Chapter 10

_Arguments--prices, styles, terms, quality or whatever they may be--are effective only when used on the right "prospect" at the right time. The correspondent who has some message of value to carry gathers together a mass of "raw material"--facts, figures and specifications on which to base his arguments--and then he selects the particular talking points that will appeal to his prospect. By systematic tests, the relative values of various arguments may be determined almost to a scientific nicety. How to gather and classify this material and how to determine what points are most effective is the subject in this chapter_

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An architect can sit down and design your house on paper, showing its exact proportions, the finish of every room, the location of every door and window. He can give specific instructions for building your house but before you can begin operations you have got to get together the brick and mortar and lumber--all the material used in its construction.

And so the correspondent-architect can point out the way to write a letter: how to begin, how to work up interest, how to present argument, how to introduce salesmanship, how to work in a clincher and how to close, but when you come to writing the letter that applies to your particular business you have first to gather the material. And just as you select cement or brick or lumber according to the kind of house you want to build, so the correspondent must gather the particular kind of material he wants for his letter, classify it and arrange it so that the best can be quickly selected.

The old school of correspondents--and there are many graduates still in business--write solely from their own viewpoint. Their letters are focused on "our goods," "our interests" and "our profits." But the new school of letter writers keep their own interests in the background. Their sole aim is to focus on the viewpoint of the reader; find the subjects in which he is interested, learn the arguments that will appeal to him, bear down on the persuasion that will induce him to act at once.

And so the successful correspondent should draw arguments and talking points from many sources; from the house, from the customer, from competitors, from the news of the day from his knowledge of human nature.

"What shall I do first?" asked a new salesman of the general manager.

"Sell yourself," was the laconic reply, and every salesman and correspondent in the country could well afford to take this advice to heart.

Sell yourself; answer every objection that you can think of, test out the proposition from every conceivable angle; measure it by other similar products; learn its points of weakness and of superiority, know its possibilities and its limitations. Convince yourself; sell yourself, and then you will be able to sell others.

The first source of material for the correspondent is in the house itself. His knowledge must run back to the source of raw materials: the kinds of materials used, where they come from, the quality and the quantity required, the difficulties in obtaining them, the possibilities of a shortage, all the problems of mining or gathering the raw material and getting it from its source to the plant--a vast storehouse of talking points.

Then it is desirable to have a full knowledge of the processes of manufacture; the method of handling work in the factory, the labor saving appliances used, the new processes that have been perfected, the time required in turning out goods, the delays that are liable to occur--these are all pertinent and may furnish the strongest kind of selling arguments. And it is equally desirable to have inside knowledge of the methods in the sales department, in the receiving room and the shipping room. It is necessary for the correspondent to know the firm's facilities for handling orders; when deliveries can be promised, what delays are liable to occur, how goods are packed, the condition in which they are received by the customer, the probable time required in reaching the customer.

Another nearby source of information is the status of the customer's account; whether he is slow pay or a man who always discounts his bills. It is a very important fact for the correspondent to know whether the records show an increasing business or a business that barely holds its own.

Then a most important source--by many considered the most valuable material of all--is the customer himself. It may be laid down as a general proposition that the more the correspondent knows about the man to whom he is writing, the better appeal he can make.

In the first place, he wants to know the size and character of the customer's business. He should know the customer's location, not merely as a name that goes on the envelope, but some pertinent facts regarding the state or section. If he can find out something regarding a customer's standing and his competition, it will help him to understand his problems.

Fortunate is the correspondent who knows something regarding the personal peculiarities of the man to whom he is writing. If he understands his hobbies, his cherished ambition, his home life, he can shape his appeal in a more personal way. It is comparatively easy to secure such information where salesmen are calling on the trade, and many large houses insist upon their representatives' making out very complete reports, giving a mass of detailed information that will be valuable to the correspondent.

Then there is a third source of material, scarcely less important than the study of the house and the customer, and that is a study of the competitors--other firms who are in the same line of business and going after the same trade. The broad-gauged correspondent never misses an opportunity to learn more about the goods of competing houses--the quality of their products, the extent of their lines, their facilities for handling orders, the satisfaction that their goods are giving, the terms on which they are sold and which managers are hustling and up to the minute in their methods.

The correspondent can also find information, inspiration and suggestion from the advertising methods of other concerns--not competitors but firms in a similar line.

Then there are various miscellaneous sources of information. The majority of correspondents study diligently the advertisements in general periodicals; new methods and ideas are seized upon and filed in the "morgue" for further reference.

Where a house travels a number of men, the sales department is an excellent place from which to draw talking points. Interviewing salesmen as they come in from trips and so getting direct information, brings out talking points which are most helpful as are those secured by shorthand reports of salesmen's conventions.

