How to write commercial offers
Leonid Zverugowrote this on Июн 27, 2014
Each of you is likely to receive and send commercial offers several times a day. But the question is: how to make them really working and motivating.
We have identified seven main aspects which you should consider in your next commercial offer.
Competitive offer
If your offer is non-competitive, it does not matter in what words it is expressed. The client will immediately see that you are trying to cheat him.
Take the time to analyze the competitors. Understand what they offer and on what terms. Gather this information in the document called "Competitive Analysis" and share it with the colleagues. Make a competitive offer based on the competitive analysis: it has to be better than the competitors' ones: in price, service, additional options, speed etc.
No templates
A common misconception is that a commercial offer is some special kind of business document and should be written in some special way.
It is certainly not true. Commercial offer is not a genre, it has no mandatory parts. This is a letter, in which you offer another person your product or service. Perhaps the only obligatory thing is the offer itself.
Unique Selling Proposition
Your products and services are engraved in the minds of the readers, when you clearly formulate what you are offering. This is a unique selling proposition.
Unique Selling Proposition is a simple phrase, which answers the question "What do you suggest?" on the one hand, and "What's your distinguished feature?" on the other.
Smartphone that is not afraid of water.
Unique Selling Proposition sets you apart from competitors in the minds of the readers. Even if you offer the same service as a competitor, each of you should have some unique characteristics, which stands at the forefront. Specify a unique selling proposition at the beginning and only then create an offer.
Emphasis on the benefits and not on the property
A common mistake is when the offer describes all the details, does not contain information about benefits of the buyer. Remember that people buy products only to solve a problem or benefit. You need to emphasis their benefit. Nobody cares about product itself and its properties.
Do not sell meat, sell satiety; do not offer to buy fire alarm, guarantee safety; do not advertise the auditor's services, provide insurance against problems with the tax.
Use the formula "Benefit due to property":
You'll save time because our courier will take documents from the office.
Do not break a bunch of "benefit - property". One doesn't work without another.
Call to action and motive
Give the reader a reason and an opportunity to make some simple actions immediately after reading the commercial offer. Offer a discount, which will end tomorrow and give a link to make an order with the discount. Suggest a free trial request by phone. Do not forget that the reader does something just because he sees benefit for himself.
We have 30 items at the stock and we'll give them to the first thirty people who call us. To get your item, call...
Sell the price
When a reader says: "It's too expensive", he really means "It doesn't cost the required sum of money". To win a doubt sell the price. Show that your product is worth their money.
Paying $10 per day you'll get rid of the hassle of accounting, conducting primary documents, registration of contracts and billing.
It's also recommended to provide guarantee of your quality, speed, efficiency, persistency etc. Remember that the reader would believe only in a believable guarantee:
We want you to feel comfortable with our product. Therefore, if in you do not feel comfortable during the first month, you can call us and we will refund the money.
Exit to the decision maker
It is useless to send commercial offers to an address, which begins with info@ or mail@. Do not even think to send a commercial offer, not knowing who will read it. Your efforts won't pay off. Call back after sending the letter and check if everything is allright.
If your offer does not pass the secretary's barrier, try a harmless trick "the letter from abroad": send your commercial offer in an envelope with no return address, with the recipient address written in foreign language.
Conclusion
In order to write a truly effective commercial offer, you need to put away all the templates, so they do not confuse you. Primarily because many of your competitors write their commercial offers using the sametemplates. Truly effective offer requires an individual approach.
Do not follow any particular structure, make it sound lively and plausible. Do not forget that the "heart" of any offer is benefit, which customer get buying your product or service.n And most importantly, do not forget about the call and the opportunity to respond to it.
We are sure that this information will help you to write a really effective commercial offer!
