adictoaloshombres: LETTERS

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Business Letters: Keep Them Short and To The Point

If you ever draft letters, or any other documents where brevity is important, you'll want to pay close attention to these little practical "tricks of the trade".

Keywords:

business letter, letters, letter sample, letter template, business letter format, letter writing, sample business letter, business letter examples, writing business letters, write business letter

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Copyright © Shaun R. Fawcett

If you ever draft letters, or any other documents where brevity is important, you'll want to pay close attention to these little practical "tricks of the trade".
The following is an abridged excerpt from a chapter I have included in a couple of my Writing Kits.

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Anyone who has read any of my articles on the subject of letter writing or resume writing will know how important I believe it is to minimize the number of pages, preferably limiting them to one page wherever possible.

And we all know how tacky it looks when we put the finishing touches on a letter and it overflows onto the second page by one or two lines. Very unprofessional!

So, there are a number of handy little tricks that I've used over the years that will help “squeeze” a letter or other document onto one page without it being noticed by the average reader. These tricks can be applied using any standard word processing software program.

I’m not sure whether a purist at a secretarial school would approve of some of my methods since they may deviate from certain technical standards, but I have used them hundreds of times and nobody has ever been the wiser. The main point being that I was able to keep a letter on one page when the first version overflowed by a few lines onto a second page.

Below are my “page compression tips”, listed in the order in which I suggest you apply them:

1. Move both the left and right margins out about 1/4 in. closer to the edge of the page.

2. Move the top and bottom margins out about 1/4 in. closer to the edge of the page.

3. Edit out the one or two word “overflows”. What I mean here is this: After the letter is drafted take a good look at each paragraph. See if there are any that have an ending sentence that “overflows” onto an additional line for the sake of one word. If so, make a minor edit or two in the paragraph that shortens it a little so that the last word or two will not overflow onto the following line. Using this method, you can often gain two or three extra lines in a one-page letter.

4. Adjust the line spacing on the page. You can gain considerable space on a page by adjusting the line spacing of the text. For example, if the default line spacing is set to “single” at 12 points try setting it to “exactly” at 12 points if your font size is 12. If that doesn’t do it, try “exactly” at “11 pts”. Often you have to experiment a bit with this one to get the look just right.

5. As a last resort, try reducing the size of the font by 1 point size, say from 12 to 11 points.

6. If it still doesn’t “fit”, there’s one final thing you can try if you’re the author of the letter. Go back and edit it one more time. Look for redundant thoughts and phrases, or those that can be combined into one sentence rather than two. Is every word and phrase absolutely essential to your message? You’ll be amazed at the space savings that this process can result in.

As I said earlier, try the above methods in sequence, one-at-a-time, checking each time to see if your latest change has done the trick for you.

What happens if it still won’t fit?

Now, if you’ve used all of the above tricks and you still can’t get the letter to fit onto one page, it’s time to admit that you’ve got a real two-pager. In which case, you should then think about “reversing” some of the compression tricks that you applied when you tried to “squeeze” the letter, and then concentrate on making a balanced looking second page.

There’s nothing worse looking than a letter with a one or two sentence second page! So in this case, you may want to actually “stretch” the letter out a bit.

Often, at this stage I actually increase the line spacing and reduce the margins slightly so that there will be a decent sized overflow onto the second page.

For example, try reversing steps 1, 2 and 4 above. So instead of decreasing the top, bottom and side margins on page one, try increasing them by 1/4 in. all around. Then increase the point size and see if that helps. Ideally, try to get the page to break cleanly at a paragraph break, for a nice tidy page-to-page transition.

Again, I have used these little “compression” tricks thousands of times, and nobody has ever pulled out their ruler and chastised me for inaccuracy.

The important thing is to end up with a professional "looking" letter.

In fact, if you do a very detailed check of the real-life templates included in any one of my Writing Toolkits you would find that I have used one or more of the above tricks on many of them. But, I’m not telling which ones!

Business Letters: Do You Really Know What They Are?

Based on the many requests for business letter help and info that I get at my writing help Web sites, ther is a lot of confusion about business lettyers. The fact is; “business letter” is a very general term that can mean one of many different specific letter types.

Keywords:

business letter, letters, letter sample, letter template, business letter format, letter writing, sample business letter, business letter examples, writing business letters, write business letter

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Copyright © Shaun R. Fawcett

My two “writing help” Web sites receive well over two million visitors per year looking for information and templates to help them with their writing. With that many visitors I get a pretty accurate idea of exactly what people are looking for in the way of letter writing help. In fact, a significant number of people arrive at my site based on the search phrase “business letter”.

