May I respectfully add that it materially aids me to get these small accounts paid promptly and out of the way.
Will you do your share toward helping me—to-day?
Very truly yours,
..............................
P. S. Have a look at my new line of "hot weather electrics"—fans, grills, toasters, etc.—at the same time.
I took it over to a young stenographer who promised to typewrite them for me as quickly as possible. I thought it was worth the little extra cost to send these people real individual letters, each one signed by myself.
Fellows offered to send me three more letters on collections. He advised me to put in a regular "follow-up" system.
I was a little dubious, and told him so, of the wisdom of such a system in a small town. "It's all right for San Francisco, or Chicago, or New York," I said. "But here, where I know so many people, won't they think I'm putting on side?"
"No," he said, "for you send a letter that is not a formal one by any means. Follow-up systems can be just as successful in a small town as in big cities, if you will see that the letter expresses your own personality. A high-falutin', high-brow letter would be a joke, but a human letter, written in the language you use, and that your customers are used to, will win out every time."