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General Motors Building, 3044 West Grand Boulevard, Detroit, Michigan 48202-3037

Office of the Chairman
Roger B. Smith

Mr. John Q. Sample
123 Main Street
Anytown, USA 00000

Dear Mr. Sample:

Your time is very valuable and so is mine, so I'll get right to the point. You came to us when you needed a mortgage on your home, and we were there. Well, we're still here, and we're making it possible for you to own the car of your dreams right now.

That's right, we're offering you guaranteed auto loan financing through .... just go to your local GM dealership and pick out a car -- any car.

Stop in at any GM franchise dealership, and present the sales representative with my personal letter of introduction enclosed. I've instructed them to give you the utmost in personal service.

This is a once-in-a-lifetime, limited offer. It is not available to the general public. It is strictly a private invitation being extended to preferred GMAC customers like you.

It seems only fitting that since we helped you acquire your most important asset, we should help you acquire your second most important one - the right car.

That's all there is to it. My personal letter of introduction enclosed is all you need to get the car you've been wanting. And the financing is guaranteed.

Personal regards,

Roger Smith

Roger B. Smith
Chairman of The Board

P.S. This unique offer is good for a limited time. Your auto financing is already guaranteed and waiting for your signature. Visit your local GM dealer soon!

Smith letter to GM dealers To work samples

I contacted GMAC TO follow up on a newspaper article about a survey indicating car shoppers dreaded the idea of buying a car from any car dealer. In summary, people felt dealer salespeople were not interested in what the buyer wanted, only in "making a score" i.e. selling another car.

At the time, Roger Smith was Chairman and Chief Executive of General Motors. Smith was visible as the top person at the world's largest corporation. I proposed a mailing to past GMAC customers who financed their homes through GMAC.

Inside the mailer from Roger Smith was another letter also from Roger Smith, but addressed to the local GM branded dealer and personalized with the recipient's name on it. The letter was a executive command - from Smith to the dealer - to let the buyer negotiate and buy any car on the dealer's lot.

The letter stated the buyer-prospect was already pre approved. It was an "empowerment" strategy aimed a reducing anxieties about shopping at a GM branded dealership.

A week after presenting this concept in Detroit, GM came out with 2.9 percent financing, which broke all previous records in car sales. My direct mail concept got stampeded by 2.9 percent financing. Right idea, wrong time, but visiting GM headquarters was interesting...

Note: GMAC, the financing division of GM, was never a DMRG client. This letter copy was developed, as proposed copy, under direction and supervision of Wehmann while on staff at Krupp Taylor New York, IN Manhattan.

Smith letter to GM dealers About this letter To work samples