How to write business letters correctly. Business correspondence - examples of letters. So, the basic rules for writing a business letter

E-mail has always been and remains the main mode of communication in the business world. A well-written letter already means half the success. But not all of them know how to write such letters. Sometimes, reading a letter with a business proposal, it becomes not entirely clear what exactly they want to offer you, what kind of benefit you will get from this and why you even spent your time reading and understanding this letter.

The ability to write correct, persuasive letters comes with practice. And it's good when the accumulated experience is shared, thereby allowing other people not to step on the same rake. Jeffrey James, author of Business to Business Selling: Power Words and Strategies From the World's Top Sales Experts, offers his simple system writing convincing letters, which consists of 6 steps.

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1. Always be clear about what you are going to write about

The main purpose of the letter is to make the recipient make a certain decision. So before you start composing your letter, ask yourself again what exactly do you want from the recipient? What decision should he make after reading your letter?

In this case, uncertainty is your nemesis. The clearer your purpose, the more convincing your letter will be.

2. Start the letter with your conclusion

Your conclusion is a statement of the decision the recipient should make based on the content of your letter.

At school we were taught to always start with an introduction. In the case of writing convincing letters, this statement is incorrect. In the business world, everyone is too busy to judge your literary ability. Therefore, you should get right to the point.

For example, you want to get permission from your superiors to install a gym in one of your company premises.

Not properly:

"Jim,
As you know, absenteeism is currently a major problem that has a fairly strong financial impact on both our company and other companies in our industry ... blah blah blah ... So we should consider allocating money for arrangement of a gym in the head office of our company. "

Right:

"Jim,
I want you to approve the installation of a gym in our office. "

3. Divide your arguments into several easily digestible paragraphs

To make the arguments in support of your idea easy to read and understand, divide them into several paragraphs.

Not properly

“According to a recently published report by the group's government physical activity are extremely important even though few companies demonstrate their commitment to such employee rewards. Many firms define such groups as undervalued assets, but they do not have a plan to introduce such groups in the industry, even though fitness is closely related to corporate and personal success. I believe that if we do not introduce such physical groups in our company, we will be far behind the competition. "

Right

“The gym in the office will allow:
- reduce absenteeism
- increase overall productivity "

4. Support each argument with evidence

If you write a letter consisting of solid arguments, it may be perceived as a solid personal opinion and nothing more. Every argument needs proof. Otherwise, how do you know if it really works?

Not properly

“A gym in the office would be the right decision because people would rather go to work than stay at home. It will also help reduce the overall incidence of sickness in the office. "

Right

“Reducing absenteeism. According to a survey conducted by National Institute Among the 1,000 firms that have gyms in their offices, absenteeism in these companies is 20% lower than in those companies that do not have such equipment. "

5. Repeat your conclusion as a call to action

At the end of the letter, repeat your conclusion again, stated at the very beginning. Only now as a call to concrete action. Thus, you bring the recipient to a specific conclusion, which he should make after reading your letter. This call should be simple and specific.

Not properly

"We will be very grateful if you support this project."

Right

"If you answer in the affirmative to this letter, I will immediately initiate the process."

6. Include the benefit in the subject line of the email

The subject line in an email is almost the most important part. Since she should anticipate the main subject of the letter and tune the recipient in the way you want. And that is why you should fill it out last after you have written all the arguments and evidence that support your main conclusion.

Ideally, the subject line should solve two important problems: it should interest the recipient so that he opens and reads the letter; and it should contain the conclusion that you want to convey to the recipient.

In most cases The best way performing both tasks at once is to write about the benefits that can be obtained as a result of making the decision you want.

Not properly

"The impact on the health of employees of the program for equipping gyms in offices"

Right

"How can we reduce employee absenteeism"

Your opinion is interesting. How would you react to both options, and what rules do you follow when writing such letters?

- the generalized name of various in content, serving as a means of communication between institutions in the process of carrying out their activities.

Letter is the most common way of exchanging information; it unites a huge group of documents of various content, distinguished by the method of text transmission ( by mail). Letters make up most of the incoming and outgoing documents of any institution and come in many varieties.

Types of letters:

• instructive;
• accompanying;
• informational;
• warranty;
• advertising;
• claims;
• arbitration;
• confirmation letters;
• reminder letters;
• letters of notification;
• letters of request.

Letters express congratulations, wishes, greetings on special occasions. Letters are sent as a sign of participation and expression of condolences in dramatic and tragic situations.

