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The Secrets of Powerful Letters From The Man Who Sold Coal By Train Carload Book" by Robert Collier. This has long been out of print and very difficult to locate. Collier was able to sell almost everything under the sun and make millions. He started out selling coal by the train carload just through direct mail letters. Robert Collier's book is practically the bible of how to write letters that get results...and right now I want to reveal to you how to use a few of his little-known secrets of effective sales letters. Collier tells where the idea for his famous "Will you do me a favor?" letter came from. He tells how he read about a manager whose company had been extremely competitive with another company and it was in this manager's best interest that the two companies should join together. This manager figured that people feel most kindly to someone for whom they've just done a favor for. So he went to his rival and asked him for a favor, he wanted to know how to handle customers taking advantage of their terms. Well, this little technique helped to bring these two companies together. So Collier rightly figured it might work in print. He used it to get rid of 20,000 raincoats and over a dozen other products. This letter is universal in it's application. Take a look at the letter Collier used: Dear Customer, Will you do me a favor? For twelve years now, you know, we have been selling the famous "Keepdry" Coat direct to the consumer, at a savings of many dollars from the usual retail price. This year I want to vary our line a bit, so I have changed the fabric to one that looks like a smart topcoat -- but will still shed rain. And instead of the usual double-breasted raincoat model, I'm using a single-breasted topcoat model that appeals to men because it has style, and yet retains that loose, comfortable look of the well-tailored light overcoat. I believe that anyone who ever gets out in stormy or wet weather will like this "Any Weather" Coat better than any raincoat or topcoat he can buy, but you know how it is in merchandising -- you can never be sure of such things until after you have sunk a lot of money in them. Which brings me to the favor: I want to make sure of the demand -- or lack of demand -- before we sink too much
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