Question

What are some of the key characteristics of a professional letter, such as an introductory letter by which a company seeks to attract clients and initiate a business relationship with owner firms? Focus your discussion on the characteristics that primarily define the letter content. Apart from effective communication with potential customers, what do you think

Answer 1

The letter structure should also follow the AIDA format :

1. Attention (I want to read on)
2. Interest (this is relevant to me and my company)
3. Desire (this is potentially beneficial and I want to pursue this opportunity)
4. Action (when I'm called I'll talk/make an appointment/delegate action)

Whilst you can vary and experiment, a good basic structure (obviously following correct name, address and date details) is:

1. Salutation (Dear Mr/Mrs/Ms surname, or Dear Sir/Madam for extra caution)

2. Headline or Banner statement

3. Credibility and relevance statement (mandatory) - you must establish your credentials and explain your relevant capability or proposition - clever wording here enables you to wrap the two - credibility and a relevant proposition - into a single statement or paragraph.

4. How and why statement  (optional) - what re the special characteristics of your capability or proposition

5. Suggestion of similar opportunity/application for target organisation (optional but useful normally)

6. Action/follow up statement (mandatory) - what happens next - explain

7. Sign-off

8. P.S. statement (optional - can work well in certain situations - generally avoid using it for senior approaches because it will be seen as gimmicky)