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Motivation: Module Iii-E
INTRODUCTION Motivation is tied closely to compensation, but the two are very different. Compensation is simply one form of motivation. There are many forms, all of which should accomplish one thing: encourage producers to sell and make them feel good about what they're doing and where they're doing it. A good motivational environment will help both Life and P/C producers. You should have a motivational atmosphere for your CSRs, as well. You should maintain a high recognition level in which all agency members can participate. Every producer wants to succeed. Your job, then, is to make sure each does succeed, through motivation and recognition. By providing continuous recognition programs that inspire and motivate agency employees, you will create a more successful agency environment. Your own attitude is the most important part of motivating staff. You must promote enthusiasm and belief for others to be enthusiastic and believe. ELEMENTS OF MOTIVATION To begin your motivational campaign, you need several basic elements: 1. You must be available to producers. Both new and experienced producers should be able to come to you for any reason-business and personal. All producers should feel that you are genuinely interested in them as individuals. Whenever one has a complaint, misunderstanding, or any problem, he or she should feel comfortable coming to you and talking about it. By maintaining an open-door policy, producers will feel that you are approachable, and you can build and maintain close relationships with your producers. You should also schedule regular personal conferences with your producers. Use the time to go over their goals, concerns, progress, and the things they want to accomplish. You can combine this with your weekly sales review, but it would be better to make this a separate, more informal meeting. This is the single most important part of good agency motivation. Your personal interest in each producer provides inspiration, motivation, and a morale boost-and all it takes is time and caring. 2. Regular sales meetings give you the opportunity to recognize producers. By gathering all the producers together, you are providing a forum for personal feedback and recognition of the high achievers from the past week or month. The recognized producers get both immediate feedback from you and the recognition of their peers. MOTIVATIONAL EVENTS In addition to the above, there are a number of events and activities that can motivate your people. The following suggestions will help you build and maintain team spirit in your agency. Annual Meeting-At the beginning of each year, hold an all-agency meeting. Use this to review the agency's performance of the past year and recognize past top performers. Include other agency staff, as well as producers, in this recognition. For example, your receptionist may have helped other staff in addition to regular duties. Or a CSR may have been exceptionally motivational to other staff members. You can use charts and graphs to show how the agency performed over the past year. Build agency pride and team spirit. You may invite an outside guest with experience in key agency areas who can reinforce your agency's results and plans. The objective of this meeting is to inform, instruct, and inspire. Inform: Explain to staff the outlook for your agency in the new year, along with any new programs you may have in mind. Share your one-year and five-year plans here, as well as any upcoming seminars, meetings, or conventions you may wish staff to attend. Explain to staff the outlook for your agency in the new year, along with any new programs you may have in mind. Share your one-year and five-year plans here, as well as any upcoming seminars, meetings, or conventions you may wish staff to attend. Instruct: Share with them a sales procedure that will benefit them, or invite an outside speaker. Share something with them that will make their job easier or more effective. Share with them a sales procedure that will benefit them, or invite an outside speaker. Share something with them that will make their job easier or more effective. Inspire: Paint a picture of what the agency can become. Outline its potential and the benefits to producers and staff. Explain the ways you are going to recognize and reward top performers throughout the year. Then, recognize each staff member for a particular accomplishment. Paint a picture of what the agency can become. Outline its potential and the benefits to producers and staff. Explain the ways you are going to recognize and reward top performers throughout the year. Then, recognize each staff member for a particular accomplishment. Everyone must be positively recognized. Consider concluding the meeting with a lunch or dinner, and have the top agent of the year and top agency staff member of the year speak. Make sure you end the meeting on a high note. Annual Black-Tie Dinner-Another motivational event is a formal dinner held every year, either at year-end or in January. You can invite all agency members and their spouses and present awards to all your production leaders for the year, including special recognition for your top associates. You may include the spouses by presenting them with special mementos of the evening. Make sure the memento is nongender-specific. This should be a big event, so plan it carefully to reflect the occasion. Also, you may invite area and industry leaders to provide added recognition to your agency members. Sports Outing-Why not organize a softball team and compete with other local businesses? Or, have a combination family picnic and games. Educational Conference-A yearly educational conference, held at a prestigious location, is another great motivating event. You can require producers and other agency members to meet certain qualifications in order to