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HEWLETT-PACKARD POCKET COMPUTER LETTER
Two years later, Hewlett-Packard was ready to introduce another new product — the HP-65, a $795
programmable pocket "computer." Taking advantage of the lessons it had learned with its HP-35
mailing, it developed another elaborate mailing package. This time, however, there were more
points to cover, and a four-page letter was created by Stan Holden. The mailing package was so
successful it created a five-month backlog of orders for the HP-65.
Jim Kobs suggests two primary reasons for the letter's success:
■ First, the opening section, which dramatizes "the future is here now" with this
product. Second, unlike some other long letters I have seen over the years, it is tightly
written throughout... to hold the reader's interest.
The letter began:
Imagine a "computer" that fits in your pocket! Imagine that it is no
bigger — and looks very much like — an ordinary pocket calculator
. . . but doesn't cost very much more! Now imagine this miniature
marvel in your hands, as you try it out for 15 days and cut your
problem-solving time down to seconds!
The letter was laden with benefits. Here are some typical paragraphs:
To solve a problem, just feed in the known data by pressing a few
keys on the HP-65's own keyboard. No other equipment is needed.
Then start the program running. In seconds, the HP-65 uses computer
technology to solve your problem, with up to 10-digit accuracy. You
can even program it to skip steps or to select alternate steps —
automatically — if intermediate solutions dictate such action! It
couldn't be easier ... or faster.
The HP-65 can be used literally anywhere — at a meeting, out in the
field, up in a plane, down in a mine — wherever your work takes
you. It delivers the answers you need the minute you need them —
not hours or days later.
You don't have to go to computer programming school — or hire
someone who did. You don't even have to learn "computer language,"
or invest in accessory hardware. All you need to write and
record your own program is your HP-65, a pencil, some paper, and
one of the blank program cards supplied.
www.greatestsalesletters.com - 116 -