The letter is drawn up on a form specially designed for this type of document. A4... If the text of the letter does not exceed seven lines, it is allowed to use the format for letters A5.

Date of letter is the date of its signing.

Text of the letter build according to the scheme:

• introduction (here are the motives for drawing up the letter, references to events, facts, decisions of higher institutions and other factors that served as the basis for drawing up the letter);
• evidence (here they explain the rationale for the question in the letter);
• conclusion (listing of conclusions, requests, requirements, suggestions).

Often in the practice of documentation, letters are used that contain one final part of the text without explanations.

In terms of its length, the text of the letter, as a rule, should not exceed one page.

Purpose of compilation and direction letters is reduced, as a rule, to incentives, hence the basic requirements for the text: clarity, legibility, brevity of presentation. The practice of correspondence has developed several general rules which must be adhered to when drafting and formatting letters.

The letter should be devoted to one question, which simplifies the operations for their processing and speeds up the execution in the organization where they are addressed.

The text of the letter, as a rule, "is stated in the third person singular, for example:" The school does not have the opportunity ... "," In the coming year, the school does not assume ... ", etc.

The right of service letters, as a rule, belongs to the head, and during his absence (illness, vacation, business trip) to his deputy or an official acting as the head. Letters are currently sent not only by mail, but also using the telegraph, facsimile machines, computer networks (e-mail).

Regardless of the method of transmission of the document, uniform requirements for its preparation and design are used (see Fig. 3.7).

Rice. 3.7. An example of writing a letter

Quite often, the first contact in the business world begins with written communications - business letters. But if it is written without observing the rules of etiquette business letter, then barely nascent contacts can be interrupted, and you will lose a client or business partner. Therefore, you probably won't have to convince anyone how important it is to be able to write business letters that will help to form a favorable impression of you personally and of your company as a whole.

Basic rules of business correspondence. Modern forms of correspondence took shape more than 150 years ago. It is believed that their homeland is England, where the rules for composing business correspondence were first introduced.

General rules of correspondence

1. Before you start writing letters to a business partner, you should understand the following points for yourself:

Type of letter (cover letter, order letter, notification letter, reminder letter, presentation letter, refusal letter, letter of guarantee, etc.);

Whether a response to your letter is expected (there are conditions when receiving a response to a letter is not expected, for example, a presentation letter);

Will the content of the letter be unambiguously clear to your addressee, will it not leave any ambiguities regarding the issue of correspondence;

Are you sure that the letter sent by mail will arrive on time (if not, then it is better to use telefax, DHL service or send the letter via the Internet).

2. The tone of the letter must always remain correct.

3. It is necessary to carefully select vocabulary, avoiding inaccuracies, ambiguity, excessive use of professional words. The text of the letter should be easy to understand.

4. A business letter should only be written on the letterhead of the organization on whose behalf you are speaking. As appearance letterhead is a kind business card your company, then the design of the official letterhead should be treated with special care. The more formal the letterhead, the more formal the tone of the letter should be.

When preparing documents, it is recommended to use a text editor Microsoft Word (software Microsoft Corporation) using fonts Times New Roman Cyr size 12 (for tabular materials), 13, 14, 15, Times DL size 12, 13, 14 with 1-2 spacing.

When filling out a business letter, page numbers are affixed at the bottom of the right side of the page, and when filling out others business documents- in the middle of the top margin of the sheet.

It is recommended to print the text of the letter itself in A4-size forms at 1.5-2 line spacing, on A5-size forms and less - at one line spacing. Document details (except for text), consisting of several lines, are printed with one line spacing.

Written inquiries must be answered within 10 days of receipt.

For messages received by fax and e-mail should be answered within 48 hours, excluding weekends

Rules for the preparation of a business letter in Russia

In Russia, the design of official forms is regulated by regulatory documents and, first of all, GOST 6.30-2003 “Unified documentation systems. Unified system of organizational and administrative documentation. Documentation Requirements ".

GOST established two standard formats for document forms - A4 (210 x 297 mm) and A5 (148 x 210 mm). Each sheet of the document, executed both on a letterhead and not on it, must have a margin of at least 20 mm - left; 10 mm - right; 20 mm - top; 20 mm - bottom.

These requirements for paperwork are enshrined in Russian law, but the author recommends using them when writing a business letter to a foreign partner.

