Page 153 - How to write effective business English your guide to excellent professional communication by Fiona Talbot

142 How to Write Effective Business English

A letter that involves the reader
with the company’s narrative

You’ve seen the importance of storytelling in writing for social
media and marketing in Chapter 5. We’re seeing how an integrated
approach to writing tasks can work wonders and as I mentioned
earlier, creativity is needed in letter writing. The fixed templates of
yesteryear rarely work.
So let me expand on the earlier case study in Chapter 4, on
writing used at Nationwide. How do they use their compelling
narrative in letters?
Let’s take a look at extracts from one of their standard letters to
illustrate what I mean. After their personalized, customer-centric
heading, they mention:

A warm welcome to your account... (details followed). Members such
as yourself mean a lot to us – they make up the very fabric of who we
are, and where we’ve come from.

They continue with sub-headings, which break what could have
seemed a boring, technical letter into easy-to-read copy:

You can rest safe in the knowledge, we’ll be looking after
your savings
Then they outline details of the account and what’s involved, fol-
lowed by the next sub-heading:

We’re here to help
Details follow of what they mean by this.
The letter ends:

Thank you again for being a member of Nationwide. We were founded
when a group of people came together to help each other buy houses,
save and generally get more out of their money – and we appreciate
you being part of that story, and helping us continue to grow.

Note the inclusive language: it brings the recipient into their con-
tinuing story and thanks them for their valued participation.