Many firms get convincing arguments by the use of detailed forms asking for reports on the product. One follow-up writer gets valuable pointers from complaints which he terms "reverse" or "left-handed" talking points.

Some correspondents become adept in coupling up the news of the day with their products. A thousand and one different events may be given a twist to connect the reader's interest with the house products and supply a reason for "buying now." The fluctuation in prices of raw materials, drought, late seasons, railway rates, fires, bumper crops, political discussions, new inventions, scientific achievements--there is hardly a happening that the clever correspondent, hard pressed for new talking points, cannot work into a sales letter as a reason for interesting the reader in his goods.

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SOURCES OF MATERIAL:

/ 1. SOURCES / 1. RAW MATERIALS --| 2. QUALITY | | 3. SUPPLY | \ 4. PRICE | | / 1. CAPACITY OF PLANT | PLANT | | 2. NEW EQUIPMENT | 2. PROCESSES OF --| 3. TIME SAVING | MANUFACTURE | DEVICES | \ 4. IMPROVED METHODS /- 1. THE HOUSE------| | | / 1. METHODS OF | | | SALESMEN | | 3. KNOWLEDGE OF --| 2. POLICY OF | | DEPARTMENTS | CREDIT DEPT. | | | 3. CONDITIONS IN | | | RECEIVING & | | \ SHIPPING DEPTS. | | | | 4. KNOWLEDGE OF | | COSTS | | | | 5. STATUS OF / 1. CREDIT | | CUSTOMER'S --| STANDING | | ACCOUNT | 2. GROWING | | \ BUSINESS | | | | / 1. OLD LETTERS | | | 2. ADVERTISEMENTS | | 6. DOCUMENTS --| 3. BOOKLETS, | | | CIRCULARS, ETC. | | \ 4. TESTIMONIALS | | | | / 1. ACQUAINTANCES | | | OF OFFICERS | \ 7. PERSONNEL OF --| 2. INTERESTS & | FIRM | RELATIONS | \ OF OFFICERS | | / 1. CHARACTER OR |- 2. THE CUSTOMERS--| KIND OF BUSINESS | | | | 2. SIZE OF BUSINESS | | | | 3. LENGTH OF TIME | | IN BUSINESS | | SOURCES | 4. LOCATION & LOCAL OF | CONDITIONS MATERIAL | | | 5. COMPETITION | | | | 6. STANDING WITH | | CUSTOMERS | | | | 7. METHODS & POLICIES | | | | 8. HOBBIES & PERSONAL | \ PECULIARITIES | | / 1. QUALITY | / 1. GOODS --| 2. EXTENT OF LINES | | \ 3. NEW LINES | | | | / 1. TERMS | | 2. POLICIES --| 2. TREATMENT OF | | \ CUSTOMERS | | |- 3. COMPETITORS----| / 1. SIZE OF PLANT | | 3. CAPACITY --| 2. EQUIPMENT | | | 3. FACILITIES FOR | | \ HANDLING ORDER | | | | / 1. NEW CAMPAIGNS | \ 4. METHODS --| 2. ADVERTISING | \ 3. AGGRESSIVENESS | | / 1. METHODS | | |- 4. OTHER METHODS--| 2. ADVERTISING | (NOT | | COMPETITORS) \ 3. SALES CAMPAIGNS | | / 1. METHODS | / 1. SUPPLY HOUSES --\ 2. CAPACITY | | | | 2. GENERAL MARKET \- 5. MISCELLANEOUS--| CONDITIONS | | 3. CURRENT EVENTS | | 4. ADVERTISING IN \ GENERAL MAGAZINES

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Gathering the information is apt to be wasted effort unless it is classified and kept where it is instantly available. A notebook for ideas should always be at hand and men who write important sales letters should keep within reach scrapbooks, folders or envelopes containing "inspirational" material to which they can readily refer.

The scrapbook, a card index or some such method for classifying and filing material is indispensable. Two or three pages or cards may be devoted to each general subject, such as raw material, processes of manufacture, methods of shipping, uses, improvements, testimonials, and so forth, and give specific information that is manna for the correspondent. The data may consist of notes he has written, bits of conversation he has heard, extracts from articles he has read, advertisements of other concerns and circulars--material picked up from a thousand sources.

One versatile writer uses heavy manila sheets about the size of a letterhead and on these he pastes the catch-lines, the unique phrases, the forceful arguments, the graphic descriptions and statistical information that he may want to use. Several sheets are filled with metaphors and figures of speech that he may want to use some time in illuminating a point. These sheets are more bulky than paper but are easier to handle than a scrapbook, and they can be set up in front of the writer while he is working.

