As I mentioned previously, and as I will emphasize, it is to your advantage not to send a resume to a PE until after the interview. Therefore, do not mention a resume in any context in your sales letter. If you do, at best you will be asked to send it. Then, if your resume is received favorably-and at this point the odds are against it-you will be invited in for an interview. This is not what you are after. You want an immediate interview. You will not attain this objective if you mention a resume.
Never ruin the specialized image you have carefully built in the explanation of your letter by indicating that you are ready to consider some other type of job. If you do, your PE may feel you are in need of a job and will consider anything. PE's like to deal with winners, not desperate job hunters. If the PE volunteers a different type of job and asks about your interest, you can consider that opportunity on its own merits. But it's up to the PE to initiate such a discussion. You must not even hint of the possibility in your sales letter.
Finally, if you are currently unemployed you should recognize that knowledge of your unemployment can devalue your worth with a PE if it is disclosed too early in your campaign. As I will show you, there are definite advantages of being unemployed in job hunting. However, you should not reveal your unemployment in your sales letter.
Why You Must Include a Telephone Number and Where to Put It?
Approximately 75 percent of the requests you receive for interviews will arrive by telephone. Therefore, it is essential to include a telephone number in your sales letter. Don't lose out on a job simply because you cannot be reached. You can have your telephone number printed directly under your address in the sales letter, or you can type it on the page opposite your signature. Either position is fine. Obviously, you should use your home phone if you are currently employed. If you are going to be home only after a certain hour, indicate the hour next to the telephone number. If other members of your family will take the call, make sure you instruct them to get as much information as possible. At a minimum, they should obtain the caller's name, company, and telephone number, even if the caller intends to call back at a more convenient time. You can also use an answering service or a telephone answering device. In your recorded message ask the caller to leave name, company, number, and any other information you wish.
How to Write a Sales Letter to Executive Recruiters?
Writing a letter to the "pros" is not much different from writing to PEs. There are executive recruiters and executive recruiters. For purposes of your sales letter, these differences are not significant. As with writing to PEs, your problem is a statistical one: you must get your letter to that small.
How to Prepare Mailing Lists of PEs?
There are many excellent directories you can use to prepare your mailing list of PEs. But two words of caution. Make certain the directory is current; an out-of-date directory is a waste of time and resources and will cut down on the percentage of responses. Use only those directories that provide names as well as companies. You will direct your sales letters not to titles, but to names and titles.
There are directories listing executives in every conceivable industry. Check your library first to see what directories are available. Consult the Guide to American Directories for Compiling Mailing Lists and Principal Business Directories for Building Mailing Lists.
Why You Should Mail Your Own Sales Letters?
Some firms will offer to mail your sales letter (or resume) to hundreds or thousands of companies at a cost that seems extremely reasonable. For example, one firm advertises that it will put your letters in the hands of 5,000 companies for less than $500. Since the postage alone would cost you more than this amount, it seems like a good buy. Why isn't it? To begin with, these firms cut costs by mailing your sales letter along with those of many other executives. Naturally, this packet of information is sent not to the hiring executive, but to the personnel department. This is not where you want a description of your accomplishments to go. Moreover, even if it went to the hiring executive, it would arrive with the letters of several competitors. It would not go in the highly personalized fashion that is essential for a successful sales letter campaign.
That's not all. Since you did not develop the mailing list, you have no idea where your letter is being sent (size of company, geographical area, and so forth). It could even go to your own firm. And since you have no idea who was on the original mailing list, there is no way you can send a second letter to those executives who did not invite you in for an interview. Finally, this method of scattering your accomplishments tends to lower your overall value, especially if, as sometimes happens, an executive receives more than one copy of your letter. For all these reasons, I urge you to handle your own mailing.
