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Sales
Literature: Does It Sell or Tell?
by Christine Harvey
What areas of your literature could be updated to increase your sales
returns? One UK company found out the hard way. Because they had never
previously sold overseas, they had no need to put England on their
address--only the city and county.
One day after visiting the US to generate business the owner discovered he
had missed out on a large bid. He could easily have won, if his address had
been complete. The American customer simply created the request for
quotation exactly as he had it--city and county, no country. The envelope
worked its way through the international mail network and landed on his desk
a day after the closing date of the bid! A sadder director we have never
seen.
The point is that many things about sales literature leave much to be
desired. Not only are addresses incomplete--often features and benefits are
unclear. Customers jump to the conclusion that the product is less effective
than the competitor's product.
Sales literature is fundamental to all business activities. It is often the
first contact that the customer has with the company. It represents the
company, its products, its philosophy, and its attitude to the customer.
Are you doing all you can to enhance this valuable way of communicating with
your customer? Are you making sure that your literature sells? If we expect
to generate business, we have to tell our prospects how they can benefit by
using our products. It's not enough just to list features. Features tell,
they don't sell.
Develop a Checklist
Let's look at some of the problems relating to sales literature, and ways of
overcoming them quickly and cost effectively.
Is the wording of our sales literature or web sites prepared by people
with sales
expertise who know how to state benefits clearly?
Is the wording adequate for every level of decision-maker, including
technical,
non-technical, and financial managers?
Does it include a clear and easy way to respond? Does it include a clear,
full
address including the country, if our work is international? A clearly
marked
telephone number, department to be contacted, or, better yet, an
easy-to-use
reply section?
Reflect on the importance of stating features and benefits as discussed in
earlier chapters. Also, remember that the human mind is not capable of
retaining information for long. People forget 80% of what they hear within
two days.
Therefore, sales literature should be used to jog the memory and to explain
the benefits of your product in depth.
Take Corrective Action Quickly
If your literature currently doesn't meet the above criteria, you are losing
business needlessly. A separate sales sheet can be produced to supplement
the technical literature quickly and easily. A company we know that makes
industrial machinery had a very technical, fact-filled piece of literature.
It listed only features, no benefits. They therefore produced a single sheet
that fit inside their folded leaflet. It listed their five primary features
in short bold headings, followed by the benefits in italic style print. They
gave the address and telephone contact at the bottom with a ruled line
around it which made it stand out very effectively.
Whether you want to produce a separate sales sheet such as this or redesign
your literature altogether, remember: The purpose of literature is to let
the customers know what the product is and how it will benefit them, thus
enticing their interest and refreshing their memories each time they read
it.
Give Benefits and Enticements
Be sure to state the benefits--how the customer will gain from using your
product
or service;
Give proof and evidence of its quality and benefits. Show referral
letters, news
clippings, statistics. Give facts, quote experts, customers, and so on;
Use enticement--give reasons that persuade customers to contact you now
while
their interest is high -- limited time offers, samples offers, or an extra
giveaway
with the product;
State your address and contact point clearly and completely.
If you want to improve your returns, take corrective action quickly on your
sales literature and web sites. It can be fast, easy, and cost effective.
Remember to develop areas of
improvement:
Make sure your sales literature sells the benefits as well as the features.
ACTION SHEET
Ideas for Development:
1. Develop a checklist of necessary points to be included in sales
literature and
web sites.
2. Make sure your wording is appropriate for every level of decision making.
3. Include benefits and enticements, even in technical literature.
4. Provide an easy way to respond.
5. Take corrective action with supplemental pages to cure inadequacies.
6. List other points here:
7.
Of the above ideas, which one is likely to yield the best results?
Want to learn
more on this topic? Christine Harvey has written six books in 25 language
that cover many of the concepts found here.
You can get your own copy by
clicking here or visiting our eShop.
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