Depending on the degree of closeness with your correspondent, the appeal may begin with the words "Dear + surname (name, patronymic)" or "Dear + name and patronymic (name)". Words such as "respected", "lord", "madam", "deputy director", "head of department", etc. in no case can be shortened. Otherwise, the recipient may think that you don't really have much respect for him. And the letter should end with words of gratitude for the cooperation. And then before your signature is put the expression: "Sincerely, ..." or "Sincerely yours ...".

In official letters, it is unacceptable to refer to "you", even if in life you and this person are not only in business, but also in friendly relations.

Typically, a business or service letter consists of several typical structural elements:

1. Title area.
In this part of the letter, the corner stamp of the organization is placed on the left, indicating the name of the organization, its postal and other details, as well as registration number and the date the letter was registered as an outgoing document. If the service letter is a response letter, then it also indicates which document this letter responds to.
The right side of the header contains the addressee's details.

Below the corner stamp is a heading to the text of the document. The language construction of the heading can be as follows:

ü preposition "О" + noun. in the prepositional case: "On the supply of cars";

ü on the question "O" + n. in the prepositional case: "On the supply of spare parts";

ü about + noun in the genitive case: "Concerning purchase order", etc.

2. The actual text of the letter. The main features of the design of the text of the letter are as follows.

ü Text service letter should usually be about a single issue or several questions, if they are interrelated and will be considered in one structural unit destination organization.

ü The text of the letter, as a rule, consists of two parts. The first part sets out the reason, basis or justification for the preparation of the letter, provides links to documents that are the basis for the preparation of the letter. The second part, starting with a paragraph, contains conclusions, proposals, requests, decisions, etc.

Business letter structure

1. The name of the sending organization.

3. The date the letter was written.

4. The address of the recipient of the letter.

5. An indication of a specific person.

6. Introductory address

7. An indication of the general content of the letter, ie. letter subject.

8. The main text of the letter.

9. Final courtesy formula.

10. Signature.

11. Reference to the application.

When filling out a business letter, a Russian partner should remember a few more rules..

The position of the person to whom the document is addressed is indicated in the dative case, for example:

to CEO
OJSC "Alpha Business"
V.A. Prokhorov

Beta Holding JSC
Chief accountant
V.M. Ivanov

If you put the abbreviations "Mr.", "Mrs", then the respondent's surname is written first, followed by the initials.

The document should not contain more than four addressees. The word "Copy" before the second, third, fourth addressees is not indicated. If the number of addressees is larger, a document distribution list is created.

When sending a letter to the organization, indicate its name, then the postal address.

When sending a document to an individual, indicate the name and initials of the recipient, then the postal address

A note about the presence of an attachment named in the text of the letter is drawn up as follows:

Application: 5 liters. in 2 copies .

If the letter has an attachment not named in the text, then indicate its name, the number of sheets and the number of copies; if there are several applications, they are numbered, for example:

If the attachments are bound, then the number of sheets is not indicated.

If the application is not sent to all the addresses indicated in the document, then a mark on its presence is drawn up as follows:

Appendix: on 3 l. in 5 copies. only to the first address.

The "Signature" requisite includes the name of the position of the person who signed the document (full, if the document is not drawn up on a letterhead, and abbreviated - on a document drawn up on the company's official letterhead); personal signature; transcript of the signature (initials, surname), for example:

Trainings

It has long been a secret for anyone that speech is divided into slang and literary - correct. It is quite logical that the correct speech should be not only oral, but also written. Every intelligent person must master the culture of literate writing. And even for those who actively communicate on business matters through correspondence - and even more so. What are the letters?

What is etiquette

Before talking about business writing, you must first remember what etiquette is. This is established order behavior in society, a set of manners and rules of the so-called good form, which must be observed by every intelligent, educated person, so as not to be branded as lack of culture. These historically formed rules are an integral part of the life of society.

Culture of writing: general characteristics

Of course, this does not only apply to a business letter. There are many types and ways of written communication. They are all different, each has its own characteristics, but there are also common features. Among them, the following are distinguished:

• reliance on a standardized book language with the admission of non-book vocabulary;
• use of complex syntactic structures;
• fixed word order in a sentence;
• clear text structure;
• high literacy.

Business letter etiquette

When may we be required to write a business letter? Of course, if we do business with organizations and / or individuals. What we write to our partners, colleagues, clients, how we arrange our letter, will become the face of our company and will present us either in a favorable light, or not very well. Unless, of course, we are competent in the etiquette of composing business letters. In order not to lose your face in the dirt, you need to learn the following wisdom. By the way, possessing such knowledge is also useful because the slightest mistake, a tiny inconsistency with the rules can turn a business letter into unauthorized from a legal point of view.

