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How
to Write a Letter
By Maury Z. Levy
I write wonderful letters. I make people laugh. I make people cry. I make people want to do business with me.
When I try to pass this knack on to other folks, they usually say, "Oh, you’re just a born letter writer." Wrong. In basketball, I’m a good free throw shooter. Why? It has nothing to do with natural born talent. It has everything to do with shared insight and hard work. A player I admired once taught me how to square my body and follow through with my arm. The rest of it was work. Hours and hours of work. While other kids were taking piano lessons or stealing wax lips from candy stores, I was shooting free throws. Practice makes...well, you know the rest.
And this is what the lost art of letter writing is all about. A little wisdom and a lot of practice. Here’s the wisdom:
• Say what you
mean.
• Mean what you say.
• Keep it short.
• Keep it conversational.
• Ask for the order.
Some elaboration here for those of you who don’t like bullet points. People have a natural tendency to stiffen up when they write. "Enclosed, please find a proposal..." You would never say that in speech. Not even to a stranger. You would say. "I’m sending you a proposal." or "Here’s the proposal we talked about."
What works for the open, works for the close. Do you close your letters with "Sincerely"? What’s the point. It says nothing, it means nothing. It’s about the least sincere thing you could say.
What’s better? "Call me if you have any questions. I’ll give you a call next week to follow up." Now that’s sincere. It’s also a nice set-up. You’re telling them what to expect. You’re creating a permission marketing opportunity. Simply, the call after the letter that says you’re going to call is no longer a cold call.
Never forget this rule: If you wouldn’t say it in normal speech, don’t write it.
Now, before you go rambling on in print, consider the last incredibly long voice mail someone left you. You were in a hurry. You wanted to check your messages and here’s some yutz blabbing on for ever. All he really needed to say was, here’s what this is about, call me back and I’ll give you the details.
When you write your
next letter, remember that feeling of frustration you had about the voice
mail. Keep your letters short. If you can’t say it in one page, you
just can’t say it. It’s a sound bite, email world. Back to basketball.
Write a letter like there’s a 24-second clock ticking. Grab the ball.
Get it over the half-court line quickly. Make crisp, clean passes, and
shoot.
What’s the shot? Asking for the order. Now, it doesn’t have
to be that literal. You could be asking for a follow-up phone call or
a meeting or just permission to send more information. But you have to
ask for something. If you don’t, you’re wasting your time and
you’re wasting the recipient’s time.
There are studies that show the most read parts of letters are the salutation and the end. Makes sense.
So, get to the point, be yourself, and bring it to a sound close. It’s the honest, direct way to get attention and business.
Sincerely.
