It has been my experience that most requests for interviews come by telephone rather than by mail. This is one reason that it is important for your telephone number to be readily located in your sales letter. Several books I have read on job hunting urge the job hunter to avoid being interviewed over the telephone at all costs. One even suggests that you hang up rather than respond. You will early discover, however, that with the popularity of making appointments by phone, most PEs will do some interviewing in this manner. If the PE is going to pay your travel expenses for the interview, you can bet that he will want to know more than you have written in your sales letter. Therefore, rather than try to avoid the telephone interview, I recommend that you turn it to your advantage by obtaining information from the PE before going in for the interview.
Handling yourself on the telephone is an important part of your campaign. If a PE wants to interview you by phone, find out all you can about the job before revealing additional information about yourself. If you do give your PE information, make sure it reinforces your credentials for the job.
Sometimes, a PE will want to talk salary over the phone. It is always to your advantage not to do so until a sale has been made. Use this question to obtain more information: "There are so many factors that bear on compensation that it is almost impossible to give you a figure without knowing more about the job. What can you tell me?"
When and How to Write the Second Sales Letter?
You should send your second sales letter approximately three weeks I after the first. There are several reasons for doing so. Your initial sales letter may not have reached the hiring executive, or business conditions may have changed. An executive can quit, get fired, or be transferred suddenly.
An expansion may require greater manpower needs than anticipated. Budget approvals may come through unexpectedly. Whatever the reason, your second sales letter may be better received than the first. Finally, a second sales letter helps to establish your credibility-that you are "for real." A PE who was on the borderline of responding to your initial sales letter may be convinced by your second letter.
Prepare your second sales letter much like your first, with the following changes: use a different opening/attention getter; write a new explanation paragraph, even though your basic reason for writing is the same; and strengthen your motivators if you did not receive a strong response from your first mailing.
Send your second sales letter to all those PEs who did not invite you for an interview. These include PEs who did not reply at all as well as PEs who sent you a rejection letter, either directly from the hiring executive or from the personnel department. You should also send your second sales letter to additional PEs who has come to your attention since the first mailing. Their names should be on your updated list.
If you are getting good results, you can use your original sales letter with minor changes. However, if your initial mailing brought in poor results, something is wrong with your sales letter (assuming you followed printing and other directions carefully). Reread the early part of this chapter and review the examples. Study every sentence in your sales letter. Sometimes only a small change or omission can make a world of difference. Rewrite your sales letter and send it out again.
How to Keep Records of Your Sales Letter Results?
You must keep records of the results of your sales letters so you can determine whether to change your basic sales letter and revise your mailing list for your second letter. You can use your mailing list for your records. To the right of each name draw two columns. Label the first column "Initial Letter" and the second column "Second Letter." As responses come in, put the date in the appropriate column. You can use a code for the type of response: "R" for rejection, "I" for invitation to interview. Always keep all communications and records of communications until your campaign is over.