Now, at first glance the term “business letter” makes sense. But, just wait a minute here! What exactly do they mean by “business letter”? Well, it turns out that they’re not sure. What it boils down to in many cases is that the person doing the search is involved in some kind of “business” (as owner or employee) and they need to write some kind of “letter” related to their business. Hence, their search phrase of “business letter”.

I often get e-mails from people asking me if I have any business letter templates, or if I can write them a business letter. Invariably, I have to reply to them asking “what type of business letter, what is the specific purpose”? The fact is; “business letter” is a very general term that can mean one of many different specific letter types.

Accordingly, the rest of this article is going to explain exactly what business letters are.

Despite the widespread use of e-mail in commerce today, traditional business letters are still the main way that the majority of businesses officially communicate with their customers and other businesses.

This is especially true when businesses want to formalize an agreement or an understanding. So far, emails are great for all of the preparatory work, but a formal business letter is still most often needed to "seal the deal".

There are two overall categories of business letters: business-to-business, and business-to-customer.

BUSINESS-TO-BUSINESS LETTERS
Most business-to-business letters are written to confirm things that have already been discussed among officials in meetings, on the telephone, or via e-mail.

Can you imagine the letters that would have to go back and forth to cover all of the questions and possibilities that can be covered in a one-hour meeting, a half-hour phone call, or a few quick e-mails?

The main purpose of a typical business letter is to formalize the details that were arrived at in those discussions, and to provide any additional information that was agreed upon.

Over the years, certain general standards have evolved in the business world that the vast majority of businesses use in drafting their business to business correspondence. The Top 10 business-to-business letters that people search for at my writing help Web sites, in order of popularity, are as follows:

1. thank you letter
2. introduction letter
3. cover letter
4. financial letter
5. marketing letter
6. sales letter
7. project letter
8. invitation letter
9. employee letter
10. congratulations letter

Even though the above terms are much more specific than the general term “business letter” there are multiple types of each of the above letters, depending on the purpose of the letter. For example, a business-to-business “financial letter” could be: collection letter, credit approval letter, credit refusal letter, invoice, price quotation, etc.

BUSINESS TO CUSTOMER LETTERS
There are many different types of business-to-customer letters. They include: sales and marketing letters, information letters, order acknowledgement letters, order status letters, collection letters, among others.

As with business-to-business letters, over the years certain general standards have evolved in the business world that the vast majority of businesses use in drafting letters to existing and potential customers.

Of course, going in the other direction are customer-to-business letters. These include: order letters, order status inquiry letters, complaint letters, and others.

Since these are customer-generated letters, there is no particular expectation that they follow any particular letter- writing standard. Typically, they are handled just like any other piece of personal correspondence.

The Top 10 business-to-customer letters that people search for at my writing help Web sites, in order of popularity, are as follows:

1. cover letter
2. customer relations letter
3. financial letter
4. credit letter
5. introduction letter
6. order-status letter
7. sales letter
8. marketing letter
9. announcement letter
10. apology letter

Similar to the situation with business-to-business letters covered in the previous section; even though the above business-to-customer letter types are much more specific than the general term “business letter”, there are also multiple types of each of the above letters, depending on the purpose of the letter. For example, a business-to-customer “customer relations letter” could be any one of : response to a complaint, follow-up with a new customer, interrupted service notice, letter of acknowledgement, special invitation, welcome to new customers, etc.

BOTTOM-LINE
As you can see from the above, specifying that you are looking for a “business letter” is not very enlightening. You need to be specific and define the purpose of the letter; that is, exactly what is the letter meant to communicate?

It’s important not to confuse non-business letters with business letters. For example: job application letters, cv and resume cover letters, employment and college related letters of recommendation, character references, resignation letters, etc. are NOT business letters.

You might be surprised to learn that over 75% of all visitors to my main writing help Web site are searching for information on how to write just the Top 20 letters listed above. In fact, it turns out that a full 90% of the more than 1 million people that visit that site each year looking for letter writing help are looking for help with one of a list of 25 letters.

That’s why all of my letter writing toolkits focus on multiple variations of about 40 specific letter types that cover over 95% of ALL letters ever written.

Direct Mail Advertising: How I made $47,325 in 30 days by mailing 2,200 letters

Uncover 3 direct mail advertising tips that enabled me to generate over $47,000 in sales commissions in less than 30 days!

