Service letter (sample)

A service letter is a document that is an integral part of business communication. Most often it is transmitted via postal service and serves as a special way of exchanging information.

Basic concepts

Business correspondence is needed to solve various business or production issues. With its help, enterprises and organizations communicate with the external environment: partners, customers or government agencies. Usually, a service letter is used for this.

This is what a written document is called collectively, which can be:

• reply to previously received messages or requests;
• accompanying paper sent to the addressee together with other documents or materials;
• initiative letter, in the case when another way of communication is impossible.

Each of these options has its own characteristics. Nevertheless, there are general rules according to which any official letter is usually drawn up. This is understandable, because it is with business correspondence, for example, that most of the time the conclusion of most transactions begins. A correctly executed document can create at the addressee a favorable impression of a future potential partner.

Types of business letters

Depending on the information that the service letter contains, it can be:

1. Accompanying. In the case when it contains a message that there is an application package to it.
2. Claiming. That is, it expresses dissatisfaction with one or another situation (claim).
3. Instructive. The text gives specific guidance.
4. Warranty. The sender confirms the future fulfillment of the obligations set forth in the document.
5. Informational. The letter contains information that may be of interest to the addressee.
6. Advertising. Information is provided to attract cooperation.
7. Notification letter. Information about holding public events.
8. Confirmation letter. It states the fact of receiving certain documents or materials.
9. Request letter. The text contains an appeal to motivate the addressee to action.
10. Message letter. In it, the sender provides specific information of mutual interest to the parties.

The purpose of these documents is to maintain links between organizations or its structural divisions.

Drawing up a claim letter

In matters of cooperation, sometimes situations arise when one of the parties, for one reason or another, does not fulfill its obligations. In this case, the partner first sends a letter to his counterparty. In it, as a rule, he sets out his proposals to eliminate the violation of his legal rights. This is a business letter. A sample of such a document can be compiled arbitrarily. In this case, it is necessary to take into account the following points:

1. The style of writing should be formal business with a focus on partnership.
2. The essence of the claim must be expressed very clearly.
3. During the presentation of information, one must convincingly operate on specific facts.

The complaint letter must contain:

• details of the sender (name, return address and telephone numbers for communication);
• full information about the addressee;
• a description of the circumstances in which the conflict occurred;
• a reference to legal norms that the counterparty violated for its part;
• specific requirements for elimination of the violation, indicating the timing of their implementation;
• consequences that may occur if the opposing party evades their execution.

Particular attention should be paid to how the letter is composed. The sample must be designed so that the intruder does not perceive it as a threat. It must be remembered that this is just a reminder requiring compliance with the law.

Rules for registration

Particular attention should be paid to the design of official letters. True, the law does not provide for any strict rules and regulations.

Despite this, when compiling such documents, the following mandatory points must be taken into account:

1. Any service letter must be written on the form. It is developed in advance by clerks and approved by order of the head of the enterprise.

2. The document must contain certain details:

2.1. Recipient and sender information.

2.2. Outgoing number and date of this letter. This is necessary for registration.

2.3. A link to similar information about the request letter, if this document is an answer to it.

2.4. Headline.

2.5. Information about the availability of any applications with their names and numbers.

2.6. Information about the person who signed this document (position and full name).

3. The letter should address only one issue. The presence of several topics makes it difficult to choose an artist.

4. Information should be stated as briefly as possible, but understandably. It is desirable that the text occupies no more than two pages.

5. Correctly indicate the details of the recipient. In the case of an organization, it is necessary to adhere to the following sequence:

5.1. Name of the company (in the nominative case).

5.2. Subdivision (if necessary).

5.3. Position of the addressee (in the dative case).

5.4. His initials.

5.5. The postal address of the company.

6. If there are several recipients, then the primary is indicated first, and then all the others.

Given all these points, the design of official letters, in principle, will not be difficult.

Order of presentation

In order for the document to be correctly composed, it is necessary to take into account a certain sequence of presentation of information in it. For example, you can consider the option of how to write a service letter of reply. First you need to remember that, according to the rules of etiquette, you need to respond to information within 24 hours from the moment it is received. If we are talking about electronic communication, then the optimal time will be no more than two hours. In the case when it is not possible to adhere to such a rule, it is better to send a corresponding message to the partner.

