Are you sending a parcel or a letter to a client?

Do we need them in this digital age? In this day of email and BACS payments I wonder if the traditional business compliment slip has passed its sell by date. I remember years ago receiving payments by post for work I had done. The envelopes I received through the post would contain a cheque and a compliment slip telling me what the payment is for and which invoices had been paid. Nowadays all this happens by bank transfer, and I have this vision that the trusty old compliment slip is lying forgotten in an office drawer. But I am totally wrong.

The compliment slip lives on. Smaller than a letterhead, and less formal, the compliment slip is ideal for adding a quick note to something that is being mailed from your office. There’s no need for a formal, typed letter, and no time in a busy office anyway. So that compliment slip saying “Mathew, see samples enclosed. Will call you after the weekend,” is all that is required. It still has all your brand characteristics. The compliment slip is like a your mate down the pub - ideal for a little informal chat, with no need to dress up in your business suit and power tie.

Compliment slips are always DL size. It is basically a cut down version of the company letterhead with the words “with compliments” added somewhere on the page. There is no need for the company registration number, VAT number or director’s names either. Printed on the same paper as the company letterhead, the compliment slip complements the rest of the business stationery.

But a compliment slip is more than tool for writing an informal note on. I know of one company who prints out its monthly offers on their compliment slips. Every time post is going out to existing clients, one of these “special offer” compliment slips is put in the envelope.

They use it as another reminder about their offers. We have also designed and printed compliment slips with sales messages on for clients. In other words some companies are using their compliment slip as a sales tool - their compliment slips are acting as flyers in this instance.