Business letters are written when communicating with partners on almost any occasion. Ready-made examples and rules for drawing up such documents can be found in the article.

A business letter can be defined as a document that is sent on behalf of the entire company to another company, individual entrepreneur or individual (for example, an investor). Essentially, any company correspondence is business letters. Their purpose is very different:

1. about cooperation.
2. cooperation, negotiations.
3. A reminder of the need to fulfill obligations under the contract.
4. An explanation of your position, a response to a previously sent letter and many others.

The document is usually drawn up on company letterhead and can be sent by regular mail or email. However, if the partner is of special importance, it is preferable to print it on high-quality, thick paper and hand it over personally or by courier. The structure of the letter resembles a typical business document - you can schematically represent it this way.

What to pay attention to when drawing up

There are no specific rules or samples for such letters, so their structure, volume and design largely depend on the specific case. For example, a notification letter will be quite concise (3-4 paragraphs), but an employee recommendation or a business proposal may take more than one page.

However, there are several general rules that you should pay attention to when drawing up a paper:

1. The document itself does not have any legal force, but is drawn up according to all the rules of execution. Its structure and style of presentation must comply with generally accepted principles of modern document flow.
2. Sentences are constructed logically, in a clear sequence. Ornate, complex, emotional, and especially colloquial expressions are absent. The tonality is neutral.
3. The presentation is always carried out only from 1 person - either in the singular, if the text is written directly from the manager, or in the plural, if it is written on behalf of the entire company.
4. The specific purpose of the drafting and the expected actions of the addressee are spelled out (send a response, consider an employee’s candidacy, agree to negotiations, send a document, etc.).
5. The paper does not reflect the individual interests of the manager or other employees, but the goals of the company as a team. If you need to establish personal contact, it is advisable to do it differently and not position yourself as a representative of the company.

TOP 5 mistakes when writing

Errors can be divided into 2 large groups - some are associated with writing as a text (violation of logic, vocabulary, other language norms), others - with a violation of business etiquette itself:

1. Spelling and punctuation errors are not allowed - the text of the letter should always be checked at least 1-2 times before sending.
2. Violation of the business style of presentation, the presence of emotional phrases, excessive politeness or, conversely, severity.
3. Negative tone - even threats must be written without unnecessary words - for example: “We reserve the right to go to court within 30 days from the date of receipt of this letter.”
4. Too large or, conversely, too small volume. Usually the entire text can be fit into 1-2 pages. However, this does not mean that all important information should not be conveyed to the partner. Volumetric data, diagrams, document forms can be included in applications.
5. Depriving the interlocutor of the right to choose. For example, you should not write: “We ask you to review and approve the final version of the contract.”

Typical template phrases

The use of standard phrases typical of business speech in the text is completely normal and even desirable. Below is a list of the most common clichés used in various situations.

situation	phrase
notice	We inform/Bring to your attention/Inform/Notify
explanation of the reason, motive	Based on/In accordance with/In connection with/For the purposes of/For reason/In support of/In pursuance
request	Please take action/Please inform, forward, do, confirm...
confirmation	We confirm/Assure/Accept your terms/We do not object to...
offer	We recommend/offer/invite/ask
	We guarantee
refusal	We are forced to refuse for a reason/We are rejecting your offer due to...
conclusion	We kindly ask/We hope for cooperation, understanding, assistance/We ask you to excuse, guide, do...

2020 samples

Here are a few ready-made examples of letters that you can use as a guide when composing your own version.

Request data

Request

Commercial offer

Letter of guarantee

Claim

Gratitude

Apologies

Drafting various types of business letters is a necessary part of the work of business representatives. Thanks to such messages, they gain the opportunity to resolve commercial issues in the most accessible, fastest and optimal way.

FILES

What types of business letters are there?

Conventionally, business letters can be divided into several main categories:

• congratulatory letter;
• information mail;
• and so on.

You can mark responses to all these letters, which are also part of official business correspondence and are also written according to certain canons, as a separate item.

Who should act as the author of the letter?

