Rules for business correspondence by email. Business letter: sample. How to send a letter by email. Business professional correspondence: basics and rules

Over the past decades, business correspondence via email has gained immense popularity and has become one of the main ways business communication. Today it is difficult to find a person who would not use e-mail in the practice of interpersonal communications. Despite this, many today are asking the question: so that all the rules are followed? How can you use a competent letter to form a good impression of the sender among the recipient?

This article describes the regulations for business correspondence on email, A practical advice The information presented in the article will help you learn proper business communication when composing emails.

Many people start their working day by checking their mailbox for new messages. But, unfortunately, despite the prevalence of this method of exchanging information, many do not know how to correctly use the language of business correspondence, mistaking emails for an informal way of communication.

Thanks to the speed of delivery, it simplifies the exchange of important official documents, forms, applications, but even here people make mistakes when sending letters. It very often happens that when composing an email when exchanging any files, recipients for some reason do not write accompanying essays and do not enter topics, which can complicate the work of recipients. The purpose of this article is to answer the question: how to send a letter by e-mail and comply with all the rules of business written communication via e-mail?

When composing emails, all fields provided must be filled in

The rules of business correspondence by e-mail oblige the sender of the letter to fill out all the fields provided in the e-mail, such as the address and name of the recipient and sender of the letter. A subject must be described that briefly describes the essence of the letter being sent. Very often, the fate of the sent letter and the speed of resolution of the problem stated in it depend on the correctly described topic. A business email should begin with a greeting - this simple show of respect for the recipient is very important when corresponding. After the greeting, there should be a text that is called the “body of the letter”, and at the end a signature should be left, for example, “With respect, Petr Ivanovich Brisov.”

Greetings in business correspondence

This point is worth further focusing on, since a gesture of respect is very important in any aspect of business communications. The optimal greeting phrase is “Good afternoon” or “Hello.” Conducting business correspondence via email limits the sender from using the phrases “Good evening” or “ Good morning”, since the recipient may read the letter long after receiving it. It is also not correct to use colloquial expressions used in greetings.

After a greeting word or phrase, you should address the recipient by name and patronymic, and if the name is unknown to the sender, this moment can be skipped. Then you can move on to stating the purpose of the letter.

Attached files in business emails

If the main purpose of the letter is not only a written narrative and presentation of the essence of the issue, but also sending a file, then it is better to attach the sent object first. It often happens that many senders, due to inattention, having stated the essence of the issue in the body of the letter, forget to attach the necessary attachment. Such negligence can negatively affect the business reputation of the sender of a business letter.

The email address should be recognizable and concise

The rules of business correspondence by e-mail require the sender to have a recognizable electronic name, which must contain truthful information about the name of the sender. They look very unconcise and stupid official letters and requests when the email address contains informal expressions or words, for example, the email address “limon_petya”. This looks very undignified for an adult. To conduct business correspondence, it is better to create a separate email and observe business email etiquette.

Using the quick Reply (Response) function to respond to previously received emails

The Reply or Response function (in its abbreviated version it looks like Re:) helps the user in a fast way Reply to previously sent messages from the sender. This function also has the universal ability to read previous correspondence with an interlocutor via given topic. But the rules of business correspondence by e-mail oblige the sender to rename the subject of the business letter if the essence of the discussion is changed during the correspondence.

Before sending a business letter, you should proofread for spelling errors and punctuation.

E-mail simplifies the exchange of information, but during business correspondence you should not neglect the rules of the Russian language, since a carelessly made mistake can affect the authority of the sender. Before sending a letter, you should review the text several times and carefully check it for spelling and punctuation errors. Many email clients have a spell check feature, so you should pay attention to words underlined in red. If you have doubts about the correct spelling, you should seek help on the Internet or check the spelling using a spelling dictionary.

The addressee field should be filled in last.

