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  • Atricle Dump - Writing Business Letters - Tutorial 3: Writing a Quality Letter

    Overcome Stalled Mind-Sets That Keep You from Accomplishing 20 Times More
    A mind-set is a way we organize our thinking, whether consciously or unconsciously. Most of the time, we act based on unconscious mind-sets that simply repeat what we've done most recently. In a new situation where our conscious mind is engaged, we may also repeat past behavior because when faced with a new choice, we often search through our alternatives in a predictable pattern that includes some perspectives while ignoring many others.Organizations develop their mind-sets through rules, processes, and rituals, as well as through the mind-sets of those who work in them. The fewer people who enter an organization, the more likely the organizational mind-set is to become fixed.The Individual Stall Mind-SetAre you awake, aware of, and working
    ng done business with you and can't guess what you could possibly want. So tell them in one of a variety of ways:

    "Please consider my application for ...."
    "I saw your advertisement for widgets in the Sunday Trader and ...."
    "I was sorry to learn that ...."
    "I was terribly disappointed when I ....
    "Your letter of 10th October about widgets arrived and ...."

    Get the drift? State up front what it is you want. That way, the first person reading the letter can decide whether he/she or someone else needs to deal with it without reading the whole letter. It he

    Container Sea Port Lighting Using Material Handling Equipment
    If you have ever been to a seaport it is a busy place with heavy cranes and material handling equipment everywhere. Containers lined up sometimes 6-8 high, it is a scary place for some but for a material handling equipment supply and services company it is a dream come true. The seaports only job is to move freight to and from our shores. America exports all kinds of goods and imports every thing from car parts to computers.Those containers represent World Trade, US trade deficit and the hopeful economies of many third world nations busy trying to fulfill the needs of our economic powerhouse and strong middle class base. This is why a material handling equipment and supply services company salesman is in heaven near such waters. But on my last visit I spen
    If you've read Tutorials one and two you know how to format a letter and how to use the various parts. But that's not all of it. You now need to know how to construct the paragraphs that form the opening sentence, the body and the action ending.

    By the end of this short tutorial, you'll be ready to start creating top business letters following a simple formula. Here goes ...

    Why Do We Write Letters?

    Is this a dumb question? No way Jose! Let's do some revision to get us into a communication mindset before we jump head first into this tutorial. It will help us make sense of it. So, why do we write letters? To:

    1. Ask someone
    2. Tell someone
    3. Get something done (by asking and telling)

    That's it. In doing these things there are some different communication styles we follow to get the most out of our communication. For example, the most common letter types are:

    1. Request letters; requests for information, purchase orders, or other action
    2. No letters; telling someone 'no' requires tact and thoughfullness
    3. Sales letters; you've seen thousands of these
    4. Applications; you've probably submitted a few job or other applications
    5. Complaint; hopefully you don't write too many of these!
    6. Condolence; these are difficult to write
    7. Information letters and cover letters; these tell someone something and are sometimes like sales letters

    Common to ALL Letters

    Every letter you write should have an opening sentence or paragraph that states why you are writing (but don't say, "I'm writing to say ...." as your recipient knows you have written), a body of one or more paragraphs where you expand on the reasons why you are writing, and usually (but not always), an action ending.

    The opening sentence or paragraph is required so your recipient knows immediately why you have written. The subject line, if appropriately created, will also help. When your Mother receives a letter from you she knows you are writing because you love her ... or perhaps want a loan (just kidding) and usually she is delighted to hear from you. The business people with whom you correspond, however, receive hundreds or thousands of letters and may never have heard of you or your firm before; if you are a client, they may not recall having done business with you and can't guess what you could possibly want. So tell them in one of a variety of ways:

    "Please consider my application for ...."
    "I saw your advertisement for widgets in the Sunday Trader and ...."
    "I was sorry to learn that ...."
    "I was terribly disappointed when I ....
    "Your letter of 10th October about widgets arrived and ...."

