How to make sure your brochure doesn't fall on deaf ears...

Getting your message and design wrong on your sales brochure can cost you dearly not only financialy but in potential sales opportunities.

The following  guidelines will help you avoid costly mistakes before you implement the production of your new sales brochure.
Many brochures are ill conceived and lack effective design and copywriting and aren't worth much more than the paper they're printed on. Without the key ingredients of good copy and creative design a brochure fails to educate and build credibility and thwarts any advance on potential sales opportunities.

An easy way to check the effectiveness of your existing sales brochure is to benchmark it with the following criteria. A good idea is to write these criteria down and put a tick or cross against each question.

Does your brochure stand out as making you different from your competition?
Does your brochure easily convey the benefits of your product/service dont forget we are talking about benefits to the customer not features?
Does it create interest as soon as you pick it up?
Is there a strong call to action including getting a commitment from the prospect?
Does your brochure have a strong benefits led covering letter?

Now add up your ticks and crosses. You only need one cross against any of the above questions to indicate your brochure is waisting missed opportunities in sales. By following these following tips you can dramatically boost the performance of your brochure and get a return on your investment.

Why a new brochure?

To promote your company as a whole?
To promote a product or service?
Are prospects going to be interested in a brochure or a website?

What are the main objectives of the brochure?

To generate requests for a case study/report or other kind of soft offer

To promote an offer which leads to face-to-face contact eg a free audit or demonstration.

How will the brochure be used?

Direct mail campaigns?
Advertising campaign?
Sales presentation support?
Leave behind?

Your brochure must give a strong proposition that differentiates you from the competition.
You must demonstrate your companies clear advantantage over the competition to your prospect.

Proof of the pudding.

Give evidence to support your claims by making use of testimonials that detail the outstanding service your customers receive from your company.
Verify claims with evidence including case studies and statistics including accurate figures.

What's in it for me?

Ensure you have a headline on the front page

Make sure your benefit is located in the top half of the page (readers eyeline)

Dont over do the size of your logo. They are not interested in your logo they are interested in the solution to their problem.

Break up copy with sub-headings they enable the reader to scan for main points

Keep sentences short and make the copy look like an easy read.

Create a compelling call to action

Include guarantees

Use easy to read fonts such as serif - type fonts

Write a powerful covering letter
A good detailed covering letter will out perform any brochure because it can be personalised and will be the first thing your prospect will read before the brochure.