Business letters must always contain a signature. In this case, any employee of the company whose competence includes this function or authorized to do so by order of the director can directly draw up the letter. Usually this is a specialist or the head of the structural unit whose jurisdiction includes the subject of the message. However, regardless of who is involved in writing, the letter in any case must be submitted to the manager for approval, bearing in mind that it is being written on behalf of the company.

General rules for writing business letters

All business messages should relate only to the activities of the company or circumstances related to it. At the same time, regardless of the content, they must obey certain requirements.

First of all, it is a certain structure. The message should always include:

• date of writing,
• details of the sender and recipient,
• polite address address (in the form of the wording “Dear Ivan Petrovich”, “Dear Elena Grigorievna”),

It should be noted that letters can be addressed to both individual employees and entire teams (in this case, it is enough to limit yourself to the greeting “Good afternoon!”).

information component containing the reasons and goals that served as the basis for writing the letter,

requests and explanations

conclusion.

Various additional documents, photos and video evidence may be attached to the letter - if any, this must be reflected in the main text.

The letter can be drawn up either on a regular standard A4 sheet or on the organization’s letterhead. The second option is preferable, since it does not require manually entering company details; in addition, such a letter looks more respectable and once again indicates that the message belongs to official correspondence. It can be written in handwriting (letters written in calligraphic handwriting are especially successful), or printed on a computer (convenient when you need to create several copies of a letter).

The letter must be certified by a signature, but it is not necessary to stamp it, because Since 2016, legal entities have been exempted from the need to use seals in their activities.

Before sending, the message, if necessary, is registered in the journal of outgoing documentation, in which it is assigned a number and the date of departure is set.

What to pay attention to when writing a letter

When composing a letter, you need to carefully monitor spelling, adhere to the rules and norms of the Russian language in terms of vocabulary, grammar, punctuation, etc. Recipients always pay attention to how well the thoughts in the message are presented and formatted.

We should not forget that the studies conducted clearly indicate that people are not willing to spend more than one minute reading this kind of letters.

The letter must be written in the correct form, without “spreading thoughts down the tree,” rather short and succinctly, to the point. Each new topic should be presented in the form of a separate paragraph, which, if necessary, should be divided into paragraphs. In addition, a concise and clear letter will let the recipient know that the author values ​​his time. Here the saying “brevity is the sister of talent” is apt.

What should not be allowed in a business letter

In business letters, a cheeky or frivolous tone is completely unacceptable, as is excessively dry text and banal “clichés”. You should also avoid complex formulations, an abundance of participial and adverbial phrases, and special terminology that is understandable to a narrow circle of specialists.

The letter must not include unverified, unreliable and, especially, deliberately false information.

It must be borne in mind that this type of message is not only part of routine business correspondence, but also, in many cases, refers to official documents that may subsequently acquire the status of legally significant ones.

How to send a letter

Any official message can be sent in several main ways.

1. The first, the most modern and fastest, is through electronic means of communication. It is convenient and quick, and also allows you to send information of almost unlimited volume.

   There is only one minus here - if the recipient has a large amount of mail, the letter can easily get lost or end up in the Spam folder, so when sending letters in this way, it is advisable to additionally make sure that the letter has been received (through a simple phone call).

2. The second way: conservative, which allows you to send the message by Russian Post. In this case, it is recommended to use the function of sending by registered mail with return receipt requested - this form guarantees that the letter will reach the addressee, about which the recipient will receive a special notification.

   Typically, sending via standard mail is used in cases where original documents, letters certified by living signatures and seals are sent.

3. You can also send a letter via fax or various instant messengers, but only on the condition that the relationship between the partners is close enough to allow this type of correspondence.

Sample of an initiative commercial letter

Informational - created in order to convey some information. 2. Advertising - created in order to influence the addressee in the desired way.

2. Letters of response. Based on the addressee 1. Regular - as a rule, sent to only one recipient. 2. Circular - those that one sender sends to several recipients.

Info

According to the form of sending 1. Emails - used by organizations for the purpose of quickly resolving an issue, usually do not have legal force. 2. Traditional postal items are documents that have legal force.

