People who sell stuff get a bad rap. Nobody likes a pushy salesperson.
I should know. Before becoming a copywriter, I had my own sales business, selling specialty food products mostly face-to-face to retailers throughout the N.W. states. And yes, I’ve had a few doors slammed in my face!
But sales are the lifeblood of most businesses. Without them, an organization will die a slow death.
That’s why you’ll be invaluable to your organization if you can write a sales letter/email that produces results.
Sales emails are usually the last part of the larger picture, called a Sales Email Series or Sales Campaign.
What a Sales Email Series Looks Like
There are many ways to craft a sales email series. I learned an excellent approach from being a part of the StoryBrand community.
You’ll see that each email type below has a specific focus:
1. Welcome Email – This is the first email you send after somebody downloads your PDF in exchange for giving your client their email address. It simply delivers the free content you promised. It’s nice & short and doesn’t sell anything.
2. Offer More Value Email – Give them more helpful information here so they can see it’s worth their time to open your emails.
3. Problem and Solution Email – Talk about your customer’s most prominent issue that your products can solve for the problem, and how they solve it. Keep this to one problem & solution.
4. Overcome an Objection Email – Find out potential clients’ biggest objection to buying your products and how you handle that objection.
5. Deliver a Paradigm Shift Email – This powerful tool compels a distracted audience. It’s like, “You used to think this way, but now consider thinking about it in a new way”. It’s a great one if your brand does something a little differently.
6. Customer Testimonial Email – If you can offer a success story or two inside an email, customers can more easily see themselves using your products. These emails also build authority for your brand.
7. The Sales Email – Here’s where you go ahead and ask for the sale without pulling any punches!
Learn how to write the perfect Sales Letter/Email below:
Your 8-Step Sales Letter Formula & Example
Embedded into each section of the sales letter formula below is an example of a sales letter from Advantage Kitchenware for their Mach 3 commercial toasters. These toasters are sold to high-volume restaurants. Note: This is an imaginary company & product.
- Start with the problem: A good sales letter begins with the primary issue your customers are facing. Make sure this is a problem your product or service will solve.
Dear Restaurant Manager,
Do your restaurant customers ever complain about their toast? Either it’s too dark or too light! Trying to customize their toast requests can waste a lot of bread. In fact, some commercial kitchens lose up to 100 slices a day, translating to over $1,500 tossed in the garbage annually.
2. Identify the emotional or philosophical struggle: This is how the problem makes the customer feel. You could also complete this sentence: You shouldn’t have to deal with ____”.
Seeing your hard-earned income go down the drain like this is frustrating. I’m sure you’re thinking: “There must be a better way for something as simple as making toast!”
3. Explain your offer: Talk about how your product solves your customer’s issues using benefit-focused language (rather than just features).
Here’s a tip: Many restaurants love the Advantage Kitchenware Mach 3 Toaster for its precise and targeted toasting. This heavy-duty toaster allows you to toast two slices precisely as ordered (light, medium, or dark) without affecting other slices. No more wasted bread!
How does it do this? With the proprietary technology built into our Advantage Kitchenware Mach 3 Toasters, the button settings allow you to make customizable, perfect toast every time…without changing the settings back! This feature keeps your staff from making toasting mistakes…and won’t slow them down!
4. Insert a brief testimonial: Show how your product has solved this same problem for another, with a real-life example.
Maggie, a commercial kitchen manager at Breakfast for Champions in Huntsville, AL, recently told us, “We’ve cut down our bread waste to nearly zero with our Advantage Kitchenware new Mach 3 Toaster. It makes perfect toast all the time, even for custom orders!”
5. Call to Action: Ask your customer to buy your product clearly and directly. You can link your CTA to an order page. It can include the steps they need to take to simplify the buying process for a complex product or service.
Would you like to learn more about how easy it is to make perfect toast – every time? Let’s schedule a live online demo – where you can see our toaster in action, learn all the great features, and get your questions answered.
Or, if you’re convinced that our commercial Mach 3 Toaster is significantly better than what you’re using, go to our order page, where you can see pricing options and place your order.
6. Paint a Picture of Success: Show them what their life could look like if they buy your product. Not only that they will overcome their problems, but also they will live a better life if they use your product.
Imagine seeing your happy customers when they get perfectly made toast – no matter how light or dark they want it. Envision your kitchen staff feeling more relaxed without fooling with wasted bread and complex toaster settings.
7. Another Call to Action: Use the same CTA you included earlier in the sales letter. To spice it up, you could add some failure language if they don’t buy your product. In other words, completing this CTA can lead to pain avoidance.
You could keep using your old toaster – and waste hundreds of dollars per month on poorly toasted bread.
Or – click on our order page and order our new, better Mach 3 Toaster today!
Don’t worry, you’ll receive a 3-year warranty too. If anything goes wrong, we’ll fix your toaster at no charge.
Respectfully,
Joe Schmo
Senior Sales Representative
Advantage Kitchenware
8. Include a P.S.: Use this space to include a limited-time offer or bonus after your signature. You’ll achieve higher conversion rates if there’s an expiration date on the offer or bonus that will go away.
P.S. If you order your new toaster in the next ten days, you’ll receive FREE SHIPPING! So don’t procrastinate – order today!
You can be flexible with this Sales Letter Formula. Feel free to move the sections around to make them work better for your client’s specific product or service. Or even leave out some sections if it will make the letter stronger.
If you use this Sales Letter formula to increase your company’s sales, you’ll become management’s new hero! So have fun, be creative, and best of luck to you!
If you’d like help creating sales email templates for different products or end users, please drop me a line here at Fabulous Copy. Or, I’d be happy to coach you on any sales letters you’ve written to make them more effective.
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