See Me Letters
Maybe everybody DOESN’T love Raymond. From the letter below I realize he is still young, but you think he may be a bit presumptive in his approach toward Mr. Dockery?

That said I’d rather see folks be proactive and do something than sit around sucking their thumbs and do nothing. Take a second and reflect on how you treat unsolicited letters that come your way. I’ll bet most go unopened, and the lion’s share of the ones that do get read probably still get tossed.

However, a good old-fashioned hard copy “see me” letter is another arrow in your prospecting quiver. Your chances of it getting past the gatekeeper and being viewed by your prospect improve when the letter is serious, significant, interesting, potentially beneficial, relevant, credible, and, of course, grammatically correct.


Dear Mr. Dockery,

This will be my 10th and final year to show animals as part of 4-H and FFA projects at the County Fair. With the money I earned from prior year’s livestock projects, I bought a used truck and am able to pay my vehicle expenses.

This year I’m entering a market lamb and a market steer. Since it’s my last year, I really need to get top dollar for these entries. That’s why it’s so important for you to come to the Livestock Sale on August 12th. Actually, since there are a lot of pigs this year, and they are sold first, you can probably come a little late and still not miss the steers.

If you can’t make it to the sale this year, you could still bid on my animals. I’m thinking maybe $20-22/lb. for the lamb and $10-12/lb. for my steer. The lamb weighs 192 pounds and my steer weighs 1270 pounds. I thought it would be important for you to know those weights so you could estimate how much you would be spending.

Thanks for all your help in making this last year at the County Fair a profitable and memorable one. I will look for you there on the 12th.

Sincerely,

Raymond Juergins


You must be able to grab the reader’s attention in 4-8 seconds, which needs to happen within the first 15-20 words. You need to be very efficient and clever in your use of language and your business vocabulary. The decision makers you are contacting are primarily concerned with making and saving money, so consider this when choosing what you will say.

Most salespeople are not familiar with it, but one great letter format to follow is the AIDA format, consisting of four elements:

  • Attention (I’m hooked and want to read on)
  • Interest (This is relevant to me and my company)
  • Desire (I may just want to pursue this opportunity)
  • Action (When I’m contacted by this person, I’ll talk)

“See me” letters, must be able to be read in less than 30 seconds.  Less is better; three paragraphs are ideal, and the usage of concise bullet points helps you convey specific thoughts.

Using the AIDA format, a good basic structure would include:

Headline – It should be concise, relevant, and unique. Avoid capital lettering, which reduces readability and impact.

Opening credibility/relevance statement – Point to significant and beneficial activities that you offer that could be relevant to your buyer’s company. Avoid technical and complex words and focus on a single theme and result. Also evade laundry-listing lots of benefits, but emphasize some WIIFM (what’s in it for me?).

How and why statement – This is a good place to suggest the uniqueness of your offering, and helpful if you can state that your company is the only one able to do what you are claiming.

Action/follow up statement – State your intended next step, which typically would be telephone contact. Great letters will sometimes elicit prospect contact with you before you call them.

Sign-off – Play it safe and stick to the traditional, respectfully.

P.S. – Only use a P.S. if you need to make an additional point of special interest to the prospect.

Example See Me Letter

Putting it all together, here is an example of a “See Me” letter I might send to one of my prospects:


Dear Mr. Munoz,

Do you struggle to provide sales training and coaching for your team? Here’s an inexpensive option.

New Four E’s Sales Training System

Doug’s system, offered exclusively through RTS, is the simplest yet most effective sales training developed this century and offers major advantages over conventional sales training.

The remarkable “Four E’s” simplifies face-to-face selling into four basic, easy to understand components:

* Engaging (Determining who to approach)

* Exploring (Probing to understand needs)

* Elaborating (Presenting specific solutions)

* Executing (Agreeing on logical next steps)

If you’d like to see it for yourself, I’d be glad to arrange a complimentary demonstration.

I’ll call you soon, or feel free to reach out to me immediately to arrange a meeting.

Respectfully,

Doug Robinson

Robinson Training Solutions, LLC

P.S. Mr. Munoz, you can peek under the tent and learn more about us and what we do by visiting www.robinsontrainingsolutions.com


—————-Happy Client————-

Recently James, a District Manager with American Lube Fast commented about Doug’s book, Sell is NOT a Four Letter Word. He said, “My managers love this book because it speaks to them and every day they live out exactly what the book describes. They identify with it and look forward to each lesson.” Take a look for yourself by accessing the Table of Contents for FREE right here.

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