У продовження теми “Sales letters” сьогодні Business English Academy розбере такий важливий аспект, як завершальні рядки. Не є таємницею, що найкраще читач запам’ятовує посилання, закладене на початку листа, а також в його завершенні. Тим самим останні рядки отримують одну з найсильніших позицій у тексті.
Умовно завершальні ремарки ми розділили на 3 групи: “пропозиція, від якої неможливо відмовитись”, “примушують замислитись” та “прямий заклик до дії”. Розглянемо їх детальніше:
Can’t-Resist Questions
A well-chosen question can turn a one-way exchange into a dialogue – and talking with your prospect is always better than talking at them.
To kickstart an initial exchange or engage a prospect that’s gone silent, extend an offer he won’t be able to refuse. You’ll simultaneously add value and incentivize him to answer. Here are a couple examples:
- “After analyzing your site, I’ve found a couple places to improve design accessibility. Should I write up my results?”
- “I’ve got a great checklist on hiring interns. Want me to send it your way?”
- “Have you tried any of those strategies? I have a couple more ideas for how we could help.”
Ending with an interesting question is also valuable for learning more about prospects. Check out these sample ones:
- “Is it currently a priority to improve customer wait times?”
- “How did you maintain hiring quality as you scaled? Did you ever try an employee referral program or social recruiting strategy?”
- “Did the ebook you downloaded change the way you think about prefab methods?”
When you’re trying to educate the prospect on your product’s value, consider ending with, “Did you know [surprising fact about product]?” Here are some ideas:
- “Did you know most senior managers have never undergone leadership training?”
Thought-Provoking Statements
Getting people to slow down enough to actually absorb your emails is challenging. That’s where a surprising or thought-provoking statement comes in: Not only will it grab your prospect’s attention in the moment, but it’ll leave your message on her mind the rest of the day.
Did you already mention a customer who saw success with your product? Use your final line to deliver a bonus tidbit about their results, like so:
- “By the way, the art program they designed with our help ended up winning two national awards.”
- “Two years later, that company was acquired for $30 million.”
Clear Calls-to-Action
Never leave your prospect without a clear idea of what to do next. Including a simple, specific call-to-action at the end of your email will drive the sales process forward.
The operative words? “Simple” and “specific.” Too much choice can be overwhelming – so if you want prospects to immediately take action, give them one or two concrete options. Take a look at these hypothetical CTAs:
- “Are you ready to discuss pricing, or would you like me to hop on the phone with your legal team?”
- “Looking forward to walking you through our POS tool. Are you available on Wednesday 3 p.m. or Thursday at noon?”
Aaron Ross, author of Predictable Revenue, swears by these closing lines:
- “Please let me know by [date] if you are ready to [next step].”
- “Email me by [date] to confirm [next step].”
- “I’ll send you a calendar invite/reminder about finalizing that paperwork on [date]. Sound good?”
No one wants to write emails prospects will forget in five minutes. With these powerful closing lines, your message will linger.
