For a long time, it has not been a secret for anyone that speech is divided into slang and literary - correct. It is logical that correct speech should be not only oral, but also written. Literacy culture must be mastered by every intelligent person. And to those who actively communicate on matters of service through correspondence - and even more so. What are the rules of business letter etiquette ?
What is etiquette
Before talking about business writing, you first need to remember what etiquette is. This is the established order of behavior in society, a set of manners and rules of the so-called good manners, which must be observed by every intelligent, well-educated person, so as not to be considered cultureless. These historically established rules are an integral part of society.
Writing Culture: General Features
The culture of writing, of course, applies not only to business writing. There are many types and methods of written communication. They are all different, each has its own characteristics, but there are common features. Among them are the following:
- reliance on standardized book language with the assumption of non-book vocabulary;
- use of complex syntax constructs;
- a fixed word order in a sentence;
- clear text structure;
- high literacy.
Etiquette of business letters
When may we be required to write a business letter? Of course, if we conduct any business with organizations and / or private individuals. What we write to our partners, colleagues, customers, how we draw up our letter, will become the face of our company and will present us either in a favorable light or not so. Unless, of course, we are competent in the etiquette of writing business letters. In order not to hit the dirt in the face, you need to learn the following tricks. By the way, possessing such knowledge is also useful because the smallest mistake, tiny inconsistency with the rules can turn a business letter into a legally incompetent one.
Business specifics
Before speaking directly about the etiquette of business letters, one should understand how business relations generally differ , what characterizes them, what their features are. The main feature of the relationship at work is the absence (either complete or almost complete) in these very relationships of a personal touch. As a rule, at work, each of us is extremely collected, calm, and polite - it is unlikely that someone will dance with a tambourine, for example, or perform other actions that are quite logical in the company of friends, but rather ridiculous for the working environment. This applies, by the way, not only to actions, but also to emotions - you can allow yourself a laugh or a smile, or even a slight manifestation of anger, but homeric laughter, tantrums, tears, and the like look quite inappropriate (all this concerns exclusively emotions at work). At work, we usually wear masks, demonstrating skills, endurance and composure.
Business communication cannot be finished when it was wanted. A business partner or client will not understand if in the middle of an important meeting we suddenly get up and leave the audience. You can’t ignore the interlocutor, you can’t but respond to calls or letters. All these features together help to better understand what the speech etiquette of a business letter should be.
General requirements
The first thing we pay attention to when we receive a letter is paper. According to the requirements of the etiquette of a business letter, the paper for him must always be crystal clear and in no case wrinkled. The addressees of the message will have a better impression of the organization if the letter is written on letterhead with the company logo. The first page is not numbered, all the rest are written in Arabic numerals.
There is another very important point in the etiquette of business correspondence. Business style of writing involves high literacy and the absence of spelling errors. Therefore, if there are gaps in the knowledge of Russian grammar, it is recommended not to rush to send correspondence, but to double-check it for possible shortcomings.
Also, a general recommendation for both paper and email is the desire not to use complex structures in your written speech - this is only relevant in legal documents. Abbreviations should not be used - only generally accepted. But the norm of business etiquette includes a variety of stamps and argo - professional jargon. The entire document is maintained in an official business style.
Another important point that is read from the letter: it should be as polite and friendly as possible. There can be no talk of tactlessness or rudeness. In addition, a business letter involves specificity, a clear statement of their thoughts.
If the addressee of the letter does not speak Russian, the text of the message should be made in its language, or in international - English. By the way, such a document should be written only on one side of the sheet, the second without fail remains clean.
When filling out documents, you need to ensure that there are no transfers. The text itself needs to be typed in one and a half to two intervals, with a field width of two centimeters on the left.
Nuances
A business letter has its own distinct, special structure. However, there is no single standard for paper documents: different companies may have their own variations. They adhere only to a certain composition of the parts of the letter: they must certainly have a “hat”, a greeting, a main part and parting. Do not forget about the personal signature at the end of the letter.
By the way, the so-called framing of the message - the initial and final phrases - are called the etiquette. It is she who helps to establish the necessary relations with the addressee. In addition, the rules of etiquette of business letters and examples of their writing demonstrate the use of a variety of speech cliches in messages (they will be discussed later).
An important nuance in the design of a business letter is the correctly used appeal. Before the revolution, in our country, the appeal was "sir" or "madam": it was considered universal, so they called anyone. Now there is no such universal appeal, although often in business letters the word "gentleman" or "mistress" is used - it has lost its popularity earlier, it gradually returns to everyday life. This can be addressed to a business partner, an official, but not to a client or colleague.
The most common and universal at present is considered the appeal "Dear" or "Dear Sir", but in fact it is not. Similarly, for example, one cannot turn to the so-called VIPs - especially important persons, which are considered to be governors, mayors, presidents. In this case, you will need to start your letter with the appeal “Dear” (another option is “Dear”).
If the message is addressed to several people at once, and all of them are representatives of the same profession, it would be appropriate to use such an address as "Dear Colleagues" (if all the recipients are women, it is allowed to write "Dear Ladies", if men are, "Dear gentlemen "). If the letter is addressed to one person, it is strictly forbidden not to use the name or surname treatment. This is permissible only in the above case (when the addressee is a group of persons) or in interaction with a legal entity.
As for the completion of the message, one must remember: it is no less significant than the beginning. It is at the end of the letter that hope is expressed for further cooperation, confidence in a successful and / or early resolution of the issue, and the like. Here one should not also point out difficulties that had occurred before - for example, delaying the answer or not receiving one at all. These phrases are considered negative signs of the etiquette of business letters and are considered as unwillingness to continue the relationship, as well as disrespect for the interlocutor. It is important to understand that this is unacceptable.
