An employee of any field sooner or later faces the problem of writing a business letter. The main question is how to start and how to finish? Many sites offer basic rules and examples, with little attention to the final part of the documents.

The letter must be perfect in every way. Even the slightest non-compliance with the rules can harm your credibility or the prestige of the company.

In a brief form, we suggest that you familiarize yourself with the main rules of business letters and dwell in more detail on the final part of the official letter.

You will need:

General rules for business letters

1. When writing a letter, remember that you are not expressing your own opinion, but speaking on behalf of legal entity(institutions, organizations or enterprises).
2. It is your responsibility to clearly present the results that you want to achieve with this letter and use all the possibilities of the text effectively.
3. Clearly define the presentation plan, highlighting the information for the introduction, body or ending.
4. In the introduction, after the appeal, we prepare the addressee for perception. This may be a summary of the events that led to the creation of the document. The main part contains a statement of the essence of the problem with the necessary arguments (explanation, numerical calculations, references to legislative acts).

A more effective and easy-to-understand text, in which, first, a proposal, request or demand is stated, then an argumentation, and there is no introductory part at all.

Part of the ending - applications

Certain documents have appendices that supplement, clarify, or detail specific issues. They are necessarily noted at the end of the letter, retreating from the last paragraph a few lines.

App design methods:

1) Applications that are mentioned in the text, then a mark on this is drawn up as follows:

Appendix: on 5 pages, in 3 copies.

2) Applications not indicated in the text must be listed, be sure to indicate the title, the number of pages in each application and the number of copies.

Appendix: "The act of appraisal of the cost of construction in progress", on 2 pages, in 3 copies.

3) Sometimes there are several applications. Then they are listed by name and numbered. With a large number of applications, their list is compiled separately, and in the letter after the text they note:

Appendix: as listed on … p.

Attach copies of documents to the letter in the order in which they were numbered in the attachment.

The application, as a rule, is signed by the heads of structural divisions. In the case where appendices are bound, there is no need to indicate the number of pages.

Politeness and correctness are the basis of the ending

There are various options for constructing the ending. It depends on what was said in the letter.

The most used completion examples:

1) Repeat the thanks given at the beginning or just thank for the help:

Thank you again...

Let me thank you again...

We would like to once again express our sincere gratitude to...

Thanks for the help …

2) Express hopes:

We hope that the agreement will be mutually beneficial ...

We hope that our offer will interest you…

We look forward to close and mutually beneficial cooperation...

I hope to be able to meet you in person soon...

Hope to get your reply soon...

3) Reassurance of the addressee (usually, it has a psychologically positive effect on the addressee):

We assure you that you can count on our support...

We look forward to working with you...

I would be glad to cooperate with you and waiting for your reply...

4) Request:

Please read carefully and answer...

Please let us know urgently...

Please take immediate action to improve the situation...

Please call me at any time convenient for you...

5) Repetition of an already expressed apology for the inconvenience:

Once again, I apologize for the inconvenience caused...

We sincerely apologize for this involuntary delay in payment...

Parting

1) In official correspondence, you can say goodbye in different ways:

Sincerely…

Sincerely and Best wishes…

Sincerely yours…

We wish you success.

2) If you are well acquainted with the addressee or successfully cooperate with him, then you can end the letter with friendly phrases (not cronyism):

Yours sincerely…

With best regards…

With gratitude and best wishes.

You can finish the document without using these constructions!

English letter completion features

1. Usually finish official letter like this: Sincerely Yours (Sincerely yours) or just Yours(Yours) and signature, indicating under it your name and position.
2. In order not to put your partner in a difficult position and not make you make assumptions about your gender, take the trouble to write your name in full, that is, not P.R.Dovzhenko, but Pavel Dovzhenko.

Signature

Officials sign documents within their competence.

The requisite "signature" consists of the title of the position, initials and surname of the person who signed the document.

Director of the Mramor plant (signature) A.B. Koval

Documents that are concluded in institutions operating on the principle of unity of command are signed by one official (head, deputy or employee who is entrusted with this).

Documents of collegiate bodies (minutes, decisions) are signed by two signatures (head and secretary). The order is signed by the leader.

Two or more signatures are put on documents for the content of which several people are responsible:

• Monetary and financial documents are signed by the head of the institution and the chief accountant;
• Agreements are signed by representatives of the contracting parties.

