What to Enclose With Sales Letters
Sales have been made--and lost--by the printed matter enclosed with business correspondence. A mere mass of folders, cards and bric-a-brac is in itself not impressive to the "prospect'" unless each item backs up a statement in the letter and has a direct bearing on the sale
Enclosures may be classified thus: FIRST, catalogues, price lists and detailed descriptive matter--to inform the prospect of the goods; SECOND, testimonials and guarantees--to prove the claims made for the goods; THIRD, return postals, addressed envelopes and order blanks--to make it easy for the prospect to buy the goods
The enclosure is to the letter what the supporting army is to the line of attack. It stands just behind the men at the front, ready to strengthen a point here, reinforce the line there, overwhelm opposition finally with strength and numbers.
A clever sales letter may make the proper impression, it may have all the elements necessary to close the sale, but it is asking too much to expect it to handle the whole situation alone.
The average prospect wants more than he finds in a letter before he will lay down his money. The very fact that a letter comes alone may arouse his suspicions. But if he finds it backed up by accompanying enclosures that take things up where the letter leaves off, answer his mental inquiries and pile up proof, the proposition is more certain to receive consideration.
The whole principle of right use of enclosures is a matter of foreseeing what your man will want to know about your proposition and then giving it to him in clear convincing form and liberal measure. But enclosures must be as carefully planned as the letter itself. They are calculated to play a definite part, accomplish a definite end and the study of their effect is just as vital as the study of step-by-step progress of letter salesmanship.
Some letter writers seem to think that the only essential in enclosures is numbers and they stuff the envelope full of miscellaneous folders, booklets and other printed matter that does little more than bewilder the man who gets it. Others make the mistake of not putting anything in with the letter to help the prospect buy. Neither mistake is excusable, if the writer will only analyze his proposition and his prospect, consider what the man at the other end will want to know--then give him that--and more.
And in order to live up to this cardinal rule of enclosures, simply confine your letter to one article. Seven of the best letter writers in the country have made exhaustive tests with descriptive folders. They have found that one descriptive circular, with one point, and one idea pulls where the multiplicity of enclosures simply bewilders and prejudices the reader. These men have conclusively proved that overloaded envelopes do not bring results.
In general the enclosure has three purposes: first, to give the prospect a more complete and detailed description of your goods; second to give him proof in plenty of their value; third, to make it easy for him to buy. On this basis let us classify the kinds of enclosures; that is, the mediums through which these three purposes may be accomplished.
The first, the detailed description, is usually given in catalogue, booklet or circular, complete in its explanation and, if possible, illustrated. Supplementing the catalogue or booklet, samples should be used whenever practicable for they help more than anything else can to visualize the goods in the prospect's eyes.
Proof is best supplied in two ways, through testimonials and guarantees; and the ways of preparing these for the prospect are endless in variety.
Third, you will make it easy to order through the use of order blanks, return cards, addressed envelopes, myriads of schemes that tempt the pen to the dotted line.
The exact form of each of these elements is not of moment here so long as it is clear to the man who receives it. The point to be made is that one enclosure representing each of these elements-- description, proof, and easy ordering--should accompany the sales letter to back it up and make its attack effective.
And now to take these up one by one and see the part each plays.
When the prospect reads your letter, if it wins his interest, his first thought is "Well, this sounds good, but I want to know more about it." And right there the circular comes to his assistance--and to yours. And on this circular depends very largely whether his interest is going to grow or die a natural death. If it is to lead him toward an order it must picture to him clearly just what your proposition is and at the same time it must contain enough salesmanship to carry on the efforts of the letter.
And it is well to bear down hard on this: do not put material into your letter that properly belongs in the circular. Link your letter up with the enclosure and lead the reader to it, but do not go into lengthy descriptions in the letter. Concentrate there on getting your man interested. Do that and you may depend on his devouring the enclosures to get the details. A common mistake in this line is to place a table of prices in the body of the letter. It is simply putting the cart before the horse. Price in every sale should be mentioned last. It certainly should not be mentioned before you have convinced your prospect that he wants your article. Prices should be quoted at the erid of the descriptive folder or on a separate slip of paper.
This descriptive enclosure takes on many forms--a booklet, a circular, a folder, a simple sheet of specifications, a price list--but in all cases it is for the one purpose of reinforcing the argument made in the letter. When a proposition requires a booklet, the mistake is often made of making it so large and bulky that it cannot be enclosed with the letter. The booklet comes trailing along after the letter has been read and forgotten. Sometimes the booklet never arrives. Where possible it is much better to make the booklet of such a size that it may be enclosed in the same envelope with the letter. Then you catch the prospect when his interest is at the highest point. It is embarrassing and ineffective to refer to "our booklet, mailed to you under separate cover." Put the book with the letter. Or, if you must send the booklet under separate cover, send it first and the letter later, so that each will arrive at about the same time.
And now that you have put in a circular to help the letter, put in something to help the circular--a sample. Here you have description visualized. In more ways than one the sample is by all odds the most valuable enclosure you can use. In reality, it does more--much more than help the circular with its description, it is concrete proof, in that it demonstrates your faith in the article and your readiness to let your prospect judge it on its merits. A two by three inch square of cloth, a bit of wood to show the finish, any "chip off the block" itself speaks more eloquently than all the paper and ink your money can buy. How irresistible becomes a varnish maker's appeal when he encloses in his letters a small varnished piece of wood, on the back of which he has printed, "This maple panel has been finished with two coats of '61' Floor Varnish. Hit it with a hammer. Stamp on it. You may dent the wood, but you can't crack the varnish. This is one point where '61' varnish excels."