Email: Business Etiquette
The second possible correspondence option is email. Here, too, there are a number of their own characteristics. So, for example, if the addressee receives the message for the first time, then it is necessary to start it with a presentation of his own company, a description of his activities, with possible tasks to be performed. During long correspondence, it is necessary to preserve the history of past letters, on the basis of which each subsequent message is built.
The first letter must certainly contain a greeting and appeal. In subsequent, if necessary, a quick response, you can omit the appeal (if appropriate). In online communication, many do not consider it necessary to put punctuation marks, and also write without capital letters. This is unacceptable in the business etiquette of an email.
The size of the email should not be too large - as a rule, it is half the size of the paper counterpart. In the same case, if it is required to inform the addressee of a large amount of information, only a brief accompanying record should be indicated in the body of the letter, and the material itself should be attached as an attachment with a Word file or any other file - this is required by the etiquette of a business letter by e-mail. An example of such a message might be: “Good afternoon, dear Mr. Ivanov! We are sending you samples of our advertising booklets. You can familiarize yourself with them in the attachment ... ".
As for the signature, it must be. You can sign at the end of each letter, or you can make an automatic signature, which will be affixed automatically. This option is often used by representatives of large companies. The signature must indicate your name, surname, position, contact information, place of work. You need to design it in such a way that it fits into seventy characters and occupies no more than five or six lines.
I must say a few words about the response to the message. Business etiquette of an email involves receiving a response to the message within two days - no more. If you still need time, you should notify the interlocutor. Responding to all messages maintains the reputation of the company or entrepreneur. In order to know exactly whether the letter has reached the addressee, you can use the notification of receipt function - a confirmation of delivery will come automatically. In addition, it is not forbidden to make a control call.
Speech formulas, or cliches
Cliche, speech formulas, speech cliches - whatever you say, but still it will be an integral part of business correspondence. From the school course, we remember that clichés are called stable expressions. There are not so many of them:
- Regret can be expressed with the help of the following phrases: “Unfortunately, we have no way to agree ...”, “We are sorry to inform you ...”, “We are sorry to inform you ...” and so on.
- Gratitude is indicated by such cliches as: “Let me express my gratitude ...”, “Thank you ...”, “Given your contribution ...”.
- You can invite the recipient to an event using the stamps: “We have the honor to invite you ...”, “We hope for your consent ...”, “We are pleased to invite you ...”, “We will be glad to see you ...” and the like.
- You can complete the letter with the phrases: “We are waiting for new ideas from you ...”, “We wish you success ...”, “We hope for further fruitful cooperation ...”.
Golden rules of business correspondence
All features and recommendations regarding conducting business correspondence can be laid down in several rules. Brief etiquette of a business letter is as follows:
- Use of greetings and personal treatment unless the latter is not necessary.
- Any letter requires an answer. In electronic interaction, the response time should not take more than forty-eight hours. However, the answer should be written only after carefully considering it.
- If possible, it is necessary to notify the sender of the receipt of a letter from him. You can also specify the timing of the response to the message.
- The signature at the end of a paper letter typed on a computer and printed, must be put by hand. A typed signature or, worse, a stamp instead, is a sign of disrespect and bad taste.
- Handwritten letters require good legible handwriting.
- If you need to add any information to an already finished message, you should put the PS sign (postscript), write what you want, and then verify with your initials and signature that you did it.
- In electronic correspondence, the column "Subject of the letter" should be filled in such a way as to clearly reflect the content of the document.
- When sending an e-mail, you need to maintain confidentiality and subordination - remove from the correspondence in advance those places that are not intended for reading by other people.
- The history of correspondence should be preserved during the entire interaction with this interlocutor. You should not write another answer to him from the window "New letter".
- At the end of each email, you must indicate your contact information.
Common mistakes in business correspondence
There are several seemingly little things that can nevertheless become fatal in the case of business communication. Often it is these little things that lead to the termination of mutually beneficial relations, termination of transactions and the like unpleasant things. You need to know the enemy in person!
- You can’t write (and call too!) On work after hours! How often we, not wanting to be patient until the morning, disturb our partners, clients, colleagues at nine, ten, or even eleven in the evening. It seems to us that everything will disappear during the night, collapse, crash and it will be impossible to save the situation. And those rare specimens who are able to hold out until the morning, for some reason, believe that six in the morning is the time for communication. After all, if I am not sleeping, then no one is sleeping. Alas, such behavior only annoys and sets us up against ourselves.
- This has already been indirectly mentioned, but nevertheless, there can be no familiarity! Communication at work takes place exclusively on “You” (with a capital letter, this means courtesy and respect).
- Excessive exchange of courtesies can also hurt. Firstly, it takes up valuable time, and secondly, it looks a little annoying and boring. No need to zealous.
Books on etiquette, or what to read
Nowadays there is so much literature that sometimes the eyes run up. According to the culture of speech, including written, there are also enough books.
Those who wish to be savvy in this area can be advised of the following works: “The Etiquette of Business Writing” by Oleg Davtyan, “The Culture of Writing” by Tatyana Degtereva, “The Etiquette of Russian Writing” by Natalya Formanovskaya and Alla Akishina, “Business Etiquette” by Elena Ber, “Russian Speech Etiquette” by Natalya Formanovskaya and many others.
Interesting Facts
- The requirements of business letter etiquette require the use of an exclamation mark at the end of an appeal in order to emphasize a particular issue or person.
- A personal address to the addressee indicates closer and long-established relations, and the surname emphasizes the distance.
- The etiquette of business letters in Russia is characterized by leveling of the sexes, since most professions are often only masculine.
It is not so difficult to follow the rules of conducting business correspondence, because there are not so many of them. Remembering them is not a big science. But in the eyes of those around, the person who owns the etiquette of business letters will always be educated and cultural, those with whom it is pleasant to deal with.