A compliments slip (or with compliments slip) is a slip of paper that contains the same name and address information that would be on a letterhead of formal letter stationery, the pre-printed salutation "with compliments" or "with our/my compliments", and space afterwards for a short handwritten message to be added.[1][2][3][4] It is used in correspondence, as an enclosure for other material.[3]
Compliments slips, which are informal, can sometimes substitute for more formal letters of reply.[3] For example, the response to a request for a product catalogue or a price list may simply be the price list or catalogue, with a compliments slip attached, rather than with a formal letter of reply.[4][5] The inclusion of compliments slips in responses to such routine requests is often seen by businesses as a necessary step in maintaining good public relations.[3]
There is no fixed size for compliments slips. They may vary in size from the size of a business or visiting card, from which compliments slips originally evolved, to the size of a whole sheet of letter writing paper.[3] Eric Bain recommends that they be of a size suitable for placing inside an envelope without more than one fold, and large enough to be noticed when included in a parcel.[6] (Standard letter stationery outside the U.S. often requires folding twice in order to be placed inside envelopes.[7]) To this end he recommends that compliments slips be size A6 paper.[6] Miller recommends size A5 for stationery that doubles up as both compliments slip and headed letter paper.[8]
Since they are informal, compliments slips are not substitutes in those cases where a formal letter is required for legal reasons. In building contract work, for example, a drawing or a copy letter sent to a contractor with a compliments slip attached is not a formal instruction to perform the work on the drawing or letter. It is at most an invitation to perform that work, at no charge to the employer. A valid instruction would be a formal letter of instruction, or an instruction provided on a printed "Architect's Instruction" form (signed by the architect).[9]
Falconer states that a compliments slip should never be sent instead of a personal letter, and that it is better to send a personal letter in response to a customer enquiry, because it provides a personal touch.[10] Hailey recommends an alternative strategy for providing a personal touch: removing the salutation from compliments slips, thus forcing the entire note to be hand-written.[11]
