1g3KKgE

BANKER'S LIFE "ONE WOMAN TO ANOTHER" LETTER
Even after the women's liberation movement came into being and mailings to businesswomen
increased dramatically, there was a continuing tendency to disguise the fact that the writer of a
letter might have been a woman. For example, when Joan Manley was named Publisher of
Time-Life Books, she initially signed all the promotion letters, "J. Daniels Manley." Today, however,
many direct mail advertisers have found it pays to use woman-to-woman letters (and few even
hesitate to have a female signature on letters going to male audiences if the logical signer happens
to be a woman).
A pace-setting woman-to-woman letter was created by Sheila Stogol for Banker's Life. Selling life
insurance to women has long been a problem. "Perhaps," Sheila Stogol suggests, "companies just
were not able to see their female prospects as these prospects see themselves." So she started out
with an intriguing headline:
From one woman to another . . .
Here's one Fact of Life your mother probably never told you!
The letter then eases into the subject, building interest for three paragraphs before starting to sell
insurance:
When you and I were growing up, financial security planning was
probably the last thing a woman thought of for herself. If your childhood
was like mine, when the subject of life insurance came up,
Mother usually stayed in the kitchen and let Dad handle everything.
But our lifestyles are different now! Not only are women concerned
with running the household and raising children, many mothers are
also holding a job to help make ends meet.
Because you care so much about your family's economic security,
you put in many long, hard hours keeping up with home, children
and work. And your family depends on you for that support. Your
income is an important part of your family's present and future
resources.
www.greatestsalesletters.com - 171 -