Diseases, endocrinologists. MRI
Search the site

Sample official letter with details. Differences from other letters. What does it mean to require a neutral tone in business correspondence?

The introduction of a standard for the form, which, in turn, defines the requirements for the form of an official letter, was caused by the need to unify the process of its registration, this allows:

  • organize centralized production of letterheads;
  • reduce the cost of typing work;
  • reduce labor costs for writing and formatting letters;
  • facilitate visual search for necessary information;
  • expand the possibilities of using computing and organizational technology when processing letters.

The sample form is the basis for designing forms and templates for all types of management documentation. The area allocated to sample forms for the location of each detail corresponds to the optimal volume of this detail in printed characters.

How to write a formal letter

Often, the form of an official letter looks like a sheet of paper with permanent details printed on it using a typographic method. However, recently, standard forms are used less and less, since a letter with all the necessary design can be printed using a printer.
An official letter consists of a “frame”, the main text, which contains information about the addressee, the abbreviated or full name of the sending company, its telegraph or postal address, fax and telephone numbers, the number of the telegram or letter that became the reason for the correspondence. Standard forms establish the field sizes and formats of documents that are part of a certain documentation system; there is also a sample structural grid, rules and details for its location.

Opened form:

  1. Letter form and design
  2. General writing rules
  3. Composing emails
  4. Summing up

An entrepreneur has to conduct active correspondence both with officials (for example, representatives of government agencies) and with “semi-official” ones - partners, contractors, freelance specialists, and so on. The skill of written communication is developed quite quickly, but at first you can make a lot of mistakes and make a not the most pleasant impression on your recipients.

Info

In this article we will talk about the features of writing both regular business letters (on paper) and electronic messages. Letterhead and Design Be sure to use your company's letterhead.


This always makes an impression and increases the loyalty of the “interlocutors”.

How to prepare an official letter form?

It is this line that determines whether a person will open the incoming message. If you are writing to someone you don't know, you should try and come up with an interesting title.

But don’t overdo it – topics like “Urgent!!! Unique offer, open right now!” They only make you want to quickly click on the trash can icon at the top. The title should consist of 3-5 words and reflect the content of the message.

  • If you are not familiar with the addressee, briefly outline who you are and how you found out about him.
    Without this necessary introduction, the message may be considered spam and immediately deleted.
  • Do not disable quoting in the settings - let the previous correspondence be displayed below, under the cut.
  • Reading from a screen is a dubious pleasure. A paper letter can be picked up, and for this reason alone it is perceived more seriously on an unconscious level than an electronic one.

Blanker.ru

This will “revive” communication – emoticons on the screen (even in a business message) are perceived quite positively. Of course, they cannot be used in “paper” letters.

  • Be sure to sign.
    In emails, it usually consists of 3-6 lines and includes the sender’s first and last name, his position, company name, website address and contact phone number.
  • Sample signature: Sincerely, Ivan Ivanov http://site.com. We offer you a sample business letter. Summing up Although everything is quite simple, examples of correctly written business letters are not so numerous.
    Entrepreneurs regularly get confused in the design, use not entirely correct addresses and forget about important nuances.

Details of the service letter

There are more options here:

  • “With respect,” “Sincerely yours”;
  • "Best wishes";
  • “With hope for continued cooperation”;
  • “We are always happy to provide you with a service”;
  • etc.

In a word, the choice of the last phrase is a matter of taste. Ethics of business writing Even veiled disdain in a business letter does not go unnoticed. Of course, in this case, you will no longer be able to count on a positive or even equal attitude towards yourself. The conclusion is obvious: do not give in to emotions and keep yourself within limits even if the recipient really annoys you.
Always pay attention to the tone of the message. You should be especially careful when drafting a letter containing a refusal. It is extremely unwise to begin such a message with a categorical “no” in one form or another - this will create in the person the feeling that he was simply sent.

How to write an official letter to an organization?

The type of forms, standards for filling them out and design elements must be specified in the order for the organization (or instructions for office work). Basic requirements for business letter forms can be found in GOST 2003 “Requirements for the preparation of documents.”
It is advisable to “squeeze” basic information about the company into the form:

  • name (and abbreviated name);
  • actual and postal addresses;
  • email address;
  • contact numbers;
  • site address.

This is not a list of required data, but only a sample list. If desired, you can add or exclude something.

How to write and format business letters correctly

Important

We can say that an official letter consists of a “frame” of the letter and the main text and contains, in addition to the main text, information about the addressee: the full and abbreviated name of the sending organization, its postal and telegraph address, telephone, fax and teletype numbers, the number of that letter or telegram , which served as the reason for the correspondence, and much more. Forms can be with either angular or longitudinal arrangement of details.


Attention

The design of the form must comply with the principles of technical aesthetics, which in turn has a positive effect on the perception of its content. Considering the ability of the human eye to more easily fix the upper part of any object, when drawing up documents, their upper part should be made more saturated, and the lower part more “stable”.

Sample official letter from an organization

If you touch on several issues in it, they should be closely interrelated. If you need to contact the same organization on several different topics, it is better to write a separate letter for each of them.

Language of writing The style of business correspondence is “lightweight” official business. It is possible and necessary to standardize phrases, use some cliches and cliches, but it is not recommended to reduce all this to dry bureaucracy. "

Living language is always perceived easily and favorably. Of course, business writing must comply with the norms of etiquette (which will be discussed below), but the essence of the issue should be stated clearly and concisely.

Official letter: existing types, design rules

The standards for sample forms establish the formats and sizes of fields of documents that are part of the unified documentation system, as well as the requirements for constructing the structural grid of the sample form, details and rules for their location. Documents included in unified documentation systems consist of three main parts, which are located within clearly demarcated areas. This arrangement of the document ensures the necessary speed of perception of its text. Details are mandatory features established by law or regulations for certain types of documents. The composition and arrangement of details on the forms of organizational and administrative documents must comply with the relevant standards. Previously, these standards were regulated by GOST 6.38-90, currently GOST R.30-2003 is used.

Lawyer Directory

It is part of the organization’s incoming and outgoing document flows. There are many types of business letters: advertising, commercial guarantee, covering, informational, claim, instructional, etc.

The culture of business correspondence requires an entrepreneur to be able to correctly draw up such documents. A pre-designed letter form can help with this.

It serves as a business card of the company, which demonstrates its style and creates a favorable image. Properly executed business correspondence allows the addressee to receive complete information about the sender; its strict style gives the information an official character and simplifies the subsequent use of the documentation. This is especially important at the initial stage of company development, when advertising costs are still limited, but there is already a need to create a positive image in the business environment.

Official letter on organization letterhead

Location of details (corner version) of the letter form (dimensions are indicated in millimeters) Fig. 2. Arrangement of details (longitudinal version) of the letter form (dimensions are indicated in millimeters) The most convenient for processing and economical in terms of using the sheet space is the corner form. In this case, the right side of the top of the sheet can be used to place the details “Addressee”, “Resolution”. Using a longitudinal letterhead is advisable in cases where the name of the organization contains large number printed characters, for example, may be the case when the details of the form are given in two or more languages. In this case, the details should be printed in Russian on the left, and in the national language on the right, at the same level.

An entrepreneur has to conduct active correspondence both with officials (for example, representatives of government agencies) and with “semi-official” ones - partners, contractors, freelance specialists, and so on. The skill of written communication is developed quite quickly, but at first you can make a lot of mistakes and make a not the most pleasant impression on your recipients. In this article we will talk about the features of writing both regular business letters (on paper) and electronic messages.

Letter form and design

Be sure to use your company letterhead. This always makes an impression and increases the loyalty of the “interlocutors”. The type of forms, standards for filling them out and design elements must be specified in the order for the organization (or instructions for office work). Basic requirements for business letter forms can be found in GOST 2003 “Requirements for the preparation of documents.”

It is advisable to “squeeze” basic information about the company into the form:

  • name (and abbreviated name);
  • actual and postal addresses;
  • email address;
  • contact numbers;
  • site address.

This is not a list of required data, but only a sample list. If desired, you can add or exclude something.

The general requirements for writing a letter are as follows:

  • minimum indentation – 10 mm on the right and 20 mm on the left, top and bottom;
  • if the letter is written on two or more sheets, each of them must be numbered in the middle at the top;
  • Each application is numbered separately;
  • in the upper left corner the outgoing number of the letter is indicated (do not forget to record it in the document registration log);
  • in the upper right corner the name of the organization, the position of the addressee and his surname with initials are indicated;
  • in the lower left corner - your position, surname with initials and signature;
  • Be sure to put the date the letter was written at the bottom.

However, GOST 2003 allows the use of forms not only with angular, but also with longitudinal arrangement of details (when they are indicated in the center). The corner arrangement looks more familiar and is easier to read, so it is better to choose this option.

General writing rules

The classic structure of the text of a business letter includes three elements:

  • introductory part (a brief statement of the reasons why the letter is being written, its purpose);
  • content (description of the situation, proposal of solutions, statement of conclusions and recommendations);
  • the summary part (a brief summary with a clear indication of what you expect from the addressee).