attend-remember to include spouses. Holiday Party-You can hold a holiday party for the entire staff and make it an "Open House." Again, make sure top producers are recognized. Have important clients, professionals with whom you work, centers of influence, and other community leaders attend and use this occasion to display your agency and staff. -Another motivational event is a formal dinner held every year, either at year-end or in January. You can invite all agency members and their spouses and present awards to all your production leaders for the year, including special recognition for your top associates. You may include the spouses by presenting them with special mementos of the evening. Make sure the memento is nongender-specific. This should be a big event, so plan it carefully to reflect the occasion. Also, you may invite area and industry leaders to provide added recognition to your agency members. -Why not organize a softball team and compete with other local businesses? Or, have a combination family picnic and games. -A yearly educational conference, held at a prestigious location, is another great motivating event. You can require producers and other agency members to meet certain qualifications in order to attend-remember to include spouses. -You can hold a holiday party for the entire staff and make it an "Open House." Again, make sure top producers are recognized. Have important clients, professionals with whom you work, centers of influence, and other community leaders attend and use this occasion to display your agency and staff. MOTIVATIONAL GROUPS In addition to events, membership in certain groups should be created as motivational tools. While some groups can have other purposes, membership should be primarily motivational. The following special groups can be established in your agency: Senior Sales Consultants-Select a few experienced producers from your agency and form a group of senior sales consultants. These producers should have specialties in certain markets, such as Group insurance, P/C Lines, pension plans, and so on. You can encourage their specialization by arranging for them to write articles for national publications. Help them organize a presentation that can be given to industry and community groups, as well as in your agency meetings. Also, have other agency members work with these consultants whenever they have prospects in one of their key areas. This group fulfills a two-fold purpose: It recognizes the individuals and it provides them an opportunity to continue their involvement in the area. Agency Advisory Board-An advisory board of producers who have been in your agency for a specific period can be created. You can hold lunches for all board members, and honor each new member upon joining this group on his or her specific qualifying anniversary. You may want to honor producers on each subsequent fifth year on the board, as well. Quarterly Round Table-Inspire and motivate agency members by forming a quarterly round table of leaders. You can set a standard of production that must be met in order to qualify for the round table. In addition to providing recognition, these special groups help upgrade your sales staff and improve the quality of business produced in your agency. -Select a few experienced producers from your agency and form a group of senior sales consultants. These producers should have specialties in certain markets, such as Group insurance, P/C Lines, pension plans, and so on. You can encourage their specialization by arranging for them to write articles for national publications. Help them organize a presentation that can be given to industry and community groups, as well as in your agency meetings. Also, have other agency members work with these consultants whenever they have prospects in one of their key areas. This group fulfills a two-fold purpose: It recognizes the individuals and it provides them an opportunity to continue their involvement in the area. -An advisory board of producers who have been in your agency for a specific period can be created. You can hold lunches for all board members, and honor each new member upon joining this group on his or her specific qualifying anniversary. You may want to honor producers on each subsequent fifth year on the board, as well. -Inspire and motivate agency members by forming a quarterly round table of leaders. You can set a standard of production that must be met in order to qualify for the round table. In addition to providing recognition, these special groups help upgrade your sales staff and improve the quality of business produced in your agency. OTHER FORMS OF RECOGNITION In addition to meetings and groups, there are a number of other ways to provide recognition to agency members: Wall of Fame-Those producers who have met and passed set production goals should have their framed portraits displayed on an agency wall. The producer could be presented with a plaque with his or her name and the agency insignia. Announcement letters can be mailed to 100 of the producer's select clients informing them of the selection and honor. To make it on the "Wall of Fame," a producer should have: met specific production goals, completed specific educational courses, met a specific percentage increase over previous year's production, and been recognized as a top performer an established period of times consecutively. Agent-of-the-Month Award-You can assign points based on production or base the award on the producer's premium volume as a qualification for the Agent-of-the-Month award. See the "Life Production" graph at the end of this section. In order to qualify, the producer must meet a minimum of, for example, $5,000 of annualized first-year commissions during the particular month. Send a press release and a photograph of the agent to local newspapers. Make copies of the newspaper article and send them to the producer's