The Power Letter – The perfect why us letter – how to sell on many levels
Many businesses make the mistake of looking for new customers before they engage with existing connections and past customers, however if you are talking to them on social media and sending out a newsletter and maybe networking once in a while what more can you do to get them back on board and buying from you?
With many clients I help them send out the perfect “Why Us” letter.
A one page, no waffling letter that enables new connections and warm relationships to turn into leads, new business, repeat business and up-scaling products and services, it also helps ensure you are remembered and on your target audiences radar for when they are ready to buy.
Be mindful that you must have a joined up approach to your marketing, here are some exampales of what could damage that;
- A great website with no new content is going to let you down.
- A great social media presence with no call to action or low cost intro offer is going to risk sales.
- A great networking ethos but a lousy follow up is going to damage your results.
- A poor follow up strategy with a great online presence is not going to result in automatic sales.
My experience with coaching businesses is that they are often doing many of the right things but there are missing links in their approach that don’t include the companies needs, the planned growth (or lack of clear goals for the company and team) or planned outcomes and that damages results.
Therefore start by looking at your sales funnel and ensuring you actually know who your target audiences are. These course can help you get that in order fast –www.mandiie-holgate-business-life-coach.teachable.com
When you know you are saying the right things to the right people then you can use the power letter to get in the door and create a great sales funnel and build a powerful positive relationship.
I see this work well with companies who create a power letter, then they have a strategy that means they email them one week later after the initial letter and then phone 4 days after that. Your strategy for follow up on your Power Letter will be unique to you. And will need to match;
- Your time allowances.
- Your admin needs.
- Your marketing strategy.
- Your products and services.
- Commitment to other customers.
- Current capacity.
I have seen clients who now have a 60% conversion rate on power letters with people asking to do a number things as a result of the Power Letter;
- Can we work together?
- Can you add us to your mailing list please?
- We are tired into a contract right now can you call us in 6 months?
- Can you send us a written copy of your Power letter so we can come back to this at a later date?
- Can you tell us more?
- We aren’t sure how this would work for us so we are going to keep in touch if that’s okay?
And here is how your write your own;
P is for Power title
No one is going to open or read your email unless it has a title that really connects and hooks your target audiences (can you see why you need to do the finding your niche audiences? It really focuses your mind on to finding the right audiences for what you say and the way you say it.)
Think of the issues that new customers say when they first call. Those words and emotions need to come across in your opening power title. A word of caution, most businesses make the mistake in communicating using their terminology and not the language a customer would use.
You may see it as a “this process works” and you are proud of it way of communicating, where as your target audiences don’t care about the process, they care about results and that will be around the areas of;
- Easy to achieve.
- Low cost.
- Make money.
- Save money.
- Stop us breaking the law and risking a fine.
- Higher profits.
- Less sickness.
- Less turn over of staff.
- Less chance of selling a kidney because business isn’t working.
- Better looking body.
- loving the home you are in.
- Feeling confident. etc, etc.
Get the power in your title with emotion and the pain clients experience.
O is for Obstacle.
When you’ve ensured they want to read your email it has to then pull them into the email. So the next step is to really hone in on the issues they face. When I do this with clients we tend to have 3 to 5 bullet points that that customer is probably facing. Something like;
- Did you know companies with a formal training programme are 91.2 % likely to meet their sales quota.
- 75% of companies admitted they waste resources and finances on in-house coaching.
- Without follow up training your team could lose out on 80 to 90% of what they learned in training within a month and damage future results.
- Companies that combine Training with Coaching lead to an increase of 88% in productivity, vs. 23% from training alone.
(Including stats and facts rams the point home and it can be good to add where your stats are from.)
W is for What we did
This is still a short paragraph or 3 to 5 bullet points. Remember this person is not in love with your company yet and they need to know how you actually achieve something they currently feel is impossible to do. Make it succinct and very relevant to their perceived issues. Ensure you use the words that are likely to feature in a customers reasons for saying No. ie,
“It takes less than 2 hours and £200 to be compliant and save fines starting from £400.”
This tells customers it is quick (they may assume it will take up lots of their time) and it’s affordable, less than the fine (which tells them it is a no brainer in cost and results.)
E is for End Result
This again is short, the whole Power Letter needs to look good on an A4 piece of paper with plenty of space so it is easy to read. So concisely explain what results the company got, ie:
– Reduced absenteeism by 40%.
– Every KPI for 90% of the company was achieved.
– Increase profit margins by 30% within 6 weeks.
Don’t waffle. Consider what matters to the potential client.
R is for Reaction You Want
A mistake I see people make a lot is they write great content or share great ideas but they don’t lead people in the direction they want them to go in!
Don’t forget to finish your Power Letter with a clear call to action. I’ve seen clients do this with a choice of calls to actions too. Ie
- If this is of interest to you (and let’s be honest if you’ve written we can help you increase your profit margins by 40% in just 10 hours of your time within 6 months, they aren’t likely to be uninterested are they?) then reply to this email or give us a call.