Keywords:

direct mail advertising, direct mail, direct mail campaigns

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How do you create a direct mail advertising campaign that gets results?

The following tips on creating a direct mail advertising campaign have been street-tested and will bring you huge returns in a short period of time.

In Fact, these tips enabled me to generate over $47,000 in mortgage commissions in less than 30 days! Keep reading and I will share 3 key elements to creating an effective direct mail advertising campaign:

Key Element #1: The prospect list - Mail to a targeted list of prospects

Here are a couple of ways to find targeted prospect mailing lists in your niche:

Look in your industry trade publications. I found great list providers for my direct mail advertising campaigns in the back of Mortgage Originator Magazine – A popular mortgage industry publication.

Or, search Google.com for: your industry + “mailing lists”. For example, I am a mortgage lender so my search would be: mortgage + “mailing lists” in Google.com.

By the way, when purchasing a prospect list for your direct mail advertising, be sure to get some kind of personal information about your prospect to use in your campaign.

Here is an example of personal information I use in my direct mail advertising campaigns:

• The prospect’s current mortgage company
• The prospect’s original loan amount

Key Element #2: The Envelope – How to get your letter opened

The envelope must entice your prospects into opening and reading the enclosed letter.

Here are some ideas for getting your envelope opened:

1. Insert a personalized “RE:” line above your prospect’s name in a window envelope.

I found that the original lender’s name works well in my campaigns:

RE: ABC Mortgage
John Doe
123 N Main St.
City, State Zip
---Bar Code---

2. Use this text with your return address in the upper left corner of the envelope:

Administrative Office
1234 South Broadway Pkwy.
City, State Zip

Confidential Information

Personal and Confidential

Key Element #3: The direct mail advertising mail piece – Get your desired result

The purpose of your direct mail advertising mail piece is to get your prospect to take a desired action. For me, that action is picking up the phone and calling me for a loan.

Here are some tips to help you get your desired result from your direct mail advertising mail piece:

1. Personalize the mail piece

If possible disclose small pieces of personal information about your prospect to get their attention and build rapport.

Here are some examples of personalized text I use in my direct mail advertising campaigns:

“Based on your original loan with ABC Mortgage in the amount of $250,000 your new payment would be $924.05.”

“Based on our calculations, this loan program may save you $32,841 in interest charges over the next 5 years and $197,046 over the life of your mortgage!”

2. Include a few “bio lines” under your signature. Tell them a little bit about who you are.

Here are the “bio lines” I use:

To your financial success,

My Signature
Hartley W. Pinn, Jr

Senior Mortgage Planner
10 Years Mortgage Experience
Licensed Financial Planner
Married with 3 children

3. Offer a Unique Selling Proposition (USP) in your mail piece

If you don’t currently have a unique selling proposition for your direct mail advertising campaign – Find one. What makes you different from your competitors? What makes you better? Why should a prospect use you over a competitor? Answer these questions and you will have your unique selling proposition.

Here are some sample USP lines that work well in my direct mail advertising campaigns:

“No House Payment Until April 2006!!! Imagine what you could do by skipping your February and March house payments.”

“Additionally, we specialize in loan programs with No Points. We can pay this customary closing cost because we are paid directly from the new lender.”

4. The call to action

Ask them to take your desired action:

“Call now and ask for me personally so we can discuss your individual needs and goals.”

“Be sure to visit www.YourWebsite.com to view this Free Video: “How to Get Paid For Refinancing”. Discover how to use your mortgage loan as a tool to secure your financial future. It’s the most informative site on the web!!”

Well, that’s it! I wish you all the best with your next direct mail advertising campaign. The only thing left for you to decide is how much money you would like to make over the next 30 days? Mail more letters and you will generate more sales!

Complaint Letters: How to Respond in 7 Simple Steps

Keywords:

complaint letters, responding to complaints

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Ask many small business owners what goes into providing great customer service and you have answers such as, being polite, serving promptly, keeping your promises etc. But in this hi-tech age, we tend to forget that the humble letter has just as an important role in ensuring good customer service. Yet how many times have you received a ‘letter of apology’ which makes you even more dissatisfied? The message it conveys, the language used – all designed to wind you up!

With some careful thought, a well-crafted letter can provide comfort to a complaining customer and enhance your reputation as a customer-focused business. In this article I am going to share some tips on how to write a great letter.

What are you writing for?

