How NOT to Sell to the US

Just like there are good ways to sell to the USA, there are also bad ways to sell. Here are a few of them starting with the worst:
Don't Send Mass E-mail Mailouts (SPAM)
A good e-mail marketing strategy can be very effective in finding new customers. But these e-mails should be personalized (addressed to that company) and sent on a one by one basis.

You should NOT gather several e-mail addresses together and send a message to all of them at once. Importers HATE to get e-mails like this trying to sell them something. It's called SPAM and it is not an effective way of marketing your product. It called "poor man's marketing". In addition, it is illegal in the US.

Think of it this way. When is the last time you ordered a product from someone who sent you a SPAM e-mail message? Probably you never have. And importers do not order products from SPAM e-mail messages either.

Don't Send A Fax
This is a step up from e-mailing, but is still a bad way to try to sell your products. Faxed pages are only black and white and you can send only one or two pages. Usually exporters can send a nice brochure by mail (the preferred way of marketing) for the same price as they pay for long distance telephone charges to send a fax. Avoid sending your sales letters by fax.

Don't Send Sales Letters that Have Spelling/Grammar Mistakes or Use Out-of-date English
The sales letter that you send to a prospective buyer is your representative of your company. If it looks good then you look good. If it looks bad then you look bad.
Check your letter to make sure there are no spelling mistakes. Do not use abbreviations like you are using a telex. For example, using "pls" for please and "u" for you make the importer think that you are lazy. Do not use out-of-date sentences like "Would you be so kind..." and "Under separate cover please find..." These old sentences show that you are old fashioned. Never push the importer to do something. Sentences like, "I am looking forward to your favorable reply" are pushy and should not be used. Never use words like "prompt", "ASAP", "at your earliest convenience" etc. They are rude and pushy. US importers are professionals. They will answer you because it's the business-like thing to do. Not because you push them.

Don't Send Letters that Use the Word "introduce" in the Opening Paragraph
Letters that start something like "We would like to introduce ourselves" are in fact screaming "I'm a boring sales letter!" Do not use the word "introduce" when trying to sell your products. It's an immediate turn off.

Here is a list of words and phrases that you should not use
because they are old-fashion or rude

(in red, like blood because if you use them your
change of success is dead).

Under it is the modern word or phrase that you should use
(in green, like US money because if you
use them you'll get orders).

Would you be so kind
Please

I would like to take this opportunity to...(thank you for)
Don't use this at all. Start with your sentence. Thank you for...
kindly
please

thank you in advance
(Don't use it. It's impossible to thank someone before they do something!)

acknowledge receipt of
Thank you for

advise
say, tell, let us know

am in receipt of
I have received

as per
as, according to

at this time
now

due to the fact that
as, because, since,

duly
(Don't use it.)

enclosed please find
enclosed, here

very helpful
thank you.00000000000000000

顶！顶！！顶！！！

我认为是我逛论坛看到的最棒的帖！顶！顶！！顶！！！！！！！！！！！！！！！！！！！！！！！！！

太好了！对初开发美国市场的我太用了！Thank you very much！您是从哪看来的呢？

绝对竟品帖子.看来我们还得进一步了解客人的喜好.

ve seen this in other's website.
pity.

顶一下！

  油画、相框工艺品生产厂家

  有需要随时联系

  [url]Http://www.angeloilpainting.com[/url]

  MSN:angeloilpainting@hotmail.com

  QQ:254226175

thanks

Thanks for your adv and will do accordingly.
wendy

太经典了

    感谢楼主，这对我有很大的启发。
   
    QQ: 626257208
    msn: [email]blackpearl_an@hotmail.com[/email]

对我影响很大，以后一定注意用词。

真是太感谢了，我的E-Mail 内容就经常被老板说读起来不怎么地道，请教一下，不知道哪位知道有没有没关于“外贸函电最新用词及语句”的书呢？

受益匪浅 ！！！
      支持！！！
      能否提供一些实用性的词句 ？

very good tip, thx. I read it many times

sounds good！

[[i] 本帖最后由 天可破 于 2006-8-15 16:57 编辑 [/i]]

if i can't use these words and phrases,could you tell me what i should use?it's so strict,do you think so?how many people can do it very well?
my MSN:yujianglun@hotmail.com

需求起亚J2发动机的缸盖

J2发动机的缸盖,请生产这种发动机缸盖的公司与我们联系msn:lijinglong12356@hotmail.com

哇～发现写邮件时好多都不该写啊～

好贴啊好贴
顶了顶了

good

Thank you all the same......

thx alot,
awesome one, worth to learn,

都不能用那应该用什么呢```````

真的很有用，对于我来说，所以我要顶你一下

原以为自己的英语还不错 到了与FOREIGNER打电话时，才知道多么的苍白无力，周末买口语书读去

很有实际意义，
我真的是容易犯文中所提的错误，
以后千万要注意了
非常感谢

看来之前我写的都是BORING EMAIL.Thanks!remark it and be a reminder!

Thank you owner of building

MSN:grandgrant@163.com

Thank you very much for telling these important things!

不少词语是我以前喜欢用的,还自以为有水平呢.呵呵,
深受启发
谢谢楼主啊

useful advise

很好，支持一下搂主！