top 50 or 100 clients. Agency Dedicator Program-This program provides recognition each month to those producers who, during the month, produce $5,000 in annualized first-year commissions. You can present an engraved trophy to each agent who qualified as a "dedicator"eight times or more in one year. New Producer Club-Organize a special club for trainee producers. If the trainee pays for 12 cases or more in a month, the producer and spouse will be your guests for a gourmet dinner. This also helps the new producer's spouse get better acquainted and feel a part of the agency. Lead-Day Participants-You can choose to assign qualified producers a "lead day." This means you give the recognized agent all of the phone and paper leads received on that specific day. This provides both recognition and the opportunity to develop more business. To qualify, the producer should be a member of the National Association of Life Under-writers and a Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT) performer or be on track for MDRT qualification, as well as be a top recognized agency producer. Monthly Publication-An in-house publication can be put together and distributed at the beginning of each month. In it, recognize the top agency performers from the past month. Depending on the size of your agency, you can include photographs of agency members. Also, you may include sales ideas, general information items, and other articles contributing to self-improvement and education. Bulletins-On an as-needed basis, you can distribute single-page bulletins that are colorcoded as to purpose. For example, white could mean general information; yellow, recognition; green, production; and blue, motivational. Give these to your sales force throughout each month. Personal Letters and Cards-Mail anniversary and birthday cards to all agency employees and their families. For the personal touch, include a hand written note. Special Announcements-When appropriate, send out "flash" notices announcing special personal or business happenings in your agency employees' lives. Births, marriages, promotions, educational achievements, and honors should all be recognized. Contest Winners-Hold sales contests throughout the year. In addition to other recognition, reward each winner with some unusual keepsake. -Those producers who have met and passed set production goals should have their framed portraits displayed on an agency wall. The producer could be presented with a plaque with his or her name and the agency insignia. Announcement letters can be mailed to 100 of the producer's select clients informing them of the selection and honor. To make it on the "Wall of Fame," a producer should have: met specific production goals, completed specific educational courses, met a specific percentage increase over previous year's production, and been recognized as a top performer an established period of times consecutively. -You can assign points based on production or base the award on the producer's premium volume as a qualification for the Agent-of-the-Month award. See the "Life Production" graph at the end of this section. In order to qualify, the producer must meet a minimum of, for example, $5,000 of annualized first-year commissions during the particular month. Send a press release and a photograph of the agent to local newspapers. Make copies of the newspaper article and send them to the producer's top 50 or 100 clients. -This program provides recognition each month to those producers who, during the month, produce $5,000 in annualized first-year commissions. You can present an engraved trophy to each agent who qualified as a "dedicator" eight times or more in one year. -Organize a special club for trainee producers. If the trainee pays for 12 cases or more in a month, the producer and spouse will be your guests for a gourmet dinner. This also helps the new producer's spouse get better acquainted and feel a part of the agency. -You can choose to assign qualified producers a "lead day." This means you give the recognized agent all of the phone and paper leads received on that specific day. This provides both recognition and the opportunity to develop more business. To qualify, the producer should be a member of the National Association of Life Under-writers and a Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT) performer or be on track for MDRT qualification, as well as be a top recognized agency producer. -An in-house publication can be put together and distributed at the beginning of each month. In it, recognize the top agency performers from the past month. Depending on the size of your agency, you can include photographs of agency members. Also, you may include sales ideas, general information items, and other articles contributing to self-improvement and education. -On an as-needed basis, you can distribute single-page bulletins that are colorcoded as to purpose. For example, white could mean general information; yellow, recognition; green, production; and blue, motivational. Give these to your sales force throughout each month. -Mail anniversary and birthday cards to all agency employees and their families. For the personal touch, include a hand written note. -When appropriate, send out "flash" notices announcing special personal or business happenings in your agency employees' lives. Births, marriages, promotions, educational achievements, and honors should all be recognized. -Hold sales contests throughout the year. In addition to other recognition, reward each winner with some unusual keepsake. CONCLUSION Motivation is inspiration, recognition, pride, morale, team spirit-all the intangibles that help make people want to keep doing the best job they can. The presence of an established motivational program in your agency can make the difference between low production, high staff turnover, and failure and record volume, high agency loyalty, and success.