Signatures of several persons on documents are placed one under the other in sequence corresponding to the service hierarchy.

Director (signature) S.P.Antonyuk

Chief Accountant (signature) V.T.Dudko

If the document is signed by several persons holding the same position, their signatures must be placed at the same level.

Director of the plant "Luch" Director of the plant "Svet"

(signature) V.R. Sakhno (signature) L.P. Kotov

The signature begins with initials (placed before the surname), then the surname. Deciphering the signature in brackets is not necessary!

Seal

On some documents, in order to consolidate legal force, they put an imprint of the seal: contracts, decrees, conclusions, etc. The imprint must capture part of the title of the position and a personal signature.

date of

The date is placed below the signature on the left.

The official letter is dated on the day of its signing or approval by the head of the institution.

There is a generally accepted order of dating:

1. Date elements are written in one line with three pairs of Arabic numerals in sequence: day, month, year;
2. if serial number day or month is the number of the first ten (from 1 to 9), then it is preceded by a zero: 03.01.15 .
3. Word year, reduction G. do not put.

• When finished, check the letter for grammatical errors and see if there is anything extra.
• Have a colleague or, if possible, a supervisor read the letter. A look from the outside will help to identify flaws that might not be noticed.
• Don't forget to include your phone/email address. This is often necessary to quickly resolve the problem identified in the letter.
• In addition to the general universal requirements and design rules, it must be borne in mind that each type of document has its own design features.

Remember that not all documents have a complete list of the details listed above, but only a certain set of those that provide legal effect and completeness of this type of document.

Good luck with your transactions and the desired answers!

Frequently Asked Questions

What is nice to write at the end of a business proposal?

Do not use words and phrases in the final stage that can be considered manipulation (“we hope for mutually beneficial cooperation”, “thanks in advance for your answer”, “we will wait for your response letter”, etc.).

What to write at the end of the letter "with best wishes" or "respectfully"?

Definitely, "with respect", you need to adhere to the business style of communication.

What do they usually write at the end of a letter if they ask for a quick answer?

IN business letter they don't write anything like that.

Should I write in the signature of an e-mail: "respectfully" or "best regards"?

"Sincerely".

How to replace the signature "with respect"?

"With all due respect", "With respect."

How to end a presentation letter?

Thank you for your attention.

What is another way to write "would like to notify"?

"I would like to inform", "notify", "inform", "announce", "bring to the notice".

The phrase: "I will end my report with words", correct?

Are you sure that among the hundreds of emails that the recipient views, your email really stands out? Career development specialists and marketers talked about how to correctly indicate the subject of an email so that the recipient will open it and respond to it in a timely manner.

1. Always include a subject line

Ignoring the subject field of an email is the biggest mistake a sender makes when expecting a timely response. The subject of the letter, as a rule, indicates the content of the message to the recipient and makes him decide whether or not to open the letter. An email with an empty subject field is likely to be deleted immediately, as it annoys the recipient as they need to open the email to find out what it is about.

2. First, enter the subject of the letter, and then start writing the message

Many people think that the subject line of an email is a secondary task after writing it. However, Amanda Augustine, who works as a career consultant at The Ladders, emphasizes that the subject of the letter is a priority for the author. Firstly, it is the topic that sets the tone for the message, and, secondly, it does not allow you to be distracted by other topics.

3. Be brief

Whereas when you open your inbox on a computer monitor, you can see 60 characters in the subject line, on a smartphone you can only see 25-30 characters. Therefore, fit the subject of the letter in 6-8 words. This will be more than enough.

4. Indicate the most important thing at the beginning of the email subject

Dmitry Leonov, vice president of SaneBox, said that about 50% of emails are viewed from mobile phones. Consider this, and write the most important thing at the very beginning of the subject of the letter. Otherwise, in 50% of cases, important parts of the message can simply be cut off. mobile devices and not read by recipients.

5. Avoid unnecessary words

Do not litter the subject line with unnecessary phrases such as "Good afternoon", "Nice to meet you", "Thank you" and so on. First, they mean nothing to the recipient. Secondly, you can safely use them in the letter itself, which will be even more logical.

