[Music] chapter 13 the six elements of Vito correspondence I happen to like sending a letter in advance of picking up the telephone and making contact with Vito why well this approach creates two very important outcomes for me first it lets be don't know that I'll be calling second it puts the Vito call on my calendar and keeps me accountable for doing what most of us salespeople just hate to do prospect for new business if you're like me and you need a good dose of self-discipline you're gonna love this chapter and if you're curious about what kind of sales letter makes you schedule prospecting time on your own personal calendar pay close attention to what you're about to hear Vito rule number 20 every piece of Vito correspondence has six specific parts each of which must stand on its own but also be logically connected to all the other parts here's a quick rundown on the six parts that make up a Vito letter element one a headline this headline breaks Vito's preoccupation and earns attention and readership it's short to the point and will not include words or phrases with which Vito is unfamiliar it's similar to the headlines Vito might read in a newspaper or magazine the headline is short less than 30 words hard-hitting and attention-grabbing element to a tie-in paragraph this paragraph is designed to connect the headline to the rest of the correspondence typically and introduces some kind of social proof for the claim just made in the headline social proof is evidence of your track record with other Vito's in the similar or identical industry as the Vito you're sending this correspondence to element three benefit bullets this is a series of short statements of your abilities in the area of greatest interest to this veto whenever you are in doubt about what the areas of interest are for a given veto just follow the priority list that I've already shared with you as your default setting first increasing top-line revenues or any other type of revenue number to increasing the effectiveness and efficiencies of just about everything in everybody in Vito's organization three cutting expenses are moving from an unpredictable on four castable expense environment to a very predictable very four castable expense environment and finally becoming fully compliant with any and all government regulations industry practices and even Vito's own practices policies and procedures element for an ending paragraph this is where you state a call to action or introduce some level of suspicion as to what the possibilities could be you could also invite Vito to engage certain decision-makers by name in this paragraph yep this requires some additional work you know why you should do it anyway because it works like a charm hey guess what even though this is the ending paragraph we're not done yet element 5 an action-oriented PostScript this is where you'll put the precise day date and time that you'll be calling Vito in this PostScript you'll also include the name of Vito's private assistant element six a short handwritten note you will attach this to the back not front of your correspondence it's a note - Vito's private assistant you know he or she's going to be opening up all the Vito's and reading this right examples of all six elements before I share with you an entire letter I'm gonna give you some examples of each of the elements I've gone into my archives over the last twenty five thousand letters and selected my favorite pieces of course if what you're about to listen to matches up with the personas and results of your customers and prospects use it in the far more likely event that what you listen to isn't tightly focused on your world you will need to make the necessary changes and tailor what you're about to hear to your specific situation ready here's the ultimate highlight reel showing off my favorite elements of my favorite kind of letter the Beatle letter Tony's favorite headlines the most powerful headlines are the ones that will catch Vito's attention and get Vito to think or say out loud how the heck did they do that or I would love to talk with this genius headlines can include a quote from your Vito which by the way should be pretty easy to get or a direct quote from one of your existing customers Vito which is almost as easy to get the world's largest electronic manufacturer increased stock value and reduced time to market by 63 days while eliminating eighty 7.9 million dollars in unnecessary inventory my team led the way in just a hundred and forty four days you can eliminate the need for a direct quote and all of the numbers except the time it took to pull it off and still get the point across for instance further increase shareholder wealth while at the same time achieving greater compliance in just a hundred and forty four days here's the team that helped do it let's stop here for a moment did you notice how each of the examples you just heard showed Vito that you have evaluated both sides of the risk equation both the immediate payoff which any sales person can talk about and the likely implications of taking a new step which very few salespeople even consider you're not just sharing a story about increasing shareholder value you're sharing a story about increasing shareholder value while at the same time reducing time to market and eliminating unnecessary costs you're not just sharing a story about increasing shareholder wealth you're sharing a story about increasing shareholder wealth while at the same time improving compliance this is called a balance an equation and it's an extremely important part of any benefit you discuss or preview for Vito you must look at all sides of the equation just like Vito must some more examples further improve operational economics compliance and globalization capabilities in just 90 days further improve shareholder wealth in the next six months by improving revenues while lowering expenses further increase shareholder value by more effective operation of revenue generating assets while