Solidifying The Bond With Your Customer
Very few people will recognize the name Hikari, unless they're in the beauty salon industry. Hikari is a scissors manufacturer and distributor. Not just any type of scissors, but very expensive scissors used by hair stylists. A small, five-inch pair of scissors might sell for $400, and more expensive models approach $1,000. Considering that the average hair stylist grosses about $30,000 to 35,000, this is a market in which the buyers spend 1% to 2% of their gross earnings for two pieces of metal connected with a screw and washer. You might think that it's a pretty tough market, but the U.S. distributor sells about a thousand pairs per month with a total employee of five. The intriguing thing is that Hikari has never purchased any advertising! They have built their business with seminars and other informational tools that (1) help stylists to perform their jobs better and (2) help their distributors to be more professional within the salon industry (which benefits all the manufacturers they may represent). In both cases, the middle-man distributors and the actual hair stylists, Hikari utilizes audiocassette programming and live seminars to carry their message. So although insurance and scissors may be miles apart in product, they're remarkably close when it comes to innovative marketing. Let's first look at the programs for the end user: the hair stylist. Continual research has identified several problems affecting this group. One had to do with the scissors: the distributors weren't taking time to cover all the bases when delivering them to the buyer. Another problem was a high rate of carpal tunnel syndrome among stylists due to repetitive motion. A third problem area concerned new laws regulating the disinfecting of salon tools to eliminate HIV contamination. Other areas were also addressed, but those are currently the top three concerns. Firmly believing that people buy from people who help them, Hikari devotes a lot of attention to helping the hair stylists. Let's look at the solutions to the problems just mentioned: Delivery. Rather than relying on the sales rep to deliver the scissors properly, Hikari developed a 'delivery tape.' This 15-minute audiocassette thanks customers for their purchase, explains the proper care and maintenance of the scissors, details the warranty procedure in case of a problem, and concludes with an 800 number for any questions. The cassette packaging also includes a warranty registration card that, when filled out and returned, offers a free leather holster for the scissors. Carpal tunnel syndrome. Addressing this issue required visual media, and the cost of a video was prohibitive. Assimilating all the available research, including some commissioned by Hikari itself, the company developed a 30-minute, seminar-style presentation on proper cutting techniques to avoid carpal tunnel syndrome. Corporate personnel who travel in the field were trained to present this seminar, which invites questions and answers. As they travel, they arrange for local distributors to set up multi-salon seminars to view the presentation. They also offer it as an adjunct to any convention or show they attend. Disinfectant. The solution to this problem combined introducing a new product for the disinfectant of tools with an educational audiotape covering health issues and proper disinfectant techniques. To this, Hikari added an award program: Distributors fill out checklists about the cleanliness and disinfectant process in their various salons, and salons that made the grade are presented an impressive award for display in their salons. How does all this apply to the insurance industry? Let's look again by category. Delivery. When was the last time you reviewed your agency or brokerage procedure for the policy delivery? Are there any rough edges that need to be smoothed? Is the client educated about the coverage itself, as well as in the benefits you provide and to which they are entitled? Do you review all the other coverages you can write? Have they been introduced to their service representative? Most important, does every client receive this same information-including those whose policies may be delivered by mail? Would a 'delivery tape' smooth out some of the rough edges and insure that all clients receive all the information they should? Seminars. Granted, a lot of agencies present seminars, but are they addressing the right topics? For instance, Workers' Comp is a hot topic, and many agencies have put together seminars to cover it-and have been disappointed in the turnout. True, the topic is hot, but the agency has also entered the competitive field of seminar-giving. Everyone and her brother have been