You should always understand the purpose for which you are writing a letter. Do you want to offer cooperation? State your grievances? Invite to a presentation or other event? Write only about this and do not be distracted by lengthy arguments and assumptions that are not relevant to the matter.

Every business letter should have one specific purpose. If you touch on several issues in it, they should be closely interrelated. If you need to contact the same organization on several different topics, it is better to write a separate letter for each of them.

Writing language

The style of business correspondence is “lightweight” official business. It is possible and necessary to standardize phrases, use some cliches and cliches, but it is not recommended to reduce all this to dry bureaucracy. “Living” language is always perceived easily and favorably. Of course, business writing must comply with the norms of etiquette (which will be discussed below), but the essence of the issue should be stated clearly and concisely.

Some practical tips:

  • use simple words: “smart” terms are poorly perceived and often irritate the person who is forced to read and decipher them;
  • use verbs more often and adjectives less often;
  • do not spread your thoughts over the tree - only specifics and only within the framework of a given topic, without many details and unimportant details;
  • avoid long statements, if possible do not use participial and participial phrases;
  • write specifically: various “about this”, “they/he/she” are unacceptable;
  • avoid logical inconsistencies and abrupt transitions from one semantic block to another;
  • check everything written by ear: speech errors occur in almost every unedited text.

One of the main rules for writing business letters is: the message must be literate and stylistically correct.

Features of addressing the addressee

As a rule, the addressee is addressed once, at the beginning of the letter. This can be done in three ways.

  1. If you are addressing a person for the first time (or if a purely official relationship has been established between you and the addressee), you should use an address that indicates a certain distance. Example: “Dear Mr. Ivanov!”
  2. If you are addressing a person with whom you have long established a trusting business relationship, it is better to call him by his first name and patronymic. Example: “Dear Ekaterina Leonidovna!”
  3. When addressing a group, use the standard phrase “dear sirs!”

In the final part you need to use the so-called closing phrase. There are more options here:

  • “With respect,” “Sincerely yours”;
  • "Best wishes";
  • “With hope for continued cooperation”;
  • “We are always happy to provide you with a service”;
  • etc.

In a word, the choice of the last phrase is a matter of taste.

Business Writing Ethics

Even veiled disdain in a business letter does not go unnoticed. Of course, in this case, you will no longer be able to count on a positive or even equal attitude towards yourself. The conclusion is obvious: do not give in to emotions and keep yourself within limits even if the recipient really annoys you. Always pay attention to the tone of the message.

Particular care should be taken when drafting a letter containing a refusal. It is extremely unwise to begin such a message with a categorical “no” in one form or another - this will create in the person the feeling that he was simply sent. Try to provide convincing (not flimsy) explanations first. Having briefly outlined the reasons for the refusal, one should move smoothly to its statement. In this case, you can use the following formulations:

  • “Unfortunately, we do not see any way to satisfy your request”;
  • “Your request cannot be granted for the following reasons...”;
  • “We deeply regret, but we are forced to reject your offer.”

Ideally, even before justifying the refusal - at the very beginning of the letter - you should briefly repeat the addressee’s request. He will understand that you have carefully read his request or proposal, and he will probably appreciate it. Perhaps in the future you will work together again - why immediately broadcast the negative and scare the person away with excessive harshness?

Never go to the other extreme. Flattery and numerous assurances of sincere affection are obvious signs of insincerity. Insincerity always causes rejection.

Composing emails

Messages on paper have already become obsolete. Of course, “paper” correspondence will never completely disappear, but in a few years letters written on classic letterhead will become a rarity. Negotiations are increasingly being conducted electronically. A modern entrepreneur now sends many more letters by email than by regular mail.

Business letters sent by email are written according to the same general rules. Requirements for language, style and tone, adherence to etiquette standards - all these mandatory elements do not change. However, electronic messages also have their own specific features.

  1. Make sure that your login looks solid or at least adequate. [email protected]- Fine, [email protected]- Badly.
  2. It is very important to always fill out the Subject field. It is this line that determines whether a person will open the incoming message. If you are writing to someone you don't know, you should try and come up with an interesting title. But don’t overdo it – topics like “Urgent!!! Unique offer, open right now!” They only make you want to quickly click on the trash can icon at the top. The title should consist of 3-5 words and reflect the content of the message.
  3. If you are not familiar with the addressee, briefly describe who you are and how you found out about him. Without this necessary introduction, the message may be considered spam and immediately deleted.
  4. Do not disable quoting in the settings - let the previous correspondence be displayed below, under the cut.
  5. Reading from a screen is a dubious pleasure. A paper letter can be picked up, and for this reason alone it is perceived more seriously on an unconscious level than an electronic one. Take this into account.
  6. The shorter the email message, the faster it will be answered.
  7. Use only standard fonts.
  8. Do not overuse text highlighting – you can use “bold” for the most important points, but using different colors is unacceptable.
  9. No caps. Never. Even in the subheadings. The same applies to duplicate punctuation marks.
  10. Divide your text into paragraphs with space between them (just leave a blank line).
  11. You can attach images or text files to an email. Additional materials and explanations, comments, detailed descriptions - all this should be in attached files, but not in the body of the letter.
  12. In business correspondence with people with whom you have established trusting relationships (we are talking about trusted partners, reliable contractors), you can occasionally use emoticons. This will “revive” communication – emoticons on the screen (even in a business message) are perceived quite positively. Of course, they cannot be used in “paper” letters.
  13. Be sure to sign. In emails, it usually consists of 3-6 lines and includes the sender’s first and last name, his position, company name, website address and contact phone number.

Signature example:

Sincerely,

Ivan Ivanov

[email protected]

http://site.com.

We offer you a sample business letter.

Summing up

Although everything is quite simple, examples of correctly written business letters are not so numerous. Entrepreneurs regularly get confused in the design, use not entirely correct addresses and forget about important nuances.

Let's list the main features of good business messages:

  • objectivity;
  • brevity (it is advisable that the letter takes no more than one page);
  • neutral tone of presentation;
  • lack of reasoning, narration, excessive detail;
  • lack of emotional assessments;
  • a clear logical relationship between parts of the text and individual phrases.

This is a kind of checklist that you can check with at first. After hundreds of business messages have been compiled and sent, there will be no need for it. Do not ignore the rules stated above and remember: “pumped up” business correspondence skills significantly improve your reputation and, accordingly, the image of the company.

Recently, e-mail has taken an increasingly important place in business correspondence. Its advantages are obvious: efficiency, accessibility and ease of use. It should be remembered that electronic correspondence has its own nuances.

Receiving letters

  1. Check your email at least 2 times a day – in the morning and in the afternoon. Otherwise, you can stall the work of other people and delay the resolution of issues;
  2. If you received a letter, it means that someone sent it and did it for some reason. Therefore, the letters received must be read. Of course, spam is not considered here;
  3. If you are a manager, your working day should begin by launching an email client that does not unload all day and automatically checks mail. Set up automatic delivery/receipt of mail at least every 10 (or better 2 - 3) minutes;
  4. if you are very busy and you have received a letter, evaluate who it is from, the subject and skim through it - this will help you quickly understand whether the letter requires an urgent response or can wait a little;
  5. The simplest and most effective way to move things forward and not accumulate mail piles is to immediately respond to letters. Therefore, if you are not engaged in a conversation or other activity that does not tolerate interruption, respond to the letter immediately.

Fields “To”, “Cc”, “Bcc”

You should understand, remember and correctly use the “To”, “Cc” and “Bcc” fields. Your actions upon receiving the letter or the actions of the recipient depend on this.

  1. "To whom". If you send a question, you expect a response from the addressee specified in the “To” field. If you are the recipient, you must respond. That is, the letter and the information or questions it contains are addressed directly to the recipient indicated in this field.
  2. "Copy". Recipients in this field receive a letter for information or are “invited as witnesses.” The recipient of the copies should not generally respond to the letter. Moreover, when there is such a need, it is considered polite to start with the phrase “Sorry to interfere.”
  3. "Blind carbon copy" The fact that the letter was sent to the person specified in the “Bcc” field will not be known to the main recipient or those who are in the copies. This field is also used for mass mailing so that your address book is not known to all recipients.

When replying, do not forget about the “Reply all” button - this will save copies of the initial letter recipients and your answer will not pass by them. You can always remove unwanted recipients or add others.

If the received letter contains more than two recipients in the “To” field, this means that both of these correspondents or any of them must respond. Decide who should answer. However, be careful when sending letters containing more than two recipients in the “To” field: if you send a letter to everyone, you risk not receiving a response from anyone.

Subject field

You should not leave this field empty. The people you correspond with may receive hundreds of emails a day and use this field to quickly assess the importance of the content of the email.

The subject line should briefly reflect the topic of the letter. Titles like “Question”, “Hello!” or empty headings reveal that you are either a beginner, or a lack of basic skills in business correspondence.

"The Importance of Writing"

If the letter contains information about urgent changes, the text of any contract or other information that needs to be paid attention to first, use the “high” importance, this will highlight the letter in the inbox.

  • Don't use "high" importance in vain!
  • A personal letter to a business correspondent or a letter with a funny and non-business picture or link should be marked with “low” importance.