To avoid sending unfinished or unedited letters, the address of the recipient of a business letter should be entered at the very last moment before sending. This rule is also included in the basics of business email correspondence. It happens that when filling out the addressee field, email may offer a list of previously used recipients; here you should also focus your attention so as not to mistakenly send a composed business letter to a third-party addressee.

Structuring a business letter

The rules for structuring text apply not only to paper media, but also to the rules of business correspondence via e-mail. It is not always convenient for the recipient to read large volumes of text of letters on the monitor screen. To simplify this point, you should break the text into logically formed small paragraphs and avoid complicated sentences when writing the text of business letters. The optimal length of one sentence in a business letter should be no more than fifteen words.

The essence of a business letter should be stated in essence

In addition to the specified topic of the business letter, the recipient should also be interested in the clearly formulated first and second sentences of the main text. The sender’s task is to state at the beginning of the letter the essence of the problem or issue for which he is addressing the recipient. The first sentence should indicate the purpose for which the business letter is being sent. Sample: “We inform you that the terms of the obligation under contract No. 45 of 01/02/2017 “On the supply of bulk materials” are coming to an end. To renew the contract, you must submit a second package of documents.” Thanks to the designated purpose, the recipient has the opportunity to delve into main idea business letter. If the text of the letter is too large, then it is better to use the function of attaching an object as an attachment in the form of a text document, but at the same time, in the text field, you should leave the accompanying essay that highlights the business letter. Sample: “We are sending you an electronic copy of the letter from the company Mak-Stroy LLC for your review.” We ask you to inform us of your decision on the issue of extending contract No. 45 of 01/02/2017 “On the supply of bulk materials” until the deadline specified in the letter.”

Every business email should have a response.

There are negative examples of business correspondence when the recipient ignores the business letter for some reason. Sometimes there may indeed be cases when an answer cannot be given due to certain situations, for example, the resolution of the problem may take several days or the recipient is in thought and cannot immediately answer the question posed. In this case, a brief comment on this matter should be given, for example, “Hello, Pyotr Ivanovich. I received your letter, but today I find it difficult to respond, since I must consult with senior management. I will report your problem general director our company and will give an official answer by the end of the week. Sincerely, Sales Department Manager Belov Ivan Gennadievich.”

It is worth remembering that if a response was not given within three working days, then the fact that the recipient of a business letter remains silent can be assessed as ignoring and refusing to communicate with the sender.

When writing response letters, you should answer all the questions asked.

If the letter sent to the recipient is of an interrogative nature, then when composing the letter, answers to the questions should be given in the order that is present in the received text of the business letter. If questions have been asked, the sender hopes to receive specific answers to them. When composing a letter, you should not number your answers; you just need to state your thoughts in order. In order to answer all the questions posed, you first need to re-read the received business letter several times, and if there are too many questions, it is better to write them out separately to prevent them from being missed. If it is impossible to answer some of the questions posed, it is worth pointing out that at the moment for some reason the answer cannot be given.

Do not overuse abbreviations, emotional design and capital letters

There are negative examples of business correspondence when senders dilute it by using informal signs in the form of emoticons. Their use is popular when communicating in social networks, however, the rules of business correspondence do not welcome such manifestations of emotions, since the recipient may not know them true meaning and take them for an incomprehensible set of punctuation errors.

You should also avoid writing text in capital letters. On the Internet, a set of words written in capital letters is called “flashy phrases” and more often than not such phrases carry a negative connotation. The recipient, when reading an electronic business letter, may evaluate such a font negatively, which will have a detrimental effect on the perception of meaning. If in a business letter you need to emphasize the importance of any point, it is better to use introductory phrases, for example, “Please note that you need to provide a package of documents to renew the contract no later than 02/10/2017” or “Please note that the documents the contract extension must be submitted by 02/10/2017.”

Do not transmit sensitive information via email

When transmitting personal or confidential information, it is better to refuse electronic mailboxes, as there is a threat of information being intercepted by attackers for use for their own selfish purposes. Such information may include: telephone numbers, passwords from bank cards, personal bank accounts, etc. It is important to remember that information is stored on the mail agent server and can be stolen if hacked.

