Postscripts (the PS at the end of the letter) can increase sales by 30%! Yes it’s true. Christian Godefroy, one of Europe’s most successful direct marketers, never used a P.S. on any of his letters for the first 5 years he was in business. When he added a P.S. to an already profitable sales letter, the response increased by 30%.
Think how much richer he would be if he had always used postscripts, and now imagine that this is you. Are you going to use a postscript from the moment you start out, after all it’s not much extra effort, or are you going to throw money down the drain? The reason why you are reading this article is so that you can avoid expensive mistakes that the gurus made along their way to millionaire status.
Mailing tests by myself and other direct marketers have also proven that a well-crafted P.S. can make a big difference to your response. The P.S. is so important because apart from the headline, it is the next most read part of any letter.
Yet too much direct mail is sent out without a P.S. and the senders are throwing away a huge proportion of their potential sales.
In the real world, prospects do not read your letter from start to finish, they glance at the headline and if that draws their attention, they turn to the end of the letter and look at the signature and then read the P.S.
To be effective, you should restate the offer and/or the biggest benefit in the P.S. I usually use two postscripts in my sales letter and I like one of them to ensure the sense of urgency is still burning brightly in my prospects.
Here are the 7 most used P.S. types in successful sales letters:
One – Motivate the prospect to take action.
This P.S. type compels the prospect to take action and place their order now. For this reason, it is the most important of all the 7 types. This P.S. overcomes the buyer’s inertia, because in direct marketing delay is death.
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Two – Reinforce the offer.
This P.S. is the most often employed and properly crafted is very powerful.
It is also the safest type to use, providing the offer is compelling.
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Three – Emphasise or introduce a premium or bonus.
This one is very effective because everybody loves a valuable free gift.
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Four – Introduce a surprise benefit.
This can be effective in nudging the ‘fence sitter’ to take action and buy your product.
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Five – Emphasise price or terms of your offer.
This can be highly motivating when your offer involves a special or bargain price or terms, and you dramatise this in the P.S.
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Six – Emphasising tax deductibility of purchase.
Entrepreneurs love being able to claim their purchases back against tax. Tax deductibility also provides additional justification to make a purchase. Everyone feels more comfortable when they can justify their purchase to themselves or others.
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Seven – Emphasise guarantee.
Money-back guarantees can be excitingly presented. They are good raw materials for a P.S. because the risk associated with any purchases is eliminated. Your prospect feels less anxiety and a greater sense of security when no money can be lost.
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Many of these PS quotes are from the book Million Dollar Mailings by Denny Hatch with a forward by Alex Anderson. The book includes 71 of the most successful mailings from the past. Well worth grabbing hold of if you can find a copy.