Rules and manners for writing a business letter

3. Rules and manners for writing a business letter

Main steps

Technical layout of letter

A letter's style

Writing an effective business letter is an important skill for every manager and business owner.In this brief overview we will examine the five main steps in creating an effective business letter.

Main Steps:

1.Identify your Aims:
Clearly establish what you want to achieve from the letter- whether it is to win back a dissatisfied customer or to reprimand an employee.Whatever the aim, create your letter from these goals.

2. Establish the facts:
Make sure you have the relevant accurate facts available. For a late payer,this might include relevant invoices, complaint forms, talks with your sales department and any previous correspondence from the customer.

3. Know the recipient of the letter:
Write in the language of your recipient. Try to put yourself in the position of the recipient. Read it from his point of view. Is the letter clear or open to misinterpretation. If you know the recipient, use this knowledge to phrase the letter to generate your desired response.

4. Create a sample Copy:
Having established your aims, amassed the relevant facts with a conscious view of the recipient- write down the main points of your letter.

5. Decide on Physical layout of letter.
The physical appearance of a letter consists of the paper and the envelope. The first thing a recipient sees is the envelope. It is essential that it is of suitable quality with the name and address spelt correctly.Quality envelopes and paper suggest a professional company. It is wise to make sure the envelope matches the size of the paper.While you will use 81/2 x 11 inches(A4 size) sized paper for the majority of letters - a 4 x 6 inches(A5) can be used for specific shorter letters.But insist that properly sized envelopes are used for this A5 size paper,allowing you maintain and convey an coordinated image.

Technical layout of letter:

1.Letterhead:
This will include your company's name, address, telephone number, fax number and email address. Include your web address if available. Other information may be required depending on the legal status of your business formation.Contact your legal adviser for exact details.

2. Name and address:
Always include the recipient's name, address and postage code. Add job title if approriate. Double check that you have the correct spelling of the recipient 's name .

3.Date:
Always date your letters.Never abbreviate January to Jan. 31.

4.Reference:
These are optional.They are a good idea if you have a large volume of correspondence.These day modern word processors made this an easy task to complete and maintain.

5.Salutations:
The type of salutation depends on your relationship with the recipient. Always try to personalise letter thus avoiding the dear sir/madam situation.

6.Subject matter:
Again this is optional, but its inclusion can help the recipient in dealing successfully with the aims of your letter. Normally the subject sentence is preceded with the word Re: It should be placed one line below the greeting.

7.Communication:
This will contain a number of paragraphs, each paragraph dealing with one point and one point only.

8.Signature:
The signature should be clear and legible-showing you are interested in the letter and consequently the recipient.Your signature should also be followed underneath by a typed version of your name and your job title.

9.Enclosures:
If you include other material in the letter, put 'Enclosure','Enc', or' Encs', as appropriate, two lines below the last entry.

A letter's style:

Previously we created the main points of our letter, now we must transform this into a final version.To do this, four main considerations are necessary.

1.Format:
There are three main formats: blocked, semi-blocked and indented.

The former has all entries tight against the left -hand margin.The semi-blocked format sets the references and the date to the right margin for filing and retrieval purposes, with the remaining entries placed against the left margin.

The indented format follows the same layout as either of the above, but indents each paragraph by five or six spaces.

2.Prose:
Clarity of communication is the primary goal. Don't use technical jargon if the recipient is unlikely to understand it. Short sentences are less likely to be misunderstood or misinterperted. Be precise , don't ramble. Check each sentence to see if it is relevant.Does it add to the point ?

3. Manner:
Always try to personalise your letters. Always try to be civil and friendly even if the subject matter is stern and sensitive.Give the impression to the recipient that some effort and thought has gone into the letter.

4. Accuracy:
Once the final version of the letter has been created, polish it off with a final spelling and punctuation check.

Letter writing etiquette

Always make sure you start and end your letters correctly. If you are writing to Mrs Jane Smith then you should start the letter 'Dear Mrs Smith' and finish it with 'Yours sincerely' - N.B. 'sincerely' does not start with a capital 'S'.

Particular care is required when you are writing to a woman. If she has just written her name as Jane Smith do you start the letter 'Dear Jane' or 'Dear Ms Smith'. She might be offended if you refer to her as 'Ms' and you might not feel comfortable writing 'Dear Jane' as it sounds too familiar. To get round this problem all you have to do is ring the company and ask them how she likes to be addressed. If there is not a telephone number for the company in the advertisement just call Directory Enquires (dial 192 in the UK). When you ring the company all you have to say is that you are writing to Jane Smith and you would like to know whether she is a Ms, Mrs or Miss so your letter can be correctly addressed.

If the advertisement just says reply to J. Smith how would you address the letter? Dear Sir? or Dear Madam? Dear Mr Smith? You would be well advised to ring the company and find out J. Smith's full name and title (Mr/Mrs/Ms/Miss). Remember politeness costs you nothing, but it can really pay dividends and you will probably be the only person who has bothered to find out. This may distinguish you from everyone else who applied - being noticed is the key to writing a potential interview-winning covering letter.

If the advertisement just says write to the Personnel Department or reply to Box Number 55 it may not be possible for you to find out who will be handling your reply. In these cases you will have to start your letter 'Dear Sir/Madam' and finish the letter with 'Yours faithfully'. Please note that 'faithfully' does not start with a capital 'F'.

Striking the Right Tone
An underlying goal of most business letters you write is to promote goodwill between you and your reader. Especially when writing to someone for the first time, you should use a tone that will encourage that person to listen to you and want to work with you now and in the future

If your letter is primarily informational or contains good news, a direct approach is usually best. State your point or offer your news immediately and briefly, and then explain any other information the reader needs to know.

Finding the proper tone is more difficult if you are delivering bad news. In this case, taking an indirect approach may be a better strategy. In the first few sentences, for example, you could begin on a positive note by stating how much you want to work with the reader’s company or by reminding the reader of times you accommodated his or her requests in the past. When you do get to your point, try to minimize the reader’s disappointment or anger by delivering the message in carefully considered language that conveys your news clearly but tactfully.

Establishing a Courteous Tone

The fast pace of letters makes it easy to send a message without fully considering the nuances of its tone. If you do not take the time to think about your words and how they may be perceived, your letters may seem overly blunt or even insulting.

A simple rule can keep you from writing inadvertently offensive letters: Always ask yourself how you would feel if you received the message you are sending. If you would bristle at its terseness, you can assume the reader will as well. If you are unsure how the message might be taken, ask for someone else’s opinion, or let it sit overnight and read it again the next morning with a fresh eye.

If someone sends you a rude e-mail message (or “flame,” in e-mail slang), take a moment to calm down before responding. The best way to douse a flame is to write back using the most neutral and measured tone you can muster. In some cases it’s best not to respond to a flame.