Business letter

“ I must concentrate all my knowledge of my proposition on this one selling talk and must tell him everything I can about it that will make him want to buy. I must say it in such a way that he will clearly understand; I must give him a good reason for buying today and I must make it easy for him to do so."
Then picture yourself in his office, seated beside his desk and proceed to talk to him. Above all, keep in mind that you are talking to one man. No matter if your letter is to go to ten thousand people, each letter is individual. Remember, it goes to one person. ”

“ Everyone is familiar with the conventional letter sent out by investment concerns: "In response to your inquiry, we take pleasure in sending you herewith a booklet descriptive of the White Cloud Investment Company." Cut and dried—there is nothing that jars us out of our indifference; nothing to tempt us to read the proposition that follows. Here is a letter that is certain to interest the reader because it approaches him with an original idea:
"You will receive a copy of the Pacific Coast Gold Book under separate cover. Don't look for a literary product because that's not its purpose. ”

“ A business letter is written with a purpose. It is a good letter when it accomplishes that purpose briefly, thoroughly, and courteously. Women especially should be careful not to be discursive. Business men have not time to puzzle over bad handwriting or ambiguous sentences. ”

“ The letter is today the greatest potential creator and transactor of business in the world. But wide as its use is, it still lies idle, an undeveloped possibility, in many a business house where it might be playing a powerful part.
The letter is a universal implement of business—that is what gives it such great possibilities. It is the servant of every business, regardless of its size or of its character. It matters not what department may command its use—wherever there is a business in which men must communicate with each other, the letter is found to be the first and most efficient medium. ”

“ The chief object in a letter of business is to communicate or enquire about some one fact, and the epistle should be confined entirely to that fact. All compliments, jests, high-flown language and sentiment, are entirely out of place in a business letter, and brevity should be one of the most important{265} aims. ”

“ A good rule to impress on those having a penchant for the prevalent post-card is as follows: “Use for business when brevity and simplicity are the order of the day; never use for friendly correspondence unless the purchase of a sheet of paper, envelope and postage stamp is an impossibility.”
The friendly letter may be as long as time and inclination permit. The business communication should be written in as few and clear sentences as possible. Some one has said that to write a model business letter one should “begin in the middle of it.” ”

“ He did everything that any business man could do with customers. In five years he was talking not to a thousand men but to a million. And today, though not fifty men in the million have ever met him, this man's personality has swept like a tidal wave across the country and left its impression in office, store and factory—through letters—letters alone. ”

“ Of course he got a big percentage of replies, for what man does not want a big-paying, independent business of his own? But when in his follow-up letter he stated his proposition, offering state rights to his machine for $5,000, he shot over the heads of 99 per cent of the men who had answered his first letter. ”

“ Stationery should be representative of the business from which it comes. The impression created by a well-dressed man, as well as of a well-dressed letter, is seldom analyzed; the first glance is generally sufficient to establish that impression. A letter soliciting an investment of money, if printed on cheap stock, may create such a tawdry impression as to be discarded instantly by the average business man, although the letter may come from an entirely reliable house and contain an excellent business proposition on good, substantial paper. ”

“ And then finally the proposition must be made so plain that there is no possibility of its being misinterpreted. What a city man who is a wide reader gets at a glance, the ordinary farm owner or farmer's boy—often with only a rudimentary knowledge of English—must study over.
"So needful is the observance of this principle in our business," says this manager, "that our sales letters have come to be almost a formula. First we state our proposition. We then proceed to take up each element of the offer and make it as plain and plausible as possible." ”

“ A business letter should never be longer than necessary. If three lines are enough it is absurd to use more, especially if the letter is going to a firm which handles a big correspondence. Some one has said with more truth than exaggeration that no man south of Fourteenth Street in New York reads a letter more than three lines long. ”

“ Yet one or both these methods would in many cases be necessary were it not for the inquiry-bringing letter. The inquiry letter is a "feeler"—the advance agent of the selling campaign. It goes broadcast to find and put its finger on the man who is interested or who can be interested, and his reply labels him as the man whom it is worth while for your salesman to see, or, who is at least worth the expense and endeavor of a follow-up series.
The inquiry letter is like the advertisement which asks you to send for a catalogue or booklet. ”

“ Here it is the policy to get up close to the reader by a "you-and-me" attitude. Some mail-order houses have letters written in the name of the company, signed by the writer as department manager, sales manager, or other officer. Then there are other houses that omit the company name entirely in order to get away from the "soulless corporation" idea as much as possible, and letters to a customer are always signed by the same individual to get a personal relationship that is considered a most valuable asset. ”

“ The salesman who makes a dozen calls a day is doing good work; letters can present your proposition to a hundred thousand prospects on the one forenoon. They can cover the same territory a week later and call again and again just as often as you desire. You cannot time the letter's call to the hour but you can make sure it reaches the prospect on the day of the week and the time of the month when he is most likely to give it consideration. You know exactly the kind of canvass every letter is making; you know that every call on the list is made. ”

“ The work is easy; the letters to be written are the length of the ordinary business letter, and all we require is neatness and correctness. We furnish all materials free of charge, paper, etc., and prepay all costs of delivery to your home. ”