Writing a response

  1. Start with a greeting, it's polite.
  2. Speak the same language with the person. This not only concerns the Russian/English language, but also the form of the text. An informal response to a formal letter is disrespect for the respondent and a demonstration of one’s own low culture.
  3. Do not use transliteration, except when sending emails from mobile devices. If your email client does not support the Russian language or corrupts the encodings, please attach the text of the response in the attachment.
  4. A business letter should be precise, specific and concise.
    • Accuracy– indicate the exact details you are referring to (for example, meeting date, meeting agenda item, date and subject of another email, or file name).
    • Specificity– it should be clear from the letter exactly WHAT EXACTLY is required from the recipient.
    • Conciseness. He who thinks clearly speaks clearly, and your recipient sees it. Therefore, you shouldn’t put on three pages what could be written in three sentences. A laconic business text is not dryness, but time saving and precision of thought.
  5. If the letter contains several questions, topics or tasks, structure them and separate them. A continuous “stream of soap” is difficult to read and you can miss, in fact, the main question of the letter.
  6. Answer the requests made in the letter as accurately as possible. The answer to a request or task is “Let’s do it!” incomplete “We’ll do it by such and such a date,” “in so many days,” “after such and such an event” is a more definite and accurate answer.
  7. The text must not contain errors! Typos are not terrible, but if you spell words incorrectly in every letter, it becomes noticeable very quickly and leaves a negative imprint on your image as a business partner.
  8. Never send a letter without reading what you wrote! Read your answer and make sure it is concise, accurate, clear, specific and free of grammatical errors. Check that all necessary recipients are indicated and that they are correctly placed in the “To” and “Cc” fields. Check for grammatical errors.
  9. Quote the text of the original letter.
  10. When quoting in full (if your response is to the entire letter), write the text of the response at the BEGINNING of the letter, not at the end!
  11. If your answers are point-by-point, separate the quotation with blank lines at the top and bottom.

Attachments

  1. Do not attach files in EXE, PIF, BAT, COM, CMD, SCR formats to letters - many email clients or servers tightly block such attachments, and the recipient will never read them. Pack them in an archive (zip, rar) as if in a shell and insert them in this form.
  2. It is considered normal to send attachments up to 2-3 megabytes without warning. If you want to send a larger attachment, check with the correspondent whether such a file will pass through his server or will fit into his mailbox.
  3. Refrain from investments of dubious content: firstly, your correspondent may not share your tastes, and secondly, you may cause trouble for a person working in an organization where mail censorship is used.

Electronic signature

  1. Having it is useful (it has your contact information) and it is a good form that demonstrates your professionalism.
  2. The signature should not exceed 5-6 lines. It must include, at a minimum, your first and last name. In addition, it is advisable to indicate your telephone number, email address, name and physical address of the company, as well as the address of its website.
  3. Have two options for electronic signature: for initiative (own) letters with full signature

A business letter should have a clear structure, the advantages of which are:

  • saving your time and the recipient’s time;
  • guarantee that the addressee will read the letter and correctly understand its essence;
  • receiving an intelligible, clear answer.

Structure of a business letter

Appeal

It is located in the header of the letter and contains the position and full name of the addressee. For official business correspondence, the standard address is “Dear”, which is written with a capital letter and in the center of the page. And then there are a lot of options depending on what they write and to whom. Thus, in Russia it is customary to address people by name and patronymic, in companies with a Western corporate culture - simply by name. If you know your partner personally, you can address him like this: “Dear Andrey Petrovich,” if you don’t know, “Dear Mr. Smirnov.” By the way, when addressing a person, the word “Mr.” cannot be shortened to “Mr.” And under no circumstances should you write “Dear Mr. A.P. Smirnov.” Either “Andrey Petrovich” or “Mr. Smirnov”.

If you are not writing to royalty, representatives of religious denominations, presidents and members of parliaments of various countries, consider yourself lucky. There are official conversion formulas for them, and special ones for each rank. Before sending such a letter, carefully check whether the selected message corresponds to the status of the addressee. It is much easier to remember how to write to military personnel: “Dear Comrade Colonel,” even if this colonel is a woman. But the address “Ladies and Gentlemen” is secular, and it is better to use it, say, for an invitation to the opening of a fashion salon. If you are inviting someone to a business presentation - for example, of new drilling rigs - then, according to established practice, the common address “Dear Sirs” is used for everyone. In this case, it does not matter that women also work in this organization.

Example:

General Director
LLC "Concord"
Dobrovolsky P.I.

Dear Pavel Ilyich!
or
Dear Mr. Dobrovolsky!

Preamble

Makes up the first paragraph of the letter, which sets out its purpose, the reason that prompted you to write it. After reading the preamble, the addressee must understand the essence of the letter. Example: I am writing to you to express my dissatisfaction with the quality of raw materials for the production of furniture that your company supplies to us, and I count on your actions aimed at quickly changing the situation for the better and compensating for the losses caused to us.

Example: Over the past month, starting from the second of June of this year, 10-15% of each batch of your raw materials is defective. These facts were properly documented by the specialists of our company. Copies of documents are attached to this letter. The losses of our company due to the receipt of defective raw materials amount to about 1 million rubles. We have been cooperating with Concord LLC for five years now, and so far we have had no reason to complain. In this situation, we insist on full compensation for our losses. If necessary, we are ready to conduct a joint examination of rejected raw materials.

Conclusion

Necessary for a brief summary of everything written and a logical conclusion to the letter.

Example: I am sure that you will understand this situation, and in the near future our cooperation will return to normal.

Signature

The letter ends with the signature (position + full name) of the addressee, which is preceded by the standard polite form “With respect.” Options are also possible: “Sincerely yours”, “With hope for productive cooperation”, “With gratitude for your cooperation”, etc. When signing a letter, it is important to take into account the rank of the addressee and addressee. The letter addressed to the general director must also be signed by the general director or, at a minimum, his deputy. In this case, the signature must correspond to its decoding: the situation when the deputy director puts a slash next to the director’s last name and signs with his own name is unacceptable.

Example: Sincerely, General Director of the Zarya furniture factory A.D. Kiselev

P.S

Postscript (P.S.) - a postscript at the end of a letter after the signature - is quite rarely used in business correspondence. It serves to inform the addressee about an important event that occurred after the letter was written, or to convey to him information that is indirectly related to the topic of the letter.

Example 1: P.S. I inform you that the percentage of defects in a batch of raw materials received 3 hours ago has increased to 17%!

Example 2: P.S. The head of our raw materials reception department will meet with your specialists at your enterprise tomorrow at 14:00.

Applications

Attachments are an optional addition to the main text of the letter and therefore are drawn up on separate sheets - each attachment on its own sheet. There are no rules for writing them.

Standard phrases for business correspondence

Notices

  • We inform you that the delay in shipment... occurred due to...
  • We would like to inform you that the plant management has made a decision...
  • We inform you that your offer has been accepted.
  • We inform you that we...
  • We would like to inform you that...
  • We inform you that, unfortunately, we cannot...

Models of expressions explaining motives (The most common phrases at the beginning of a standard business letter)

    In accordance with the protocol...
  • In order to strengthen the protection of property...
  • In response to your request...
  • To confirm our telephone conversation...
  • To confirm our agreement...
  • In order to provide technical assistance...
  • Due to the difficult situation...
  • In connection with the joint work...
  • According to the customer's letter...

If the author is a legal entity, then the actions are transferred:

  1. Third person singular, for example:
    • The Zarya plant does not mind...
    • The Russian-English joint venture Soyuz K offers...
    • The Naiv cooperative guarantees...
  2. From the third person plural, for example: The management and trade union committee of the Zarya plant earnestly ask...
  3. First person plural:
    • Please...
    • We confirm...
    • We inform...

If the author is an individual, then the actions are transferred:

  1. First person singular, for example:
    • For your information…
    • Please...
    • I am informing you...
  2. First person plural, for example:
    • We approve...
    • We have received your telegram...
    • Congratulations...
    • We support...

Request

  • Please check the progress of the work...
  • Please take action...
  • Please provide performance data...

Sending documents or material assets

  • We send machine assembly drawings...
  • We send the documents you are interested in by registered post...
  • We send you the contract signed by us...

Confirmation

  • We gratefully acknowledge receipt of your order and proceed to its implementation...
  • We confirm receipt of specifications for...
  • The Zarya plant confirms the terms of supply of equipment...

Offer

  • We can offer you…
  • We invite you to purchase…
  • We can recommend you...

Invitation

  • We invite you to take part in the discussion of the project...
  • Please take part in the discussion of the problem...
  • We invite a representative of your company to visit…

Refusal and rejection of proposal (project)

  • The draft title list you sent for construction projects worth... cannot be approved by us for the following reasons.
  • Your proposal (project) has been rejected for the following reasons...

Reminder

  • We remind you that according to the plan of joint work you must...
  • We remind you that in accordance with... You must...
  • We remind you that your outstanding payment amounts to...
  • We remind you that the deadline for submitting the manuscript expires...

Guarantees

  • We guarantee payment.
  • We guarantee deadlines.
  • We guarantee the quality of the products.