The sender's signature must be at the end of the letter.

As mentioned earlier, every letter sent must contain a specific signature. Often, mailbox developers introduce a signature block function in which you can enter your job title, name and contact phone number. Subsequently, this block will automatically appear at the end of each letter, which will make typing easier. It is important to formulate the signature correctly so that the recipient has the opportunity to correctly address the sender when replying to the letter. An example of a signature might look like this: “With respect, Nikolai Alexandrovich Petrov, +79810000000.”

Drawing conclusions, it can be noted that in order to understand how to conduct business correspondence by email, you do not need to master additional and complex basics. You just have to adhere to the basic rules of etiquette and observe the norms of the Russian language.

Life modern man cannot do without constant interaction with other people. In our age of rapidly developing information technology People are increasingly turning to emails, sometimes replacing the need for personal meetings. Ethics in business correspondence involves observing certain important rules influencing the results of correspondence interviews.

In fact, business correspondence is a significant element of business communication. In some cases you cannot do without it. If a person is going to conduct business correspondence, he needs to know several components. So what should you pay attention to?

Speech literacy

If during an oral conversation it is still possible to allow speech error and the interlocutor will treat this with condescension, then the presence of such flaws in a business letter is completely unacceptable. In this case, your recipient will most likely put the letter aside and not continue reading. Whoever you write to, try to do it correctly, without spelling and punctuation errors.

Literacy of speech is valued everywhere. The knowledge of such an employee will be welcomed everywhere. Sometimes diligence can replace a lack of knowledge, which, if desired, can be made up for and obtained in various ways.

Conciseness and clarity of presentation

A business letter must contain only the essence of information that is of practical value. It is completely unacceptable to indulge in long, lengthy arguments or bore your addressee with unnecessary details. All these details will not bring any benefit, but will only disappoint him and lead him to think that the information offered is unnecessary and useless.

In a business letter, information should be presented in a very structured and concise manner. Your task is to convey a specific thought or news to your interlocutor, and not lead him to deep thoughts about life.

Meeting deadlines

When writing business correspondence, it is extremely important to comply with the deadlines for sending letters and try to respond as quickly as possible. For example, if an established client expects an immediate response from you on some important issue, then postponing and any delay can lead to undesirable consequences, such as cancellation of the contract, failure of an important deal, etc. It is also important to send emails on time because by doing so you show your opponent how important he is to you.

Formatting an email

When composing an email, it is extremely important to consider several important points. The way it is designed will determine what impression the recipient will have of you.

Fill in the “Subject” field

Surprisingly, in practice there is often a situation where important letters, which contain necessary and necessary information, are left without indicating the appropriate subject! Such inattention or a deliberate reluctance to burden oneself with unnecessary actions actually results in missed deadlines and an increase in the likelihood that the letter will not be opened by the addressee at all.

For this reason, it is necessary to fill out the “Subject” field. This must be done even if you are not going to tell your interlocutor anything significant. There is a fairly high percentage of spammers on the Internet who deliberately clog up email and distribute malware.

Availability of personal appeal

Agree, it is much more pleasant to read letters that contain appeals to the addressee than faceless ones addressed to someone unknown. The presence of an individual appeal in a letter emphasizes its importance. In addition, by doing so, you are secretly talking about respect for your absentee interlocutor. There is no need to be familiar; always address the recipient by name and patronymic.

Correct address

How many mistakes could be avoided if all Internet users were extremely careful when filling out their email addresses. Although potential clients or others with whom you interact on a daily basis often leave their email addresses written down on paper, they are later found to be extremely indiscriminate in doing so. It is for this reason that many options arise when a composed and ready letter turns out to be unsent or even goes to the wrong address. Always check the address of an important opponent, try to record it in your diary yourself, or ask them to send you a test letter.

