Company letterhead makes it all legit

Discussion in 'Starting & Running a Business' started by Simon Hampel, 18th Jun, 2015.

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  1. Simon Hampel

    Simon Hampel Founder Staff Member

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    I love how companies ask you to print something on an "official company letterhead" and scan/email it to them - because that makes it all legitimate!

    I'm doing that right now - was asked to provide documentation about my new business on company letterhead, but I don't have a letterhead (who prints stuff anymore anyway?) - 5 minutes later, LETTERHEAD!

    So easy to just copy the logo off someone else's website to create a realistic version of their letterhead - I fail to see how it improves the legitimacy of the request? :rolleyes:
     
    Simon Hampel, 18th Jun, 2015
    #1
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  2. skater

    skater Well-Known Member

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    I've wondered that many times. I don't have a letterhead either & just bodgy something up when needed.
     
    skater, 18th Jun, 2015
    #2
  3. Lil Skater

    Lil Skater Well-Known Member

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    I went around in circles with Telstra for this very thing.. Despite the fact that I'm the actual contact (and only) on the account, they have all my licence details etc. they still needed company letterhead.

    Why???
     
    Lil Skater, 18th Jun, 2015
    #3
  4. Simon Hampel

    Simon Hampel Founder Staff Member

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    It's a "sacred cow" I bet. One of those old business rules that is still doggedly adhered to, despite the fact that times have changed.

    Once upon a time I suspect it was far more difficult to reproduce a company letterhead and you really could only use the real thing (printed by a printing company and delivered and closely guarded by the secretary).
     
    Simon Hampel, 18th Jun, 2015
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  5. Lil Skater

    Lil Skater Well-Known Member

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    Probably, wouldn't surprise me.

    But seeing as it's incredibly easy to reproduce and find a company ABN I would think it would be in their best interest to issue a company code to authorised employees to use in the event authorisation is required.
     
    Lil Skater, 18th Jun, 2015
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  6. skater

    skater Well-Known Member

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    Going way back when we had a couple of Businesses in Wollongong we still didn't get any letterheads printed. Hubby just used a template he made up on the computer & we used that.
     
    skater, 18th Jun, 2015
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  7. Simon Hampel

    Simon Hampel Founder Staff Member

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    Don't forget that it wasn't all that long ago that small businesses couldn't afford a colour laser printer.

    I remember the Epson dot matrix printer we bought when I was in school that could do "graphical fonts" (and took about 5 minutes to print a single page!).
     
    Simon Hampel, 18th Jun, 2015
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  8. Kesse

    Kesse Well-Known Member

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    I remember when I was getting the branding done for my company and the designer was showing me through the different options ie logo, business card, email sig etc then shows me letter head... and I'm like what do I need a letter head for?!

    Still haven't used it yet though......
     
    Kesse, 18th Jun, 2015
    #8
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  9. Timmyd02

    Timmyd02 Active Member

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    I had the exact same thing happen at Telstra while is was in the shop getting a new phone. Luckily i happened to have it in my emails so i edited it and emailed it to the Telstra employee who printed it out for me so i could sign it! So simple and so stupid....
     
    Timmyd02, 18th Jun, 2015
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  10. skater

    skater Well-Known Member

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    Or even a laser printer that just printed black.
     
    skater, 18th Jun, 2015
    #10
  11. Scott No Mates

    Scott No Mates Well-Known Member

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    We shopped around a little for a laser printer when I kicked off my agency. Found a reasonably good one with long lasting refills :)
     
    Scott No Mates, 18th Jun, 2015
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  12. Biz

    Biz Well-Known Member

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    There was a time when you couldn't get business credit if you were not in the yellow pages. Apparently if you were not in the yellow pages you were not a real company!

    Good idea for a sub forum too sim, i reckon this one will get a lot of use.
     
    Biz, 18th Jun, 2015
    #12
  13. Simon Hampel

    Simon Hampel Founder Staff Member

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    These days you need stuff like DUNS numbers to be considered legit.

    If you want to apply for an EV SSL certificate (the ones which give you the nice green bars at the top of the browser with your company name), some providers need you to have a DUNS.
     
    Simon Hampel, 18th Jun, 2015
    #13
  14. Azazel

    Azazel Well-Known Member

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    In my 1st government job, on April Fools Day, I printed up a letter on the 'company letterhead' saying the area was being outsourced in a couple of weeks, put it in an envelope and left it on the supervisors desk when he wasn't there. When he came back and read it he stopped work straight away and called everyone for a meeting to let everyone know... oops. April Fools! :rolleyes:
     
    Azazel, 19th Jun, 2015
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  15. geoffw

    geoffw Moderator Staff Member

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    I actually never needed a letterhead in eight years of being a franchisee. From time to time I did need to provide a copy of the signed franchise agreement though.
     
    geoffw, 19th Jun, 2015
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  16. Simon Hampel

    Simon Hampel Founder Staff Member

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    If you needed to prove your credentials, you could have just made them a sub!

    Wouldn't be surprised if the official letterhead was actually just one of the paper sheets they wrap the subs in?
     
    Simon Hampel, 19th Jun, 2015
    #16
  17. Perp

    Perp Well-Known Member

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    Argh, outdated thinking and refusing to move with the times is a bugbear of mine.

    It's a bit like people who ask for your fax number. WTF?
     
    Perp, 21st Jun, 2015
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  18. 380

    380 Well-Known Member

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    WA water will only change postal address if you send them request on letterhead....(for company owned prop)

    :rolleyes::rolleyes:
     
    380, 21st Jun, 2015
    #18
  19. aussieB

    aussieB Well-Known Member

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    In my personal opinion, I think a lot of Australian businesses are still stuck in the old colonial way of things.

    I have never needed to write a cover letter, an essential criteria, a desirable criteria AND a resume to be able to apply for a job. That is for a job in IT. Isn't an email with a resume attached enough ?

    Back in the day, I was championing for a 'no paper interview' in one of the big 4s of consulting. We were interviewing thousands of candidates a day and the printed paper was just a waste IMO. Sadly, got no where with it. I think I was the only one who thought, "Well, who needs a printed resume for an IT job in an IT company. Such a waste."
     
    aussieB, 22nd Jun, 2015
    #19
  20. ej89

    ej89 Well-Known Member

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    For those looking to get professional letterheads done, I got mine done on freelancer.com along with business card designs and trifold brochure for like $50. I recommend using this site for all design needs. It's cheap and quick and if you dont like it you dont pay :)
     
    ej89, 25th Jun, 2015
    #20
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