Another correspondent has an office that looks as if it had been decorated with a crazy quilt. Whenever he finds a word, a sentence, a paragraph or a page that he wants to keep he pins or pastes it on the wall.

"I don't want any systematic classification of this stuff," he explains, "for in looking for the particular word or point that I want, I go over so many other words and points that I keep all the material fresh in my mind. No good points are buried in some forgotten scrapbook; I keep reading these things until they are as familiar to me as the alphabet."

It may be very desirable to keep booklets, pamphlets and bulky matter that cannot be pasted into a book or onto separate sheets in manila folders. This is the most convenient way for classifying and filing heavy material. Or large envelopes may be used for this purpose.

Another favorite method of arrangement in filing talking points for reference is that of filing them in the order of their pulling power. This, in many propositions, is considered the best method. It is not possible, out of a list of arguments to tell, until after the try-out always, which will pull and which will not. Those pulling best will be worked the most. Only as more extensive selling literature is called for will the weaker points be pressed into service.

No matter what system is used, it must be a growing system; it must be kept up to date by the addition of new material, picked up in the course of the day's work. Much material is gathered and saved that is never used, but the wise correspondent does not pass by an anecdote, a good simile, a clever appeal or forcible argument simply because he does not see at the moment how he can make use of it.

In all probability the time will come when that story or that figure of speech will just fit in to illustrate some point he is trying to make. Nor does the correspondent restrict his material to the subject in which he is directly interested, for ideas spring from many sources and the advertisement of some firm in an entirely different line may give him a suggestion or an inspiration that will enable him to work up an original talking point. And so it will be found that the sources of material are almost unlimited--limited in fact, only by the ability of the writer to see the significance of a story, a figure of speech or an item of news, and connect it up with his particular proposition.

But gathering and classifying material available for arguments is only preliminary work. A wide knowledge of human nature is necessary to select from these arguments those that will appeal to the particular prospect or class of prospects you are trying to reach.

"When you sit down to write an important letter, how do you pick out your talking points?"

This question was put to a man whose letters have been largely responsible for an enormous mail-order business.

"The first thing I do," he replied, "is to wipe my pen and put the cork in the ink bottle."

His answer summarizes everything that can be said about selecting talking points: before you start to write, study the proposition, picture in your mind the man to whom you are writing, get his viewpoint, pick out the arguments that will appeal to him and then write your letter to that individual.

The trouble with most letters is that they are not aimed carefully, the writer does not try to find the range but blazes away in hopes that some of the shots will take effect.

There are a hundred things that might be said about this commodity that you want to market. It requires a knowledge of human nature, and of salesmanship to single out the particular arguments and the inducement that will carry most weight with the individual to whom you are writing. For even if you are preparing a form letter it will be most effective if it is written directly at some individual who most nearly represents the conditions, the circumstances and the needs of the class you are trying to reach.

Only the new correspondent selects the arguments that are nearest at hand--the viewpoints that appeal to him. The high score letter writers look to outside sources for their talking points. One of the most fruitful sources of information is the men who have bought your goods. The features that induced them to buy your product, the things that they talk about are the very things that will induce others to buy that same product. Find out what pleases the man who is using your goods and you may be sure that this same feature will appeal to the prospect.

It is equally desirable to get information from the man who did not buy your machine--learn his reasons, find out what objections he has against it; where, in his estimation, it fell short of his requirements; for it is reasonably certain that other prospects will raise the same objections and it is a test of good salesmanship to anticipate criticisms and present arguments that will forestall such objections.

In every office there should be valuable evidence in the files-- advertisements, letters, circulars, folders and other publicity matter that has been used in past campaigns. In the most progressive business houses, every campaign is thoroughly tested out; arguments, schemes, and talking points are proved up on test lists, the law of averages enabling the correspondent to tell with mathematical accuracy the pulling power of every argument he has ever used. The record of tests; the letters that have fallen down and the letters that have pulled, afford information that is invaluable in planning new campaigns. The arguments and appeals that have proved successful in the past can be utilized over and over again on new lists or given a new setting and used on old lists.

The time has passed when a full volley is fired before the ammunition is tested and the range found. The capable letter writer tests out his arguments and proves the strength of his talking points without wasting a big appropriation. His letters are tested as accurately as the chemist in his laboratory tests the strength or purity of material that is submitted to him for analysis. How letters are keyed and tested is the subject of another chapter.

No matter what kind of a letter you are writing, keep this fact in mind: never use an argument on the reader that does not appeal to you, the writer. Know your subject; know your goods from the source of the raw material to the delivery of the finished product. And then in selling them, pick out the arguments that will appeal to the reader; look at the proposition through the eyes of the prospect; sell yourself the order first and you will have found the talking points that will sell the prospect.

When You _Sit Down_ To WRITE