Business English: A Practice Book by Rose Buhlig

the supply. Make out a form letter that could be sent when the money is returned. What is the advantage of a form letter in this case? =Exercise 244--Circular and Follow-up Letters= There is a class of letters that usually originates in the advertising department of a firm. They are not sent out to answer inquiries, but to solicit new customers and to keep old ones. Such letters are printed in large numbers in imitation of typewriting, and the introduction and the salutation are afterward carefully filled in on the typewriter. The intention, of course, is to make the recipient feel that he has received a personal letter. Firms are generally careful to fill in the signature in pen and ink. These are called _circular_ letters. (See the last letter in Exercise 223.) These letters are very important and each year more numerous. Frequently a series of them is written, each one expanding one argument in a series of arguments. If all the letters are read, one after the other, you have a complete list of reasons why you should buy the particular article which the letters advertise. These letters are sent out regularly, so that the effect of one may not quite wear off before the next arrives. It is frequently the case that not until the third or fourth letter is sent out does any reply come. Such letters should be definitely planned in order to present arguments that are true and attractive. They must be simply and clearly written. They are called _follow-up_ letters. The following series of follow-up letters was intended to be sent to women who keep no maids. The series was planned to contain five letters. Write two more, using different appeals from those in the letters here given. 1 Dear Madam: Do you remember the fairy tale of Little Two-Eyes? A fairy, out of pity for the child's hunger, spread a table before her each day as she was watching the goat in the field, and when her appetite was satisfied all the child had to say was, "Table clear yourself," and the dishes magically disappeared. "This is a beautiful way to keep house," was Two-Eyes' verdict, and every woman, thinking of her own distaste of dirty dishes, will agree. "How I hate dishwashing!" You have said it hundreds of times--after every meal, probably. "I like to cook and bake," you declare. "They are really interesting. There is fun in trying new recipes--but the dishes!" You enjoy giving luncheon and dinner parties. It is a delightful way of meeting one's friends. Moreover, you are justly proud of your skill in cooking, and you like to show your beautiful china. But what a damper it is on your spirit of good-fellowship, after the guests are gone, to have to spend an hour or more washing the dishes. Then you would like to say, with the child in the story, "Dishes wash yourselves!" Wouldn't you? Well, you may. For thirty days--ninety meals--we will put the Fairy Dishwasher in your home, without charging you a penny. The machine is simplicity itself. Wheel the cabinet into your dining room, alongside your serving table, and, as a course is finished, without rising from your place, stack the dishes into the washer. When you have finished the meal, wheel the cabinet into your kitchen, make the connection, and turn the switch. In a few minutes the dishes are washed and dried. Having friends in to dinner is fun when the Fairy washes the dishes. Let the Fairy do yours. Simply return this letter to us in the enclosed envelope, making sure that your name and address are correct, and we'll send you the Fairy. Use it three times a day for thirty days. Then if you think you can get along as well without the machine, all that you need to do is to send us a postal card, telling us so. We'll take back the Fairy and ask no questions. But send to-day. Yours very truly, 2 Dear Madam: Did you ever envy another woman's smooth, white hands? You looked at hers, and then you looked at yours; you sighed and thought, "It's dishwashing." But what can you do? Haven't you tried everything to make dishwashing less drudgery? Haven't you tried patent soaps and tepid water, only to find that the dishes were not clean? Haven't you tried dish mops, scrapers, and rubber gloves, only to find that the mop and the scraper saved but one hand? As for rubber gloves, as likely as not, the first time you used them they were caught on the prong of a fork and were thereafter useless. Yes, you've tried everything; haven't you? No, you haven't. You have not tried the only sure help that there is. Stop your drudgery and let the Fairy wash your dishes. For thirty days--ninety trials--we will put the Fairy Dishwasher in your home, absolutely free of charge, guaranteed to wash and sterilize your dishes in boiling water, without a touch of your hand. Do your manicuring while the Fairy does the dishes. Pay no money, but send the enclosed postal card to-day. It will bring the Fairy at once. Very truly yours, 3 Dear Madam: An extra hour of leisure every day! What is it worth to you? Think what you could do if some one would give you an extra hour of leisure every day. There's the book you would like to read, the call you ought to make, the embroidery you wish you could finish. There are the thousand and one things that a housekeeper continually wishes she could do--but where can she get the time? And yet you waste at least an hour each day washing dishes when the Fairy Dishwasher will not only save you the time but rid you of a distasteful task. You pay 16-2/3 cents a day for five months and the Fairy does your dishes every day; you buy yourself an extra hour every day,--you are an hour ahead every day for the rest of your life. Is it worth the price? Remember that we allow you to use the Fairy for thirty days--ninety meals--before you pay a penny. Then for five months you send us five dollars a month, and we guarantee that you will declare it the best twenty-five dollars that you ever spent. Send the enclosed postal card to-day. It will bring the Fairy and a booklet of full directions. Very truly yours, =Exercise 245= You have bought a big tract of land in Alabama. You wish to sell a part uncleared, to set out a part in pecan trees, and to devote a part to truck farms. Write three letters to the same man, making each one stronger than the one before. Keep in mind the five essentials of a good letter. (See page 230.)