Specificity of business relations

Before talking directly about letters, one should understand how they generally differ, what characterizes them, what are their features. The main feature of work relationships is the absence (either complete or almost complete) in these very relationships of a personal connotation. As a rule, at work, each of us is extremely collected, calm, polite - hardly anyone will dance with a tambourine, for example, or do other things that are quite logical in the company of friends, but rather ridiculous for a work environment. This applies, by the way, not only to actions, but also to emotions - you can afford to laugh or smile, or even a small manifestation of anger, however, homeric laughter, tantrums, tears and the like look quite inappropriate (all this applies exclusively to emotions at work). At work, we usually wear masks to show skill, restraint and composure.

Business communication cannot be finished when you want it. A business partner or client will not understand if, in the middle of an important meeting, we suddenly get up and leave the audience. You can’t ignore the interlocutor, you can’t not answer calls or letters. All these features together help to better understand what should be speech etiquette business letter.

General requirements

The first thing we pay attention to when we receive a letter is paper. According to the requirements of the etiquette of a business letter, the paper for it must always be crystal clear and in no case wrinkled. The addressees of the message will have best experience about the organization, if the letter turns out to be written on letterhead with the logo of the company. The first page is not numbered, all the rest have Arabic numerals.

There is another very important point in the etiquette of business correspondence. Business assumes high literacy and the absence of spelling errors. Therefore, in the event that there are gaps in the knowledge of Russian grammar, it is recommended not to rush to send correspondence, but to double-check it for possible shortcomings.

Also a general recommendation for both paper and email is the desire not to use complex structures in your written speech - this is only appropriate in legal documents. Abbreviations should also not be used - they are only generally accepted. But the norm of business etiquette includes a variety of stamps and argot - professional jargon. The entire document is kept in a formal business style.

Another important point that can be read from the letter: it should be as polite and friendly as possible. There can be no question of any tactlessness or rudeness. In addition, a business letter requires specifics, a clear presentation of your thoughts.

If the addressee of the letter does not speak Russian, the text of the message should be drawn up in his language, or in international English. By the way, such a document should be written only on one side of the sheet, the second in mandatory remains clean.

When making out documents, you need to ensure that there are no transfers. The text itself must be typed in one and a half to two intervals, with the width of the margins on the left being two centimeters.

Nuances

A business letter has its own clear, specific structure. At the same time, there is no single standard for processing paper documents: different companies may have their own variations. They adhere only to a certain composition of the parts of the letter: they must certainly contain a "cap", a greeting, the main part and a farewell. Do not forget about the personal signature at the end of the letter.

By the way, the so-called framing of the message - the initial and final phrases - are called the etiquette frame. It is she who helps to establish the necessary relationship with the addressee. In addition, the rules of etiquette for business letters and examples of their writing demonstrate the use of various speech cliches in messages (they will be discussed later).

An important nuance the correct use of the appeal remains. Before the revolution in our country, the address "sir" or "madam" was in use: it was considered universal, so they called anyone. Now there is no such universal address, although the word "master" or "mistress" is often found in business letters - which has previously lost its popularity, it is gradually returning to everyday life. This can be addressed to a business partner, official, but not to a client or colleague.

The most widespread and universal at present is considered to be the address "Dear" or "Dear Sir", but in fact it is not so either. In a similar way, for example, one cannot refer to the so-called VIPs - especially important persons, which are considered governors, mayors, presidents. In this case, you will need to start your letter with the address "Dear" (another option is "Dear").

If the message is addressed to several people at once, and all of them are representatives of the same profession, it would be appropriate to use such an address as "Dear Colleagues" (if all addressees are women, it is allowed to write "Dear Ladies", if men - then "Dear gentlemen "). If the letter is sent to the address of one person, it is strictly forbidden not to use a name or surname address. This is permissible only in the above case (when the addressee is a group of persons) or when interacting with a legal entity.

As for the end of the message, you need to remember: it is no less significant than the beginning. It is at the end of the letter that confidence is expressed in a successful and / or speedy solution of the issue, and the like. Here, one should also not point to previous difficulties - for example, delaying the answer or not getting one at all. These phrases are considered negative signs of business letter etiquette and are considered as unwillingness to continue the relationship, as well as disrespect for the interlocutor. It is important to understand that this is unacceptable.

