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Power Sales Writing will help you communicate your ideas professionally and powerfully. You’ll receive the respect and recognition you deserve and get the results you desire.

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PRAISE FOR POWER SALES WRITING “A valuable tool to enhance our writing and sales effectiveness skills. This book should be in every school and business.” —Howard Putnam, author of The Winds of Turbulence and former CEO of Southwest Airlines “Sue Hershkowitz-Coore’s latest book, Power Sales Writing, is a basic, down-to-earth, easy read that will help anyone improve their writing and communication skills. Sue’s delightful personality is evident in this valuable reference tool.” —John H. Schnatter, CEO, Papa John’s Pizza “I’ve been training sales professionals for more than twenty years, and this is the best book I’ve ever read on effective sales writing.” —Brian Tracy, bestselling author, Goals! “Business success is becoming more dependent on the ability to differentiate and sell your company (and yourself ) through your writing skills. The hands-on messages in Power Sales Writing are crit- ical to winning in today’s fast-paced global economy.” —Roger Dow, Senior Vice President, Global and Field Sales, Marriott International, Inc. “This book will teach you to write better and faster.” —Fred Shea, Vice President-Sales Operations, Hyatt Hotels Corporation This page intentionally left blank. POWER SALES WRITING This page intentionally left blank. POWER SALES WRITING Sue Hershkowitz-Coore McGraw-Hill New York Chicago San Francisco Lisbon London Madrid Mexico City Milan New Delhi San Juan Seoul Singapore Sydney Toronto Copyright © 2004 by Sue Hershkowitz-Coore. All rights reserved. Manufactured in the United States of America. Except as permitted under the United States Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher. 0-07-143588-3 The material in this eBook also appears in the print version of this title: 0-07-141033-3. All trademarks are trademarks of their respective owners. Rather than put a trademark symbol after every occurrence of a trademarked name, we use names in an editorial fashion only, and to the benefit of the trademark owner, with no intention of infringement of the trademark. Where such designations appear in this book, they have been printed with initial caps. McGraw-Hill eBooks are available at special quantity discounts to use as premiums and sales pro- motions, or for use in corporate training programs. For more information, please contact George Hoare, Special Sales, at [email protected] or (212) 904-4069. TERMS OF USE This is a copyrighted work and The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. (“McGraw-Hill”) and its licensors reserve all rights in and to the work. Use of this work is subject to these terms. Except as permitted under the Copyright Act of 1976 and the right to store and retrieve one copy of the work, you may not decompile, disassemble, reverse engineer, reproduce, modify, create derivative works based upon, transmit, distribute, disseminate, sell, publish or sublicense the work or any part of it without McGraw-Hill’s prior consent. You may use the work for your own noncommercial and personal use; any other use of the work is strictly prohibited. Your right to use the work may be terminated if you fail to comply with these terms. THE WORK IS PROVIDED “AS IS”. McGRAW-HILL AND ITS LICENSORS MAKE NO GUAR- ANTEES OR WARRANTIES AS TO THE ACCURACY, ADEQUACY OR COMPLETENESS OF OR RESULTS TO BE OBTAINED FROM USING THE WORK, INCLUDING ANY INFORMA- TION THAT CAN BE ACCESSED THROUGH THE WORK VIA HYPERLINK OR OTHERWISE, AND EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM ANY WARRANTY, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. McGraw-Hill and its licensors do not warrant or guarantee that the func- tions contained in the work will meet your requirements or that its operation will be uninterrupted or error free. Neither McGraw-Hill nor its licensors shall be liable to you or anyone else for any inac- curacy, error or omission, regardless of cause, in the work or for any damages resulting therefrom. McGraw-Hill has no responsibility for the content of any information accessed through the work. Under no circumstances shall McGraw-Hill and/or its licensors be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, punitive, consequential or similar damages that result from the use of or inability to use the work, even if any of them has been advised of the possibility of such damages. This limitation of lia- bility shall apply to any claim or cause whatsoever whether such claim or cause arises in contract, tort or otherwise. DOI: 10.1036/0071435883 In loving memory of my daddy, Philip Hershkowitz, who would have liked this idea. This page intentionally left blank. For more information about this title, click here. Contents Acknowledgments xi Introduction xiii PART ONE GETTING STARTED 1 Chapter 1: Getting Started 3 Chapter 2: Putting the Prewriting Questions to Work 9 Chapter 3: Writing Made Easy! 19 Chapter 4: Revision: Your Final Step 27 PART TWO THE PSYCHOLOGY OF WRITING 37 Chapter 5: Writing Routine Messages 39 Chapter 6: Plan B: Writing to Hostile Readers 47 Chapter 7: The Buffer Zone 53 Chapter 8: Delivering the Bad News Positively, Persuasively, and Professionally 61 ix Copyright 2004 by Sue Hershkowitz-Coore. Click Here for Terms of Use. x Contents Chapter 9: End Friendly and Cooperatively 67 Chapter 10: Never Say You’re Sorry 73 PART THREE SELLING YOUR IDEAS 81 Chapter 11: Focus on What Matters to Them 83 Chapter 12: Grab Their Attention to Sell Your Idea 93 Chapter 13: Build Interest to Keep Them with You 101 Chapter 14: Deliver Your Features 107 Chapter 15: Educate Enough, but Not Too Much 113 Chapter 16: Ask for What You Want 123 PART FOUR PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER 