Good News Letter

Good News

• General guidelines for answering request letters include:
     
• Be prompt and courteous
• Be sure that your responses are complete--that they include all needed information
• If you are giving some positive and some negative responses, give the positive responses first. Try to emphasis what you can do--not what you can't do.
       
• The body of the very simplest "good news" letter is often just two paragraphs. In these letters the "good news" is given in the opening. Any "call for action" and your marketing statement are put in the second paragraph. Simple details, such as when a package will be shipped, can be put either at the end of the first paragraph or the beginning of the second.
    
• More complex "good news" letters would include those where conditions must be met in order for the request to be granted, or those letters where only part of the request can be granted . These letters are usually three or more paragraphs in length.
    
  "Good News" letter format

1. Opening paragraph:  tell the good news. In this paragraph you may want to include a sentence showing appreciation towards the reader. In letters giving both positive and negative responses to a letter, think about giving only the positive responses in the
   opening--what you can do. Explain what you can't do at the end of the middle part of the letter.
     
2. Middle:  give the details. Specific details are given in the middle paragraphs of your letter. In only the very simplest "good news" letters this information can be put at the end of the opening paragraph.
     
• This part of the letter is where you give information about how the request will be granted, or give the conditions that must be met before you can grant the request.
    
• If several questions have been asked, make sure you answer each question--possibly in separate paragraphs. If your responses to all questions are positive, answer them in the order asked. If you are giving some positive and some negative responses, give the positive responses first.
    
• Finish this section telling the reader any requests you cannot satisfy--along with a reason why. Try to tell the reason why before you tell what you can't do.
    
3. Closing paragraph:  your "CALL FOR ACTION." Restate, in general, any action needed from your reader for you to grant the request. If a time element is important, give specific dates. Because you are giving a positive response, you should try to include a marketing statement in your closing.

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