To write a great letter you have to be in the right frame of mind. Are you writing to handle a complaint, answer a query or to thank them for placing an order? Framing the letter in the right context means you will use the appropriate language and the tone will be right. Try writing a thank you letter as if you are responding to a complaint – the message is totally different.

Before putting pen to paper, think for a minute and decide what your aim or goal is.

State your purpose

Start off by summarising why you are writing. Open your letter by saying that you are responding to a query, or to resolve a problem they have had. This set out to the reader why you are contacting them and puts them in the right frame of mind to accept your message. An opening summary will grab their attention.

Include a W.I.I.F.M.

No, this is not some obscure radio station! WIIFM stands for ‘What’s in it for me?’ To truly engage your customer and get them on your side, you have to include a benefit for them. They have to get something out of your letter so they feel satisfied. What could their WIIFM be? Their complaint may be resolved; they may get a discount voucher; a priority service the next time they use you. If the compliant is a minor one, a simple, heartfelt apology may be enough!

Study your letter carefully and make sure you have a WIIFM moment.

Don’t say ‘I’

Wherever possible, avoid littering your letter with I’s. The reader will find it hard to link with you if they receive ‘me, me, me’ letters. Review your letters and wherever possible substitute ‘I’ with ‘you’. Change the focus to the reader. Make them feel valued.

Write as you speak

I forget the number of times I have received letters, which read as if they were written in the early 1900’s! Packed full of boring, stiff and outdated language – too formal. Your writing style should reflect the way you talk. After all, providing good customer service is partly down to how you interact or communicate with your client and letters play an important role.

So, review your letters and get rid of those phrases you learnt in school letter-writing lessons!

“Please do this…”

Having written a great letter, you don’t want it to tail off into nothing. Have a clear action-orientated close. Make sure your reader knows what you expect him to do next – “call me so we can discuss this idea in more depth”, “Fill in the attached form and pop it in the post”, “send me an order” (a bit strong perhaps but certainly to the point!).
A resounding call-to-action is a great way to finish a letter and leaves the customer in no doubt what he has to do next – another element of good customer service.

Ask someone to check your letter

If you are writing a very important letter or one containing a complex message, it’s wise to ask someone to proof read it. This is not just to check your spelling but also to check readability. Is the structure of the message you wish to convey clear and understandable? You’ll be amazed by what someone else will pick up which you have completely missed!

So, there you have it. Some useful tips on how to write a superb letter, which will further enforce your image of providing exceptional customer service.

Cover Letters, Resumes And The Job Hunter…What’s It All About?

Keywords:

Resume, Cover Letter, Career resources

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Any good job hunter needs a resume package. The cover letter and resume always go together and do the same basic thing in slightly different ways. A job hunter without both of them will probably not get very far in the search for a good career position.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at what these crucial documents should do for you. The first part, the cover letter, is a short one page letter consisting of three or four paragraphs. It serves as an introduction to the resume. It is the part that will always be seen by the gatekeeper.

The second part is the resume itself. Many job hunters make the mistake of thinking they can just leave a resume without a cover letter. That is like putting on a suit and tie, but forgetting the shirt or the pants. They are a package and they go together.

The resume itself may be in either functional or chronological format. The functional format concentrates on skills. The chronological format concentrates on employment listings. The most effective resumes use elements of both formats to create a combination resume that gets results. It should be laid out in a graphically appealing style, with adequate use of white space, bullet points to draw attention to important parts, and conservative fonts used. While you will occasionally bold face or italicize a font to draw attention to a point or break up a large section of type, changing fonts often makes it hard to read, so stick with one basic font. Also never go smaller than ten point type, and if possible stick with twelve or eleven point. Those sizes are easier to read. If your cover letter and resume are in a small type and hard to read, they simply will not be read, and will not help you.

Many job seekers wonder how they should present the resume package to the decision maker. There are several acceptable methods. If mailing it, use a large nine by twelve white envelope to avoid folding your materials. The white envelopes look nicer than the tan manila commonly used in business. Also large envelopes are generally the first thing people open when they get their mail. If not the first then they may save the large envelope for last. Since people tend to remember the first and the last – the alpha and the omega – while forgetting much of what is in the middle, either first or last is a good thing.

If you are hand delivering your documents stop by an office supply shop and pick up a clear plastic folder with a pressure binder spine and place your cover letter and resume in it. It makes a great presentation and will complement it perfectly. Use these tools well and you are on your way.

Cover Letters, Resumes and the Job Hunter…What’s it All About?

How a cover letter and resume go together and how to present a resume.

Keywords:

Resumes, Cover letter, Career, Job,

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