“ Original sales letters are of two kinds: those that endeavor to perform the complete operation and secure the order and those that are intended merely as the first of a follow-up series or campaign. Which to use will depend upon the nature and cost of your proposition. A simple, low-priced article may be sold with a single letter—the margin of profit may not warrant more than that. On an expensive, complicated article you cannot hope to do more in the initial letter than win your prospect's interest, or possibly start him toward the dealer who sells your goods. ”

“ Just as progressive business houses now aim to have their correspondence uniform in policy and quality, so too, they aim at uniformity in letter appearance—the mechanical production. It is obvious that if the letters sent out by a house are to have character, one style must be adopted and definite rules must be formulated for the guidance of the stenographers. ”

“ No matter what kind of a letter you are writing, keep this fact in mind: never use an argument on the reader that does not appeal to you, the writer. Know your subject; know your goods from the source of the raw material to the delivery of the finished product. And then in selling them, pick out the arguments that will appeal to the reader; look at the proposition through the eyes of the prospect; sell yourself the order first and you will have found the talking points that will sell the prospect. ”

“ Letters from the wives of presidents, from prominent bankers and men in the public eye he has reproduced in miniature, and two or three of these are enclosed with every sales letter.
An office appliance firm with a wealth of good testimonials to draw on sends each prospect letters of endorsement from others in his particular line of business. A correspondence school strengthens its appeal by having a number of booklets of testimonials each containing letters from students in a certain section of the country. ”

“ If the form letter goes to business or professional men in the city, the quality of the paper will be determined accordingly. In every instance, stock should be selected which will meet the expectations of the recipient. ”

“ A shortage of some crop, a drought, a rainy season, a strike, a revolution or industrial disturbances in some distant country—these factors may have a far-reaching effect on certain commodities, and the shrewd sales manager makes it a point to tip off the firm's customers, giving them some practical advance information that may mean many dollars to them and his letter makes the reader feel that the house has his interests at heart. ”

“ For instance, if you are trying to sell a man a house and lot and he has been out to look at the place and has gone over it thoroughly, there is little more that you can say in the way of description. Your letter must deal entirely with arguments as to why he should buy now—persuasion, inducement. ”

“ Write, in such a letter, of nothing but the business in hand; other matters will be out of place there. Nowhere is a confused style, or illegible writing, more unpardonable than in a business [121] letter; nowhere a good style and hand more important. Avoid flowery language, too many words, all pathos or wit, any display of talent or learning, and every merely personal matter, in a business letter.
Letters of Compliment must be restricted, confined entirely to one subject. ”

“ Many businesses have grown so rapidly and the heads have been so absorbed in the problems of production and extending markets that little time or thought has been given to the work of the correspondents. And so it happens that in many concerns the correspondence is handled according to the whims, the theories and the personality of the various men who are in charge of the different departments. But there are other concerns that have recognized the desirability of giving individuality to all the mail that bears a house message. ”

“ This is an effective attention-getter, but unless carefully printed the impersonality is apparent.
In certain kinds of communications where the more formal customs of social correspondence are sometimes employed, the letter is often opened with the salutation, "My dear Sir." The full name and address is then written in the lower left corner, in alignment with the paragraphs of the body of the letter.
Some businesses, presenting a proposition to a limited number of persons, write the entire first paragraph. It is usually short and of course should be made pointedly personal. ”

“ The one thing the salesman hopes to find, and the one thing the letter writer strives to create, is a receptive mood on the part of his prospect. The moment a man answers the inquiry-letter, he has put himself into a frame of mind where he waits for and welcomes your subsequent sales talk. ”

“ For instance, the style of paper is a matter that progressive business houses no longer ignore. The policy of the house may be revealed in the envelope and letter paper before one has had time to read even the date line. Some firms provide different grades of stationery for different departments, the sales letters going out in a much finer dress than letters from other departments. ”

“ It is the exceptional correspondent who stops to analyze his letters, looking at them from every viewpoint, and then tests out his conclusions, trying one appeal after another until he evolves certain principles that pull letter writing out of the class of uncertainties and enable him to depend upon definite returns.
For there are appeals that are practically universal. Appeal to a man's ambition and you have his interest: larger income, better position, some honor or recognition—touch these and no matter how busy, he will find time to read your message. ”

“ If a man is sufficiently interested in a product to write for catalogue and information, or if you have succeeded in getting his attention in the opening paragraph of a sales letter, he is certain to read a description that is specific and definite. ”

“ It is not necessary to offer something for nothing in your inducement. In fact, a good reason is usually a better order getter than a good premium. Make the man want your proposition—that is the secret of the good sales letter. If a man really wants your product he is going to get it sooner or later, and the selling letters that score the biggest results are those that create desire; following argument and reason with an inducement that persuades a man to part with his hard-earned money and buy your goods. ”

“ A clever sales letter may make the proper impression, it may have all the elements necessary to close the sale, but it is asking too much to expect it to handle the whole situation alone.
The average prospect wants more than he finds in a letter before he will lay down his money. The very fact that a letter comes alone may arouse his suspicions. But if he finds it backed up by accompanying enclosures that take things up where the letter leaves off, answer his mental inquiries and pile up proof, the proposition is more certain to receive consideration. ”