Copies

3. Copies

c.c. (= carbon copies) is written, usually at the end of the letter, when copies are sent to people other than the named recipient.

b.c.c. (=blind carbon copies) is written at the copies themselves, though not, on the top copy, when you do not want the named recipient to know that other people have received the copies as well.

2. Content of a business letter

Length

How long should a letter be? The answer is as long as necessary and this will depend on the subject of the letter.

It may be a simple subject, e.g. thanking a customer for a cheque, or quite complicated, e.g. explaining how a group insurance policy works. It is a question of how much information you put in the letter: you may give too little (even for a brief subject), in which case your letter will be too short, or too much (even for a complicated subject), in which case it will be too long. Your style and the kind of language you use can also affect the length. The right length includes the right amount of information.

The three letters that follow are written by different people in reply to the same enquiry from a Mr. Arrand about the company's product:

1. Too long

Dear Mr. Arrand,

Thank you very much for your enquiry of 5 November which we receive today. We often receive enquiries from large stores and always welcome them, particularly at this time of the year when we know that you will be stocking for Christmas.

We have enclosed our winter catalogue and are sure you will be extremely impressed by the wide range of watches that we stock. You will see that they range from the traditional to the latest in quartz movements and include ranges for men, women and children, with prices that should suit upper-market bracket priced at several hundred pounds. But whether you buy a cheaper or more expensive model we guarantee all merchandise for two years with a full service.

Enclosed you will also find our price-list giving full details on c.i.f. prices to London and explaining our discounts which we think you will find very generous and which we hope will take full advantage of.

We are always available to offer you further information about our products and can promise you personal attention whenever you require it. This service is given to all our customers throughout the world, and as you probably know, we deal with countries from the Far East to Europe and Latin America., and this fact alone bears out our reputation which has been established for more than a hundred years and has made our motto a household world - Time for Everyone.

Once again may we thank you for your enquiry and say that we look forward to hearing from you in the near future?

Yours sincerely,

There are a number of things wrong with a letter of this sort. Though it tries to advertise the products and the company itself, it is too wordy.

There is no need to explain that stores or shops are stocking for Christmas; the customer is aware of this. Rather than draw attention to certain items the customer might be interested in, the letter only explains what the customer can already see, that there is a wide selection of watches in the catalogue covering the full range of market prices.

In addition, the writer goes on unnecessarily to explain which countries the firm sells to, the history of company and its rather unimpressive motto.

2. Too short

Dear Sir,

Thank you for your enquiry. We have a wide selection of watches which we are sure you will like. We will be sending a catalogue soon.

Yours faithfully,

There are number of points missing from this letter, quite apart from the fact that, since the writer knew the name of his correspondent he should have begun the letter Dear Mr Arrand and ended Yours sincerely. There is no reference to the date or reference number of the enquiry.

Catalogues should be have sent with a reply to the enquiry; it is annoying for a customer to have to wait for further information to be sent. Even if a catalogue is sent, the customer's attention should be drawn to particular items that would interest him/her in the line of business. He/she might be concerned with the upper or lower end of the market. He might want moderately priced items, or expensive ones.

3. The right length

Here is a letter that is more suitable:

Dear Mr Arrand, Thank you for your enquiry of 5 November.

We have enclosed our winter catalogue and price-list giving details of c.i.f. London prices, discounts and delivery dates.

Though you will see we offer a wide selection of watches, may we draw your attention to pp. 23-28, and pp. 31-37 in our catalogue, which we think might suit the market you are dealing with? And on page 34 you will notice our latest designs in pendant watches, which are becoming fashionable for both men and women.

As you are probably aware, all our products are fully guaranteed and backed by our world-wide reputation.

If there is any further information you require, please contact us. Meanwhile, we look forward to hearing from you soon.

Yours sincerely,

Let's sum up the basic rules concerning the letter length.

The letter should be neither too long nor too short. It is better to include too much information than too little. Your reader cannot read your mind. If you leave out vital information, he won't know what he wants to know, unless he writes back again and he may not bother to do that.

If you include extra information, at least he'll have what he wants, even though he may irritated by having to read the unnecessary parts. Provided, of course, that you include the vital information as well as the extras: the worst letter of all is the one that gives very piece of information about the product, except for the price.

Order and sequence

As well as containing the right amount of information, the letter should also make all the necessary points in a logical sequence, with each idea or piece of information linking up with the previous one in a pattern that can be followed. Do not jump around making a statement, switching to other subjects, then referring back to the point you made a few sentences or paragraphs before.