Working with information

Before sending a finished letter to an addressee or group of addressees, it is worth working on the formatting of the information. Sometimes you have to send quite large amounts of information via email. In this case, it makes much more sense to create a data archive. Photos and other documents should be attached to the letter as a separate file. Never unnecessarily overload a letter with unnecessary information.

Thus, the ethics of business correspondence implies strict adherence to reasonable norms and rules that every confident user of a personal computer should know.

You are not writing a business letter for pleasure, you need something from the addressee. Therefore, it is correct to start it with an act of politeness - greeting. Doing without it is like opening the door to someone else's office with your foot.

How not to

Elena, I need scans of the contract for the purchase of snow in winter.

It's better this way

Good afternoon, Elena! I need scans of a contract for the purchase of snow in winter.

2. The phrase “Good day”

If you are writing a business letter that is not straight out of the 2000s, then choose more modern wording. It doesn't matter that you can't predict exactly when the other person will read the message. The “good afternoon” option is the most neutral, but you can also use the period when you send the letter. And leave “good day” to the half-dead forums from the past.

How not to

Good day, anon!

It's better this way

Good afternoon, Peter!

3. Handling errors

How not to

Sorry, bro, but the money was spent on a corporate event, so it’s expensive for us to buy monitors from you. Find out about the discount, it's very important.

It's better this way

We are currently not ready to buy monitors at the proposed price. We ask you to make a discount on this order.

12. Lack of correspondence history

If you are actively chatting with someone, the recipient knows what the conversation is about and can easily return to the beginning of the dialogue by turning the mouse wheel. But when you occasionally exchange emails, the other person may forget who you are and what you need from him.

Make the task easier for the person: in one paragraph, remind them what you are talking about.

How not to

Regarding the issue we discussed in April: the manager approved.

It's better this way

In April, we discussed cooperation on launching a rocket into space. You offered to provide part of the fuel in exchange for 20% of the shares of our company. The manager approved the cooperation, we can begin negotiations.

13. Inept handling of email threads

Mail services and agents allow you to work with message threads. This is really useful tool, if handled correctly. But not everyone succeeds.

Perhaps you have already become a victim of a mass mailing, the participants of which respond not directly to the author, but to everyone. As a result, a conversation that is uninteresting to you overwhelms you, and you come up with punishments for those who cannot find the right button. At the same time, information that is not intended for prying eyes often ends up in the general information field.

The medal has reverse side: when in an important conversation one of the participants responds not to everyone, but to someone alone. And the recipient is forced to spend a lot of time forwarding letters instead of doing their job.

What in business correspondence annoys you? Share in the comments.

Success in the activities of any organization, commercial firm or enterprise is inextricably linked with culture of behavior and etiquette. All actions of the manager and employees must certainly take into account the rules of good manners and be appropriate to the situation.

One of the most important parts of etiquette is business correspondence.

It is estimated that almost 50% of the time at work is spent dealing with papers and mail. But this is necessary, since competent business correspondence can significantly increase a company’s turnover and speed up the interaction of different services and departments.

Of course, there are certain patterns here, and we will definitely talk about them in this article. The rules of business correspondence have long been standardized. The existing GOST R.6.30-2003 will help you correctly place the text on the sheet, tell you what indents, margins, and fonts to make. Business correspondence is characterized by uniformity and repetition of speech patterns.

However, any letter is individual. A big imprint on it is left by the identity of the sender, his position, situation and recipient. To some extent, business correspondence is a combination of creativity and hard work.

Types of business correspondence

Document flow is carried out on paper and via e-mail.

All correspondence at the enterprise can be divided into the following groups:

Official/informal correspondence;

Internal and external.

Official correspondence includes commercial offers, letters of gratitude and guarantees, trade agreements, orders for the enterprise, job responsibilities, requests, demands, claims.

Informal correspondence includes various congratulations from business partners, customers, and employees; condolences, apologies, invitations and thanks.

Internal documents circulate only between departments of one enterprise, while external documents go beyond its boundaries.