- You may not be ready to sign up just yet, but if you are interested in what we could do for you then sign up to our newsletter here.
- We will call you in 2 days time to hear what you think of how we can help your company. We aren’t going to sell at you, just follow up on our email.
- We have some guidance and white papers on our site around this topic for you to help yourself to, all free.
A power letter can be about creating new sales with just one email however it is more likely to be the way to open the door to build relationships and gain a lot more than just a one off sale.
As always if this is of benefit to you, let me know.
If you want more ideas email or message me and I will create them for you.
And if you benefit from the Power letter a donation would make this blogger very happy. Thank you, let me know what results you get.
“Why won’t you scratch my itch?”
Weird one right?
Even weirder when it’s the first thing you say to a business woman as she walks in to a networking event!
Let me explain…
I was at The Business Woman’s Network event and knew that a business woman that I knew would be there that sells a mascara that I adore. It’s one that layers up to look like false eye lashes. (not in a Towie way!) and I’ve been complimented on them many times, so I’m hooked.
The only issue is that I’m so busy with clients that I’m in a dangerous zone of not networking quite as much as I should and so I’ve not seen this business woman in ages. Well long enough for my mascara to be too old to use. (Unless I want to get some random eye infection that is!)
So when she walked in I was really pleased to see her. But with my business coach hat on that was what I asked her “Why won’t you scratch my itch?” you see she knew I loved her product, because this was not the first time I had brought this product from her and yet she had not been in touch with me at all to ask if I wanted it again. If someone has an itch in the middle of their back, you itch it right? And boy does it feel good. We like people that helps us right?
The only person I purchase from who seems to get this right is Di The Doggy Dinner Lady. Without fail I get a text. “Hi Mandie, how is your old boy doing for food? I’m coming over to Mersea on Monday, would you like another deliver?” And would you believe it we need a new order!
Is Di the doggy dinner lady psychic?
Or does she keep an eye on her sales so she can maximise on her sales potential?
So I explained my itch to my mascara business woman and how to make it easy to increase sales with people that already love you. And now you can have that for free too. (you know I love to share right?) Let’s go….
- Create a simple XL spreadsheet of sales. Date of sale. Clients name. products purchased and total value.
- If products have a shelf life or are likely to run out in 3 months will you diary to phone them? Text them? Send them a Facebook message? Mention at a networking event?
- How did you first meet? And what was their preferred way to communicate? That is the way you get back in touch with them. Be on their wave length.
- Don’t give up. If you send a message and they don’t reply, do not assume they aren’t interested. Are you sat around with nothing to do? Exactly! Everyone is very busy. So except that. It could be that they are not interested, it could be that they want to buy but not yet, it could be they want to buy but have not had the chance to get it sorted. Until you speak with them you will not know. As I like to tell my clients, getting “No’s” enables you to get valuable answers to get “Yes’s”. So as scary as it can be to pick up the phone and find out why someone has not been in touch. Do it. You are in business. Business has scary things. Business has bits you don’t enjoy. The good news is that the more you do the scary bits, the easier they get and shock of shocks you could come to like
them. (I know this, because clients tell me that after a session of working on how to pick up the phone and get results, they realise that the phone is a powerful friend not an evil enemy intent on your business destruction! - When you discover in actual fact like my mascara lady I’m a lover and I want in. Why would you assume that I only want in on one product? As I chatted with my Mascara business woman I had to ask for a brochure! (No matter what marketers from around the world will tell you with their latest fail safe Go from Broke To £1000000 in 100 Days Quick Fix programs there’s 4 ways to increase sales; Up sale, side sale, re sale and reduce costs. Really that’s it. We dress it really pretty, but that’s it.) So my mascara lady gets me as a “hooked I love your products” woman why do I have to ask for the brochure? That should be offered to me. It should be “Mandie if you are loving the mascara so much, would you like to take a brochure home to have a browse through”….. And if that was me I would make sure that interested party got a “Great to see you at @BWNcouk today at #Colchester @Patrikminder Lexden Crown networking today. Glad you love the mascara, see you at the BWN Birthday event 18th” Because spreading the business love, reminding her I exist and giving her my social media links means she can keep in touch with me without once saying “Check out my social media!” and showing respect for her and help to build a great relationship. All good for business. Great right?
If you would like to know about the awesome Mascara I mentioned ask Lydia Adams;
www.facebook.com/lydiaslusciouslashes
And the Doggy Dinner Lady is Di Gilbranch;
www.facebook.com/officialtrophypetfoods
Top Tips For Start Up Creative Businesses
I have just started a conversation on social media with a woman who is setting up her own business in a creative industry.
Her big dream is to turn her passion and love for art into a business.
