The ordinary business letter is either too wordy or too curt; it either loses the subject in a mass of words or loses the reader by offensive abruptness. Some letters gush upon the most ordinary of subjects; they are interspersed with friendly ejaculations such as "Now, my dear Mr. Jones," and give the impression that if one ever got face to face with the writer he would effervesce all over one's necktie. Many a man takes a page to say what ought to be said in four lines. On the other hand, there are letter writers so uncouth in the handling of words that they seem rude when really they only want to be brief. The only cure for a writer of this sort is for him to spend some months with any good English composition book trying to learn the language.
The second class of letters—those in which it is presumed that the recipient will not want to read—comprises all the circular letters. These are selling or announcement letters and it is hoped that they will play the part of a personal representative. The great bulk of these letters are sales letters. Their characteristic is that the writer and the reader are unknown to each other. It is not quite accurate to say that the reader will never want to read the letters—no one knows how many of the millions of circular letters sent out are read. A farmer will read practically every letter that comes to him; many business men will throw every circular letter into the waste basket unread. It is well to assume in this kind of letter, however, that the recipient does not want to read it but that he will open and glance at it. It is up to you to make such a good letter that the first glance will cause him to read more.
There is no way of catching the man who throws letters away unopened; any attempt to have the envelope tell what the letter should tell is apt to be unfortunate, because it will have no effect upon the inveterate tosser away and may deter even some of those who commonly do open circular mail. The best method is to make the letter look so much like a routine business letter that no one will dare to throw it away without investigation.
The cost of a sales letter is not to be reckoned otherwise than by results. The merit of a sales letter is to be judged solely by the results. Therefore it is not a question of what kind of letter one thinks ought to produce results. The single question is what kind of letter does produce results.
There is only one way to ascertain results, and that is by test. No considerable expenditure in direct mail solicitation and no form letter should be extensively used without an elaborate series of tests. Otherwise the money may be thrown away. The extent of the tests will depend upon the contemplated expenditure. Every concern that sends out many sales letters keeps a careful record of results. These records show the letter itself, the kind of envelope, the typing, the signature, and the kind of list to which it has been sent. Thus a considerable fund of information is obtained for future use. This information, however, has to be very carefully handled because it may easily become misinformation, for we cannot forget the appeal of the product itself. No one as yet has ever been able to gauge in advance the appeal of a product.
Some apparently very bad letters have sold very good products. Some apparently very good letters have quite failed to sell what turned out to be bad products. Therefore, the information that is obtained in the circularizing and sale of one product has to be taken warily when applied to another product. It should be taken only for what it is worth, and that is as a general guide.
Specimens of business letterheads
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