Interpretation of one's own position

  • Our appeals on this issue did not lead to positive results.
  • We have no objections to the design.
  • We cannot deliver the goods to you... due to the following reasons:...

Interpretation of the other party's actions

  • Such a delay may lead...
  • It is completely inexplicable why your factory is delaying the dispatch of molds...
  • The promises you made are not kept.

Final words

  • We hope that our request will be fulfilled.
  • We look forward to further cooperation.
  • With wishes of success.
  • We kindly ask you not to delay your response.
  • Please forgive us for the delay in response (for an error).

Ethical Standards for Business Correspondence

Business correspondence, like any other form of human interaction, is based on a set of ethical rules and norms, the main one of which is “CORRECTNESS AND RESPECT FOR YOUR PARTNER.” Even if the purpose of the letter is to express a complaint, its text should not contain rude words or incorrect expressions that may offend your counterparty. By taking care to maintain the dignity of your recipient, you thereby preserve your own.

  • start the message with a statement of refusal. First of all, you should state the motivation for the decision made and make it clear that under certain circumstances the issue can be returned to consideration;
  • impose on the addressee the expected outcome of the question, for example: “Please study and resolve the issue positively” or “Please approve this candidacy”
  • encourage the addressee to rush when making a decision with the words “urgently”, “immediately”, “in a shorter time”. It is better to use the etiquette formulas “I ask you to respond by such and such a date”, “I urge you to immediately inform me of your decision”
  • hint to the addressee about his imaginary inattention, incompetence, introducing into the text of the letter a wording like “I propose to carefully study...”.

For the recipient of business letters, the mandatory requirements, from the point of view of ethical standards, are:

  • refusal of the response form, in which a letter of request or a letter of offer is returned to the author with the response information placed on them;
  • prompt and clear response to the sending organization. Delay or lack of response may be considered uncooperative.

Following the ethical standards of business correspondence listed above will not require you to perform a feat and over time will become easy and habitual. Moreover, it will provide you with a reputation as a tactful person and even teach you how to turn opponents into allies.

General rules for writing business letters

In addition to structure, another important component of a competent business letter is its neat design.

Information letter

Information letter- This is an official letter that informs the addressee of official information.

The length of the newsletter ranges from one paragraph to several pages.

As a rule, information letters are signed by the head of the organization, and in the case of mass mailing (for example, to all clients of the company) they may not contain a manual signature at all. Information letters are often of a standard nature.

Letter of request– an official letter sent to obtain any official information or documents.

In general, letters of inquiry are drafted in the same way as letters of request. Letters of request are usually signed by the head of the organization or an officially authorized official.

The text of the request letter must contain a justification for the need to provide materials or information and the actual statement of the request.

A letter of request requires a letter of response.

Letter of response

A letter of response is a service letter that is written as a response to a letter of inquiry or a letter of request.

The answer may be negative (rejection letter) or positive.

The text of the response letter should use the same language and vocabulary that the author used in the initiative letter, provided that the request letter was written correctly in terms of language.

You should not include in the text of the response letter a link to the received letter (“To your letter dated _______#__…”).

Information about the initiative letter is included in the registration number of the response letter. It is advisable to start a refusal letter with a justification for the refusal: “In connection with...”, since a negative response must be justified, you cannot simply refuse a request without explanation.

Confirmation letter

A letter of confirmation is an official letter in which the addressee confirms previously reached agreements, intentions, receipt of information, documents or other materials, etc.

The key language formula of this type of letter is: “We confirm (receipt of documents, preliminary agreement, consent to ...).”

When confirming a preliminary agreement, the text of the letter must briefly outline its essence.

If receipt of documents is confirmed, you should name them, etc. A confirmation letter may end with a request, wish, or proposal.

Letter of complaint

A letter of complaint is an initiative business letter, the purpose of which is to express a complaint or dissatisfaction to the addressee.

In conclusion, specific wishes or proposals for correcting the situation should be expressed.

Letter of guarantee

Letters of guarantee are intended to provide the addressee with written guarantees in order to confirm certain promises or conditions, intentions or actions of the author (sending organization), one way or another affecting the interests of the addressee.

Letters of guarantee are addressed to an organization or an individual. The word “guarantee” may not be mentioned at all in the text of the letter, however, the letter will remain a document containing a guarantee.

Payment for the work performed, the timing of its completion, the quality of the work, the quality of the product, the timing of its delivery, payment for the products received, etc. can be guaranteed. These aspects can form the content of the entire letter or be included in the text of the letter as its component.

Letters of guarantee are emphatically legal in nature, corresponding in status to documents of a contractual nature. Most often, letters of guarantee are issued to confirm payment.

In this case, it is mandatory to indicate the contract number and invoice according to which payment must be made.

Letters of guarantee are distinguished by clarity, accuracy and unambiguous wording - since we are talking about providing the addressee with guarantees on behalf and on behalf of an organization or official. It must indicate the type of operation to be performed.

Such letters may begin with a statement of the essence of the guarantees provided to the addressee, for example: “With this letter I guarantee...”.

In other cases, a letter of guarantee may contain a statement of the reasons behind the author’s intention to declare his readiness to provide the addressee with certain guarantees. In this case, the corresponding statement is formulated in the final sentence, for example: “We guarantee payment” or “I guarantee timely and full payment.”

A special feature of this type of letter is the presence, along with the signature of the author (for example, the director of an organization), of the signature of an official who is directly responsible for financial or other issues. If a letter of guarantee is sent as an obligation to pay for a purchase, service rendered, etc., then it must indicate the bank details of the paying organization.

The key phrase of the letter of guarantee may include the following words and expressions:

  • We guarantee...
  • We guarantee that...
  • The Partner company guarantees...
  • Please send to our address cash on delivery (type of guarantee)…
  • We guarantee payment...
  • We hereby guarantee...

Resume

A resume is a type of business letter aimed at providing the most complete and advantageous presentation of a specialist to an employer.

When writing a resume, you should strictly follow a number of rules:

  1. Introduce yourself
  2. Education
  3. Experience
  4. Do I need to indicate the desired salary level?
  5. Do I need to provide additional information about myself?
  6. Do you need personal details?
  7. Tailor your resume to the employer's requirements
  8. Attitude towards business trips
  9. Availability of recommendations
  10. Cover letter

There is not and cannot be a single resume for all occasions that could be sent to all companies without changes.

Each time, you should first think about what qualities will be valued in a new job, and modify your resume in accordance with them. The information presented in the resume must be reliable. Don't leave any blank spots on your resume.

And most importantly, the resume should be short: no more than one to one and a half pages. Your ability to clearly formulate and present briefly is an indicator of a high level of general culture.

Having a photo on your resume is welcome.

  1. Confirmation of the fact and terms of work in the organization, brief information about positions held and responsibilities performed (for a letter of recommendation from a private individual, this paragraph indicates for what period of time and in what capacity the author of the letter knows the recommended person). The list of responsibilities should indicate the qualifications of the person recommended. If the recommended person held various positions, then data on positions held and job responsibilities performed are indicated for each time interval. Example: Sidorov Vladimir Aleksandrovich worked at the Vector company from March 12, 1998 to March 16, 2002, including from March 12, 1998 to March 16, 2002 - as manager of the trade and purchasing department, from March 17 to November 25, 2002 - as a senior manager in the same department. His responsibilities as a manager consisted of organizing the supply of components, and as a senior manager - in organizing interaction between companies supplying components and production.
  2. A brief description of the professional, business and personal qualities recommended and the successes achieved during his work in the organization. You should abandon such general words as reliable, competent, conscientious, etc., and focus on specific facts that characterize the recommended person in terms of his professional qualities and ability to cope with certain tasks. Here you can focus on categories such as level knowledge and hard work in performing basic duties, the ability to cope with non-standard tasks, ingenuity, initiative, learning ability, ability to adapt in various situations, emotional stability, leadership qualities. Here you can also give an approximate comparison of the recommended person’s work with the work of his colleagues, indicate the most significant achievements , projects developed and implemented by him personally. Example: He independently mastered the software, independently and successfully conducted business negotiations, effectively supervised his subordinates, etc.
  3. Reasons for changing jobs (leaving the organization, moving to another place). This could be a change in the profile of the organization, closure of a division, personnel changes in the organization, change of residence, etc.
  4. Conclusions. A brief and specific assessment of the recommended person’s competence, business qualities, creative potential and career opportunities. Recommendations for occupying a specific position or positions (in some cases, it is advisable to indicate here the extent to which you recommend a person for the desired position: unconditionally, strongly, with some reservations, do not recommend). Example: Sidorov Vladimir Aleksandrovich is fluent in technology... (has extensive experience working with server software... or...can independently work with corporate clients...etc.). I believe that Mr. Sidorov can effectively perform the duties of a department head, working as a department head, deputy head of the computing department of a mid-level enterprise.
  5. Contact details of the person signing the letter. This point is especially relevant for letters of recommendation written by private individuals, since it is quite possible that a new employer, after reading the letter of recommendation, will want to clarify some details.

Press release

A press release is an information message for the media, the purpose of which is to attract attention to a certain event (occurred or upcoming) in order to maximize coverage of this event in the media.