Rules of business correspondence: internal content

The main requirement is brevity and clarity of the letter. Do not stretch the text over several pages. The best option is to fit into one.

The rules of business correspondence involve the exclusion of complex, incomprehensible, foreign and highly specialized words and expressions from the text. All sentences should be short, with the main thoughts of the author and without “water”.

Avoid double interpretations in your letter, otherwise if disputes arise, it will be more difficult to defend your point of view and prove what you meant by a certain phrase.

The rules for writing business correspondence oblige the writer to call the addressee by name and patronymic, preceded by the title “Dear...”. And be sure to use “you,” even if you have a good friendly relationship with the recipient of the letter.

In the introduction, in addition to indicating the last name and first name, the main purpose of the message is stated. Examples of business correspondence know enough templates and cliches for such cases: “In connection with the previous letter...”, “We remind you...”, “Let us inform...” and others.

Soften an answer unfavorable for the recipient (refusal of an offer, refusal of cooperation) with the phrases: “Unfortunately, we will not be able to take advantage of the proposed conditions...” or similar.

External paper documentation

Any business letter must be written on company letterhead with company details and all contact information.

Be sure to include the exact date of the document.

The upper right corner of the sheet is occupied by the initials of the addressee and the address of the recipient company.

Break the text into meaningful paragraphs to make it easier for the reader to understand and perceive it. No more than 4-5 lines.

Writing all words in capital letters is bad form.

Documents may be attached to the letter. In this case, they are listed in a separate line in the lower left part of the sheet. According to business etiquette, a response to a letter must be received within 10 days. If the problem requires more time to resolve, the addressee must notify this.

After writing, you should be sure to carefully check the text again for errors, both spelling and grammar. If you have time, you should put the letter aside and return to it again later. As a rule, inaccuracies will be discovered that were not noticed at first. This advice is most important when responding to a customer complaint. You shouldn’t irritate a person even more with an illiterately written letter.

When the document is written and checked a couple of times, print it on A4 paper. This size is the standard size used for any correspondence, even if the text itself only takes up half a sheet.

Test the ink in the printer before printing to avoid blurry or sloppy output.

In some cases, you can attach your business card to the document, and you printed sheet attach it to a transparent file.

A branded envelope with the company logo is also considered good form.

The rules for conducting informal business correspondence are often more emotional than in business papers and less clichéd. Abbreviations and the use of colorful adjectives are appropriate here, for example, in congratulations: amazing, responsive, kind.

Business emails

The fact that you are not sending correspondence in an envelope through the postal network should not be relaxing. The rules of business correspondence also apply in these cases.

Competent and correct electronic business messages create a positive image of both the enterprise and a specific person. Reputation in business is worth a lot!

Basic rules for correspondence by e-mail

Use your work email address only for its intended purpose.

Pay attention to the name of the mailbox. Do not use incorrect names when working, such as “baby”, “superman”, even if they are indicated in English transcription.

Always fill in the “subject” column, otherwise your letter may end up in spam. Descriptions like “plan”, “list”, “commercial proposal”, “report” are not suitable. There may be quite a lot of similar letters in your recipient's inbox. Be as specific as possible about what your message is about. Don't use more than five words. Capitalize your subject. There is no need to put a period at the end.

If you are sending a reply to a previously received email, be sure to remove the “Re” in the subject line.

Communication style

Keep the letter in a businesslike format. Remove the threatening, pleading, commanding tone.

The rules of electronic business correspondence do not allow the use of emoticons or a large number of question or exclamation marks in the text.

Be polite. Mandatory greeting at the beginning and farewell to the interlocutor at the end - good manners. For example, “With respect...” or like this: “Sincerely yours...”.

Business email correspondence and its “ golden rule": do not mix several in one message different topics. It's better to send a series of letters.

An email should be half as long as a paper letter.

Working with attachments

If there is too much information to convey, do not put it all in the body of the letter, but attach it as separate documents as attachments.