putting on seminars, and one would do well before looking at the competition before plunging in. Moreover, I heartily recommend avoiding seminar topics that smack of sales commercials. Ask your clients what their current concerns are. It might help to have a topic checklist for them to prioritize for you. Think of subjects such as repetitive stress syndrome, independent contractor regulations, hiring undocumented workers, automated communications, safety in the workplace, etc. Each of these topics can be tied into insurance coverages or operational procedures that can be of financial benefit to your agency-but they don't appear to be flagrant commercials at first blush. Other ideas might be to tie catastrophe preparedness (a timely topic) to business interruption insurance, or protecting leased equipment with property coverages (a lot of companies are being 'double dipped' by equipment-leasing payments that also include insurance coverage on the equipment). When doing a seminar, test it out on some of your current clients first. If it works, invite prospects to join with clients for subsequent seminars. Don't forget to invite the local media; you might get some excellent press coverage! Awards. When was the last time, if ever, that you presented a client with an award for being an outstanding client? Several years ago, one of our suppliers sent a typical holiday gift to us, but there was a difference: On opening the package, we found a plaque engraved with the words, 'Sound Marketing, Inc., Outstanding Customer. A customer is the most important visitor on our premises. He is not dependent on us, we are dependent on him. He is not an outsider in our business, he is a part of it. We are not doing him a favor by serving him; he is doing us a favor by giving us the opportunity to do so.' Needless to say, the plaque went up on our wall, and we are still doing business with that supplier. In fact, since their service matches the philosophy of the plaque, 'it is almost an impossibility to consider changing vendors. As an IMMS Member, you have a wealth of information that expands far beyond insurance to correspond to many of the issues faced daily by your clients. Spend a little time researching the library and you'll come up with a lot of material that can help you develop your client relationships and secure their business for the future. Just remember, it's up to you to carry the message-before your clients need to ask!

100 Easy Ways To Begin A Sales Letter (Part One)
100 EASY WAYS TO BEGIN A SALES LETTER (PART 1)  by Herschell Gordon Lewis Every writer knows the one great truth of direct response letter writing. At the moment reading begins, you're at point blank range. You'll never again have that big an advantage over the reader. This is why such developments as handwritten overlines have leaped to popularity. It's why our tired old friend, 'Dear Friend,' is phasing itself out. That isn't the subject of this article. How many 'pet' openings do you have? Over the past five years or so, as I've watched the oh-so-slow evolution of letters, I've isolated about 80 openings I regard as: 1) easy to construct and 2) not yet cliches. The benefit of this laundry list of openings: Having a list at your elbow may help you, as it has helped me, get started on those emotionally cold mornings when the muse of creativity isn't resting on your other elbow. We'll start with my personal favorite. 1. 'IF YOU'RE LIKE ME...' My high regard for this opening stems from two bases: First, it strides across all barriers of consumer/business, highbrow/lowbrow. Second, it establishes immediate rapport. This works as a receptivity softener for messages from an anonymous signatory; better yet, it adds arm-across-the-shoulder 'buddy binder' to a communication signed by a recognizable power name. I sometimes use 'If you're like I am' instead of 'If you're like me.' Why? 'If you're like I am' seems just a tad less presumptuous than 'If you're like me' because it's a tad less all-inclusive. Usually, the word following 'If you're like me' is an automatic 'you' or, to complete a parallel, 'you're.' You can see why this opening is implicitly reader involving. I take a parental view toward this opening, and I'm torn between statesmanship-directing me to share it with those who haven't yet sampled its joys, and proprietorship-predicting application of the deadly rule: Overuse = abuse. Statesmanship wins out, because I suspect, from my own incoming mail, word is already out. A letter from a scuba diving organization begins: Dear Diving Enthusiast: You and I are part of a remarkable group. Someone who's never been on a scuba dive could never understand it. See the exclusivity building here? See how