Let’s face it, most promotional materials especially brochures end up in the basket. Most companies spend their time writing everything about the company in the brochure instead of focusing on their services and products and its benefits. This is why most readers would not read beyond the cover of the brochure and instead toss it in their storage basket. This is the common mistake that businesses often commit – an often costly mistake. Thus, the headline and cover page should be given the same if not much attention as you would give to the inside pages.

So let’s say you were able to create a good headline and cover page, is it enough? How would you know that your brochure is really able to encourage readers to respond? The best thing to do is ask yourself, your customers, prospects and acquaintances. Ask if you were able to create a brochure that looks professional and pushes readers to contact you. If your brochure looks like it was printed off a bad printer, your prospects will lack confidence in you and would scout off for other stores. Also, determine if your brochure answers the questions of the readers. If not, know what is lacking. And remember to include more information the next time you print your brochure. Include also information about your company but do not focus much on it. Just tell the readers what they need to know about you.

Ask also if your brochure is able to prompt prospects to make some action. This means encouraging them to call, stop by your store, e-mail you or request more information from you. Additionally, find out if you are able to give your reader a reason to keep the brochure even if they are not interested in your products right now. How can you do this? You can put recipes at the back of the brochure if you know that most of your customers are women or you can put a calendar in it. On top of this, ask yourself whether readers are able to easily find the contact information. Make sure that you put your phone number, e-mail address and website in easy-to-find places. A reader would not waste his time searching through the whole brochure to find your contact information. They would never make that call if they get frustrated and that is a big loss for you.

Understand that people buy from people they feel comfortable with. Thus, when you are able to send off a professional and comfy feeling to your prospects with your brochure it would be easier for you to make that big sale.