Probably everyone at least once had to deal with the need to write a business letter. When compiling it, you involuntarily come to the conclusion that this is not easy at all. There are many rules and rules for writing business letters that you need to know. The article describes in detail the process of compiling the document, provides samples of a business letter, discusses their types and design.
Form
Ready forms will give solidity and indicate the reliability of the company. They contain the necessary information about the organization, such as:
- Name.
- Address.
- Contact phone numbers.
- Site.
- Logo.
- Other contact details.
There are no strict rules on the forms. Therefore, each organization independently decides what information to put in them.
How to write business letters? Training
Business letters are written and executed in a certain way, subject to their inherent rules and requirements. Depending on the goal, the author thinks through the content in detail to get the result he calculates. He must clearly understand what information the addressee already knows about the subject of the letter, what to proceed from and what will be new in it. Arguments depend on the purpose of the author. The process of preparing a business letter can be divided into the following stages:
- The study of the issue.
- Writing a draft letter.
- His agreement.
- Signing.
- Check in.
- Sending to the recipient.
The structure of business letters
When composing a letter, it is necessary to saturate it with information, that is, put all the necessary information there. It can be simple or complex. In a simple letter, the content clearly and concisely displays information that generally does not require a response from the addressee. A complex may consist of several sections, paragraphs and paragraphs. Each paragraph sets out one aspect of the information. Samples of this type of business letter usually consist of an introductory, main and final part.
The entry contains the basis with reference to the relevant documents, with the facts and purposes of the letter. It indicates the name, author, date, number and title.
Below is an example of writing a business letter - an introductory part.
The main part describes situations, events, provides their analysis and evidence. It is in this part that they are convinced that it is necessary to act in one way or another, they prove how things were and inform about the need to participate in any event, giving different arguments.
The conclusion contains conclusions that are made in the form of proposals, requests, reminders, refusals, and so on.
An example of writing a business letter - its final part - is presented below. It summarizes the requirement outlined in the main.
All information provided should be optimally consistent and understandable.
Each letter begins with a center aligned message. This small part is extremely important. When choosing it, the author must consider:
- Destination Position
- The nature of the relationship.
- Formality.
- Etiquette.
The letter should contain a polite form. For example: “... I express hope for further cooperation (thanks for invitation)...". After these phrases should be the signature of the author.
Style
All letters must be in a formal business style, which means using speech tools for formal business relationships. Features of such a language are formed under the following circumstances:
- The main participants in business relations are legal entities, on behalf of the leaders and officers of which letters are written.
- Relations in organizations are strictly regulated in nature.
- The subject of communication is the activities of the company.
- Documents of a managerial nature generally have a specific addressee.
- Often in the course of the organization’s activities, the same situations occur.
In this regard, the information stated in the business letter should be:
- Official, impersonal, emphasizing the distance between the participants in communication.
- Address intended for a specific addressee.
- Actual at the time of writing the letter.
- Authentic and impartial.
- Arguments for inducing the recipient to take any action.
- Complete for decision making.
Requirements
A business letter must meet the following requirements:
- Speech is standardized at all levels - lexical, morphological and syntactic. It contains many revolutions, terms and formulas.
- The tone of writing is neutral, restrained and strict, without the use of emotional and expressive language expressions.
- Accuracy and clarity of the text, without logical errors, clarity and thoughtful wording.
- Conciseness and brevity - without the use of expressions that carry additional meaning.
- The use of language formulas formed as a result of repeated situations.
- The use of terms, that is, words or phrases that have special concepts.
- The use of abbreviations, which can be lexical (that is, complex abbreviated words formed by the removal of letters from parts of words: LLC, GOST and so on) and graphic (that is, the designation of words in abbreviated form: gr-n, train and others).
- The use of designs in the genitive and instrumental cases.
- Phrases with verbal nouns (“provide support” instead of “support”).
- Use simple, common sentences.
The above business letter samples are shown below in the full version (with the main part). The information meets all the requirements of an official business style.
Types of business letters
It is best to write a business letter on any one specific issue. If it is necessary to resolve several issues at once, it is recommended to draw up several different options.
Business letters can be in their content:
- Accompanying. Such letters are usually needed to communicate where to send documents.
(How to write a business letter? A sample cover letter will help those who need to compose this type of document.)
- Warranty. They are written in order to confirm any promises or conditions. It can be guaranteed, for example, payment for work, rent, delivery time and more.
- Thank you. They began to be used especially often recently. Such letters demonstrate a good tone for partnerships. They can be issued on a regular form or on colored paper with a beautiful print.
(How to write a business letter? A sample of a thank-you note is drawn up in a free form depending on the tasks that it solves. In this case, the letter expresses its essence in the shortest form. Such a sample, made on colored paper with an ornament, can hang on the wall in the room companies in a place of honor.)
- Informational.
- Instructive.
- Congratulations.
- Promotional.
There are also letters:
- Cooperation proposals. Recently widespread, sent to organizations, are often of an advertising nature, for example, as this model. It is quite difficult to write commercial letters, you need to take into account a lot of nuances in order to be noticed, and even more so, interested. But if compiled according to the sample below, it has every chance of success.
- Invitations. They are sent out, offering to participate in various events. Usually they are addressed to the leader or officer, but can be addressed to the whole team.
- Requests
- Notices.
- Requests and many others.
How to write a response to a letter. Example
The answer must begin by repeating the request in the first letter. Then the results of its consideration are given and approval or a motive for refusal is expressed. The business response letter may contain an alternative solution to the expected information. Usually it meets the following principles:
- The presence of a link to the first letter and its contents.
- The same language means.
- Comparable volumes and aspects of content.
- Compliance with a certain sequence.
Registration
In addition to using letterhead business letters, you must take into account other subtleties in their design. These are details, rules for abbreviations, spelling of the address, title, length of text, width of fields and more.
Samples of a business letter help to compose it, taking into account all the subtleties and nuances. They are used by both novice clerks and experienced workers. Thanks to the patterns, they learn to write letters correctly and save a lot of time.