much stronger this opening is than 'You're part of a remarkable group'? A variation on the you-and-I theme is 'The source from which I got your name tells me . . .' This opening isn't as convivial nor as personal, because it separates writer and reader instead of welding them together, and the writer runs the risk of antagonizing the reader instead of drawing him/her into the net. The value of this variation is its sidestepping of circumstances in which the reader thinks, 'Who the hell is he to think I'm like that?' A recent letter within our industry begins: Dear Direct Marketing Colleague: The source of your name given to Bob Stone and me indicates to us that you're obviously deeply involved in direct marketing and want to continue learning about it. I don't like that word 'learn' because, sent to professionals, this approach suggests the writer thinks they aren't quite professional: but the concept is arresting. 2. ASK A PROVOCATIVE QUESTION. This one isn't as automatic as the first suggested letter opening because it doesn't indicate what the question is. Nor does it help point out that the question depends on what we're selling. I'm guessing that thousands of direct response writers sense the value of an interrogative opening . . . but don't recognize the qualifier, provocative. Some uses of this opening are ludicrous; others are preposterous. What destroys their value is their disregard for the reader's own experimental background. Lack of understanding leads to reader rejection because the writer opens the letter with a question whose relevance the reader dismisses without analysis. For example: If I open a letter with, 'Do you know the name of the ninth incarnation of Vishnu?' your response has to be, A) 'Are you nuts?' B) 'Who cares?' or C) 'Something is wrong with you, and if I did there'd be something wrong with me.' Now, suppose I open that same letter with, 'Why do I think you might know the name of the ninth incarnation of Vishnu?' I've added the element of provocation. You're involved even though you haven't the foggiest notion of where I'm heading. (Neither of us has the foggiest notion of what the name of the ninth incarnation of Vishnu is.) Would 'Why should you know the name of the ninth incarnation of Vishnu?' be as on target? Certainly not. You at once penetrate my veil: I'm taking a superior position and I'm selling something, both positions perilous in establishing rapport. Questions are easy, and that may be why they rank number one as misused openers. A letter from a trade magazine opens with a double question: HAVE YOU NOTICED IT? Dear Business Marketing Reader: Have you noticed the major commitment that Business Marketing has made to help you do your job better. The lack of a question mark is the letter writer's, not mine. But that isn't the major flaw here. What's wrong is the thrust of questions: They're totally, badly self-serving. The all-caps first question takes off the mask too soon. This opening parallels the windbag dinner partner who says, 'I've talked about myself long enough. Now let's talk about you. What do YOU think of me?' 3. 'WHAT IF...' 'What if' openings are often the instruments of choice for a touchstone opening: 'What if you had bought Miami Beach property in the 1920s?' 'What if you could go back to the day you graduated from college?' 'What if you had been in the audience at Gettysburg in 1863 when Lincoln gave his speech?' 'What if' also fits a 'hurl down the gauntlet' approach: 'What if I could prove you can make a thousand dollars before sundown today?' 'What if you could double your reading speed?' Obviously the word you is a significant factor in a 'What if' opening. Without you, the reader has the option of translating 'what if' as 'So what?': 'What if every member of Congress were to resign?' (Yeah, I know- good idea.) 4. SUGGEST A CATACLYSMIC DECISION. This one bursts with power; but of the five presented here, it's the only one requiring the professional laying on of hands. At the fingertips of an amateur or dilettante writer, cataclysm can degenerate into comedy. 