Press releases are compiled and sent out by press services of companies and organizations and have certain writing rules:

  • the word “Press release” must be indicated in the header of the document and the date of its distribution must be indicated;
  • the title of the press release should reflect its topic and the message of the information message as clearly as possible;
  • the essence of the press release title can be disclosed in more detail in the subtitle (however, its presence is not necessary);
  • the first paragraph of the press release must necessarily contain the following information: what, where and when it happened (will happen);
  • The volume of the press release should not exceed one and a half pages of typewritten text. In this case, it is advisable to limit yourself to one page, including the signature and footers of the organization’s letterhead;
  • the press release may include quotes from news makers - responsible speakers of the organization;
  • the press release is drawn up on the organization’s letterhead;
  • The signature to the press release must indicate the full name of the contact person who can provide additional information on the topic of the press release, and his contact information: telephone (preferably mobile), e-mail, ICQ number.

Letter of congratulations

The “Congratulations” format belongs to the category of personal business correspondence.

It is drawn up on a greeting form or postcard, and a creative approach can and should prevail in its preparation. This applies to both the text of the letter and its design.

Congratulations can be personal (happy birthday) or mass (for example, Happy New Year).

In the first case, the address to the addressee must be personal - by name and patronymic; in the second case, it can be general, for example, “Dear friends!”

In both cases, the sender must personally sign the congratulations (a facsimile is used when sending mass congratulations).

Personal congratulations

Mass congratulations

Letter of invitation

The “Invitation” format belongs to the category of personal business correspondence.

It is issued on official letterhead or a postcard and is intended to notify the addressee about a certain special event that he is invited to attend.

The invitation must contain information about the place and time of the event, as well as its name.

The invitation must indicate the acceptable dress code (for example, black and tie), as well as the number of persons to whom the invitation applies.

As a rule, an invitation is personal in nature, but during public events it can be impersonal.

Personal invitation

Mass invitation

Letter of gratitude

The “Thank You” format belongs to the category of personal business correspondence and is aimed at expressing gratitude to the addressee.

As a rule, gratitude is issued on the official letterhead of the organization, but can be issued as a postcard.

The text of the thank you letter is written in a concise, friendly and official style with reference to the event that prompted the sender to express his gratitude to the addressee. If desired, other merits of the addressee can also be listed. Gratitude is certified by the personal signature of the sender and, in some cases, by the seal of the organization.

Example: Message from the Prime Minister of Great Britain to the Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR (April 25, 1942) “I am very grateful to you for your message of April 23. We will, of course, welcome the visit of Mr. Molotov, with whom I am sure we can do a lot of useful work. I am very glad that you find it possible to allow this visit, which I am sure will be very valuable.”

Letter of Condolence

The “Condolence” format belongs to the category of personal business correspondence and is intended to express empathy and support to the addressee regarding some other sad event or loss.

When writing a condolence message, it is very important to choose the right sincere words that can really support the recipient in his grief.

At the same time, it is important to express your feelings and experiences regarding what happened.

Condolences are issued in a discreet, correct style on official letterhead or a special postcard and certified by the personal signature of the sender.

Business letter- a document used for communication, transmission of information over a distance between two correspondents, who can be both legal entities and individuals.

Due to the nature of their activities, a manager or management specialist needs to write a lot of business letters.

Business letters include characteristics, resumes, letters of recommendation, letters of reminder and gratitude, letters of invitation to an interview or presentation, letters of refusal, statements of claim, complaints, etc.

How to write a business letter correctly

  • paper for a business letter must be of good quality, absolutely clean, neatly trimmed;
  • It is desirable that the business letter form contain the logo of the organization, its full name, postal and telegraphic addresses, telephone, fax, email and bank details;
  • official business letters are printed on the front side of the sheet, without marks; all pages except the first are numbered with Arabic numerals;
  • the width of the margin on the left side of the sheet must be at least 2 cm, the paragraph begins with a red line with a retreat of five intervals from the left edge of the line; the text is printed at one and a half to two intervals; It is advisable to avoid word wrapping;
  • in the upper right corner of a business letter, under the address of the sending organization, the date is indicated, preferably in full (for example, January 2, 2007);
  • the name of the organization or the surname and address of the person to whom the business letter is sent is written on the left side of the sheet;
  • below, from the edge of the line or in the center of the sheet, a polite address is written; for example, “Dear Ivan Ivanovich”; a comma is required after an address, but an exclamation point is often used to begin the next phrase with a red line and a capital letter;
  • the business letter ends with words of gratitude for cooperation and expressing hopes for its continuation;
  • the signature is placed on the right side of the sheet, after the final politeness phrase, for example, “With respect...”, the signer’s surname is printed under his handwritten signature;
  • resolutions on all types of incoming correspondence must be made in pencil or on separate sheets of paper; a business letter is folded with the text inside, and the most important business letters are not folded, for which they are sent in large, thick envelopes;
  • a telegraph request should be answered within 3 days, a business letter - 10; if the request requires detailed consideration, then within 3 days you should inform that the business letter has been taken into account and give a final response within 30 days.
  • accuracy and clarity of presentation of thoughts - short words, short phrases, short paragraphs
  • maximum accessibility of the text for understanding, the use of simple phrases that accurately and unambiguously express the essence
  • literacy
  • correctness

“What is most difficult for a person is what is not given to him.”
M. Zhvanetsky

Probably, everyone at least once in their life has had to deal with the urgent need to write a business letter to the head of a commercial company, a partner, an official, or, at worst, to the housing office. But if you consider yourself a businessman, even just a beginner, or are planning to open your own business, even in the distant future, you must learn to write business letters correctly.

So what is the difference between a simple letter and a business letter?

First of all, the absence of emotional components and the predominance of logic and pragmatic rational presentation of your request or proposal. A businessman, company owner or manager of a large or even not very large enterprise, as opposed to just a “consumer”, is unlikely to be interested in your emotional and inspirational letter to him with a request about cooperation, providing assistance or establishing any other friendly relations.

First of all, you must understand that when you write a Business letter, you write it to the point! Many will now say to themselves, what a “pun,” but it is clear that a Business Letter differs from the others in its clear understanding of “To whom,” “Why,” and “Why.” I read a lot of letters and proposals, and, unfortunately, in some letters the meaning constantly eluded, and at the end of the letter it was not at all clear what the author wanted to ask or offer.

Therefore, so that the meaning and idea of ​​the letter does not “spread throughout the tree,” you must answer the following questions for yourself:

  1. Who are you writing the letter to? Have you made a mistake in the addressee?
  2. Why are you writing a letter, what do you want to offer or ask? Are your arguments and presentation style clear? and are they convincing? your arguments for the Addressee? And what benefit will he get? from cooperation with you?
  3. Why are you doing this? What result do you want? What further actions do you intend to “provoke” the Addressee to?

For business letters, the corresponding GOST R 6.30−2003 has been developed, which describes the basic requirements for the content and execution of documents. You can familiarize yourself with this GOST in more detail by purchasing it at a business book store, and use it in the future when completing your paperwork.

But I would like to pay special attention to some important points:

  1. The header of a business letter must contain an appeal to the Addressee. It is issued slightly below the registration number: the Position and Full Name are indicated in the upper right corner. Addressee. Below you can specify the Subject of the letter. Even lower, in the center, the Appeal is drawn up. The address should express respect using generally accepted words: “Dear”, “Mr”, “Madam” (abbreviations are not allowed). The header is usually in bold.

For example:

Ref. No. 01 from 04/20/2012

on In. No. 01 - RiK from 01/01/1930

To the director

LLC "Horns and Hooves"

Bender O.I.

“About a batch of defective horns,

delivered on January 1, 1930.”

Dear Ostap Ibrahimovic,

  1. Introduction. In the introduction, you need to briefly define the essence of the letter. You can start traditionally: “I would like to bring to your attention...”, “I ask you...”, “Currently...”, etc. - if the letter is written in the first person.

If the appeal comes from a legal entity, then the narration comes from a third person (For example, “Our company offers...”).

Moreover, both in the introduction and in the following text of the letter, the pronoun you and all its forms (you, you, yours) should be written with a capital letter.

  1. The conclusion of the letter sums up what has been written, and often includes a request or proposal. For example: “Taking into account the above, I ask you...”
  2. The main text of a business letter traditionally ends with the phrase: “With respect,...” - if a neutral address is intended. If you personally know the Addressee, then you can end the letter with the phrase “Sincerely yours,...”.

For example:

Sincerely yours,

Underground millionaire (signature) A.I. Koreiko

Position, full name (the first name and patronymic are printed first, and then the last name), the signature is put in your own hand.

  1. The business letter ends with information about the sender, which must contain his full name. (preferably in full) position, and contact phone number. This is necessary if the Addressee or his representative needs to be contacted for additional information. You can also indicate the person in charge (full name) and his contact phone number. By the way, don’t forget to indicate the city code along with your phone number. Do not force the Addressee to waste time searching for this information.

I would also like to draw your attention to some points related to the presentation of the letter itself. At one time I used various options for presenting a letter, up to before use NLP, but all this gave little practical benefit, since the style of business writing itself is very conservative, and letters that do not correspond this style, simply did not go beyond “customs control”, represented by the company secretary. Therefore, I refused from experiments and began to write as required by business style.

