This afternoon I was re-reading some of Drayton Bird's ideas, and came across his post on the 5 simple words that can increase sales by 20%.
When someone writes to you, or talks to you, you need an explanation.
You need a reason to listen or read. It's not enough for someone to launch into selling.
And that is why the simple words “I'm writing to you because” – are so powerful.
They give people a reason to read.
Drayton Bird
I remember when I was prospecting for new leads in the hospitality sector, this introduction made a huge difference to my response rates (and when coupled with some ‘shocking honesty', you have a winner!).
This was how I started the letter that got an 11% response rate:
Dear [name],
“It's a problem about 80% of us pub operators have at least once a month. (I seem to have it every day…)”
I'm writing to you because I (accidentially!) stumbled across a solution to very common problem in your sector – and at the end of this letter, I'm going to ask you to trial it for me.
But first, see if you recognise this situation.
Why did it work so well?
I believe that the key to any sales communication, whether it's an email, landing page, video sales letter or direct mail, is to use the introduction to give a concrete reason why the reader should continue to watch/read/listen.
This intro gives a clear, honest and believable reason why the reader should progress (and I drizzled some curiosity on top, and added a dash of credibility by putting the subject line in quotes).
Have you seen any letters recently that use this principle?