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Writing Business Letters That Get The Job Done
Despite the widespread use of e-mail in commerce today, traditional business letters are still the main way that the majority of businesses officially communicate with their customers and other businesses. This is especially true when businesses want to formalize an agreement or an understanding. So far, emails are great for all of the preparatory work, but a formal business letter is still most often needed to "seal the deal". There are two basic categories of business letters: business-to-business, and business-to-customer. BUSINESS-TO-BUSINESS LETTERS Most business-to-business letters are written to confirm things that have already been discussed among officials in meetings, on the telephone, or via e-mail. Can you imagine the letters that would have to go back and forth to cover all of the questions and possibilities that can be covered in a one-hour meeting, a half-hour phone call, or a few quick e-mails? The main purpose of a typical business letter is to formalize the details that were arrived at in those discussions, and to provide any additional information that was agreed upon. Over the years, certain general standards have evolved in the business world that the vast majority of businesses use in drafting their business-to-business correspondence. BUSINESS-TO-CUSTOMER LETTERS There are many different types of business to customer letters. They include: sales and marketing letters, information letters, order acknowledgement letters, order status letters, collection letters, among others. As with business-to-business letters, over the years certain general standards have evolved in the business world that the vast majority of businesses use in drafting letters to existing and potential customers. Of course, going in the other direction are customer to business letters. These include: order letters, order status inquiry letters, complaint letters, and others. Since these are customer-generated letters, there is no particular expectation that they follow any particular letter-writing standard. Typically, they are handled just like any other piece of personal correspondence. BUSINESS LETTER WRITING TIPS Here are a few tips I have picked up while writing literally hundreds of business letters over the past 20+ years. This is a slightly modified version of the tips included in my eBook, "Instant Business Letter Kit". 1. Limit Them To One Page By definition, business letters should be short and to the point, preferably one page in length. Studies have found that busy business people do not like to read beyond the first page, and will actually delay reading longer letters. 2. Relegate Technical Details To Attachments Often, it is necessary to include detailed technical information as part of a business letter package. In such cases, use the main letter as a cover letter that lists and briefly explains the attached (or enclosed) documents. 3. Keep Them Formal and Factual Generally speaking, the tone and content of business letters should be formal and factual. Feelings and emotions do not have a place in business letters. 4. Carefully Plan Your Letter Before writing the letter, take a few minutes to list all of the specific points you need to cover. Sometimes it may even mean a call to the recipient or his/her company to confirm a specific point. Remember, the purpose of the letter is to tie up all of the details on the subject at hand, so that more letters won't have to be written back and forth. 5. Be Customer Friendly When writing directly to customers, always focus on their needs and their perspective. Put yourself in their position and imagine what it would be like receiving your letter. Everyone can do this, since we are all customers of some other business in some part of our lives. 6. Use Non-Discriminatory Language Make sure that you avoid language that is specific to gender, race, or religion in all business letters, either to other businesses, or to customers. For example, use "workforce" instead of "manpower", or "chairperson" rather than "chairman". Most style guides contain detailed lists of the offensive terms and some suggested substitutes. To see a fully-formatted "real-life template" of a business letter, you can check out the following link: http://writinghelp-central.com/business-letter.html © 2005 by Shaun Fawcett Shaun Fawcett, is webmaster of the popular writing help site WritingHelp-Central.com. He is also the author of several best selling "writing toolkit" eBooks. All of his eBooks and his internationally acclaimed f-r-e-e course, "Tips and Tricks For Writing Success" are available at his writing tools site: http://www.writinghelptools.com
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