'The decision you make today can...' is a grabber if the recipient of your message at once agrees with two precanned conclusions: first, you're in a position to judge and guarantee; second, the decision is possible and logical. A fund-raising organization has this cataclysm as its opening: Dear Friend, I've enclosed a Life or Death Seed Catalog for you. OK, what's wrong with that? Right! We just can't think of a seed catalog as a life-or-death determinant. Had they asked me, I'd have tied an acknowledgment of the mismatch into the mix: Dear Friend of [name of organization], I know it's hard to believe. But what you do with the little seed catalog I've enclosed could literally make the difference between life and death for a helpless child. The same organization follows the formula more logically-if with a mildly contrived device-in this opening: In the 10 seconds it took you to read this letter, five children died from the effects of malnutrition or disease somewhere in the world. I'd have left off 'somewhere in the world,' which shifts the reader somewhat out of the arena. And, yes, the opening is a mite trite. But it grabs. Cataclysmic declarations should have two mechanical components: a cut-off date and a suggestion of exclusivity. If the reader concludes the entire world has the opportunity to profit from the identical decision, the argument doesn't work because the cataclysm is too universal to generate a head of steam. 5. 'I [WE] NEED HELP.' At one time a generic fund raising opening, this one suffers from overuse and from sociological evolution (devolution?). Among fund raisers it's just as poplar as ever, even though the impact isn't as formidable as it once was. Its use is actually growing, because it no longer is the exclusive property of fund raising. 'We need help' flourished during the 1950-1980 period-a kinder, gentler time, when guilt was a more automatic motivator than it has become in the self-centered 1990s. Many of today's old-line donors are holdovers from 'We need help' recruitment campaigns of 15 to 30 years ago. Oh, sure, fund raisers still use 'We need help,' and it still pulls well enough, for some, to maintain position. That's one reason it's on the list. But another reason is the spillover from fund raising to commerce. A paradox! Business mailers have discovered need for dominance as a burgeoning motivator. By appealing to this need for dominance . . . by putting their target in a position of make-or-break supremacy . . . shrewd mailers have picked up the slack. Few commercial mailings use the words 'We need help,' because 1990s consumers don't buy from weaklings. Instead, the mailers use a form of primitive psychology we all recognize when it's used on somebody else and seldom recognize when it's used on us: 'You're the one in thousands who can...' 'I want your opinion on something. Will you tell me what you really think?' 'I admit: I need a favor from you.' So we have the first five of my own chosen 50. I'll be pleased to entertain candidates you suggest, letter openings that either have worked well for you or ones by others you find intriguing. I'm not saying, 'I need help.' What if, instead, I'm saying if you're like me, the decision you make about this will have a cataclysmic impact on our mutual rhetorical future? The message has to work, because we have all five of this month's openings lumped together. Ugh. Don't try this at home. Firing your biggest gun first might get you noticed, but see why credibility is the key to persuasion in these five rapport-establishing letter openings. by Herschell Gordon Lewis Do you agree that building rapport is the single most effective building block in letter writing? If you don't, I hope you're my competitor. Many writers remember one minirule of direct response letter writing: Fire your biggest gun first. But they sustain that rule at the expense of another, equally valid: Credibility is the key opening the door to persuasion. We in the vanguard of communications have the responsibility of sifting through evidence-our wonderful pasted-together combination of 1) what I like and 2) what I know has worked better than another approach. From this we assemble a 'What to do and what to don't' file. Have you built a file of letters-letters that grabbed you, letters that left you cold, letters you know at once are a band-aid over a lie, letters in which the writer is showing off, letters you wish you'd written, letters causing you wonder about the writer's literacy, letters that don't match or explain or justify the offer, letters that bring a stupid offer to life, letters letters letters? If not, why not start? I've never seen such a curious potpourri of excellent and execrable letters as I've found, sorting through my own third-class mail, over the past year or so. I'll tell you why I bring this up: This series of articles isn't about letter writing; it's about letter openings. The conclusion we form about a letter's impact and validity usually is at least 95 percent complete after we've read the first two paragraphs (which might be as far as we go in letters that don't fire their biggest gun first or establish rapport). The first couple of examples this month are the most obvious of intended rapport establishers. 6. 