Are the sales letters and emails you send to prospects or clients not pulling the results you want?

Then consider spending just five minutes of pre-writing planning before you put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard).   This small investment of time on the front end will make every communication you have with a prospect or client count more toward the bottom line.

Many times, especially in this fast-paced electronic age of quick-and-short emails, our written communication is so casual, we miss opportunities.   We forget to think-through our sales letters and follow-up before we write and send them off to the recipients.

This four-question pre-writing sales letter template can put more punch in your writing. 

Don't be fooled by its simplicity.  The outcome of working through these questions before you begin writing a sales letter can be more powerful than you think.

1.  Who are you writing to? 

This may seem obvious, but the answer to the question is deeper than it appears.  Take a moment to think a bit more about who you are writing to. 

Things like:

• What is their position in the company?
• What needs and pains are they experiencing in their business?
• What stage are they at in the buying decision process when they will receive your sales letter or email?

Put yourself in the reader's shoes before you begin writing, and your message will be more relevant to them -- and therefore more persuasive.

2.  What is the overall objective of this sales letter? 

Why are you writing it?  What is your motivation?  What do you want to happen as a result of this letter?

Again, this question can seem simplistic at first glance.  But just like when taking a cross-country road trip in your car, you must figure out where you are going first to be able to successfully get there.  

List the main one or two objectives you have for writing the sales letter or email.

• Is it to set a specific time for an appointment with the prospect?
• Is it to get confirmation of a request for proposal?  
• Is it thank them for meeting with you yesterday, and agree on a specific time for another meeting?

3.  What is the overall message you want to convey? 

What supporting elements in the sales letter will appeal to the person in question #1, and make the goal and objectives in question #2 happen?   

Here's is where you think about what you really want to say...and also how you want to say it. 

• Are there benefits of your service that you should highlight in this message that will appeal to the reader's specific needs? 
• What tone should the letter have (gratitude, empathy, excitement, etc.). 

4.  What is the action -- or next step -- that needs to be taken?

This is perhaps the most often overlooked element in sales letters. 

Your email or letter should specifically communicate to the reader what the next action step is, and who is going to take it. 

• Do you want them to review and sign your proposal that is enclosed?
• Or are you telling them you will email them a capability brochure with pricing tomorrow for their review before the meeting next week?

Sales letters without "calls to action" usually have miserable results. 

In your pre-writing planning, be sure to clarify what the next step is.