Business Letter Writing
Writing a business letter must be concise and directly to the point. The people you are writing to are not interested in sales pitches or embellishments on what you have to say. So be straight forward. They neither have the time nor the inclination to be bothered with your style of literacy. They want the message you have to give them in a completely unambiguous fashion.
In saying this however, business letters first and foremost must be grammatically correct with absolutely no spelling errors. This may be the first impression you make, and it is a fact that first impressions count. A bad first impression takes a long time in business to be corrected.
There are several forms of business writing, from the formal letters to prospective customers and suppliers to the more colloquial e-mails to colleagues.
However, one aspect of a business communication must never be broken. Too much informality is frowned upon as being unprofessional, and being over formal can alienate some readers of your communication. You must be able to make judgments between the types of letters you write to the various people that you have to deal with in business. You would not write to your CEO in the same way that you would to a colleague at the same level in the company as you.
It is important in business letters that you refer to yourself in the first person when you are writing about yourself, and the third person when referring to the company. Never use the 'royal we', but always use 'we' when referring to the company. For example, "I am sorry that we are unable to supply on time, but we will do our best to expedite your order" is fine, but "I am sorry that we are unable to supply on time, but we will talk to our colleagues in dispatch to make sure that your order is expedited" is not.
In saying this however, business letters first and foremost must be grammatically correct with absolutely no spelling errors. This may be the first impression you make, and it is a fact that first impressions count. A bad first impression takes a long time in business to be corrected.
There are several forms of business writing, from the formal letters to prospective customers and suppliers to the more colloquial e-mails to colleagues.
However, one aspect of a business communication must never be broken. Too much informality is frowned upon as being unprofessional, and being over formal can alienate some readers of your communication. You must be able to make judgments between the types of letters you write to the various people that you have to deal with in business. You would not write to your CEO in the same way that you would to a colleague at the same level in the company as you.
It is important in business letters that you refer to yourself in the first person when you are writing about yourself, and the third person when referring to the company. Never use the 'royal we', but always use 'we' when referring to the company. For example, "I am sorry that we are unable to supply on time, but we will do our best to expedite your order" is fine, but "I am sorry that we are unable to supply on time, but we will talk to our colleagues in dispatch to make sure that your order is expedited" is not.