Page:Hill's manual of social and business forms.djvu/129

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N letters of business, use as few words as possible.

2. Business letters should be promptly answered.

3. Use a clear, distinct writing, avoiding all flourish of penmanship or language.

4. Come at once to your subject, and state it so clearly that it will not be necessary to guess your meaning.

5. Give town, county, State and date explicitly. It is frequently of great importance to know when a letter was written.

6. Read your letter carefully when finished, to see that you have made no omissions and no mistakes. Also carefully examine your envelope, to see that it is rightly directed, with postage-stamp affixed.

7. Copy all business letters, of your own, by hand, or with the copying-press made for the purpose.

8. Send money by Draft, P. O. Money-Order, or Express, taking a receipt therefor; thus you have something to show for money, guarantying you against loss. Always state in your letter the amount of money you send, and by what means sent.

9. Write date, and by whom sent, across the end of each letter received, and file for future reference, fastening the letters together with rubber bands, or binding in a letter-file adapted to the purpose. The possession of a letter sometimes prevents litigation and serious misunderstanding.

Ordering Goods.

In ordering goods, state very explicitly the amount, kind, quality, color, shape, size, etc., and on what terms wanted. Whether you wish the same sent by freight or express, and what express. Much inconvenience is experienced among business men because of a neglect to designate explicitly what is wanted.

Should the writer wish to make suggestions, ask questions, or add other matter to the letter, which is foreign to the subject, such words should be placed entirely separate from the order. Of fifty or a hundred letters received to-day by the merchant, that one which is mixed up with complaints, enquiries, etc., will probably be laid over till to-morrow, or until time can be spared to read it through. Had the order been explicitly stated, and the suggestions placed elsewhere, the goods would have been forwarded immediately. It is, in fact, better to write the order on a separate sheet from the other matter.

Send your order, also, early enough to give yourself plenty of time in which to receive the goods before they are needed.

Books, being a common article ordered, may be taken as an example showing the importance of giving a careful description of the goods wanted. To illustrate: be explicit in giving name of book, name of author, by whom