Is your fax cover sheet working to sell or annoy?
I got a fax from a lawyer the other day, and the cover sheet had a bunch of negative disclaimers and warnings about who should and shouldn't read the fax. The bottom line was (according to the person who sent it) that if the wrong person read the fax, their eyes would fall out, and they would spend the rest of their days in living hell.
Then I got a fax from a company trying to sell me something. It had a nondescript, plain (boring) cover sheet. Now, here's a company trying to distinguish themselves from their fiercest competitor, and they can't even start with something so simple as a fax cover sheet.
What does your fax cover sheet look like?
Will anyone show it to someone else?
Will anyone talk about it?
Does it help create a sale or a selling dialogue?
I frantically grabbed one of our fax cover sheets to see how clever it was. Bottom line not bad, but not great. So I turned to my trusty Macintosh for an amateurish revision.
The purpose of a fax cover sheet is to get a document routed to an individual at another business. But it's also an opportunity to deliver a secondary message one that sells and a chance to do something creative or memorable.
When I looked at our fax cover with a critical (what would the customer think) eye, I found:
It had sales appeal. It starts by telling people who the fax is from in a prominent way that sells my product subliminally.
It was easy to read. Bold type faces with plenty of white space, and good graphic design that was easy on the eye.
It had all the vital information. It creates an urgency of delivery to the party that the fax is directed to.
But it had nothing that would get people talking. So I personalized it. Instead of the standard "from" and a blank line, I decided to personalize each fax from the member of our team that sent it, and I put the words "The Great" in front of their name.
A fax from: The Great Carrie Trueax.
The results have been incredible. When my staff got their personalized fax cover sheets, it gave them a sense of pride and recognition. When the customer got a fax from us it made them smile. Many have called and said, "I want to speak to the great Carrie Trueax." And when they get on the phone they will ask, "Am I speaking with the great Carrie Trueax?" And proceed to spend the first minute or two making positive comments about the fax cover sheet. How's that for setting the tone, and making my prospect or customer want to buy?
Here's a few other positive benefits of a personalized and creative fax cover sheet:
It adds a little fun to the work day.
It boosts the self-confidence of the person sending it.
It conveys a positive message to the recipient.
It creates employee goodwill.
It gives people a sense of pride.
It creates positive talk.
It separates you from the boring, threatening, and inane fax cover sheets that your competitors are using.
It sets the tone for a positive sales conversation.
Big bonus: There's an additional benefit the member of our team who sent the fax feels wonderfully acknowledged and valued three or four times a day.
How many times are you wonderfully and valuably acknowledging your team members? What would it be worth if they were?
Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of "The Sales Bible," and "Customer Satisfaction is Worthless, Customer Loyalty is Priceless." President of Charlotte-based Buy Gitomer, he gives seminars, runs annual sales meetings, and conducts training programs on selling and customer service. Inquiries can be faxed to the WBJ at
(48-22) 646-0575 or e-mailed to salesman@gitomer.com