The letter itself, in fact, will consist of two parts:

1. Introductory. The sender sets out the topic, reason and reason for writing it. Here you can refer to the regulations, which by law serve as the basis for providing an answer. In addition, it is worth paying attention to some points regarding the situation in question. They will help to reveal the essence of the issue.
2. The main one. This part is aimed at clarification and persuasion. The text should be clear, concise and concise, and the facts stated should be verified and objective. If necessary, they can be confirmed with real numbers.

Such text is usually followed by a list of applications. The document ends with the signature of the sender. In addition, you need to know how to write a service letter so as not to offend the addressee. Firstly, it is advisable to start an appeal to him with the phrase "Dear." Secondly, you can use in the text adverbial phrases like "carefully examining your suggestions" or "carefully checking your comments." Such observance of etiquette will only benefit both parties.

Procedure

The preparation of official letters is the responsibility of the clerks, secretaries or other employees who are entrusted with these duties. Getting to work, they must adhere to a certain sequence in their actions. The process of compiling such a document usually goes through the following steps:

1. A thorough study of the circumstances of this issue. It is necessary to fully control the situation in order to correctly assess the possible ways to solve it.
2. Drawing up a draft letter. Here it is necessary to take into account all the above requirements.
3. Coordination of the prepared text. Sometimes it has to be edited taking into account the comments of the head. He may make any clarifications or clarifications on the topic.
4. Approval by its leader.
5. Final execution and signing of the document.
6. Registration of the letter.
7. Sending correspondence to the recipient.

Only after going through all these stages, the letter, reaching the addressee, can fulfill the mission assigned to him.

Mandatory regulations

To draw up a service letter, it is necessary to take into account that its first page is necessarily printed on a special form. For the rest, you can use ordinary blank A4 sheets. Here you need to remember that the text field itself has its borders: the upper and lower are 2 centimeters, the left - 3.5 centimeters, the right - 1 centimeter. Do not violate standard sizes to fit information on one sheet. It is better to comply with all the rules and just add an additional page.

You must also type in all the rules:

1. For printing, use the standard Times New Roman font. Other options are best avoided.

2. Font sizes are also regulated:

• for the main text - 14;
• page layout and performance mark - 12.

3. Details are also placed in accordance with the rules:

• line spacing - 1;
• alignment of the text is made "in width";
• hyphenation is arranged automatically;
• the distance from the registration number to the heading is 2 line spacing, and from it to the main text - 3.

Compliance with these standards is necessary for the correct execution of letters of the appropriate purpose.

Location of details

To correctly compose a standard business letter, you must clearly know where its details and components should be located. The answers to these questions are contained in GOST R 6.30-2003. It contains a detailed outline of the service letter. In fact, this is a sample in which the set of all the details of the document is located in a certain way. It is needed in order to:

1. To unify the process of processing official (business) letters.
2. Be able to pre-centrally prepare standard forms, while reducing the need to do part of the work manually.
3. To facilitate and shorten the time of the visual search for information.
4. To expand the possibilities of processing letters using computer and other equipment.

So, for a standard business letter, 30 standard details are used, which are located in eleven mandatory zones:

• emblems and coat of arms;
• the author;
• source data;
• header
• approval;
• addressee;
• resolution
• text
• signatures and applications;
• approval and certification;
• marks.

Placing information in certain sectors enables specialists to better navigate the document, and makes it easier for ordinary users to compile it.

Primary requirements

Some managers mistakenly believe that business correspondence can be conducted arbitrarily, without observing any rules and regulations. But specialists who are responsible for this should know the basic requirements for official letters:

1. The presence of a special (company) form.
2. Proper use and placement of details.
3. The text should be readable and well-edited. To state the essence of the matter, it is better to give preference to simple common sentences. It is necessary to speak briefly so that each word carries a maximum of information.
4. Depending on the type, the document should be drawn up accordingly. A letter may also contain several aspects. In this case, the presentation should try to combine them.
5. Correctly use the rules set for typing.
6. Try to avoid categorical expressions in the content of the letter. The recipient may regard these phrases as threats. When constructing sentences, it is better to use introductory words such as “apparently,” “as you know,” “possible,” and “as it should.”

Fulfillment of these requirements in practice helps to properly document workflow at the enterprise.