    Get the drift? State up front what it is you want. That way, the first person reading the letter can decide whether he/she or someone else needs to deal with it without reading the whole letter. It hel

    Why Your Cleaning Company Should Buy From Janitorial Distributors
    There is no getting around it - your cleaning business needs high quality cleaning supplies and equipment so you and your employees can effectively do the job of taking care of your clients' buildings. There are several places you can buy the chemicals you need to clean. Over 50% of the respondents to a recent survey done by thejanitorialstore.com showed they buy their supplies from a big box retailer. But there is a better solution to buying cleaning supplies and equipment than purchasing Lysol, 409, or window cleaner from a large retail store. A janitorial supplies distributor can supply your cleaning company with professional products and much more.At first glance the cleaning products bought through a janitorial distributor may seem to be higher in cos
    ke sense of it. So, why do we write letters? To:

    1. Ask someone
    2. Tell someone
    3. Get something done (by asking and telling)

    That's it. In doing these things there are some different communication styles we follow to get the most out of our communication. For example, the most common letter types are:

    1. Request letters; requests for information, purchase orders, or other action
    2. No letters; telling someone 'no' requires tact and thoughfullness
    3. Sales letters; you've seen thousands of these
    4. Applications; you've probably submitted a few job or other applications
    5. Complaint; hopefully you don't write too many of these!
    6. Condolence; these are difficult to write
    7. Information letters and cover letters; these tell someone something and are sometimes like sales letters

    Common to ALL Letters

    Every letter you write should have an opening sentence or paragraph that states why you are writing (but don't say, "I'm writing to say ...." as your recipient knows you have written), a body of one or more paragraphs where you expand on the reasons why you are writing, and usually (but not always), an action ending.

    The opening sentence or paragraph is required so your recipient knows immediately why you have written. The subject line, if appropriately created, will also help. When your Mother receives a letter from you she knows you are writing because you love her ... or perhaps want a loan (just kidding) and usually she is delighted to hear from you. The business people with whom you correspond, however, receive hundreds or thousands of letters and may never have heard of you or your firm before; if you are a client, they may not recall having done business with you and can't guess what you could possibly want. So tell them in one of a variety of ways:

    "Please consider my application for ...."
    "I saw your advertisement for widgets in the Sunday Trader and ...."
    "I was sorry to learn that ...."
    "I was terribly disappointed when I ....
    "Your letter of 10th October about widgets arrived and ...."

    Get the drift? State up front what it is you want. That way, the first person reading the letter can decide whether he/she or someone else needs to deal with it without reading the whole letter. It he

    Corporate Holiday Gifts
    A lot of businesses love to give holiday gifts to their employees as a way of saying thank you. Some corporate holiday gifts include bonus checks, gift baskets with expensive items (such as quality champagne) or a selection of gift certificates from popular restaurants and other establishments. Giving corporate holiday gifts is a way of showing your employees that you appreciate all the hard work they put in to your company each day.You can give different corporate holiday gifts to different people. You may not know some of your employees as well as others. In this case, giving them a bonus check or a selection of gift certificates may be your best bet. However, someone like your secretary may deserve a more personal gift, because they are the ones who are
    ed a few job or other applications
  • Complaint; hopefully you don't write too many of these!
  • Condolence; these are difficult to write
  • Information letters and cover letters; these tell someone something and are sometimes like sales letters

    Common to ALL Letters

    Every letter you write should have an opening sentence or paragraph that states why you are writing (but don't say, "I'm writing to say ...." as your recipient knows you have written), a body of one or more paragraphs where you expand on the reasons why you are writing, and usually (but not always), an action ending.

    The opening sentence or paragraph is required so your recipient knows immediately why you have written. The subject line, if appropriately created, will also help. When your Mother receives a letter from you she knows you are writing because you love her ... or perhaps want a loan (just kidding) and usually she is delighted to hear from you. The business people with whom you correspond, however, receive hundreds or thousands of letters and may never have heard of you or your firm before; if you are a client, they may not recall having done business with you and can't guess what you could possibly want. So tell them in one of a variety of ways:

    "Please consider my application for ...."
    "I saw your advertisement for widgets in the Sunday Trader and ...."
    "I was sorry to learn that ...."
    "I was terribly disappointed when I ....
    "Your letter of 10th October about widgets arrived and ...."

