Sales letter writing skills 101

[4little1s]

Hi,

I am looking to write to our local garden centre to see if they would be interested in stocking some of our hand made stuff. Does anyone have any tips they might want to give me for free....

 

[Deleted member 54413]

Don't write, phone and ask who the manager is. Next try and make an appointment to visit and show him your wares in person. After that, if they are interested the letter becomes a quote and those are lots easier to write!

 

[Dawg]

Dear Garden Centre Owner,

Stork Poo: The best fertilizer known.

Your customers will go ape over Stork poo fertilizer, a natural product associated with the delivery of our core audience, their parents and families. Our product is absolutely knitted in with the Stork, cabbage patches and other Garden Centre items you could sell more of with the amazing 4little1's range of...

 

[Scott-Copywriter]

Hi,

I am looking to write to our local garden centre to see if they would be interested in stocking some of our hand made stuff. Does anyone have any tips they might want to give me for free....

-Use a headline which grabs attention and makes them want to read further

-Explain exactly what you do in simple terms and hit them with your major benefit within the first few sentences.

-Explain what you will do for them, why they should use you and what benefits they will receive by doing so.

-Talk about them, not yourself.

-Make sure all the feature and benefits of your service are simple and easy to understand

-Tell the reader what to do next

Simple

 

[4little1s]

thanks guys, def gives me some ideas

 

[Peter Bowen]

I owned a garden center back in South Africa. We would get plenty of people wanting us to sell their products.

A few of them really understood our business and addressed the questions we had (and we normally bought from them). Think about your product from a retailers point of view:

• How much money can they make from selling it?
• How easily does it sell?
• What will you provide to make it easier to sell it (display stuff, advertising, promotional pricing etc)?
• What happens if it doesn't sell (will you take it back)?
• Does it have a limited shelf life (go off, go out of fashion)?
• How big a commitment do you want them to make?
• What aftersales support do you provide?
• Can you meet demand?
• How do we get your product (pick it up, you deliver, by courier,)?
• How easy is it to order from you?
• What payment terms do you offer?

That's enough for the moment. If you are going to use a letter make sure that it addresses some or all of these concerns.

Cheers

Pete

 

[Peter Bowen]

Just an aside, I looked at your online shop and notice that you have a pile of adverts down the side. I'd not be telling you how to run a business but it does seem a little strange to attract people to your site and then offer them goods from someone else for a tiny click payment.

 

[wayney]

Hi,

I am looking to write to our local garden centre to see if they would be interested in stocking some of our hand made stuff. Does anyone have any tips they might want to give me for free....

you might want to consider some of these points:
-ask yourself why are you writing this piece of material and who is it for?
-keep it interesting and relevant
-stress the benefits, people are interested in what your service can do for them, how it can make their life easier, how it will improve their life
-Consider your tone of voice, how do you want your company to come across and what will your potential customers respond to
-get straight to the point and make sure you have a simple message
-make sure the copy reflects what your company stands for
-Have a strong call to action if you do want people to contact you add a telephone and email address
-Make everything look professional
-Be consistent

 

[MJBMI]

Go into the centre (if reasonable) , get to know the decision makers, they will buy you before they buy your products.

If you HAVE to write, then foicus totally on whats in it for them, their profits, what else can your product help them sell (ie does it need other stuff for it or does it compliment other products)

 

[iArtist]

Great advice from Peter Bowen there

There is little point in telling the retailer how great the product is for his customers,

you need to tell him how great the product is for him!

You might also want to include what you'll do to let the public know your product is available to buy from their store

flyers, press release etc

Let them know if they can have it exclusively etc.

Meanwhile,

I also advise a phone call in the first instance even if it's just to let them know to expect your letter.

You could try popping in on a day you know theya re quiet

Say you were in the area and do they have a few minutes if not could you pop back another time? Then make an appt.

Make sure you go ready to deal and have all the answers to those questions Peter mentioned ready to hand.

Good luck

Leah

 

[Mellijelli]

Id like to know which kind of handmade goods you will be selling, is it the kind of crafts a garden center would be interested in selling, all the garden centres iv been to sell stuff like pottery wall hangings, garden ornaments, grass matts etc, if your product is relevant to what they are interested in selling to the public you should not have a problem, but the way you present your company and what you have to offer also plays a big role, such as the stock you have available, is the prices reasonable, are they fast selling goods, this probably the most important aspect, nobody will buy anything if its going to stand on their shelves for months without getting any sales in.

 

[Dawg]

I owned a garden center back in South Africa. We would get plenty of people wanting us to sell their products.

A few of them really understood our business and addressed the questions we had (and we normally bought from them). Think about your product from a retailers point of view:

• How much money can they make from selling it?
• How easily does it sell?
• What will you provide to make it easier to sell it (display stuff, advertising, promotional pricing etc)?
• What happens if it doesn't sell (will you take it back)?
• Does it have a limited shelf life (go off, go out of fashion)?
• How big a commitment do you want them to make?
• What aftersales support do you provide?
• Can you meet demand?
• How do we get your product (pick it up, you deliver, by courier,)?
• How easy is it to order from you?
• What payment terms do you offer?

That's enough for the moment. If you are going to use a letter make sure that it addresses some or all of these concerns.

Cheers

Pete

Excellent post. Thank you.

 

[sweatersimon]

Go into the centre (if reasonable) , get to know the decision makers, they will buy you before they buy your products.

If you HAVE to write, then foicus totally on whats in it for them, their profits, what else can your product help them sell (ie does it need other stuff for it or does it compliment other products)

Bravo!

Bravo........