'CONGRATULATIONS!' In for a penny, in for a pound: If you're using that single word, I suggest following with an exclamation point, not a period. A calm congratulation has its uses, but calm doesn't match the single word. Mogul-to-mogul might be, 'I congratulate you.' That's not exclamatory. The single word is, which means you use it only if what follows justifies the exclamation. A letter to one of my decoy names begins: DEAR H. GORDON, Congratulations! It's my great pleasure to welcome you to all the benefits and privileges of a Columbia House Club membership. Your Pre-Approved MusiCard means you can receive our best offer to first-time members-not available through newspaper or magazine ads- but reserved for a select group of music lovers like you. Opinion: Although I'd never use the indefinite article to describe the membership-I'd say 'your Columbia House Club membership' or plain 'Columbia House membership,' not 'a Columbia House Club membership'-this letter does maintain its congratulatory character. It adds automatic impact by capitalizing Pre-Approved MusiCard. Capitalization adds validation. But 'first-time members'? If they have any kind of database, they've suppressed lapsed members, goniff members, and users of stolen credit cards; so if they want to build rapport with me, why not maintain the tone of invitation? Anyway, the point isn't merciless dissection of a cold list letter. It's recognition of 'Congratulations!' as a dynamic opener, with the caution that you can't hit and run with it. A properly used 'Congratulations!' letter, from a credit card, came to my wife: Dear Margo E. Lewis: Congratulations! Because of the exemplary way you have handled your account you qualify for our new low variable rate on your Norwest credit card account. It's our way of saying 'Thank you' and to show you how much we value your business. The pitch is the standard credit card 'Transfer other balances to this account' sales argument, but couching it in a congratulatory message makes it both more readable and more palatable. 7. 'I INVITE YOU . . .' This is the first cousin-no, closer than that, the sibling-of 'Congratulations.' Need I make a point we all know (anticipating Opening #9 in this article)? The invitation has to follow through as an invitation. No, no, this doesn't mean locking into an invitation-size format and including an engraved enclosure-although some of the more thoughtful invitations do this. It does mean keeping the tone invitational throughout the letter, never lapsing into hard-sell or going out of character. I have a letter from a publication which begins: Dear Nominee Elect: It is my pleasure to inform you that you have been elected as an Associate Member of the American Museum of Natural History. We would request that you return the enclosed invitation as soon as possible, indicating whether or not you will be accepting this election. Your temporary Associate identification card is enclosed. You may sign it and begin using it immediately. Except for the factory-like phrase 'identification card' instead of 'membership card' and the 'Mother, may I?' tone of 'You may sign it,' this is a model of its type. One clever touch: Moving into the subjunctive to avoid the appearance of pressure-'We would suggest . . .' instead of the more imperative 'We suggest . . .' Text of the letter does point out benefits other than the opportunity to get the magazine, such as free admission to the museum and various discounts; and it closes with a reaffirmation of its point: 'We put a great deal of care and thought into the election process . . .' Even knowing the ploy, who can resist an invitation that stays in character? 8. 'I HAVE A FREE GIFT FOR YOU.' Over a long period of years, we've agreed that 'free gift' is a redundancy, and we've agreed it works. So free gift it is. O.K., what is a free gift? Two schools of thought on this. One is the voice of utter integrity: It's free only if it's free. The other is the voice of sales logic: It's free if you don't pay extra for it. Neither of these addresses the matter from the proper point of view-reader reaction. We have another minirule: A free gift as a letter opening has impact in direct ratio to the reader's recognition of the value of that gift. I bring this up because we all damage future impact of the much-scarred phrase 'free gift' by calling a sample issue of a magazine a free gift. It isn't. It's a free issue, or a free sample, or a free look. A token outside the arena of what we're selling is a gift. A magazine renewal letter states in an 18-point overline: Here's a free gift for you. The letter is well-written, except for a mechanical decision with which I don't agree: Paragraphs aren't indented. And a curiosity: Except for the aristocratic putoff, 'We would now like to reward you for your loyalty,' the gi