6. Be clear and specific in the subject line

The subject of the letter should indicate exactly what the letter will be about. It is on the subject of the letter that the recipient must prioritize and decide when exactly he needs to respond to it. For example, a message in the subject "Do you have free time now to solve my question?" very vague, because it does not give the recipient an understanding of what exactly they want from him, and forces him to open the letter. Therefore, if you send a resume, then feel free to write your name and the title of the vacancy for which you are applying in the subject line. And if you want to ask a colleague or partner a question about the current project, then indicate the name of the specific project in the subject line.

7. Keep the theme simple and call to action

This tip is especially helpful for marketers and those who send marketing emails. Kip Bodnar, Vice President of Hub Spot, advises writing a subject line that would call the recipient to action, would interest him.

8. Use keywords to further search and filter

Many professionals in e-mail there are thematic folders, and they also actively use filters to search for certain letters. Therefore, if there are no such labels in the subject line of your letter, then your letter will most likely simply not be noticed. Therefore, it is very important to use keywords that reflect the subject of the letter, so that in the future the recipient can easily find it through the search system.

9. Specify if you need a response

When a person receives a letter, it is also important for him to know whether he just needs to read it or whether it needs to be answered. So, says Amanda Augustine, put "Please reply" or "Please read" in the subject line of your email. You can also use the expression "For your information". It is used to inform the recipient that they will be interested in the message. Emphasizes in business email that the sender wants to inform the recipient, but the message is not an instruction and does not require the recipient to perform actions directly related to the message.

10. Indicate a deadline in the subject line

If you send a lot of information in the body of the letter, but you need it to be responded to within a certain timeframe, then indicate it in the subject line of the letter. This will significantly increase the chances of reading and responding to the message in a timely manner. For example, you could say, "Please reply to this email by the end of business Friday."

11. If someone referred you to this recipient, let them know

If the contact of the recipient was given to you by any partner, client, colleague, then indicate his name directly in the subject line, and not in the letter itself. First, a familiar name will grab the recipient's attention. Second, it will give the recipient an idea of ​​a project or issue that you can approach them with.

12. Highlight what you want to offer

If you're sending a cold email, you don't know if your offer will be of interest to your recipient. Therefore, indicate in the subject line what you offer, and also tell us about bonuses - discounts, special offers.

13. Enter the name of the recipient or the name of the company

You must know who you are sending the letter to. And the recipient should also immediately realize that this letter is intended specifically for him. Kip Bodnar states that one of the best ways to show this is to include his name or company name in the subject line. For example, you could write: "Vladimir, look at these figures: the company's sales increased by 25%."

14. Use words that limit the response time to the letter

If you want to grab someone's attention and convince the recipient to respond to you, put the term of your offer in the subject line of your email. For example: "Registration is required today", "The number of seats is limited - hurry up to sign up for the event."

15. Don't start a sentence in the subject line of an email that ends in the email itself.

If you start writing a question or a sentence in the subject line of the letter, then end it immediately, without continuing in the letter itself. This annoys the recipient, as it forces him to open the letter and continue reading. Think, maybe a messenger or even a call is more suitable for a short question?

16. Reread the message in the subject line

Amanda Augustine recommends re-reading the subject line before sending. Why is this? Very often, when a sender sends a whole "bunch" of emails to various recipients, they forget to change the name or company name in the subject line. This can annoy the recipient or even offend. Therefore, before sending a letter, re-read it and check for inconsistencies.

17. Don't write in uppercase

The use of uppercase words draws attention, but in the wrong direction. This method makes the letter difficult to read and causes the recipient to worry on a subconscious level. Instead, you can use dashes, colons, to draw some line between words and emphasize something.

The translation of the article was prepared by Ekaterina Nikitina based on materials from Business Insider

Consider how formal the letter should be. This is determined by the relationship with the recipient of the letter. For instance:

• If you write to an official, a future employer, supervisor or someone else with whom you have a purely professional and business relationship, then the letter should be formal.
• If you are writing to your current employer, colleague, relative, and someone you don't know very well, then semi-formal writing is acceptable.

Think about how you will send the letter, by email or on paper. This also affects the degree of formality of the letter.

• The most formal letters should be typed on a computer, printed out, and sent by mail, except, of course, when the matter is urgent or when the recipient prefers email.
• For informal letters, an email or handwritten letter is also suitable.
• In the case of semi-formal letters, a phone call must be made. If during the conversation you decided that the correspondence should be conducted by email - well, that's why. If you are not sure about this, write ordinary letters.