For the convenience of the recipient, rename the documents you prepared to names that he understands. This will show your interest and win you over. Think about how many work folders the recipient has on his computer and how he will search for your letter among them.

Be sure to inform the recipient about the files you are sending so that he does not consider them a random virus. Archive large documents.

It is best to send too large attachments (over 200 kbytes) in other ways, for example, through an ftp server.

Some mail servers do not allow formats such as COM, EXE, CMD, PIF and a number of others to pass through and block them.

If there were several recipients of your letter, take the time to delete all evidence of mass forwarding each time. The addressee does not need such extra information at all. The “bcc” command will help you.

The rules for conducting business correspondence by e-mail require informing the other party that the correspondence has been received. If it is not possible to answer at the moment, notify your interlocutor about this. Save your correspondence history to avoid further questions and proceedings.

If the response is important and urgent, it is allowed to additionally notify the addressee by phone, Skype or ICQ. If after this positive result failed to achieve, remind yourself again.

It is not uncommon that when you request a document, you receive an empty letter with an attached file in response. This is unacceptable. Examples of business correspondence require the mandatory placement of relevant information in the body of the document. For example, this: “I am sending the necessary data for your request.”

Do not forget to indicate the coordinates at the end of the letter: all available methods connections, position, company website, links to social networks.

When writing organization contacts, provide as much information as possible - telephone number with area code, address with zip code. After all, your communication occurs not only with residents of your region. If you have all the information, it will be easier to contact you.

AND last rule: whoever started the correspondence must finish the electronic dialogue.

Conclusion

Business correspondence is a delicate matter. Sometimes one glance is enough to form a definite opinion about a person and the organization he represents. Knowing the rules of business writing can greatly help your career.

Business etiquette extends not only to human behavior in society during personal communication between people, but also establishes rules that must be followed in written communication. How to conduct business correspondence correctly and in accordance with the requirements is of interest to everyone involved in professional activity or actively interacts with various authorities, resolving their issues, for example, as a consumer of a service.

Advantages of business correspondence over other types of information transfer

Despite the fact that preparing business letters takes time to write, this form of transmitting information has undeniable advantages.

They can be used to convey important official and confidential information that cannot be communicated orally.
Created messages can be saved for a long time, you can return to them and re-examine the content.
A letter can be sent simultaneously to several recipients with the same text, which can significantly save time on preparing and sending letters on the same topic.

Business correspondence - type business communications carried out in writing for the exchange of information of an official business nature.

The very concept of formality of correspondence means the presence in it of official or other business information, which for some reason cannot be transmitted to the addressee orally or informally. By sending an official message, its author emphasizes his business attitude to the topic. At the same time, he must either represent the organization, indicating all the relevant details, or act on his own behalf, signing real last name, first name and patronymic, and providing your location data or contacts for further exchange of information.

Classification of business correspondence

Business messages can be classified in different ways.

Depending on whether the letter goes beyond the boundaries of one organization, there are two types of it:

External, sent to a third-party addressee.
Internal, used within one organization.

By purpose business message, correspondence is divided into the following types.

Information letter.
Letter message.
Application letter.
Letter of request.
Letter of offer.
Letter of invitation.
Advertising letter.
Reminder letter.
Letter of complaint.
Letter of guarantee.
Letter of recommendation.
Etiquette letters.

By initiative all business messages are divided into:

Initiative letters.
Letters are answers.

And finally by transmission method information:

Printed, letterhead letters delivered by couriers or sent by mail or fax.
Emails.

Information letter

The main purpose of this message is to convey official information, for example, about any change in the activities of the organization, which must be taken into account by the recipient: change of location, details, official in charge of resolving any issue. The letter may explain the application of rules, legal requirements, and organizational regulations. In addition to the information part itself, appendices with documents can be added to it.

Letter message

The content of this type of letter is any information that the addressee needs in order to perform any tasks or functions within the framework of a common cause. The peculiarity of the information sent is that it is equally in demand by both the sender and the recipient. Such a message can also be sent in response to a request from a business communication partner. Unlike newsletter, it is always shorter in volume.

