries, put yourself in the position of the man who is to get it and read it through from his standpoint. Ask yourself whether you would answer it if you received it. Test it for a reason, an inducement, and see if it has the pulling power you want it to have.

If you are offering a book, for example, impress the reader with the real value of the book, magnify its desirability in his mind. A paper company does this admirably when it writes:

"The new Condax specimen book is a beautiful thing--not a mere book of paper samples, understand, but a collection of art masterpieces and hand-lettered designs, printed with rare taste on the various kinds of Condax papers. Many have told us it is the finest example of printing they have ever seen come from the press.

"We feel sure you would treasure the book just for its artistic merits, but we are not sending you one now because there is such a tremendous demand for it that we do not like to chance having a single copy go astray and we want yours to reach you personally. We are holding it for you and the enclosed card will bring it, carefully wrapped, by return mail."

Of course such a book must be designed to do the proper work when it gets into the hands of the reader.

It is a mistake to tell a great deal in the inquiry-bringing letter, unless you can reasonably hope to close a sale. A man will act on impulse in ordering a dollar article, but he isn't likely to be impulsive about an insurance policy. If you give him the entire canvass on an insurance policy at the first shot, it will have to be of extraordinary interest and convincing power to close the sale. The subject is new. The prospect has not had a chance to think over the facts. He is suspicious of your power; afraid of hastiness on his own part. He is likely to give himself the canvass and decide "No," before giving you any further chance.

Appeal to curiosity. Arouse interest and leave it unsatisfied.

Remember that your inquiry letter is a definite part of your campaign. Therefore it must be consistent with what is to follow and must pave the way naturally for it. Seek replies only from those who can use and can afford to buy the article you have to sell.

A maker of a specialty machine got out an inquiry letter along this line:

"If you are tired of a salaried job, if you want to get into a big-paying, independent business of your own. I have a proposition that will interest you."

Of course he got a big percentage of replies, for what man does not want a big-paying, independent business of his own? But when in his follow-up letter he stated his proposition, offering state rights to his machine for $5,000, he shot over the heads of 99 per cent of the men who had answered his first letter. His inquiry letter had completely failed of its purpose. It was not selective, it was general.

Dear Sir:

I should like to have you consider buying the enclosed series of talks on advertising for use in your paper.

I am an expert advertising man and I have spent a great deal of time and energy on these talks. I know that they will produce results that will be very satisfactory to you for they are based on the real experience of an expert.

The price of these talks--that is, the right to use the talks and illustrations in your city--is $15, which you must admit is dirt cheap, considering the quality of the matter.

All the progressive publishers are jumping at the chance to get these talks at the low price I am quoting them.

If you do not accept my offer, one of your competitors will certainly do so, and you will lose prestige.

Hoping to hear from you at once and promising careful attention to your valued favors, I am

Truly yours, [Signature: G. L. Lawrence]

This letter has an unfortunate beginning. The writer starts by considering his own interests rather than those of the publisher. It is not tactful to begin with "I want-to-sell-you-something" talk. The second paragraph is merely an egotistic statement. No facts are furnished to impress the publisher. In the third paragraph price is introduced before desire is created. The fourth paragraph is a palpable boast that will not be believed and an insinuation that the publisher addressed may not be progressive. The suggestion about the competitor is likely to arouse antagonism. The close is hackneyed and the entire letter is rathsr an advertisement of the writer's inability rather than of his ability

Do not deceive. Nothing is gained by deception in a high grade venture. Your offer to give away a first-class lot in a first-class suburban real estate campaign will make a good class of readers suspicious of you. And though you may get many inquiries from those who are looking for something for nothing, the chances are that the inquiries will be of a very poor quality. Better get two per cent of first-class prospects than ten per cent that will only waste your time. You must not forget that it costs money to solicit people either by mail or by salesmen.