I’ve met many people over the last few months with similar goals.
So here is my top 15 guide to success for creative businesses;
- If you don’t have a budget for marketing your business (which is nothing to be ashamed of, think of Richard Branson and his market stall!) Do not start your marketing with a website, SEO (Search Engine optimisation) or advertising. Unfortunately, as you get known and network and tell people about your business, some people are like hyenas around a carcass and will swoop in offering you support to grow your business, get on the first page of Google (don’t listen to that one, it’s not true) and basically tell you for £X amount they can get you lots of lovely customers. Even if they can, don’t start there! Time for top tip 2.
- Get on the right social media. In the start you won’t have time to be on all of the social media platforms that could be right for you, so think carefully. Am I a business to business company or a business to consumer company? By answering this you will know whether LinkedIn needs to factor heavily or not. In my opinion for myself and those creatives I’ve worked with; Twitter is great to get known and raise awareness of yourself as an expert in your field. A thought leader. And it has led to some great free PR for me. Facebook gets me clients for The Business Womans Network events. For my training, sales of my 6-week online course, book and public speaking clients. Not so much for the clients that want to retain me for a year. Or invest in a full day with me. (I get them on LinkedIn) Instagram is great to meet new people and share great content without having to think “What shall I write?” Remember a picture paints a thousand words and for your business it really could. Pinterest is great to group my interests, and thus those of people who are likely to like me and what I represent, thus get them interested in finding out more about me and maybe connecting in other ways. YouTube is big business and gaining strength all of the time. Don’t just share images think about what content could you share that get people subscribing to your channel and busting a gut to see your latest master piece.
(There are plenty of others and social media is a constantly evolving monster so be prepared to explore, trial and play with it. So no matter what you can stay current and create an effective marketing strategy organically.)
- Are you going to sell online? Will you be on Amazon? eBay or Etsy? Or all of them? Remember there are likely to be new players all the time, so think about what you want your marketing to say about your brand and your products? Do you sit comfortably with Amazon? Will you have a shop on Facebook? Is eBay the right image for you? To help you decide think about your products and research what is sold on each platform. Asking other creatives in forums can also be a good way to research what could work for you. Let other peoples mistakes be something you learn from.
- Know your pricing structure. If you can only produce one piece of work in 2 months your prices are going to need to reflect this. On the other hand, if you make 4 items in a day, again will this reflect in your price? Don’t make yourself too cheap. If you were to buy a wedding cake in the centre of London, you could pay a lot more than if you bought one in your local high street. Do you want your products to be owned by all, or admired from a far because they are something to aspire to owning one day?
- Know your brand. By deciding on what you make and what you charge you will start to appreciate who you need to target. What are your perfect clients like? Do they own horses, ski at Christmas, holiday in the South of France in the Summer? Do they like to update the look of their homes all of the time? Are they into history? Art? Travelling? Building a bio of your perfect client helps you create your brand. Everything I do is synonymous with showcasing that you can run a successful business without spending a fortune on marketing and helping people to stay motivated, building confidence and overcoming fears. I’m not likely to be online promoting advertising or moaning about the size of my thighs. What is your brand? What do you talk about? Care about? Are you a public “No holds barred” “Wear your heart on your sleeve” artist or private and an enigma? One artist turned down the opportunity to have her work displayed in a New York Gallery because she discovered they used furs and this was against her beliefs. Will your beliefs impact on your business?
- Who else will sell your work? I was speaking to a designer of high fashion T Shirts, when she said that her designs sometimes were inspired by her own tattoos. She is now going to talk to her local tattoo artist. Could she be promoting him and she be promoting him? Do you want your work to be in galleries? Promoted by interior designers? Wedding boutiques? Cross promotion is a great way to promote someone else and for them to promote you. Free marketing when you are busy!
- Have the guts to go and ask! Yes, it is really scary walking into a gallery and saying “Hello could you take a look at my art, and are you interested?” I get that. However, every business owner on the planet that succeeds has learnt that no’s are good too. A no is a chance to learn. And ensure you don’t use questions that start with Why. Why questions carry guilt. “What is the reason you are not interested?” Has no guilt. What questions could you ask? And yes I get that it is really scary! So carry something to show with you at all times, you never know where you might spot the perfect place to be showcasing your work.
- Boost your confidence now. As one creative told me. “Showing people my art is like sharing a little part of my soul, what if they don’t like it. I don’t think I could cope with that.” Know why you rock today. Because business has knocks, lots of them. However, by dealing with those knocks you become a better business owner for it. (I promise) and the first thing you need to do is build your confidence. You should be able to write me a 2 page A4 document of why you rock, are awesome and can make this work. Because when you have a tough day you are going to need to remind yourself that you can do this, and this can work!