cutting up to 31 percent in fixed costs in just six months a top 10 advertising firm increased net working capital by seventy six point five million dollars while improving efficiencies by 21 percent in just three months Tony's favorite tie in paragraphs the best tie in paragraphs are ones that keep the ball rolling and add a new thought for Vito to process in some cases this new thought can provide a segue into Ella and three your benefit bullets warning it is very important not to repeat anything in your tie-in paragraph that you said in your headline repeated words phrases and ideas will turn veto off here are some great examples we've helped cut time and expense into extremely effective business tools while enhancing our customers ability to concentrate on core competencies we've accomplished this in one or more of the following ways during the past 12 years we have worked with 29 manufacturing companies collectively and we've been able to increase margins and shareholder value are any of the following achievements on your list of goals plans or objectives for the first half of this calendar year if so the good news is that we have created a proven repeatable process that we guaranteed to deliver results such as while you peruse this correspondence 12 other CEOs in your industry are benefiting from our innovations with higher margins lower expenses and greater peace of mind here are two additional results we are providing our business partners Tony's favorite benefit bullets the best benefit bullets are short and to the point here again be careful not to repeat anything notice that in some of the benefit bullets you'll be listening to I've added an advantage to the list of benefits here's a side note your benefit bullets could also take the form of a chart or graph here they are reduction of annual variable costs by as much as 6.4 million dollars without compromising patient care up to 30% increase in patient Billings while maintaining full compliance and fiduciary responsibilities further improve clinical results including up to 54% D in hospital mortality lowering inventory and improving product availability by detecting supply disruptions early and responding with cost-effectiveness in mind increased revenues of up to 44 percent per year have been reported by our clients Tony's favorite ending paragraphs the ending paragraph is where you want to make a clear call to action or introduce some level of doubt and suspicion about whether you can deliver these kinds of results for veto incorporated if you choose the latter option you'll be dialing into vetoes most powerful competitive nature the need to win and the desire not to miss out on anything mister benefit Oh what does this have to do with your financial institute perhaps everything if you determine that one or more of the results mentioned in this correspondence are relative to your strategic initiatives for the balance of this calendar year all that's necessary is for you to consider taking my call Tony's favorite action-oriented post scripts this is the shortest part of your correspondence but it may well have the greatest impact why you're including Vito's personal assistant in the conversation and you're also taking the initiative by suggesting a specific day date and time for your first conversation important note both of these steps are mandatory you'll notice that this kind of PS can be very powerful as a conclusion to your letter for either veto or vetoes private assistant Tommy I say conclusion but it's worth noting here that both Vito and Tommy are very likely to scan down quickly to the bottom part of the sheet of paper and read this part after the headline catches their attention PS I'll call your office on Thurs may 14th at 9:30 a.m. if this is an inconvenient time please have Tommy inform me as to when I should make the call or if you like you can reach me Monday or Tuesday between 9:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. I look forward to our conversation PS Tommy I'll plan on calling your office on Thursday May 14th at 9:30 a.m. if this isn't a convenient time to have a brief conversation with Miss important--i please call me and let me know PS the topics of this letter may be important to both our organizations that's why I'll plan on calling your office on Thursday May 14th at 9:30 a.m. if this is an inconvenient time please have Tommy inform you as to when I should make the call Tony's favorite handwritten notes to vito's personal assistant building rapport with Tommy is absolutely critical if you expect to gain access to Vito by including this personal note you'll be quietly and sincerely saluting Tommy's uniform I like to use a yellow sticky note for this special message again it goes on the back of the veto better Tommy your guidance and insights into your enterprise are priceless as you know it's so difficult to find a compassionate ear in our busy day and hectic schedules I look forward to our conversation and finding out what you think about the enclosed correspondence if you would like to change the time I've suggested just give me a call Tommy please take a look at this correspondence and let me know what your thoughts are about the proven ideas we have for the hospitality industry if I've selected an inconvenient time for our first conversation please let me know Tommy we can actually deliver much much more than is mentioned in this correspondence so if it's okay with you a quick conversation will help me get on the right track and stay there if the time that I've select it isn't convenient please let me know if you want to get on the fast track and get all those c-suite appointments you work hard for and deserve so you could sell more faster and crush your quota in the process then all you need to do is go to our site feetoes sales training com click on the take action tab scroll down to you see the Vito University logo and check it out and in the meantime have yourself a masterful rest of the day bye bye [Music]