Examples: offer, contract, complaint. According to composition 1.

Letter

Attention

If you take into account all these points, then drawing up official letters, in principle, will not be difficult. Order of presentation In order for a document to be correctly drawn up, it is necessary to take into account a certain order of presentation of information in it.

For example, you can consider the option of how to write a professional response letter. First, you need to remember that, according to the rules of etiquette, you must respond to information within 24 hours from the moment you receive it.
If we are talking about an electronic message, then the optimal time will be no more than two hours. In cases where it is not possible to adhere to such a rule, it is better to send an appropriate message to your partner.
The letter itself will essentially consist of two parts:

1. Introductory. The sender states the topic, reason and reasons for his writing. Here you can refer to regulations that, by law, serve as the basis for providing an answer.

We issue letters according to GOST standards

Letter A letter is a generalized name for documents of various contents that serve as a means of communication between institutions in the process of carrying out their activities. A letter is the most common way of exchanging information; it unites a huge group of documents that are very different in content, distinguished by the method of transmitting text (by mail).

Letters make up the majority of incoming and outgoing documents of any institution and have many varieties. Types of letters:

• instructive;
• accompanying;
• informational;
• warranty;
• advertising;
• claims;
• arbitration;
• confirmation letters;
• reminder letters;
• notification letters;
• letters of request.

The letters express congratulations, wishes, and greetings on special occasions.

The length of the letter, as a rule, should not exceed one page. The purpose of composing and sending letters comes down, as a rule, to incentives, which leads to the basic requirements for the text: clarity, clarity, brevity of presentation.
The practice of correspondence has developed several general rules that must be followed when composing and formatting letters. The letter should be devoted to one issue, which simplifies the processing operations and speeds up execution in the organization to which they are addressed.

The text of the letter, as a rule, is stated in the third person singular, for example: “The school does not have the opportunity...”, “In the coming year the school does not suggest...”, etc. The right to sign official letters, as a rule, belongs to the manager, and during his absence (illness, vacation, business trip) to his deputy or the official acting as the manager.

Service letter (sample)

It is believed that a service letter can contain only one final part. As a rule, they end with standard expressions - for example, “I hope for further cooperation,” “With best wishes.” The politeness formula is placed before the “signature” attribute, and is separated from the position by a comma. Help When designing, it is important for the author to take into account such aspects as:

• the degree of acquaintance and the nature of the relationship with the addressee;
• the public position of the addressee and its relationship with the position of the author;
• the situation in which communication takes place - its formality or informality;
• etiquette and standards adopted in a particular company.

Formatting a letter, sample: Formatting letters according to GOST Service letters must be drawn up on special forms, A4 or A5 format, depending on the size of the text.

Types of business correspondence - file n1.docx

The text of the letters is specific, clear, and full of information. In such letters, the address or telephone number of the author organization is indicated separately. The notification letter is close in style to invitation letters and information letters. It is compiled for a specific addressee and most often is a response to a request. It begins with the words: “we notify”, “we inform”, “we inform you”, etc., then some facts are stated. If such a letter is addressed to a specific person, it indicates the last name, first name, and patronymic of the person to whom it is sent.

The confirmation letter contains a message about the receipt of any shipment (letter, telegram, transfer, parcel, goods, valuables, etc.), that the previously drawn up document remains in force (for example, an agreement, instructions, etc. .). A letter can confirm any fact, action, telephone conversation.

Initiative letters example

Information about the presence of any applications, indicating 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. Having multiple themes will make it difficult to choose an artist. 4. Information must be presented as briefly as possible, but clearly. It is advisable that the text occupy no more than two pages. 5. Correctly indicate the recipient's details. If we are talking about an organization, it is necessary to adhere to the following sequence: 5.1. Company name (in the nominative case). 5.2. Structural unit (if necessary). 5.3. Position of the addressee (in the dative case). 5.4. His initials. 5.5. Postal address of the enterprise. 6. If there are several recipients, then the main one is indicated first, and then all the others.

