I contacted a real estate broker I know to ask her if my children could send their business letters to her and if she would read them over. To my delight she said yes!
Teaching Business Letters
The Lesson Plan
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Show the children an example of a business letter and explain block style v.s. semi block style. Make sure they understand where to put the date, address, salutation etc.
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I explained that these letters would be going to a local real estate broker, so they should brainstorm what kind of business they are in and what kind of letter they could write.
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Once they decided what business they had, they had to come up with a name and do a bit of market research.
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Next they also had to decide if this would be a letter about some existing business with the broker or if it would be a proposal of some kind.
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Then the writing, editing and good copy.
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Finally the delivery of their letters.
I have to say I really thought my kids were going to opt to be real estate agents in their letters, but they surprised me when they didn’t even think of that at all.
One son decided to be a home builder looking to partner with a real estate company and the other chose a cleaning company specialising in move ins/outs incorporating everything from washing walls to furnace and carpet cleaning. My youngest, who is a bit young to write a business letter drew a nice picture to send along, that way she was also involved in the process.
Once the kids sent off their business proposals, they thought they would hear from the broker that she had received the letters and they were good or fine.
Instead, much to our surprise, the real estate broker wrote them back on her business letterhead! She replied as if these were real proposals, and also included a small gift for each of them!
I am very excited my kids had a chance to experience a business interaction with a true professional, one who understands business is much more than the monetary exchange. Susan and her team always go above and beyond for their clients. And, since I was willing to step outside the “how to teach letter writing” box, my kids witnessed some great business leadership.
What a gift for my children to experience how a true business interaction should work!
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