How to Write Letters (Formerly The Book of Letters), page 89 by Mary Owens Crowther
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ave the agents demonstrate. Each gift cost about fifty dollars. He sent the portfolios with his compliments. The secretaries of the men that he wanted to interest could not possibly toss them away. They simply had to give them to their principals. My impression is that the entire expenditure ran to several thousand dollars, but as a result some two hundred thousand dollars in sales were effected, for in practically every case the photographs awakened an interest that led to an appointment with the salesman.
The following letters are intended to be suggestive. They cannot honestly be put forward as being more than that. They are all letters that have gained results under certain circumstances. That they will gain results under new and different circumstances is a matter on which no one can speak with any assurance. Every sales letter is a matter of cut and try. Some of these letters may produce results exactly as they stand. Others may better be used in combination.
[Illustration: Arrangement of a business letter (block form)]
[Illustration: Arrangement of a business letter (indented form)]
Whether the letter should have a return card or envelope depends upon circumstances, as also does the inclusion of an illustrated folder. The return card is more valuable with a letter that goes to a home than with a letter that goes to an office. Very few men with stenographers will bother with return cards--their stenographers or secretaries will send a note. On the other hand, letter-writing facilities are not so easily available in the usual home and the card is likely to be used. The putting in of a folder sometimes takes away from the force of the letter. It is often better to reserve the folder for a second letter or for answering an inquiry. For once the prospect has written in for more information the whole purpose of the letter changes. The interest can be presumed, and the object of the letter is to give the greatest p