    Get the drift? State up front what it is you want. That way, the first person reading the letter can decide whether he/she or someone else needs to deal with it without reading the whole letter. It he

    The Psycology of Leadership - Understanding the Influence of Inspirational Leaders (PART III)
    You have gone through the 8 Assents of Inspirational Leadership, now the final step to cultivating an inspired and dedicated workforce is to build the THE 5 PILLARS OF A TRANSFORMATIONAL ENVIRONMENTThe 5 pillars are the foundations that convert a team to an organization transforming powerhouse. When leaders become aware of their work environment and the affects they have on it, when they learn the Psychology of groups and how it applies to the actions, reactions and emotions of teams and departments, then the foundation for the pillars is created.Inspiration of individuals will make a difference, but inspiration of teams and of the perceptions of work those teams have, define a transformational leader and become apparent in organizational effective
    ally (but not always), an action ending.

    The opening sentence or paragraph is required so your recipient knows immediately why you have written. The subject line, if appropriately created, will also help. When your Mother receives a letter from you she knows you are writing because you love her ... or perhaps want a loan (just kidding) and usually she is delighted to hear from you. The business people with whom you correspond, however, receive hundreds or thousands of letters and may never have heard of you or your firm before; if you are a client, they may not recall having done business with you and can't guess what you could possibly want. So tell them in one of a variety of ways:

    "Please consider my application for ...."
    "I saw your advertisement for widgets in the Sunday Trader and ...."
    "I was sorry to learn that ...."
    "I was terribly disappointed when I ....
    "Your letter of 10th October about widgets arrived and ...."

    Get the drift? State up front what it is you want. That way, the first person reading the letter can decide whether he/she or someone else needs to deal with it without reading the whole letter. It he

    For New Managers - Conventional Management Training Doesn't Fit
    Conventional management training typically consists of single, time-limited workshops or seminars. The length of the event varies by position level, function or business discipline, and size and structure of the employer organization.For new managers, this model has inherent shortcomings:• The large amounts of new information that must be crammed into a short time is overwhelming and often leads to feelings of panic.• Participants can't put the new learning into practice until the course is over, leaving no opportunity to ask questions of instructors or colleagues after they try the techniques in the course of their jobs.• In-house management training often incorporates company-specific material. Although well-intentioned, this practic
    ng done business with you and can't guess what you could possibly want. So tell them in one of a variety of ways:

    "Please consider my application for ...."
    "I saw your advertisement for widgets in the Sunday Trader and ...."
    "I was sorry to learn that ...."
    "I was terribly disappointed when I ....
    "Your letter of 10th October about widgets arrived and ...."

    Get the drift? State up front what it is you want. That way, the first person reading the letter can decide whether he/she or someone else needs to deal with it without reading the whole letter. It helps speed the process so you may get a reply sooner.

    If you are really on the ball, you will create for yourself a list of standard opening sentences you can use for different letters without having to rewrite them every time. You could place these in your letter template and simply delete the ones you don't want, or copy and paste from somewhere else. It saves time and reinventing every time you write.

    In the body of the letter, expand what you are writing about. Be Concise, Complete and Correct ... the Three Cs. Don't waffle. Use short sentences and get to the point. The best approach is to structure your letter around chronological order, a process, an event, or some other logical pattern. For example, a person complaining about a telephone bill might write a body like this:

    "My family was on holidays between 3 March and 3 June. During that time, our house was unoccupied and nobody had access to, or permission to use, our telephone. As we had not made any telephone calls during this period, I was astonished to receive your bill showing $129.75 owing."
    See what I mean? Develop your argument logically.

    It takes a little practice to become artful at letter writing. However, if you know the principles, it's much easier. If you have difficulty deciding how to craft your letter, try using an outlining method. Jot down the key points you want to make, like this:

    Phone bill too high
    - was on holidays most of the billing period
    - How come my bill was $129?
    - Is this a mistake?
    - Is there another reason?
    - Ask for new, adjusted bill

    Shuffle them around until they are in a logical order and then write a sentence for each.

    Last, but not least, let's look at action endings. Most times when you write you want something to happen. People often forget to use an action ending ... ask for what you want to happen in the last paragraph. These examples demonstrate this point:

    "As soon as I receive your completed application, I will be able to consider your request."
    "Please send your cheque or money order for $123 as soon as possible."
    "Please call me if you need further information."
    "Please accept my sincere apologies."
    "Unless you provide me with a copy of your birth certificate we will not be able to ...."

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