133 Chapter 17: The Conversational Test 135 Chapter 18: Choose the Correct Word 147 Chapter 19: Email Etiquette 159 Chapter 20: Enhance Your Worth 167 Index 171 Acknowledgments This book would not have been written had it not been for the thousands and thousands of Power Writing workshop attendees who wanted to learn more, know more, practice more. They prod- ded me to create a book that they could take home to review so that they could remember the powerful new ideas they had heard, and that would provide more detail and depth than could be pre- sented during a corporate training session. I am grateful to them for asking. I am thankful for my friends in the National Speakers Associ- ation who encouraged me to write my book. Without my best NSA buddy, Joe Charbonneau, I wouldn’t have had a career, let alone a book. Larry Winget must also be mentioned for his unique way of motivating me to write. Barry Neville at McGraw Hill approached me with the idea of updating the book. I am grateful to him, and for his offer to help me with “writer’s block.” It was procrastination, Barry! Thank you for understanding my schedule, and for having a sense of humor through the whole thing. To Janice Race, and all the unseen edi- tors I know only through your initialed comments, thank you for not allowing me to embarrass myself with my own words! Thank you for your graciousness, patience, and professionalism. xi Copyright 2004 by Sue Hershkowitz-Coore. Click Here for Terms of Use. xii Acknowledgments Thank you, also, to my mother, Lois Hershkowitz, for under- standing my crazy, ever-busy work life. The same goes for my friends. I appreciate that we are still friends, even if I didn’t sur- face often! To my son, Michael, thank you for being my best teacher. You have always helped me to see what is really important in life. And to my husband, Bill, thank you for everything. Always and beyond. Introduction As soon as you move one step up from the bottom, your effec- tiveness depends on your ability to reach others through the written or spoken word. Peter Drucker Power Sales Writing will help you communicate your ideas profes- sionally and powerfully. You’ll receive the respect and recognition you deserve and get the results you desire. Whether you are a well-seasoned veteran or working toward the Rookie of the Year award, this book is for you. Chock full of writing strategies to help you build stronger relationships, en- hance your credibility in the eyes of your customers and col- leagues, and feel confident about your professionalism, this book is specific, realistic, and even fun to read. Power Sales Writing was written for the hard working, intelli- gent, capable people, in all professions, who were misled in En- glish class! Too many of us were taught wrong stuff by well-meaning English teachers. Those teachers were good folks, xiii Copyright 2004 by Sue Hershkowitz-Coore. Click Here for Terms of Use. xiv Introduction but they never saw the inside of an office (or had to deal with of- fice politics) and never had to write an email to persuade a pros- pect to see them (and make quota) or to create a sales proposal to close a deal (and get a commission). Too many of us learned if we could write to please a specific teacher or professor, we’d be okay, when in reality we had to learn much more than they could teach. We had to learn not only technique and the psychology of writ- ing, but also how to compel another busy professional to pay at- tention and respond to our words. Many people existed for years without the benefit (and bane!) of email. Some of us were lucky enough to have others do our writing for us. Today, regardless of title or position, we each must respond to and create our own powerful, professional e-messages. This book provides specific techniques and tools to show you how you can write those e-messages thoughtfully and thoroughly to lessen the worry of liability and to get your point across quickly and clearly. Power Sales Writing is practical, down-to-earth, and fun. It’s loaded with fresh new ways to sell your ideas, your products, and your services. You can (and should!) apply the easy-to use-ideas immediately to dramatically increase the amount of money you put in your pocket and drive revenue for your company. If you have always wanted to feel confident and comfortable with your writing skills, this book shows you exactly what to do. Power Sales Writing is packed with ideas to help you: • Save up to 80 percent of the time you now spend writing • Entice your reader to read—and keep reading! • Format your message for maximum impact • Ask for—and get—action Introduction xv • Avoid embarrassing yourself with outdated, silly expressions • Use your selling time more effectively and profitably • Persuade others to see your point of view • Write respectfully to build profitable relationships • And much, much more! Use just one idea from this book and you’ll write better. Apply them all and the sky is the limit! This page intentionally left blank. PART ONE GETTING STARTED Results. Respect. Recognition. That’s what this book is about— writing in a manner that will get you what you want and give your reader what he or she needs. Use the techniques in this first section and you’ll create great documents quickly. You’ll forget that high school English teacher whom you could please only if you wrote exactly her way (and you know she spent her entire life in academia, never having the pressure you have to make a sales quota, differentiate a product, or convince your manager to buy into your idea). Learn these fundamental and powerful strategies and you’ll enjoy greater confidence and save up to 80 percent of the time you now spend writing. You can write more quickly, more powerfully, and more confi- dently. Start now! Copyright 2004 by Sue Hershkowitz-Coore. Click Here for Terms of Use. This page intentionally left blank.