Writing Follow-up Letters For Network Marketing
| Category: Networking(MLM) | Date: 2002-08-09 |
Back when I was working a now defunct company I created for my downline a series of five follow-up letters. These letters were originally intended and used in succession by the person whom the prospect would join under, and by that person's immediate sponsor. However, I immediately saw problems developing as to communication. These problems included when the letters should be sent and whether the dealer's immediate sponsor would do their part in participating in the follow-ups in a timely manner. To deal with these problems I decided to revise these five letters so that the same person would send them all. The reasons for this are discussed in this present report.
Everyone regardless of their network marketing company affiliation should have a chance to profit from the creative endeavors I have put into writing these follow-up letters. Therefore, I have decided to write a series of articles that reveal the type of information that should be used when writing follow-up letters. The first two letters if done properly can also be used for sending out with the basic information packet about your network marketing company. They work great as a part of building your information packet.
Studies have shown that it usually takes at least five or six mailings to a prospect before they respond in an affirmative manner. Many network marketers use even more follow-ups. In the example I am using there would be a total of six follow-ups, although you don't necessarily have to place any of these in order and of course you're free to do more follow-ups. The first mailing would be the initial mailing of network marketing company literature that the prospect requested. The next five would be follow-up letters. These can be written to be sent out by yourself, or sent in conjunction by you and a member of your upline or downline. Letters to be sent in conjunction with those of another member of your sales organization have to be written differently. This is in order to make it clear that they are intended to get the prospect to join a certain person's downline. If you are the person sending out the first letter, then the second letter (that sent by your upline) should indicate somewhere within it that it is a follow-up on your behalf. After you do this the other letters will be self-explanatory.
There are benefits to both methods of follow-up, i.e., sending all five letters yourself, or sending them in conjunction with a member (i.e., your upline). The benefits to sending them yourself are quite simple. In fact the main benefit is simplicity. You do not have to contact your sponsor or have them contact you after each letter is sent. You also guarantee each letter is sent as you mail it yourself. You can just space the mailing of each follow-up letter approximately 2 1/2 weeks apart. That means the entire process should take approximately 12 and a 1/2 weeks. If a prospect does not join in that time it is unlikely that they will join. This is especially true if they do not contact you with questions. This could mean they are never going to be interested in your opportunity. It may also mean they are just not ready in their own minds to join.
The drawback to sending each follow-up letter yourself is that you are the only one the prospect sees experiencing enthusiasm about being involved with the company. In this case the use of several testimonials (preferably by members of your upline) will help.
The main benefit to sending follow-ups in conjunction with a member of your group is that it demonstrates teamwork. It shows the prospect there is more than one person willing to work with them. The drawbacks are that you must let the person mailing the other letters know that your letter(s) have been sent. Also, you never know if they have sent the letters.
If you were to operate a co-op advertising system and present the follow-up literature (either preprinted or ready for photocopying) for the dealer to send out himself this would make a co-op system that is very easily duplicated. I've learned from experience and from listening to others that being able to duplicate a system that assures success (and being able to do follow-ups) easily and with no hassle is one of the most important components to network marketing success. However, both systems work well since the information being sent in each is the same. The system where the person who would be the immediate sponsor and therefore sends all the letters is best simply because it is the most easily duplicated especially when applied with a co-op system.
It is important to remember that a follow-up cannot be helpful if the prospect doesn't open the letter. There are several ways to get the letter opened by the prospect. Of course the most common way is to hand address the envelope in order to make it appear to be a personal letter. It is a fact shown by several studies that personal letters usually get opened sooner and more often than other types of mail.
Another way to get your letter opened is to have the following neatly printed on the envelope: INVITATION-RAPID REPLY REQUESTED. You are telling the truth as you're inviting the prospect to join your network marketing opportunity; and you would like to have a personal reply from them as soon as possible. This can also be used with email as you can put the Invitation-Rapid Reply Requested in the subject line of the email. Do not capitalize every letter because that makes it appear as if you are shouting at the person receiving the email.
Now that you've gotten your letter opened the next thing is to get the prospect to read it. There is no sure way to get it read but I can give you suggestions. One of the best ways to get your letter read is to write it by hand. This makes it appear more personal and shows that you have enough interest in the prospect to actually write a letter. However, this procedure may not appeal or be practical to you. The reasons may range from that you have poor penmanship, to not having a great deal of time to personally write to all leads, to the fact that it may not be a duplicatable process for your downline. Prospective downline may think to themselves, I don't want to write letters to prospects because it is too time consuming and besides my writing abilities are poor.' It is important to make the process of success seem duplicatable. This is important to your dealers and your prospective dealers as well.
This still doesn't answer the process of getting your letters or even the preliminary information read for that matter. The important thing is to invite the reader to read the material and more than anything else make the material seem professional. If a piece has poor grammar or poor spelling it is likely to negatively bias the prospect not only to you but also to the opportunity. Therefore, if you are going to make these follow-up pieces available to your downline make them professional not only in appearance, but also in spelling and grammar. One way to get a letter read is to attach a shiny new penny to the top near the letterhead and underneath have a statement like "a penny for your thoughts." Believe it or not this process can work; however, it can't be used via email. A second way, and one which can be used via email is what I call ATTACHING THE PROSPECTS INTEREST. This is a process of getting all of the material read, (this includes the basic material and every follow-up before and after the process).
