Search CompleteMarkets

...#8220;Do they  really have the fire in the belly, and the risk tolerance, ...

... a company pitching a refrigerator service contract begins: Dear Margo Lewis: We are surprised we haven't heard from you about our recent offer of Extended Service coverage. Maybe one of the following applies: You haven't received our previous letters We did not sufficiently cover the benefits of our Asure program You are not interested in the extended protection And some more bullets, followed by a warning that the first year's warranty is about to expire. See the hole here? Who the devil is the woman who signed this letter to try to nail us with the nasty mantle of causing an unpleasant surprise? Who is she to draw any supposition? That's the key: We've never had any relationship. In this non-relationship, the writer had a plethora of alternative openings that wouldn't have been abrasive - for example, ... . This one is a favorite of fund raisers, and you can see why: The touch of martyrdom reaches out to the best prospects. This opening is underused by commercial mailers, many of whom feel they're taking off their pants in public. In that objection is the nucleus of why #54 can work when no other opening can grab and shake your target. If you seem to be firing blanks, that's the time to strip for action. A fund-raising letter is an archetype of It's late and I'm tired, but I have to tell you this': It's 11:30 P.M. on a Tuesday night and I'm tired. I need a shower, and I want to go to bed. But I can't sleep . . . not until I finish this letter and pray ...