THE BUSINESS LETTER

Dominion, Volume 16, Issue 223, 8 June 1923, Page 8

THE BUSINESS LETTER

CHARACTERISTICS INDICATED.

A talk upon “Business letter writing as an investment” was given to the Y.M.C.A. Luncheon Club yesterday by Mr. P. W. Bass. Mr. T. Auton presided. Every letter, said Mr. Bass, was an investment; the object should be to make each letter a gilt-edged investment. Every business letter must promote good-will, and must be adapted to the reader. The “business letter writer” could not give the self expression characterising the letter of the man who made a study of getting the reader’s viewpoint. Every letter must be characterised by clearness, conciseness, ..correctness, courtesy, and character’ Clearness was essential, as if the reader had a salient feature it has, ability in misconstruing ambiguous letters. Conciseness was the art of Baying just what •as needed and no more, and every letter must be connectedly and logically written. Correctness was imperative, as a looseness and carelessness apparent in the letter might lead the reader to believe the writer capable of follies he never contemplated. Courtesy was, of course, requisite, and correspondence should always begin and end in a friendly tone. Character was expressed, often unconsciously, in letters. The writer who studied its verbal expression in his correspondence could be sure that every letter reflected the ains, standing, and moral code of his firm. A stilted, hackneyed letter had no character. In the construction of a letter it was necessary to observe three guiding principles—coherence, emphasis, and friendliness. Mr. Bass spoko of the many kinds of letters dealing with complaints, credits, and the hundred and one situations erising in business, for each of which certain logical steps were laid down by the nature of the subject. There was no cut and dried way of writing the effective, satisfactory letter, wnich must least of all be stereotyped. More could be learnt of any branch of trade by a study of its properly conducted correspondence than by six months spent in any of its departments as a salesman.