Email has always been and remains the main mode of communication in the business world. A well-written letter is already half the success. But not everyone can compose such letters. Sometimes when reading a letter from business proposal, it becomes not entirely clear what exactly they want to offer you, what kind of benefit you will get from it, and why you even spent your time reading and understanding this letter.

The ability to write correct, persuasive letters comes with practice. And it's good when the accumulated experience is shared, thus allowing other people not to step on the same rake. Jeffrey James, author of Business to Business Selling: Power Words and Strategies From the World's Top Sales Experts, offers his simple 6-step system for writing persuasive letters.

Copyright Shutterstock

1. Always be clear about what you are going to write about.

The main purpose of the letter is to make the recipient make a certain decision. Therefore, before you start writing a letter, ask yourself again about what exactly do you want from the recipient? What decision should he make after reading your letter?

In this case, uncertainty is your sworn enemy. The clearer your goal, the more persuasive your letter will be.

2. Start your letter with your conclusion

Your conclusion is a statement of the decision that the recipient should make based on the content of your letter.

In school, we were taught to always start with an introduction. In the case of compiling persuasive letters, this statement is incorrect. In the business world, everyone is too busy to judge your literary ability. Therefore, you must immediately get down to business.

For example, you want to get permission from your superiors to install a gym in one of your company's premises.

Not right:

"Jim,
As you know, employee absenteeism is a major issue at the moment that has a pretty strong financial impact on both our company and other companies in our industry… blah blah blah… So we need to consider allocating money for arrangement of a gym in the main office of our company.

Right:

"Jim,
I want you to approve the installation of a gym in our office."

3. Divide your arguments into several easy-to-digest paragraphs

In order to make the arguments in support of your idea easy to read and understand, divide them into several paragraphs.

Not right

“According to a recently released government report, physical activity groups are extremely important, even though few companies are demonstrating their commitment to such employee incentives. Many firms define these groups as undervalued assets, but they have no plan to introduce such groups into the industry, even though fitness is closely linked to corporate and personal success. I believe that if we do not introduce such physical groups in our company, we will be left far behind the competition.”

Right

“A gym in the office will allow:
- reduce absenteeism
- Increase overall productivity

4. Back up every argument with evidence

If you write a letter consisting of continuous arguments, it may be perceived as a continuous personal opinion and nothing more. Every argument needs a proof. Otherwise, how to understand that it really works?

Not right

"The gym in the office will be right decision because people would rather go to work than stay at home. It will also help to reduce the overall incidence in the office.”

Right

“Reducing the number of absenteeism. According to a survey conducted by the National Institutes of Health among 1,000 firms that have gyms in their offices, employee absenteeism in these companies is 20% lower than in those companies that do not have such equipment.

5. Repeat your conclusion as a call to action

At the end of the letter, again repeat your conclusion stated at the very beginning. Only now as a call to concrete action. In this way, you lead the recipient to a specific conclusion that he should make after reading your letter. This call should be simple and specific.

Not right

"We will be very grateful to you if you support this project."

Right

"If you answer yes to this letter, I will immediately initiate the process."

6. Indicate the benefit in the email subject line

The subject line in the letter is almost the most important part. Since it should anticipate the main subject of the letter and set the recipient in the way you want. And that is why you should fill it out last after you have written all the arguments and evidence that support your main conclusion.

Ideally, the subject of the letter should solve two important tasks: it should interest the recipient so much that he opened and read the letter; and it should contain the conclusion that you want to convey to the recipient.

In most cases The best way to do both at once is to write about the benefits that can be obtained as a result of making the decision you want.

Not right

“Impact on the health of employees of the equipment program gyms in offices"

Right

How can we reduce employee absenteeism?

Your opinion is interesting. How would you react to both options and what rules do you follow when writing such letters?

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

This article describes the rules of business correspondence by e-mail, and practical advice presented in the article will help you learn the right business communication when composing emails.

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

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

When composing emails, all the fields provided must be filled in

Business e-mail correspondence rules oblige the sender of the letter to fill in all the fields provided in the e-mail, such as the address and name of the recipient and the sender of the letter. Be sure to describe the subject, which briefly describes the essence of the letter being sent. Very often, the fate of the sent letter and the speed of resolving the problem set out in it depend on the correctly described topic. Business email should begin with a greeting - this simple manifestation of respect for the recipient is very important in correspondence. After the greeting, a text should follow, which is called the "body of the letter", and at the end a signature is left, for example, "Respectfully, Brisov Petr Ivanovich."

