Type your sales letter on the stationery you have selected, using the same typewriter you will use for addressing. Omit the date, the addressee, and the salutation, and don't sign it. Make sure you allow enough space to insert the information during addressing. This master, from which a soft plate for reproduction will be made, must be "camera ready copy." Take the master to an offset printer. Select the type for your name and address and have this printed separately from the soft plate made from your master. Ask the printer to match the color of ink used for your letter to the color of your typewriter ribbon. When you get your sales letters back from the printer, all you need to do is type in the address and salutation from your mailing list, add the date, and sign each letter.
Alternatively, you can use a word processor or an automatic typewriter, both of which work better but cost more.
The effectiveness of your sales letter will be diminished if the PE's secretary screens it and forwards it to the personnel department. Therefore, on the outside of every envelope type "Private and Confidential". Although this does not guarantee that your letter will not be read by the executive's secretary, the odds are slightly better that it will get through to the hiring executive.
The Results You Can Expect from Sales Letters
Some highly marketable executives who select their target companies extremely well and do everything else right have reported letter to interview returns of as high as 50 percent. But such results are extremely rare. Anything in the 3 to 5 percent range is normal, and if you hit 10 percent or better you are doing extremely well. For campaign planning purposes, I have used 3 percent. This figure will net you 30 interviews on a mailing of 1,000 sales letters. This, along with other methods of generating interviews, is probably more than adequate for you to obtain a superior job. If your rate is less than 2 percent, you should consider revising your sales letter. Sometimes a minor change or omission of one statement will raise your returns several percentage points. Reread your sales letter several times to see if you can spot what might be turning your PEs off.
Remember, I am talking about actual interviews generated as a result of your sales letters. Replies in themselves count for nothing. If all 1,000 PEs respond to your letters but do not invite you in for an interview, your results are 0 percent. But if you are on target with your material, you can expect 30 to 50 interviews per 1,000 sales letters.
The Types of Responses You Will Receive
Most of the responses you receive from your sales letters will be rejects. Some will come directly from the hiring executive. Others will originate from the personnel department in which case you may well get a form letter. Such a reply will read along these lines: Mr. Smith, whom you have written, has asked that the writer respond. Though your qualifications are superior, your letter has been circulated throughout the company and there are no openings for someone of your background at the present time. However, because conditions may change, the writer has taken the liberty of placing your letter in the current file and will contact you should any openings arise. Thanks again for considering the XYZ Company.
If you get such a form notice, it may surprise you to learn that Mr. Smith probably has not seen your letter. And it is doubtful that your letter was circulated throughout the company, although your qualifications were probably matched against a list of current requirements on file in the personnel department. I once received a rejection notice from a company that had already extended me a job offer. How is that possible? I wrote two different officers at the company, both of whom might have needed someone with my qualifications. During my interview I learned that the other executive I had written to was out of town. This executive's secretary had intercepted the letter and forwarded it to the employment department. So routine was this action, and the written response, that the employment manager didn't recognize my name, or recall that I had an offer pending with the company.
Another, more insidious type of justification from the personnel department is the employment application. You will be sent a form to complete so that the PE can better assess your opportunities with the firm. I recommend that you not waste time filling out an employment form unless you are certain that a specific job is available. Otherwise, you risk giving out important information about yourself for no gain at all. For example, even if you don't give your references, it is unwise to list your previous employers at this early stage. The PE may call these companies even if you have no interest in the job. Such premature and needless reference checks can irritate those people who are asked to comment on your past performance. It will definitely break your security if you are conducting a campaign in secret.
What are your possible courses of action? You can treat the employment form as a rejection and write a second sales letter to the PE, following the standard procedure with all rejections. You can contact the individual who sent you the employment application and try to determine if a specific job opening exists. Or you can fill out the employment application without giving references, names of former supervisors, names of former companies, or other information that could compromise your position. For employers, use general descriptions: "a large insurance company", "a major aerospace company" and "a well known consulting firm". For references, use a general title, without the name, address, or phone number: "vice president of a medium size company," "state senator." Enclose a note stating that complete information will be furnished if there is mutual interest.
Some letters will request additional information or a resume. Try to obtain more information by telephone; then decide whether to comply with the request.