Remember, your letter should contain three main sections, these are introduction, argument and conclusion. Many letter writers get straight to the point without introducing the interlocutor to the matter. Of course, if the letter is long enough, the businessman may not read the introduction, but will immediately get to the point. But he can also return to the beginning of the letter if this “essence” interests him. In conclusion, you need to write what you want to receive. The letter should not contain any double interpretations, only one clear thought throughout your letter. To do this, it would be nice to remember Aristotle, who 300 BC, considered the logic of statements and formulated logical laws on its basis:

  1. Law of identity - a concept must be used in the same meaning in the course of reasoning;
  2. The law of contradiction is “do not contradict yourself”;
  3. The law of the excluded middle - “A” or “not-A” is true, there is no third.”

According to the rules of writing, the main part of a business letter should logically consistently reveal the content of the request or proposal, making it understandable to the Addressee. All previous paragraphs should logically flow into the next. Provide specific facts and figures if necessary. And don’t forget that “brevity is the sister of Talent.” Remember that too long text can “tire” the Addressee, he may put your letter aside and not find out what the meaning of your unique offer is.

And only after you think that your letter is finally written, be sure to check it for spelling errors. and punctuation errors. Double-check the logical consistency and readability of the entire text (it’s best to read it out loud).

If you inadvertently or in a hurry make spelling mistakes, it will be an embarrassment. How can you “do business” with a company that distributes letters with errors? Be careful!

In conclusion, I would like to say that your letter will also be greeted first by its “clothes”; you need to pay special attention to the quality of the paper on which the letter is printed, its design, whether the letter will lose its shape during transportation, whether they will want to pick it up. If everything is fine in this regard, then a neat, logically consistent, revealing, well-written business letter will persuade the Addressee to positive decision in your favor. Write letters!

Go back

Whatever the purpose of business letters, they are written to achieve the desired goal in business. Not every employee of an organization has the necessary competence in the field of business correspondence; with an inept approach, there is a risk of completely ruining the company’s reputation with one letter. But if you use the letter writing service from our agency, the recipient will certainly be interested in working with you.

Purpose of business letters

Business letters do not lose their relevance in solving work issues and marketing tasks. Information provided in writing is convenient because you can always return to it or appeal when resolving controversial issues. Written text allows you to formulate thoughts more succinctly and clearly than oral communication. In addition, some recipients can only be contacted by sending a business letter. And the higher the status of this addressee, the more professional the text should be composed. Types of business letters as diverse as the sphere of business relations. Business correspondence can be commercial (a desire to conclude a deal, a claim to a party to a transaction) and non-commercial (a letter of gratitude, information, a letter of guarantee, letters of request, invitations, reminders, etc.) Based on their functionality, they distinguish between initiative letters and response letters, as well as messages that do not require a response.

How to write business letters correctly.

Features of the structure and text of a business letter

Business letters have a clear composition:

The introduction indicates the purpose and reason for the letter, and provides a link to the document that served as the starting point for this message;

The main part describes the state of affairs, provides an analysis of the situation, and argumentation.

The nature of the evidence depends on the direction of the letter: for example, to persuade to come to a conference, to invest in a project, to purchase a product;

In conclusion, a conclusion is drawn based on the above: offer, request, refusal, wish, etc.

Before the text of the letter, a polite address to the addressee is always placed (For example, “Dear Sergei Mikhailovich!”) And also at the beginning or at the end of the text there is a politeness formula drawn up according to the canons of business correspondence. Politeness formulas usually begin like this: “I express my gratitude for the assistance provided... / gratitude for the invitation... / hope for fruitful cooperation...”. When writing this type of letter, business style is observed. Its features: conciseness, clarity, unambiguity, use of terms, neutral tone, standardization.

Difficulties in writing business letters

Be well informed about the addressee and the information that he already has on your question;

Knowledge of the rules of the Russian language and the peculiarities of business style: language formulas, rules for composing sentences, etc.;

Correct and appropriate use of terminology;

Correctness in addressing the addressee.

How to write business letters correctly.

Dictionaries and samples of writing business letters can help you cope with this task on your own. But if there is not enough competent employee or time to prepare for writing business letters, a professional agency can provide this service. The specialists of the communication agency Comagency will help you develop a company letterhead, collect the necessary documents for a convincing argument, write a competent and presentable business letter, thereby improving the image of your organization.

How to learn to write business letters

Watch the video below, which easily and simply explains how to learn how to write business letters, and provides clear and understandable recommendations and practices for training:

What do you plan to outsource in 2017?

Service letter is a generalized name for documents of various contents that serve as a means of communication with institutions and individuals, reporting something, notifying about something.

Business letters are drawn up to inform the correspondent, communicate to him information that may be extremely important to him, letters are written in order to obtain the necessary information, in order to establish contact, establish business connections, so that in the future it will be possible to carry out joint activities, make transactions, etc. Business a letter is a means of rapid information exchange in the implementation of joint activities. A letter can be used as confirmation of oral agreements, as a guarantee of undertaken obligations, as a requirement to fulfill the conditions assumed, as a reminder. In addition, in any of these cases, a business letter is always a way of presenting the company. Just as the first impression of a person determines the attitude towards him for a long time, the form of the letter, the envelope, the design of the letter and, finally, the text can produce a favorable or unfavorable effect on the recipient of the letter. So, if you want this impact to be favorable, the business letter must be impeccable in all respects.

A business letter should not be long. In business relationships, every minute is precious, so you need to express your thoughts concisely, simply, and clearly. The letter should contain only information that is directly relevant to the case. The letter must be written logically, clearly, and understandably. In a business letter, you should use complex language, complex concepts, and the business letter should not be dry, it should interest the addressee. At the same time, this does not mean that the letter should be emotional, much less expressive. Even if the situation itself is quite tense, causing serious fears or concerns, emotions should be restrained in the letter, the tone of the letter should be outwardly calm and neutral. Moreover, familiarity is not allowed in a letter. Conversational manner of communication, informal style - not for business writing.

The following requirements apply to business letters:

− a business letter is drawn up on a special form - a letter form (for other types of correspondence, special forms can also be used: telegram forms, fax message forms, telephone message forms);

− the formatting of a business letter must comply with GOST R 6.30-2003 ;"

− a business letter is signed by the head of the organization, or his deputy, or another official in accordance with the distribution of responsibilities between management accepted in the organization;

− the letter must be devoted to one issue; several issues can be considered in a letter only if these issues are interrelated and one decision will be made on them;

− the letter should not be large in volume (most letters - up to one page of text, and only in exceptional cases requiring a detailed description and analysis, a letter may contain more than one page of text);

− a response must be given to an initiative letter (request, inquiry, demand, etc.);

− a business letter must be written correctly, accurately, without corrections;

− a business letter must contain objective information about the events and facts presented, and, if necessary, have explanatory and supplementary materials.

Computer technology is used to prepare and format business letters. The official nature of business correspondence and the ethics of business communication require high-quality production of documents on printing devices, and the following should be observed:

− uniform document design style;

− established sizes of service fields;

− correct location of the addressee, signature, date, registration number and other details;

− equal paragraph indentations if the paragraph begins with a red line;

− clear, clear imprints of signs;

− a straight line of lines, letters;

− equal spaces between characters, letters and numbers.

The preparation of documents transmitted via telecommunication channels has its own characteristics and involves:

− presence of service headers;

− message volume limitation;

− use of an established limited set of abbreviations;

− registration in accordance with the rules established by communications authorities.

From everything that has been said previously, it follows that composing the text and designing the letter requires a creative attitude. Each specialist must not only be competent in his field of activity, but also be literate, master the skill of formulating thoughts and formalizing them within the framework of the requirements of current regulatory documents. Theoretical principles, no matter how fully they are presented, require for their assimilation and practical application to be shown models, samples and examples of their specific implementation.

Correspondence skills, as a rule, are developed with experience, so the letter writer needs to carefully study the previous correspondence of the organization, use letters previously compiled by specialists as samples, study the rules of correspondence, analyze the features of composing texts of letters on the subject of the organization, taking into account its goals, objectives, specifics activities. An important role is played by a person’s general culture, his knowledge, skills, and outlook, so it is very important to constantly work on oneself, improve the general culture, including the culture of business communication and the culture of speech.

Preparing a letter includes the following stages:

Studying the essence of the issue;

Collection of necessary information, including from previous correspondence;

Preparing a draft letter;

Project approval (if necessary);

Signature by the manager.

Draft letters are prepared by executors on behalf of the head of the enterprise.

Business letters are drawn up on letterheads in accordance with GOST R 6.30-2003, as a rule, with angular placement of permanent details (“stamp”). Forms with a longitudinal arrangement of permanent details for letters are used less frequently, mainly by authorities and higher organizations. A4 and A5 formats are used. A5 format is used if the letter does not exceed 7-8 lines.

The first page of the letter is printed on letterhead, the rest - on blank sheets of A4 paper.

The letter must be prepared in at least two copies.

The first copy is drawn up on letterhead and sent to the addressee, the second (it is called a copy) is printed on a blank sheet of paper and filed as evidence of the work performed.

