Business Correspondence, Anonymous [classic reads .txt] 📗

far better to open your letter with “Dear Sir,” and thus acknowledge that it is a circular.

To the left, and in exact alignment with the paragraphs in the body of the letter, should appear the name and address of the reader. If this superscription appears a fraction of an inch to either side of the margin the fill-in is evident. The style of type and the shade of the typewriter ribbons used in filling-in must match with absolute accuracy. This is vital and yet the most common error in form letters is imperfect alignment and conspicuously different colors of ink.

To secure an exact match between the filled-in name and address and the body of the letter, it is necessary to use ink on the duplicating machine which matches your typewriter ribbon. The ink used on the duplicating machine can be mixed to correspond with the color of the ribbons. Long experience has shown that violet or purple shades of ink are best for form letters, for these colors are the easiest to duplicate. Black and blue are very difficult to handle because of the great variety of undertones which are put into these inks.

Duplicating machines which print through a ribbon give variable shades and the typist in filling in must watch carefully to see that her typewriter ribbons match the impressions made in the body of the letter, especially where the form letters are printed several months in advance and exposed to changing conditions.

In departments where the stenographers fill in only a few letters a day, a piece of a “fill-in” ribbon is attached to the end of the regular ribbon and used for this purpose.

For speed and better work, typists who do nothing but fill in form letters, overlay their work—that is, before one sheet is taken out of the machine another is started in. A scheme which is slower but gives accuracy, is to work backward on the name and address, writing the “Gentlemen” or “Dear Madam” first, beginning flush with the margin. The town or city is next written, beginning on the paragraph or established margin line and then the name and the date are filled in. Guides may be secured so that all sheets will be fed into the machine at one place, thus assuring an exact margin.

Too much emphasis cannot be laid on the necessity of doing this fill-in work carefully, or not at all. If letters are printed by means of some duplicating machine which prints through a ribbon, care must be taken that the first run from the fresh ribbon is filled in on the typewriter with an equally fresh typewriter ribbon. Later when the machine ribbon is worn, giving a lighter impression, an older ribbon is used on the typewriters.

This fill-in work is difficult, and even when done properly many firms adopt all kinds of little schemes to help out the personal appearance. Separating the superscription from the body of the letter so that the immediate contrast is not so great, accomplishes this purpose.

One familiar scheme is to print the shipping or sales terms of the company across the letterhead so that the first paragraph comes beneath the printed matter and the filled-in superscription above. Then if there is a slight difference in shades of ink it is not so apparent. The same care must, however, be taken with the alignment.

 

Mr. L. B. Burtis, 1034 Elm Ave., Ravenswood, Ill.,

 

Dear Sir:

In reply to your letter of July 3d I take pleasure in enclosing the free book asked for.

All that I ask is that you read the book— no longer letter is necessary.

Everything I could say to you in this letter about my chest is in my book. I wrote every word of it so when you read it, I wish you would take it as a personal message from me.

We deliver this chest to Ravenswood at the price quoted in the book.

This is all I am going to say. When you have selected the chest you wish, simply check it on the enclosed post card, and mail to me. Promptly upon its receipt the chest will go to you subject to your approval.

I shall be looking for your post card.

Very truly yours, OLD ENGLISH CHEST COMPANY.

 

*

 

New York, July 7, 1910,

Mr. L. B. Burtis, 1034 Elm Ave., Ravenswood, Ill.

 

Dear Sir:

I enclose with pleasure the free book you asked for in your letter of July 3rd.

All that I ask is that you read the book—no longer letter is necessary.

Everything I could say to you in this letter about my chest is in my book. I wrote every word of it so when you read it, I wish you would take it as a personal message from me.

Tho prices quoted you in this book include freight prepaid to Ravenswood.

This is all I am going to say. When you have selected the chest you wish, simply check it on the enclosed post card, and mail to me. Promptly upon its receipt the chest will go to you subject to your approval.

I shall be looking for your post card.

Very truly yours, OLD ENGLISH CHEST COMPANY [Signature: Edward Brown, Pres. Dict EB-ERS.]

