The Query/Qualifier Letter

by Graham Denton

Jim sells high-level consulting analyses out of a New Jersey office. In a recent mailing campaign, he developed an effective format for writing initial prospecting letters that serve both as queries and as qualifiers. The opening statement in these letters is a "banner headline" that grabs the prospect's attention by highlighting a problem that is common in his or her industry, and that Jim can solve.

Jim's customer base, for example, includes many mid-sized players in the health care industry. One of the major headaches in that industry is the complexity -- and frequently the fuzziness -- of third-party reimbursement protocols. That's a problem that Jim's expertise is poised to address, but before he can do that he has to let the prospective customer know that he's acutely aware that it is a problem. In a letter-writing campaign to hospital administrators, he did that with the following banner teaser:

Do You Feel Like a Third-Party Crasher?

"The question was designed to pique their interest," Jim explains. "It identifies with their pain by suggesting that they may be uneasy with the third-party system, yet it doesn't specify how. It's phrased in such a general way that practically every administrator -- whatever his or her particular experience -- can connect with it. I mean, all of them feel they're at the mercy of

the third-party bureaucracy, so to get their attention all you really have to do is to suggest that level of dissatisfaction that's common in the industry."

That's just the start, though. In the body of the letter, Jim goes on to reinforce the implication of the banner: that he's familiar with the problem, that he sympathizes, and that, if they'll give him an hour, he may have a solution.

"I do this in four very formulaic paragraphs," he says. "The first paragraph expands on the teaser. It explains, in no more than two or three sentences, how the current system has made

"administrators like you" feel like unwelcome guests. In the second paragraph, I say that many of the heavy hitters in their industry have experienced a similar level of anxiety -- and here I name two or three of my own clients. Paragraph three says in essence, 'These major players have found some comfort in the solution I've provided.' And in paragraph four, I tie it up with, 'How about you? If you'd like to learn what they've learned, here's my number."

Jim's formula is a great variation on one of the oldest and most straightforward pitches in the business. It says in effect "If you've got this problem, maybe I have a solution." That "if" is less assumptive than it may seem, because in some cases, Jim acknowledges, the letter may go to an administrator who doesn't have the problem -- who has got the third-party minefield all mapped out and has no interest in an outside consultant.

"That's fine, too," he says. "If that letter reaches the desk of someone who loves and understands the current regulations, she's probably going to throw it away. As I see it, that's not a lost sale. It's a way of telling me that she's not qualified. She doesn't meet one of the minimum criteria -- dissatisfaction with the current third-party system -- that I require before I invest more time in a prospect."

As Jim's experience shows, if you craft your opening teaser so that it's not just a teaser -- that it focuses in on what you're looking for in a customer -- you can make an initial query letter serve a dual function. A good query/qualifier letter elicits the prospect's interest while helping you determine whether you should reciprocate it.