About the Author
Keith P. Stieneke has over 21 years experience in the fields of psychology, self-publishing, writing and network marketing . His websites include the business site which houses these articles opportunityassistance.com and the motivational literary site http://www.inthespiritofthebuffalo.com
© 2002 Opportunity Assistance
webmaster@opportunityassistance.com
http://www.opportunityassistance.com
Everyone regardless of their network marketing company affiliation should have a chance to profit from the creative endeavors I have put into writing these follow-up letters. Therefore, I have decided to write a series of articles that reveal the type of information that should be used when writing follow-up letters. The first two letters if done properly can also be used for sending out with the basic information packet about your network marketing company. They work great as a part of building your information packet.
Studies have shown that it usually takes at least five or six mailings to a prospect before they respond in an affirmative manner. Many network marketers use even more follow-ups. In the example I am using there would be a total of six follow-ups, although you don't necessarily have to place any of these in order and of course you're free to do more follow-ups. The first mailing would be the initial mailing of network marketing company literature that the prospect requested. The next five would be follow-up letters. These can be written to be sent out by yourself, or sent in conjunction by you and a member of your upline or downline. Letters to be sent in conjunction with those of another member of your sales organization have to be written differently. This is in order to make it clear that they are intended to get the prospect to join a certain person's downline. If you are the person sending out the first letter, then the second letter (that sent by your upline) should indicate somewhere within it that it is a follow-up on your behalf. After you do this the other letters will be self-explanatory.
There are benefits to both methods of follow-up, i.e., sending all five letters yourself, or sending them in conjunction with a member (i.e., your upline). The benefits to sending them yourself are quite simple. In fact the main benefit is simplicity. You do not have to contact your sponsor or have them contact you after each letter is sent. You also guarantee each letter is sent as you mail it yourself. You can just space the mailing of each follow-up letter approximately 2 1/2 weeks apart. That means the entire process should take approximately 12 and a 1/2 weeks. If a prospect does not join in that time it is unlikely that they will join. This is especially true if they do not contact you with questions. This could mean they are never going to be interested in your opportunity. It may also mean they are just not ready in their own minds to join.
The drawback to sending each follow-up letter yourself is that you are the only one the prospect sees experiencing enthusiasm about being involved with the company. In this case the use of several testimonials (preferably by members of your upline) will help.
The main benefit to sending follow-ups in conjunction with a member of your group is that it demonstrates teamwork. It shows the prospect there is more than one person willing to work with them. The drawbacks are that you must let the person mailing the other letters know that your letter(s) have been sent. Also, you never know if they have sent the letters.
If you were to operate a co-op advertising system and present the follow-up literature (either preprinted or ready for photocopying) for the dealer to send out himself this would make a co-op system that is very easily duplicated. I've learned from experience and from listening to others that being able to duplicate a system that assures success (and being able to do follow-ups) easily and with no hassle is one of the most important components to network marketing success. However, both systems work well since the information being sent in each is the same. The system where the person who would be the immediate sponsor and therefore sends all the letters is best simply because it is the most easily duplicated especially when applied with a co-op system.
It is important to remember that a follow-up cannot be helpful if the prospect doesn't open the letter. There are several ways to get the letter opened by the prospect. Of course the most common way is to hand address the envelope in order to make it appear to be a personal letter. It is a fact shown by several studies that personal letters usually get opened sooner and more often than other types of mail.
Another way to get your letter opened is to have the following neatly printed on the envelope: INVITATION-RAPID REPLY REQUESTED. You are telling the truth as you're inviting the prospect to join your network marketing opportunity; and you would like to have a personal reply from them as soon as possible. This can also be used with email as you can put the Invitation-Rapid Reply Requested in the subject line of the email. Do not capitalize every letter because that makes it appear as if you are shouting at the person receiving the email.
Now that you've gotten your letter opened the next thing is to get the prospect to read it. There is no sure way to get it read but I can give you suggestions. One of the best ways to get your letter read is to write it by hand. This makes it appear more personal and shows that you have enough interest in the prospect to actually write a letter. However, this procedure may not appeal or be practical to you. The reasons may range from that you have poor penmanship, to not having a great deal of time to personally write to all leads, to the fact that it may not be a duplicatable process for your downline. Prospective downline may think to themselves, I don't want to write letters to prospects because it is too time consuming and besides my writing abilities are poor.' It is important to make the process of success seem duplicatable. This is important to your dealers and your prospective dealers as well.
This still doesn't answer the process of getting your letters or even the preliminary information read for that matter. The important thing is to invite the reader to read the material and more than anything else make the material seem professional. If a piece has poor grammar or poor spelling it is likely to negatively bias the prospect not only to you but also to the opportunity. Therefore, if you are going to make these follow-up pieces available to your downline make them professional not only in appearance, but also in spelling and grammar. One way to get a letter read is to attach a shiny new penny to the top near the letterhead and underneath have a statement like "a penny for your thoughts." Believe it or not this process can work; however, it can't be used via email. A second way, and one which can be used via email is what I call ATTACHING THE PROSPECTS INTEREST. This is a process of getting all of the material read, (this includes the basic material and every follow-up before and after the process).
About the Author
Keith P. Stieneke has over 21 years experience in the fields of psychology, self-publishing, writing and network marketing . His websites include the business site which houses these articles opportunityassistance.com and the motivational literary site http://www.inthespiritofthebuffalo.com
© 2002 Opportunity Assistance
webmaster@opportunityassistance.com
http://www.opportunityassistance.com
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