Greetings in business correspondence

At this point, it is worth further focusing your attention, since the gesture of respect is very important in any aspect business communications. The optimal greeting phrase is "Good afternoon" or "Hello." Conducting business correspondence by e-mail limits the sender in the use of the phrases " good evening" or " Good morning”, since the recipient may read the letter much later than receiving it. It is also not correct to use colloquial expressions used in greeting in greeting.

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

Attachments in business email correspondence

If main goal Since the letter is not only a written narrative and statement of the essence of the issue, but also the sending of a file, it is better to attach the forwarded object in the first place. It often happens that many senders, due to inattention, having stated the essence of the issue in the text of the letter, forget to attach the necessary attachment. Such negligence may adversely affect business reputation business letter sender.

The email address should be recognizable and concise.

The rules of business e-mail correspondence oblige the sender to have a recognizable electronic name, which must contain truthful information about the sender's name. Official letters and appeals look very non-concise and stupid when informal expressions or words are indicated in the email address, for example, the email address “limon_petya”. It looks very undignified for an adult. For business correspondence, it is better to create a separate email and follow the etiquette of business email correspondence.

Using the Quick Reply (Response) Function to Reply to Previously Received Emails

The Reply or Response function (abbreviated as Re:) helps the user fast way reply to previously sent messages from the sender. This function also has universal opportunity read the previous correspondence with the interlocutor on a given topic. But the rules of business e-mail correspondence oblige the sender to rename the subject of a business letter if the essence of the discussion is changed during the correspondence.

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

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

The address field must be filled in last.

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

Structuring a business letter

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

The essence of a business letter should be stated on the merits

In addition to the specified subject of the business letter, the recipient should also be interested in a clearly articulated first and second sentence of the body text. The sender's task is to state at the beginning of the letter the essence of the problem or issue on which he addresses the recipient. The first sentence should indicate the purpose for which the business letter is sent. Sample: “We inform you that the terms of the obligation under contract No. 45 dated 02.01.2017 “On the supply of bulk materials” are coming to an end. To extend the contract, you should submit a new set of documents. Thanks to the designated goal, the recipient has the opportunity to delve into main idea business letter. If the text of the letter is too large, then it is better to use the function of attaching an object as an attachment in the form of a text document, but at the same time, a cover essay should be left in the text field that illuminates the business letter. Sample: “We are sending you an electronic copy of the letter from Mak-Stroy LLC for review. We ask you to inform us of your decision on the issue of extending the contract No. 45 of 01/02/2017 "On the supply of bulk materials" until the deadline specified in the letter.

Every business email must be answered.

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

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

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

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

Do not abuse abbreviations, emotional design and capital letters

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

It is also worth refusing to write the text in capital letters. On the Internet, a set of words written in capital letters is called “shouting phrases” and more often such phrases carry a negative connotation. The recipient, when reading a business email, may regard such a font negatively, which will adversely affect the perception of meaning. If in a business letter it is necessary to emphasize the importance of any point, it is better to use introductory phrases, for example, “Please note that you need to provide a package of documents to extend the contract no later than 02/10/2017” or “Please note that the documents to extend the contract must be submitted before February 10, 2017.

Do not send sensitive information via email

To transfer personal or confidential information, it is better to refuse electronic mailboxes, as there is a threat of interception of information by attackers for their own selfish purposes. Such information may include: phone numbers, bank card passwords, personal bank accounts, etc. It is important to remember that information is stored on the mail agent's server and, in case of hacking, can be stolen.

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

As mentioned earlier, each email sent must contain a specific signature. Often, mailbox developers introduce the function of a signature block, in which you can enter your data about the position, name and contact phone number. Subsequently, this block will be automatically displayed at the end of each letter, which will make typing easier. It is important to write a signature correctly so that the recipient has the opportunity to correctly address the sender when answering the letter. An example of a signature might look like this: "Respectfully, Nikolay Aleksandrovich Petrov, +79810000000."

Drawing conclusions, it can be noted that in order to understand how to conduct business correspondence by e-mail, you do not need to master additional and complex basics. One has only to adhere to the elementary rules of etiquette and observe the norms of the Russian language.