In terms of volume, the text of the letter traditionally should not exceed one page. The purpose of composing and sending letters is traditionally driven by incentive motives, hence the basic requirements for the text: clarity, clarity, brevity of presentation.

The practice of correspondence has developed several general rules, which are extremely important to adhere to when composing and formatting letters. The letter should be devoted to one issue, which simplifies the processing operations and speeds up execution in the organization to which they are addressed.

Please note that the text of the letter, as a rule, is written in the third person singular, for example: “The school does not have the opportunity...”, “In the coming year the school does not suggest...”, etc. The right to sign official letters traditionally belongs to the manager, and during his absence (illness, vacation, business trip) to his deputy or the official acting as manager.

Initiative letters examples

Basic requirements for writing a business letter

• Availability of letterhead with the name of the organization, address, logo and seal;
• Margins are required: on the left - 3 cm, on the right -1.5 cm;
• The header of a business letter must indicate the recipient (full name, position);
• In accordance with the requirements of office work, the date of sending the letter and its registration number are indicated in the upper left corner;
• A business letter is signed by the sender (full name, position);
• Traditionally, a business letter is written using Times New Roman font, size 12, single spacing.

Vivid examples of business correspondence letters are offers, letters of guarantee or cover letters, which differ in a number of characteristics.
So, before sending, the addressee must clearly understand who the addressee is, what information he has, what his status is, and what the answer may be. There are six stages in preparing and composing official letters: studying the issue, collecting the necessary information on the topic, and, if necessary, studying the relevant legislative acts; preparation and writing of the draft text; project approval and necessary editing; signature by the manager; registration of outgoing letter; dispatch. Before sending, the author must make sure that he has indicated: the name of the company and reference data, the date and registration number, the addressee, the actual text of the letter and its heading, the signatures of the drafters, a note on the presence of attachments. A business letter reflects the company's image.

CONFIRMATION LETTER

Such a letter contains a message about the receipt of any shipment (letter, telegram, transfer, parcel, goods, valuables, etc.), that the previously drawn up document remains in force (agreement, instructions, etc.). A letter is a confirmation of some fact, action, telephone conversation. Such a letter begins with words derived from the verb “to confirm.”

For example:

Confirming receipt of your proposals set out in the letter dated June 25, 2005, we are sending copies of the necessary documents to your address.

Sending such letters is a mandatory part of the business relationship. Sending them in a timely manner allows the addressee to remove control and prevent them from receiving reminder letters.

REMINDER LETTER

The letter contains an indication of the approaching or expiration of a deadline for the fulfillment of any obligation or event. Such a letter can be especially concise, contain one final part and, as a rule, begins with the word “Reminder.”

For example:

We remind you that in accordance with agreement No. 12/68 dated 05/12/2005, you must complete repair and construction work no later than the period specified in the agreement, namely 08/20/2005.

LETTER OF GUARANTEE

Such a letter is a document ensuring the fulfillment of the obligations set out in it.

In it, the addressee is usually guaranteed payment or provision of something (place, work, research, etc.). These letters have a heightened legal function, so the presentation of the text must be extremely clear and precise.

For example:

Please allocate a room for the seminar on July 14, 2005 from 14.30 to 18.00.

We guarantee payment for the rent of the premises from an account... in... a bank.

INITIATIVE LETTER

This is a letter that requires a response. Most categories of these letters express a request (suggestion, request) to the addressee in resolving some issue.

This is the most common type of letters, the subject of which is unlimited. However, their nature suggests the possibility of a positive or negative solution to the problem posed.

For example:

We invite you to take part in the work of the expert group.

Please notify us of your decision in a letter no later than December 20, 2005.

REPLY LETTER

Such a letter in its content is of a nature that depends on the initiative letters, since the topic of their texts has already been set and it remains to propose the nature of the solution to the issues raised in the initiative letters: acceptance or refusal of the proposal, fulfillment of the request.

The answer should always be stated in a specific and clear form: whether all requests can be satisfied, to what extent, within what time frame.

If the letter contains a refusal, it must be briefly justified.