- Know who you can talk to for non-biased advice and support to stay motivated and positive. The Business Womans Network in the words of so many women, keeps people on target positive and motivated. Where can you go to get that? Being creative is likely to mean you spend a lot of time alone with your work. However, be aware that business success is a lot easier if you rely on the right people. Not people who want to sell something at you. Just people that want to keep you motivated and believing in yourself. As top tip 8 tells you. You need self-belief. It is amazing how many times that I have helped someone build their confidence and magically they have gained new customers and more sales. It’s not magic though, the fact is when you have confidence you believe in your products and when you believe in your products you are not second guessing yourself and undermining your chances of success or the positive result of a sale.
- Protect your intellectual property and respect others IP too. Don’t rip off someone else’s work because it will get back to them and could seriously damage your reputation and business.
- In your business plan don’t rule out offering corporate events/training days/team building days. Yes, you may wish to be a creative selling to the public, however more and more corporate training is just as likely to head for a pottery barn or a Shabby Chic preloved company as they are the golf course. Just ask ShabbyAnd…’s Ann Beament.
- Build a following. Both on social media and on Mail Chimp. A free resource to create a Mailing list of people interested in what you do. The easiest way to start here is set up a mail chimp account and then get one of their integration widgets to get you a link to your Facebook business page. That way you can get people to sign up to hear from you. And at the start even if you are only speaking to 5 people, still send them a nice email campaign thinking about what they would want to hear about from you. On social media think about the magazines, the glossies, the celebrities, the experts who your perfect clients would love. And get involved in their conversations. Follow them. Share their great content and help get yourself noticed and recognised as the expert you are.
- Get clever with your time. Things like Hootsuite will enable you to schedule your posts. Think about the times of day your perfect clients are online. The galleries, the interior designers, the image consultants, the celebs, etc. etc. What TV shows have hashtags that would be good to get involved with? # = hashtag. Mailchimp enables you to schedule your emails that go out. Remember if you are targeting people with lots of disposal income, are they likely to be online checking out great interiors for their office or home at 10am or are they more likely to be hard at work?
- Create a business plan and a marketing strategy and think about how you will stay motivated and focussed on achieving it. In the early day’s lots of opportunities could come your way. Be realistic, do these opportunities really fit in with your business model? With your target audiences? With what you wish to achieve. Knowing what you want to achieve and having clear goals mean you are far more likely to achieve them. And writing them down can rocket that success even more.
- And lastly for now here is a copy of my marketing production line. If you are using 8 to 10 tools on this marketing production line (effectively!) then you should be able to gain new leads, new followers, new opportunities, new sales and get that business of yours up and running. So while you are busy getting creative and doing what you love new business could still be coming to you, now how nice does that sound?
Your Marketing Production Line
I love this simple tool for ensuring clients are selling well. Are they talking to the right people in the right ways to ensure they are interested, engaged and buying?
Does it ensure you are using the right words and communication to entice the right customers to you?
I want you too to hear those magical words my clients say “Mandie, it’s like clients just magically fall from the sky.” They don’t there’s a process and I help businesses, big and small find the sales strategy solutions for them.
- I’ve been on holiday in August and sold tickets to events in December that I wasn’t even promoting.
- I’ve gained speaking engagements, coaching clients and even free PR opportunities and I’ve been sat in the hottub.
- I even gained a book deal when I was not even looking for one – that is still bringing in profit years later with very little effort on my part!
To really simplify this process, if you are utilising 8 to 10 tools from the above graphic your business will be gaining new business, new enquiries, opportunities and even a book deal – well you never know, that’s what happened to me.
I’d never share something I didn’t know worked and I’ve worked with thousands of businesses to help them sell well, increase profit, engagement and sales so I know this works.
You can ditch the sales talk, and the trying. Get this right and your passion (Well actually your marketing strategy) sells your wares.
ACTION: So what tools are you using? And what are you just playing with? What are you consistent with?
Be honest.
You can download a copy of the Marketing Production Line (not for alteration or sharing) here.
This course looks at your marketing strategy in detail and trains you through modules to ensure you sell well. It can also help you get in the press, gain new business, get repeat sales, heck you could even get a book deal (I did!) this really works, its the backbone of so many clients marketing strategies in so many sessions.
And if you are just reliant on social media – you could be leaving a lot of business for your competitors!
My courses work because they use the strategies I implement with clients businesses of all sizes. Like Nicole from Ace 24 Consultancy who increased sales to their ideal monthly target within 3 days, and reached the ultimate “let’s think big” year goal in 3 weeks. (She really likes me!)
Or Mr X who asked for their first 6 figure contract – and got it.
Or Mrs X who went from part-time business owner to full-time company with offices and staff in one year!
I don’t hold back with the tools and techniques for another day, it’s all here, I just want you to succeed!
If you take action on this article and my Sales Mountain (this is great for helping you upsell and gain loyal customers) it would be great to hear what action you take – I love your business good news.