Letter of application

A type of business correspondence that involves sending a request to receive any service or information, for example, about the opportunity to participate in a business event: an exhibition, conference, seminar. As a rule, the letter initiates the recipient to take action to provide the requested information, for example: placing an order or official application, providing details for issuing an invoice for services.

Letter of request

A message sent to obtain additional information or documentation with mandatory justification of the need for the requested information.

Offer

A type of letter in which the addressee is invited to consider the possibility of cooperation, to become familiar with a service or product. Frequently used submission form commercial offer. It can be sent proactively or in the form of a response to a letter of request. The peculiarity of such messages is that they can be sent to several recipients at once. If the letter is sent to a potential client for the first time, it usually contains general information about the company.

This message invites the recipient to a meeting or event. The peculiarity of the letter is that when formatting it, it is allowed to use less formal forms with additional elements that decorate the message. Also, special attention is paid to detailing the address, date, time and route to the meeting location.

Reminder letter

The purpose of this message is to remind you of the obligations given by the recipient as part of resolving any business issue: to pay off a debt, provide a report, schedule a meeting.

Claim or complaint

Complaints are made if one of the parties involved in communication either failed to fulfill its obligations or made mistakes in fulfilling them. Distinctive feature claims – availability detailed description violated conditions, information on the assessment of damage and requirements for compensation or correction of the identified violation. Often this type of letter contains attachments, for example, photographs of damaged goods, copies of documents: contracts, acceptance certificates.

Warranty

The sender of such a letter guarantees the fulfillment of the conditions given by him when concluding the contract: a promise to return the goods, deliver them on time, pay the bill or complete the work within the agreed time frame. A letter of guarantee can be used as a response to a complaint.

A special form of business message in which its author makes a recommendation to a third person or organization, thereby providing its characteristics. Letters of recommendation are especially common when applying for a job or recommending a company to other clients, containing a description of the quality of the services it provides and the features of cooperation.

Label

A specific type of business messages sent upon the occurrence of specific events that are important to the recipient. This category of letters includes letters of congratulations on holidays and significant events, letters of gratitude for completing work or participating in a project, letters of condolences. Whatever the reason for writing a message, it is always a sign of attention to the recipient.

Business letter etiquette defines several basic requirements for the content of messages.

Addressability.
A clear statement of the purpose of the appeal, which should be clear from the very beginning of the message.
Brevity and conciseness. The letter should not be lengthy, otherwise it will not be read to the end, or studied inattentively, or not read at all.
Structured and logical presentation of information. There should be no haphazardness, no jumping from topic to topic, all parts of the letter should be connected with each other.
The specificity of the information provided, thanks to which the recipient will not need to think about anything and should not have additional questions to clarify the written text.

Respectful address to the addressee.
Formal speech that does not contain vernacular.
Neutrality and lack of emotional content of the information provided.
A text that is easy to understand and does not contain terms that are unclear to the recipient.
Prohibition on the use of emoticons.
No errors or typos.

Nuances of business correspondence

1. When preparing business letters, it is important to consider some features of written business communications.

The rules of business correspondence allow the use of standard phrases.

For example, you can greet the recipient as follows:

Hello, dear Pyotr Semenovich!
Good afternoon, Elena Petrovna!

In conclusion, you can use formulations such as

Sincerely…
With gratitude...
With best wishes...

When replying to a letter, you can start it like this:

In response to a message received...
According to your request...
Thank you for your interest in our organization.

2. You should not actively use bolding or underlining text in order to draw special attention to it, or use this technique in doses.

3. Emoticons are not used in letters to recipients with whom a trusting relationship has not been established, or the period of acquaintance is short. They are excluded if the letter is of a purely official nature.

Structure of a business letter

The ethics of writing business letters prescribes the use of a certain structure of a business message.

