8 Tips How to make a Productive Business Letter
We've compiled some important tips for you to help you avoid making mistakes in writing business communications. After all, a business letter is an indispensable document of working relationships. It addresses business issues: commercial, legal, delivery, job search, and more. Our tips will help you write a productive business letter to potential or existing business partners.
Learn more about the business partner
A common mistake made by first-time entrepreneurs and first-time job-seekers is the mass mailing of offers of their services to companies they have a very brief idea of. Find out about the potential partner from the Internet or social networks and then make a business message with an appeal to the specific person.
The recipient will evaluate the personal letter and make a positive impression. As a result, they are getting committed to resolving your issues. Avoid sharply reducing job titles, units, expressions of respect, and wishes for a good day and weekend.
The business letter should be clear
Create your submission in a concise, correct form. The headline should be brief and effective and must be clear about the content. Avoid great preambles and emotions. In the first lines, formulate an urgent question with appropriate terminology. Excessive information and a large number of chapters (which requires a scrolling monitor) can cause your letter to be delayed for a long time afterward.
Do not use non-standard phrases and terms
Instruction phrases like "If you are interested, contact us.." and more. Tend to think that you are trying to manipulate the addressee, or that your proposal may not be of interest. These are the negative points. Also, it is not acceptable to use corporate vocabulary and slang.
Avoid verbal rubbish. For example: "Of course, we are sure that cooperation with us will be beneficial for your company, isn't it?" Also, it is inappropriate to use unnecessary adjectives that are not involved in business style ("wonderful", "terrific", etc.).
Form of a question-answer
In this case, you must follow the same style as your partner. Answer every sender's question immediately under his or her question but in a different color or font. Do not reply to a new e-mail. Let your business communication form a chain. In the future, it will make it easier to find the right correspondence for both the recipient and you.
Something about attachments
Pay close attention to attachments. Submit the files for editing in the following formats: .docx or .xls. For presentation documents or for those that do not need to be modified, use the .pdf format.
Please carefully check the availability of all the attachments before sending the letter, so that you will avoid any misunderstandings and missed time for resending.
Respond without delay
Professionally respond immediately to a business letter. When the message comes from a severe partner or important customer, and it takes longer to respond, be sure to unsubscribe to the addressee who received the e-mail and when you can expect a detailed response.
Remind yourself
If you have already written three letters and have not received any answers, it is considered correct to remind yourself of the messengers or by telephone. With an urgent question, remind yourself twice or thrice a day. If the issue does not need immediate resolution, remind yourself every three days. Although most people now prefer the e-mail format, a phone call can speed up the task.
Also, make a note of business phone calls and meetings in a summary sheet. So, you are guaranteed to have a document that records the crucial points of business communication.
Monday is a stressful day
The practice of business correspondence has shown a direct dependence on response speed on the weekday. Monday is a non-productive day for submitting new proposals, arrangements, and submitting new documents. The human body still adapts to work after the weekend. But reminder letters will be appropriate.
Tuesday, Wednesday, and the first half of Thursday are optimal for productive communication. Especially when you want to resolve the issue by the end of the week. Friday is generally considered a day of correspondence. A letter sent early in the morning may be open on Friday afternoon, left early next week, or out of the ordinary.
Competent Business Letter is a powerful communication channel for a successful business that will help you find new partners, maintain stable partnerships, and develop the image of a successful person.