When preparing business letters, the following details are used:

− State Emblem of the Russian Federation;

− coat of arms of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation;

− organization emblem or trademark (service mark);

− organization code;

− main state registration number (OGRN) of a legal entity;

− taxpayer identification number / reason code for registration (TIN/KPP);

− document form code;

− name of the organization;

− reference information about the organization;

− document date;

− registration number of the document;

− addressee;

− resolution;

− title to the text;

− control mark;

− text of the document;

− mark about the presence of the application;

− signature;

− visa document approval;

− seal impression;

− note about the performer;

− a note on the execution of the document and sending it to the file;

− a note on receipt of the document by the organization;

− identifier of the electronic copy of the document.

The listed details can be divided into three groups:

− details of the letter form: State Emblem of the Russian Federation; coat of arms of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation; organization emblem or trademark (service mark); organization code; main state registration number (OGRN) of the legal entity; taxpayer identification number/reason code for registration (TIN/KPP); document form code; name of the organization; reference information about the organization;

− details used when composing a business letter: reference to the registration number and date of the document; destination; title to the text; text; mark about the presence of the application; signature; visa document approval; seal; mark about the performer;

− details used when working with business letters and necessary for organizing document flow, executing letters, systematizing letters and organizing their storage: document date; document registration number; resolution; title to the text; control mark; a note on the execution of the document and sending it to the file; a note on receipt of the document by the organization; ID of the electronic copy of the document.

The text of the letter most often consists of an introductory part and a main part. The introductory part indicates the reasons for drawing up the letter, accompanied by references to facts, dates, and documents. The main part of the letter states its main purpose (offer, refusal, request, guarantee, etc.).

The text of the letter is written in the first person plural: “we ask..., we send...”, or the third person singular – “the enterprise considers..., the organization has considered...”.

If the letter is written on the official letterhead of the head of the organization, then the text, as a rule, is written in the first person singular: “I offer..., I ask...”.

The text of the letter may begin with an appeal.

This small part of the text is extremely significant for communication purposes. A correctly chosen message not only attracts the addressee’s attention, but also sets the right tone for the correspondence and helps establish and maintain business relationships. The importance of the appeal is determined by the author of the letter; the appeal allows you to secure a listener. The punctuation mark following the address deserves special attention. A comma after an address gives the letter a casual character, while an exclamation mark emphasizes significance and official character. The appeal is printed in a centered manner.

Dear Mikhail Petrovich!

Mrs. Petrova!

Dear Mr. Smirnov!

Mister President!

Dear colleagues!

The letter is usually composed according to the following scheme: introduction, main part, conclusion.

“In accordance with Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated June 27, 2003 No. 620 “On approval of the Model Regulations...”.

The main part contains a description of the event, the current situation, their analysis and the evidence provided.

The conclusion of the letter represents conclusions in the form of requests, proposals, opinions, refusals, reminders.

Letters should only use officially accepted abbreviations, designations and terms. The names of institutions, organizations and positions, titles, units of measurement, geographical names and others must exactly correspond to the official names.

The final part of the text may end with an expectation for the fulfillment of a request, as well as with a politeness formula:

The letter may contain only one final part.

A note about the presence of attachments is printed in two intervals below the text of the letter from the left border of the text field if the letter includes an attachment to it.

The signature is separated from the text by three line spacing.

Approval visas are issued on a copy of the letter remaining on file. Visas are placed at the bottom of the letter.

The executor's note is printed on the front or back of the last sheet of the document on the left side of the document.

The date of the letter is the date of its signing.

Letters are signed by officials in accordance with the distribution of responsibilities and the assignment of their right to sign documents in the regulations on structural units and job descriptions.

Before the “signature” attribute, there may also be a politeness formula, which is printed from the paragraph and separated from the position by a comma, for example:

The politeness formula might look like this:

Sincerely yours,...

Best wishes, …

With sincere gratitude,...

Sincerely, …

The seal certifies the authenticity of the signature of an official on documents certifying the rights of persons, recording facts related to financial, material resources, etc. The seal certifies letters containing obligations (letters of guarantee), confirming facts, events, letters of financial content.

The seal imprint on a document may capture part of the job title, but not the signature of the official. The imprint of the seal affixed must be clearly readable.

The layout of a business letter is shown in Fig. 7.

If the text of the letter consists of two or more paragraphs, then the letter begins with the 5th character (from the margin line). Text without paragraphs can be printed directly from the left margin.

The text of the letter should include three structural elements: an introductory part outlining the reason for writing the letter; evidentiary part; the final part, which sets out the request, consent, refusal, etc.

The reverse order of structuring the letter is possible: the final part is given before the evidentiary part. This procedure is typical for letters from higher organizations.

Appendix: on ... sheet, in ... copy.

Job title

head (signature) I.O.

Job title

(signature) I. O. Last name

00.00.0000

Performer (I.O. Surname)

Telephone (000 00 00)

ID of the electronic copy of the document

Fig.7. Business letter layout

Publication date: 2014-10-19; Read: 6692 | Page copyright infringement

Studopedia.org - Studopedia.Org - 2014-2018 (0.008 s)…

Writing plan

1. In the first introductory phrase, inform about the purpose of your letter introducing your company, product, services.

I am writing to you to introduce our company.

I am writing to you to introduce our company.

I am very pleased to introduce our company.

I am pleased to introduce our company.

Further to our telephone conversation I am very pleased to write you more about our company and its products.

Continuing our telephone conversation, I am very pleased to tell you more about our company and the products it produces.

With reference to our telephone conversation of May 19 regarding the educational software, I am very pleased to inform you.

According to our telephone conversation on May 19, regarding the training programs, I am very pleased to inform you.

I am writing to you in connection with…

I am writing to you about...

With reference to our telephone conversation this morning I am writing you to confirm…

According to our telephone conversation this morning, I am writing to you to confirm...

I am writing to you regarding…

I am writing to you regarding...

You may remember we met and exchanged addresses at the CeBIT’2004 in Hannover.

You may remember that we met at CeBIT’2004 in Hannover and exchanged addresses.

We are a company which imports tools for the industrial and do-it-yourself markets.

Our company imports tools for industry and DIY consumers market.

2. List the main advantages, innovations, advantages of the proposed product and services.

This is a new reviewed edition including more than 20 new pictures.

This is a new, revised edition that includes more than 20 new pictures.

3. Determine the market segment in which you propose to introduce your product. Identify potential customers.

Our customers are small entrepreneurs.

Our consumers are small business entrepreneurs.

We are working for teenagers.

We work for teenagers. We produce products for teenagers.

We suppose that our products will be of interest for young families and people with rather low income level.

We believe that our products will be of interest to young families and people with fairly low incomes.

4. Make a specific proposal for cooperation: wholesale or retail sales, licensing agreement, creation of a distribution network, etc.

We are particularly interested in long term working relations.

We are particularly interested in long-term working relationships.

We are looking for German companies to create a chain of retailers.

We are looking for German companies to create a retail network.

In fact we are interested in license agreements only.

In reality, we are only interested in licensing agreements.

5. If you are enclosing product samples, you must explain which products are in the series offered.

I am enclosing 5 copies of the software mentioned above.

I am attaching 5 sample programs mentioned above.

Please find enclosed 3 units of the “Smart Styler” for evaluation.

3 samples of the Smart Styler product are included for testing and evaluation.

6. Express your willingness to answer all questions that may arise during the product evaluation process.

If there is any further information you require, please contact us.

Please let us know if you require further information.

We will be pleased to supply any further information you require.

We will be happy to provide you with any information you require.

Please do not hesitate to get in touch if you need any further information.

Please let us know if you require further information.

7. End the letter with a standard phrase, expressing hope for cooperation.

Hope to hear from you soon.

We look forward to hearing from you.

We hope to hear from you soon.

We look forward to doing business with you.

We look forward to working together.

We would be grateful for an early reply.

We would be glad to receive your prompt response.

Hope for future cooperation.

We look forward to working together. Looking forward to working together.

8. Your signature, name and position

Golden rule:

You need to list all the achievements, advantages of your company, product, service, and your personal ones honestly, without undue exaggeration. Any information can be easily verified.

Golden rule:

A formal business letter should be written as a personal letter, addressed to him alone, the recipient. No cold, formal phrases!

The entire world business is built on personal relationships, and they must be built!

Golden rule:

The letter should be both informative and concise and take no more than one page. Remember, no one will read more than one page. The letter should end with a direct statement of what you expect from this company. It is this final phrase that will be remembered most.

Golden rule:

When writing any letters, you should always be guided by the formula:

KISS = Keep It Short and Simple

Example 1. Representations of a company that develops educational computer programs.

I am very pleased to introduce you to our company and its software products for possible cooperation with your company.

Our interactive software products “Open” versions contain the latest achievements of the modern technologies and make the educational process very attractive and effective. This “Open” version is a unique combination of possibilities to listen and read texts, make computer experiments and solve a set of problems. I would like to point out that there are no such quality educational software products on the German market at the moment.

“Open” version is highly recommended for high school and college students as well as for self education.