 

*

 

The wrong and right way of handling form letters. In the first letter the type of the fill-in does not match and the lines are out of alignment. Wide white space at both sides of the date “July 3d” and the town, “Ravenswood,” calls attention to the poor fill-in. The second letter shows the same fillins coming at the end of paragraphs. The second letter has a date line, personal signature and initials of dictator and stenographer—little touches that add to the personality of the letter

 

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A similar scheme is to write the first paragraph or sentence in red ink. This is a somewhat expensive process, however, for the letter must be run through the duplicating machine twice and skill is required to secure an exact register.

Now that two-colored typewriter ribbons are in such general use the name and address and date are printed in red, eliminating the necessity of matching the ink of the body of the letter. 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. “Typing” the name and address onto the form letter is another familiar scheme to make it more personal.

Use of a body fill-in is always effective. But the right way to do this is to phrase the letter so that the name, or date, or word, to be inserted, comes at the beginning or end of the paragraph, preferably at the end. Otherwise the fill-in may be too short for the space allowed and the result is farcical.

Here is an all too common mistake:

 

“You may be sure, Mr. Hall, that this machine is just as represented.”

 

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The advantage of having the fill-in at the end of the paragraph is because names vary so much in length that they seldom just fill the space that is left and when there is a long blank space, as in the sentence given above, the scheme is anything but effective.

A manufacturer of automobiles, writing old customers who might wish to exchange their machines for newer models, added a real personal touch by filling in the serial number of each machine at the end of a line. Another individual touch was added in this way:

 

“You will be interested to know that we have recently sold one of our machines to a near neighbor of yours, Mr. Henry C. Smith of Rock Creek.”

 

*

 

This sentence was so phrased that the neighbor’s name came at the end of a line and could be easily filled in.

A furniture manufacturer works in a personal touch by closing a paragraph of his letter with this sentence:

 

“You can find our liberal offer to ship freight prepaid to Rogers Park on page 3 of the catalogue.”

 

*

 

The name of the town and page number of the catalogue came at the end of the sentence. Another manufacturer opened his letter with this sentence: “On April 2, we received your inquiry.” In this case, “On April 2,” was filled in at the beginning of the sentence. Both schemes give the “one-man” attitude. A personal touch in the body of the letter indicates an individual communication—as it really is.

There are four ways for making the body of the letter look like a regularly typewritten message: it may be typewritten, printed on a printing press, printed through a ribbon or printed by means of a stenciled waxed paper.

Firms sending out only a few form letters typewrite them so that no effort is necessary to give an individual touch.

But the letter printed from typewriter type by means of an ordinary printing press is obviously nothing more than an ordinary circular. Filling in the name and address by a typewriter is absolutely useless. It is usually advisable to print form letters by means of some duplicating process which prints through a ribbon.

Where a stencil is used, the waxed paper is put in the typewriter and the letter is written on it without a ribbon. Here the stenciled letter replaces the usual type, and the impression secured can seldom be detected from a typewritten letter. A stencil can be made more quickly than type for the same letter can be set. Then the exact touch of the typist is reproduced on the duplicated letters through the stencil. No stenographer can write a letter without making some words heavier than others, the distribution of the ink is not the same throughout, so absolute uniformity in the printed letter is not advisable.

In printing the body of the letter select some process which gives the appearance of typewriting and then match the fill-in. One merchant secured an effective matching of fill-in and body by printing the form with a poorly-inked ribbon on the duplicating machine and then filling in the name and address with a typewriter ribbon that had been well used. While the general appearance of the letter was marred by this scheme, the impression was that of a letter written on a poor typewriter and it was effective.

The business man, the clerk and the farmer—everyone visited by the postman—is becoming more and more familiar with letters. The day has passed when anyone is deceived by a carelessly handled form letter. Unless a firm feels justified in spending the time and money to fill in the letter very carefully, it is much better to send it out frankly as a circular.

Nor is this always a weakness, for a clever touch can be added that introduces the personal elements. One mailorder house sent out a large mailing with this typewritten notice in the upper left corner of the letterhead:

 

“You must pardon me for not filling in your name and address at the beginning of this letter, but the truth is I must get off fifty thousand letters tonight, and I have not the necessary stenographic force to fill in the name and address on