Email: Business Etiquette

Second possible variant correspondence - by e-mail. Here, too, there are a number of peculiarities. So, for example, if the addressee receives the message for the first time, then it is necessary to start it with a presentation of your own company, a description of your activities, with possible tasks that are supposed to be performed. With a long correspondence, you need to keep the history of past letters, on the basis of which each next message is built.

The first letter must certainly contain a greeting and an appeal. In subsequent, if you need a quick response, you can omit the appeal (if appropriate). In Internet communication, many do not consider it necessary to put punctuation marks, and also write without capital letters. This is unacceptable in business email etiquette.

The size of an email should not be too large - usually, it is half the size of a paper equivalent. In the same case, if it is required to inform the addressee of a large amount of information, only a short accompanying note must be indicated in the body of the letter, and the material itself must be attached as an attachment with a Word or any other file - this is what the etiquette of a business letter requires by e-mail. An example of such a message might be: “Good afternoon, dear Mr. Ivanov! We are sending you samples of our advertising brochures. You can familiarize yourself with them in the attachment ... ".

As for the signature, it must be. You can sign at the end of each letter, or you can make an automatic signature that will be affixed mechanically. This option is often used by representatives large companies... The signature must indicate your name, surname, position, contact information, place of work. You need to design it in such a way that it fits into seventy characters and occupies no more than five or six lines.

It is necessary to say a few words about the response to the message. Business etiquette of an e-mail involves receiving a response to a message within two days - no more. If more time is required, you should notify the interlocutor about this. Feedback to all messages maintains the reputation of the company or entrepreneur. In order to know for sure whether a letter has reached the addressee, you can use the notification of receipt function - a confirmation of delivery will come automatically. In addition, it is not forbidden to make a test call.

Speech formulas, or clichés

Clichés, speech formulas, speech cliches - whatever you say, it will still be an integral part of business correspondence. From the school course, we remember that clichés are called fixed expressions. There are not so many of them:

• Regret can be expressed with the help of the following phrases: “Unfortunately, we do not have the opportunity to agree ...”, “We regret to inform you ...”, “Unfortunately, we have to inform…” and so on.
• Gratitude is indicated by such clichés as: "Let me express my gratitude ...", "Thank you ...", "Considering your contribution ...".
• You can invite the addressee to this or that event using the stamps: "We have the honor to invite you ...", "We hope for your consent ...", "We are pleased to invite you ...", "We will be glad to see you ..." and the like.
• You can end the letter with the phrases: "We are waiting for new ideas from you ...", "We wish you success ...", "We hope for further fruitful cooperation ...".

Golden rules of business correspondence

Common mistakes in business correspondence

There are several seemingly small things that can nevertheless become fatal in the case of business communication... Often it is these little things that lead to the termination of mutually beneficial relationships, the termination of transactions and the like unpleasant things. You need to know the enemy by sight!

1. You can't write (and call too!) About work outside of working hours! How often do we, not wanting to endure until the morning, bother our partners, clients, colleagues at nine, ten, or even eleven in the evening. It seems to us that overnight everything will disappear, collapse, crash and it will no longer be possible to save the situation. And those rare specimens who are able to hold out until the morning, for some reason, believe that six in the morning is the time for communication. After all, if I am not sleeping, then no one is sleeping. Alas, such behavior only annoys and incites against us.
2. This has already been indirectly mentioned, but nevertheless - there can be no familiarity! Communication at work takes place exclusively on "you" (with a capital letter, it means - politeness and respect).
3. Excessive exchange of pleasantries can also be harmful. First, it takes away valuable time, secondly, it looks a little annoying and boring. No need to be zealous.

In our time, there is so much literature that sometimes eyes run wide. There are also enough books on the culture of speech, including writing.

Those wishing to get a gamble in this area can be advised following works: "Etiquette of a business letter" by Oleg Davtyan, "The culture of writing" by Tatyana Degtereva, "Etiquette of Russian writing" by Natalia Formanovskaya and Alla Akishina, "Business etiquette" by Elena Ber, "Russian speech etiquette" by Natalia Formanovskaya and many others.

1. Business letter etiquette requires the use of an exclamation mark at the end of a message in order to emphasize a given issue or person.
2. An address by name to the addressee indicates a closer and long-established relationship, and a surname emphasizes distance.
3. The etiquette of business letters in Russia is characterized by gender leveling, since most professions are often only masculine.

Compliance with the rules of business correspondence is not so difficult, because there are not so many of them. Remembering them is not a great science. But in the eyes of those around him, a person who owns the etiquette of business letters will always be educated and cultured, someone with whom it is pleasant to deal.