Here's How To Craft The Old Fashioned Sales Sheet To Propel Profits For Your Business Getting your sales sheet right is not rocket science and is as simple as the steps given below

In the virtual age today where we're obsessed and moved by all things digital, the charm of certain old school elements with a tangible feel still remains.

Think trade fairs or business meetings in person that precede the chain of conversion of typically big or long-term deals. The initial exchanges usually include a personalized pitch and a take-home sales sheet. Apart from the prospect's memory and conversational experience, what plays a role in determining next steps is often that very piece of marketing collateral that you give away.

Sales sheets as an element in the marketing arsenal are definitely old school, but they're still as effective today as they were years ago. Even though a typical sales sheet comes with a very limited real estate to communicate vital information, it can really grab a prospect's attention if it is well designed. Good sales sheets convey all the necessary information and compel action. Even if they don't ignite a prompt response, they can carry a large sticky memory value and enhance the long-term perception of your brand.

Designing an effective sell sheet is all about getting some key pointers right. Here are the eight steps you need to follow to craft a sell sheet that can help you grow your revenue -

1. Start Out With A Goal

Just like getting results out of any activity presupposes starting off with a well-defined goal, the case with a sales sheet is no different. Simply starting with a broad goal like "increasing sales' is a very general way to approach it.

It will help if you're certain about the intended response you want to invoke from your potential customer after sharing the sales sheet. For instance, be specific whether you want to direct their attention to your website or get them to fill out a lead form or straight away place an order with you. Only when you have clarity on the intended action can you craft a suitable content story, prioritize the right visual hierarchy and manifest it all with your design.

2. Make A List Of Everything You Need To Include

After setting your priorities straight, you need to make a list and cumulate details of all the information that you need to achieve your goal. For instance, the features and benefit of your product or service, its competitive advantage, social proof such as client testimonials, awards and accreditations, pricing details, industry statistics, comparison charts and so on.

Once you have all this information in place, you can get started with prioritizing once again. You can filter out what to keep and leave, and then lay out the order in which you want to strategically present the chosen information.

3. Start Working On The Copy

With the raw information gathered, next, you need to start translating it in the language your customer will appreciate the most. In short, put some good copywriting skills to work.

The way you present the information is extremely critical in terms of determining how much you will be able to convince. It's good to think your copy well and make it readable in a single glance.

You should try to come up with a powerful eye-grabbing headline that conveys the main reason why anyone should be interested in your product(s). When you go on to describe details, you should be careful to not be too wordy or verbose. Instead, you should try to use some bulleted points that convey real benefits and not just make them sleep over detailed technical features. Also, very important is including a clear and compelling call to action that motivates them to take the action you want out of them.

Once you're done with the first draft of your copy, it is good to sleep on it for some time and revisit in a day or two to improvise it with a fresh perspective. This habit always helps to ensure that the final version is crisp and absolutely compelling.

4. Think Of Some Meaningful Offers You Can Try Leveraging

Now, every sales sheet need not come with an incentive or offer along with it. Having said that, if you do come up with something meaningful, you can invoke fear of missing out and ignite a faster response from your customers. Often time, it is seen that rolling out offers is a quick hack to achieve a noticeable spike in the ROI.

5. Gather Good Product Photos

Along with good content and smart offers, demonstrating your actual product or service well visually is also a very significant part of a good sales sheet. Using good real product photos is extremely important and it usually works better than adding illustrations or stock photos. Displaying real photographs showing people using your product also works very well in some segments.

You must realize that it is the product photo that replicates most closely what is on sale, and makes the customer understand, identify and connect with it better. Hence, investing in good photography is something that you shouldn't compromise on.

6. Hire An Experienced Professional Design Services Company

After doing all your groundwork well, it's important that you entrust the final responsibility of putting it together to a good and experienced design team. The task of combining all the different elements of the sell sheet in an aesthetically pleasing and eye-grabbing manner presupposes a lot of skill.

The design needs to go with your brand profile, have good striking colours, fonts, the right type of text placement with easy readability and enough white-space to remain soothing at the same time. Experienced designers know how to handle these different aspects and tie them together well. Compromising on this critical factor, at this stage is a bad decision that can result in an avoidable miss.

7. Improvise The Design Till You Get It Absolutely Perfect

Once you have your design concept ready, it's good to re-examine it against your goals, test it internally and solicit opinion from your team members. You should always evaluate this design from a customer viewpoint – whether it's drawing attention at the right places while also appearing attractive. Going by just aesthetics is not an optimal decision from business conversion viewpoint.

Based on careful thought, you should discuss any changes you feel are important with your designer and get it modified till you arrive at the perfect version. Before finalizing the design, it's good to take out a print out and review the design because how something appears on the screen and on print can be slightly different due to the proportions.

8. Print It On Good Paper

Finally, after you're through with the entire process and have your final design ready, you must invest in good quality coloured prints. This sheet is all about making an impression. Using bad quality paper or unattractive printing defeats the purpose of enticing someone to purchase from you. In a world of limited product differentiation and competitive pricing, it's the small things that often make the biggest difference and of course, set the first impression right.

Getting your sales sheet right is not rocket science and is as simple as the steps above. It's all about planning, strategizing and putting it together well. If you manage to do it well, you will surely find this small piece of marketing collateral moving the needle for your business.