The main sections of the letter include:

Introduction stating the purpose of the appeal.
The main part with the information that needs to be conveyed to the addressee.
The final part with a conclusion or summary of the text of the letter and information about what result the author of the message expects to receive.
Final phrase and signature.

Design rules

Official correspondence must be formatted in accordance with the requirements for business letters. Today it is very rare to have official messages written by hand; in most cases they are created using a computer.

Letters must be printed on the official letterhead of the organization, which at enterprises exists as a ready-made template.

At the top of the letter, information about the organization is indicated: name, postal address of location, telephone, email address, bank account details, website Internet address, logo and, if available, the company slogan. This information can be placed either in the left corner of the form or longitudinally at the very top of the sheet.

On the left side of the form, before the beginning of the main text, it is indicated registration number and the date of registration of the message, and on the right - the name of the organization and the surname, initials and job title of the person to whom the message is sent.

Example corner placement:

It could be like this:

After the main text part, information about attachments to the letter, if any, is entered. At the end of the entire text block, the signature of the person from whom the information is sent is placed.

If the letter is written on several sheets, they must be numbered.

As a result, the completed form may look like this:

Samples of business letters

When preparing business letters you can use ready-made examples to get an idea of how they are created different types messages, and minimize the time for their preparation.

Ready-made samples allow you to obtain information both about the design and the wording used when writing them.

Reply to a message

According to the requirements of etiquette, every business letter received must be answered. However, you need to consider not only the requirement to provide an answer, but also the need to get it quickly. Therefore, it is important to choose the right way to send a message. If prompt receipt of response information is required, then the best option The letter will be sent by email or fax.

The standard response time for a business letter according to the rules of business correspondence is from one to three days. If a response is not received within this time period, the sender may have the impression that either his message was not read by the recipient, or he is not ready to correspond. In the event of a delay in response, etiquette allows for the possibility of making an additional call to ensure that the letter has been delivered.

Business correspondence within the organization

Internal correspondence in an organization has its own characteristics and depends on the document flow requirements established in the company.

Some enterprises conduct official internal correspondence, registering all letters in special journals. In other organizations, only internal orders are taken into account, and other messages are sent by email without registration.

Regarding internal correspondence, all rules governing the exchange of messages with external recipients remain the same.

Features of internal communications include:

Less strict enforcement of rules in messages.
The presence of special forms of letters that are not used in external communications, for example: electronic reports or explanatory notes.

E-mail correspondence: what to pay attention to

In modern reality, most business letters are sent by e-mail, and therefore the rules of business etiquette formulate requirements for conducting electronic business communication.

If messages are not sent from corporate servers, you need to be careful when writing your email address. The name of the email address must be official, and it is better not to use all frivolous options, for example: “krasotka_mary”, “supercar” and the like.
It is always necessary to fill out the field with the subject of the letter, formulating it as briefly and succinctly as possible.
When you write a reply, you can quote the original message so the recipient can see what questions they wanted answered. This rule is not strict; it is applied depending on the accepted standards of business correspondence at the enterprise or the established rules of communication with a specific recipient.
It is acceptable to use the capabilities of email programs to request a read receipt. It is not always necessary to use this option, especially if the letter is being written to be addressed outside the organization, since the recipient in this case is required to send such a notification, which may irritate him. It is better to use wording in the text of the message asking for notification of receipt of the letter: “Please confirm receipt.”
The signature in an email has its own characteristics. It should be more detailed than when issued on the organization’s letterhead. In business correspondence, it is customary not only to sign the letter, but also to indicate next to the signature the name of the organization, position, contact phone number and website of the organization. In essence, this signature format replaces the header of a printed form. The capabilities of email programs allow you to create a signature template and use it with automatic substitution in each message you send.
Applications are sent as attachments to an email message, and the names of the attached files can be listed in the text.

Knowledge of the rules and their application in a business letter allows the sender to create a reputation as a business person and a reliable partner who is attentive to the information sent to its addressees.