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Do you think it is impossible? Well, my personal experience shows that any person is quite able to write a letter which gives almost a 100% guarantee of conviction. These letters are made by copywriting methods based on deep insight into human psychology, analysis of negative answer reasons and ways to remove negative effects.

Take a look at the brief methods and learn how to write convincing letters.

“Dear Eugene,

How can one persist after getting so excellent presentation letter?”

Would you be pleased to get such a reply? Yes, I assume. Anyway I was very pleased.

Would you like to know what the real situation was? Do you think it was of minor interest? In fact it was a real contract with really big money. In the process of its discussion a customer just decided to halve all the deadlines and double the work to be implemented by us. What are we to do? First reaction was to get rid of a customer. However when the emotions faded the objective remained to convince a customer to accept our terms and conditions. You know if we had abandoned a customer we would have lost money. Therefore I spent 3 hours and wrote a letter a reply to which is shown in the box.

As a result I got not only tangible money but what is more important the fullest satisfaction of the work I’ve done and my abilities.

We come across persuasion every day. What we usually do in the morning, in the afternoon, in the evening and even at night is that we always persuade someone. We convince a boss, customers, colleagues, wife or husband. We all do this constantly. Not always successfully enough. Persuasion is most crucial when selling. The welfare of the seller directly depends on the fact if the letter is convincing enough for the customer. To master convincing skills is the direct responsibility of all those engaged in selling activities.

There are persuasion principles well-known since the time of Plato and Aristotle, which remained unbreakable to our time. It is just those principles which are the basis for the copywriting, a skill of making selling and convincing texts.

What do you think where these principles lead to? To a very simple and logical statement:

EXPLAIN YOUR POINT OF VIEW TO A CUSTOMER

You may not read further, as the most important was said already
Well, why do we need copywriting then?

Copywriting just gives the recommendations how to better explain yourself to a customer (taking into account a customer’s psychology).

Any letter wrote by the copywriting methods is based on the following plan:

1. Realize your idea which you’d like to achieve after persuading the customer.
2. Show emotionally that you completely understand the customer, realize his problem.
3. Say that there is a solution to a customer’s problem.

4. Describe in detail and itemize the solution to a problem. Explain logically what the reasons are for taking this decision. Use bullets for better understanding.

5. As a summary in a separate paragraph formulate benefits and advantages of using the decision which you offer.

6. Encourage customer’s actions (achieve your objective).

Let’s see in detail every item of the plan. I will show you by the same example with the contract how to write a convincing letter in practice.
What would you like to achieve FOR YOURSELF by writing a letter?

Specify your objective. What would you like a reader to do?

For example, I wanted to persuade a customer to accept our deadlines and a scope of work.

Then try to understand your customer to react emotionally to his problem, express your sympathy and tune up to a positive wave.
Define who is your reader (target audience)

This is very important. Perhaps you knock on the wrong door? Can the reader implement your objective? If no, then why convince a reader in anything at all? He can do nothing anyway.

For example, does the reader have a right to make decisions and confirm the deadlines and a scope of work for a contract? Who can do that? No doubt, just the Director of the Customer Company.
Specify the benefits for the reader
What does the reader want?

And who is the reader? See the previous paragraph.

Specify the benefits for the reader, what will the reader get if he does what you want?

For example, Director of the Customer Company would like all his requirements to be met and fulfilled as soon as possible for the money he pays.

This statement is not so interesting for reading; therefore it is worth emphasizing its keywords and making the structure easier for reading. Here is what we get: ensure the quality and prompt implementation of the requirements.
Which routine activities a reader needs to make for this?

What a customer needs to do to get benefit?

In the example it is necessary ? to specify the deadlines to process the requirements and a scope of work for the obligatory and prompt implementation of the requirements.

Ok, the benefits for the reader are specified. Now it is easier to make a headline for the letter.
Invent a headline

This is crucial. Spend no less than 2 days on making a headline and invent no less than 50 variants. Offer your friends to choose the most interesting ones.

It is very easy to make a headline. It is based on the principle “how a reader should make a routine action and achieve a benefit he needs” (see both above).

For example: “Which deadlines to set to ensure the quality and prompt implementation of the customer’s requirements.”

Please note that in 99% of cases your headline is the only thing that a customer will read for sure. And if the headline is interesting enough a customer will read the whole letter.

My headline: “Which deadlines do we need to set to ensure most quality and prompt implementation of the customer’s requirements?”

I did not put the headline into the subject line of my e-mail message as I felt it would be regarded as spam. I decided to make it a first sentence of the letter. It was possible as the Customer was waiting for my letter and he would have read its first sentence for sure.
Write an introductory paragraph

The objective of an introductory paragraph is to make a reader even more interested, make him read the whole article. This can be considered a second important element of the letter after the headline. Write it by all means!

Give a promise to a reader. Promise that a reader will get a benefit he needs having read your letter.

Here is what I wrote to my Customer: “I will try to show you why the deadlines I offered earlier were set and how they ensure most quality and prompt implementation of all your requirements.”

Not so much as you see. Probably better paragraph could be written but the result was achieved, the Customer became interested. Here is the promise: “they ensure most quality and prompt implementation of all your requirements”.

In some letters I make a large introductory paragraph, whereas in others just a small one, like this. It depends on my mood
Write a letter text

This is in fact a convincing part itself.

Describe the target audience and its problem. Show emotionally that you understand the problem very well and sympathize.

Describe in detail and itemize the solution to a problem. Explain logically what the reasons are for taking this decision.

Do you happen to know how to make a reader believe your every word? There is a secret trick: in every next sentence answer the question “why” the last sentence took place. Thus you achieve a clear LOGIC in sequence of sentences. This is exactly what we all lack in our life – order! And people fall for the bait. And not only they fall, but believe. Because this is clear.

In fact you LOGICALLY BRING a reader to a NECESSARY CONCLUSION, or better to say, EXPLAIN WHY you consider that he will achieve a benefit you specified.

I strongly recommend that you use bullets. They ensure better understanding of the text and increase reader’s perception.

Do not hesitate to write a long text. If the reader has got interested at the start of a letter he will read it up to the end. If not, he would not even start reading it.

Western sources indicate that long selling letters (up to 15 pages!) are twice more effective than the short ones. It is hardly believable, but there is no smoke without fire. Apparently there is something about it.
Draw the conclusions

Make a letter finished. Mention all the key statements in brief and bring to a conclusion that a benefit for a reader will be drawn out of them without fail.

In my letter to the Customer I formulated a brief summary: “It is to confirm that our proposal ensures timely and prompt implementation of all the requirements up to the mark. Of course, we will make all the efforts to fulfill all the requirements even prior to the specified deadline. This is our holy duty!”
Encourage action

Encourage a reader’s action (implement your objective).

What did you set yourself as an objective at the very start of your letter? To convince a customer to accept our deadlines and a scope of work?

Then write so: “Therefore I propose to leave the deadlines and a scope of work unchanged as we specified in the contract”

So, to write a convincing letter

* Devote much time to it (you want to persuade someone, don’t you?).
* Follow the tried-out plan.
* And above all – thoroughly EXPLAIN your point of view to a reader.

In that case you will achieve a success by all means.

Hope that I could rouse your interest to the copywriting. I intend to further improve my professional level in this area, learn the experience of my western colleagues, and practice, practice and practice… I will gladly inform you on the achieved results on my blog pages. I will be also happy to discuss with you all the issues concerning various fields of activity which you are interested in.

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