If you want to increase repeat purchases of your information products, boost word-of-mouth publicity for them and reduce refund requests, here's a simple thing to do that takes less than two minutes and costs next to nothing: Include a cover letter welcoming the customer, reiterating the benefits they'll receive from consuming the material and telling them where and how to dig into the content.



Called a “stick letter” (because it makes the purchase “stick”) and preached about by experienced infomarketers as a necessity, this simple, practically free addition to an information marketing shipment seems to be as elusive as an FBI Most Wanted thug. Not one of the multimedia courses I've purchased in the last two years arrived at my house with a stick letter – even those from experts who make their living by information marketing.

So that you can understand the impact of omitting a stick letter, here's what happened when I opened the shipment of the latest infocourse I ordered. It consisted of 14 items in two boxes. Without seeing any kind of cover note, I had a multitude of questions as I looked through the contents:

* Which pieces do I have resell rights to and which do I not have resell rights to? I remembered from the sales letter that there are some resell rights involved, but as I looked at all the pieces, I was not sure which ones.

* Are the 12 DVDs a repeat of the content on the 22 CDs?

* Where is the best starting point for absorbing the information?

* Why did I receive an item that wasn't listed anywhere on the sales page? Was that a mistake or an unannounced bonus?

* And what about this other bunch of CDs that have a different but related title to what I remember being the main item that I bought - are those also a mistake or an unannounced bonus?

Tempering my excitement about the product, you can see, is confusion. I'm stalled instead of instantly digging in at the point that is likeliest to turn me into a quickly satisfied customer. Confusion stands in the way of getting started, and therefore it heightens the urge to send the whole thing back.

Another multimedia course I purchased for $649 also arrived in two boxes, neither one of which included any notes about where to get started. Looking at the five CD, DVD and looseleaf printed material binders, I had to decide where to get started, and I chose the DVDs, which I found weak and uninformative. When I eventually found my way to the CDs, I heard a rich, well-organized and systematic presentation, but starting with what I later realized was a bonus gave me a poor impression of what I had bought.

This course also looked like it had been tossed carelessly into boxes. Not cushioned by any packing materials, the binders banged around during shipping with such force that several CDs came loose from their snap-in insets. The message conveyed was, “We already got your money. Who cares what you think or feel now?”

Instead of intimidating or annoying your buyer, include a pleasant, brief orientation to what's in the package and clear, obvious advice about how and where to dig in. Something as simple as a sticky note saying “Start Here” would help. Even better is a little booklet clearly labeled “Your Fast-Start Guide” or an envelope saying “Open Me First” and containing the instructions. Your stick letter prevents negative reactions to the product delivery and helps create a satisfied, long-term customer.