This “Open” version includes at the moment:

"Open Physics" (2 parts, 2 CD-ROMs), German/ English/Russian/French, and

“Open Math” (6 parts, 6 CD-ROMs) German/ English/Russian/French.

The software mentioned above was developed by joined venture Open Learn Inc. (USA) – MATHEMATIC Ltd. (Russia) and widely used in USA, Russia and Europe.

Since our business is expanding in German speaking part of Europe, we are interested in long term contacts with German software retailers and consider Media Surep-Market to be one of the best.

Therefore, please, find the “Open” set enclosed for your review and evaluation.

I'm looking forward to hearing from you soon.

Sincerely yours,

Example 2.

Would “Seans Printers” be interested in marketing the exciting new ink-cartridges from “Russian Rainbow ink”?

I have developed and own all the rights to perfect ink-cartridges for “Seans Printers” which I feel could be selling exceptionally well in a printers industry such as yours.

The new ink-cartridge offers a variety of benefits to its users.

The colors of ink are perfectly fresh and bright.

The cartridge itself is the same size as the item you are using now, but contains two times more different colors.

The quality of printing is higher in comparison with the current models you used.

I honestly believe that this product would fit very well with the realistic pricing and strong distribution channels that seem to be the hallmark of “Seans Printers”.

This letter is not a broadside attempt to attract anyone and everyone who would be interested in new ink-cartridge.

It is being sent solely to “Seans Printers”, and I would truly appreciate you getting back to me as soon as possible so we could discuss the prospects of this issue further.

Please consider the new ink-cartridge and let me know your thoughts!

Example 3.

A proposal to produce and sell in Russia a product owned by a foreign company.

I would like to explore the possibility of doing some business with your company.

I recently visited Boston and needed some toy as a present for my own personal use. I bought the “Selfeducable Box” developed by your company and it did exactly what I needed.

The thought struck me that if packaged correctly and properly marked, this product could prove to be a very effective promotional tool, at least for education.

I propose to produce and package your product, along with complementary products, and sell it in Russia initially to our clients in the book stores and libraries field. We believe that this more direct approach to selling you product would help establish some significant long term relationships.

I would like to know what could be worked out in the way of a royalty/licensing agreement for us to use the “Selfeducable Box”. As an alternative means to sell your product, this could prove to be an excellent way to “Magic Tools” and “Selfeducable Box” to the Russian market that is, at the current moment, untapped.

I would appreciate your thoughts.

Sincerely yours,

Example 4.

An offer to find a publisher abroad for a book by a Russian author.

As a follow up to our discussion yesterday, I am enclosing a copy of our “Emergent Markets” book which was published by Moscow Business Press. It has been received very well by the press.

By the spring of 1999, the book will have been published in four languages: Russian, Chinese, Danish and Slovenian. As I mentioned to you, I would very much like to also see an American edition. I believe the issue of Emergent Markets will be very timely in USA. Could you help me to find a good publisher? I would be most grateful.

As such cooperation evolves; I would also like to look into the possibility of talking to some of your colleagues in the Bergamon Press in the same subject.

Do you think there would be an interest?

I am looking forward to hearing from you.

With kind regards,

Yours sincerely,

Example 5.

Offer to receive correspondence business education.

Dear Mrs Vancouver

Thank you for your interest in the World Open University Business School.

The Business School provides management development designed for people in full-time employment. In choosing this type of program you will be able to focus on your own organization and situation as a basis for practical assignment, while gaining insight into other organizations and industries from case studies and from interaction with your local study group.

The World Open University is the world’s leading university in “Supported Open Learning”. It has more experience and expertise than any other university in providing effective, high quality education for adults in full-time employment.

Our programs are relevant to your work and career, and guarantee flexibility, where you learn at a pace which fits in with your other commitments.

The World Open University is a recognized British state-university, and the Business School’s MBA is acceredited by AMBA, which accredits only the top 30% of all Europeam MBA programs.

Before deciding on your next step, take advantage of our local advisory service! We offer regular information evenings in Moscow and St.Petersburg or the choice of a personal appointment at a time convenient to you.

Example 6. Response to a newspaper advertisement about an offer to represent a Russian company in the USA.

Re: Your Advertisement in the Business Weekly

I learned from the Business Weekly that you are interested in representing Russian companies in the United States.

Our company is not yet represented in the USA. Last year we commissioned a market research institute to investigate the market there for sales of our products. The results of the study were very encouraging, and we are therefore now looking for a representative in this region.

The Business Weekly wrote very highly about your achievements as a new start–up company, so I think that we could cooperate successfully.

Therefore could you please let me have some references and a list of the companies which you represent?

Please mail or fax me the references, together with the name and telephone number of a contact with whom I can discuss the project in detail.

With hope for future cooperation.

Sincerely yours,

Exercise 1. Offer to represent a foreign company in Russia.

Below is the text of a letter offering representation services by a Russian company for a certain foreign company. The text of the letter is divided in any way. Using the above plan for composing such letters, create a letter formula for a real letter. Check the result by clicking the “Check” button.

Dear Mr Heathrow

d. If you are interested in being represented in Russia, I am confident that you would be satisfied with our services.

b. Our company “Soft-System” has been working in the software industry for more than 10 years, and we are very interested in representing you and selling your system software in Russia. Please let us know if you are interested in distributing your software in Russia.

a. We received your address from the Moscow branch of the American Chamber of Commerce.

e. We enclose a brochure and further details of our organization for your information.

f. I look forward to hearing from you soon,

c. We currently represent two American and one French company of great renown here in Russia. I would like to point out that we enjoy above average sales results. We employ a well-trained and efficient sales staff, and also have adequate facilities and means of transportation.

Sincerely yours,

Correct answer: a, b, c, d, e, f.

Below is the restored text of the letter.

Example 7. Offer to represent a foreign company in Russia.

Dear Mr Heathrow

We received your address from the Moscow branch of the American Chamber of Commerce.

Our company “Soft-System” has been working in the software industry for more than 10 years, and we are very interested in representing you and selling your system software in Russia. Please let us know if you are interested in distributing your software in Russia.

We currently represent two American and one French company of great renown here in Russia. I would like to point out that we enjoy above average sales results. We employ a well-trained and efficient sales staff, and also have adequate facilities and means of transportation.

If you are interested in being represented in Russia, I am confident that you would be satisfied with our services.

Promises: – urgent, spectrum (of services)wide, discountssignificant / insignificant, proposalconstructive, disagreementsignificant / insignificant, profitabilityhigh / low, calculationspreliminary or final etc.

Thank you letter to supplier

Letter #1:
Dear Ivan Ivanovich,

expresses his gratitude LLC "Delopis.ru" for mutually beneficial and fruitful cooperation for several years.

Your company is a company that is really interesting to work with, because "Delopis.ru" A very dynamically developing company that every year releases new products of excellent quality to the market. I would like to separately note that, just six months after entering the market, it was able to win its regular customer.

We are looking forward to the release.

We hope that in the coming September 2013 year exhibition LLC "Delopis.ru" will once again delight us with its new products.

"Delopis.ru"– this is a team of professionals with whom you can deal!

Sincerely,
Petr Petrov

Letter #2:
Dear Ivan Ivanovich,

Company "Delopis.ru" is a repeated winner of competitions for the purchase of products and services for government needs, and has established itself as a reliable supplier partner.

For the entire period of cooperation, starting from 2005 year, deliveries were carried out on time and in full.

During the work process, the company's employees showed a high level of professionalism and communication skills.

We express our gratitude for many years of joint work and look forward to further fruitful cooperation.

Sincerely,
Petr Petrov

Letter #3:
Dear Ivan Ivanovich,

With this letter we express our gratitude to the company "Delopis.ru" for timely compliance with delivery deadlines, installation work by a team of professional installers with extensive experience and high professionalism in their field. I would especially like to note the high quality of the products, which have proven themselves to be the best throughout the entire period of operation.

Sincerely,
Petr Petrov

Letter #4:
Dear Ivan Ivanovich,

The company expresses its gratitude and appreciation to you for the high-quality and timely delivery of equipment, and for your attentive approach to the task.

We would also like to express our personal gratitude to the head of the department Alexey Alexandrovich Semchenko for professionalism, patience and ability to resolve issues as quickly as possible.

Sincerely,
Petr Petrov

Letter #5:
Dear Ivan Ivanovich,

thanks LLC "Delopis.ru" for timely delivery of products to city repair facilities Tver.

has established itself as a reliable supplier that ships equipment in full and on time. The supplied products are of consistently high quality and have passed all necessary tests and certifications.

In addition, it provides information support to our company, providing professional consultations on the entire range of electrical equipment.

Thank you for your cooperation and quick response to the stated volumes. We are ready to continue working on joint projects.

Sincerely,
Petr Petrov

Letter #6:
Dear Ivan Ivanovich,

I thank the company team "Delopis.ru" and you personally for successful and fruitful cooperation with us in the city’s construction market Moscow.

During the period of our collaboration, the company "Delopis.ru" has established itself as a reliable supplier of quality products, capable of performing complex tasks at a high professional level.

I sincerely wish you and your company prosperity and further success in implementing new projects.

Sincerely,
Petr Petrov