Writing Business Letters

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Learning to write effective letters is not some lost art but a skill you need to be successful in the workplace. Letters are among the most important writing you will do on your job. To write effective letters, you need to identify and analyze your audience and their needs, clearly establish your purpose, formulate your message and select the appropriate style and tone so to be reader-friendly and persuasive.

A letter is the official and expected medium through which important hard copy documents and enclosures (contracts, specifications, proposals) are sent to readers. Letters often convey official changes in policy or organization; accompany key materials submitted to outside vendors, partners, or companies; or notify customers about adjustments to their account.

A letter is as an indispensable tool of communication in business. Business letters are used to sell the products, make inquiry about customers or prices of goods, seek information and advice, maintain good public relation, increase goodwill and perform a variety of other business functions. The parts and their placement in your letter form the basic conventions of effective letter writing. The way your letter looks can determine how readers will respond to your message.

A standard business letter can be divided into an introduction, a body, and a conclusion, each section responding to or clarifying a specific issue for your recipient. To send such effective letters, adopt the “You Attitude,” in other words, signal to readers that they and their needs are of utmost importance. The “you-attitude,” a writing style and a philosophy, places the reader's interests foremost in your writing. It is based on the principle that the readers are more concerned about their own needs than they are about yours.

After emails, letters are the most frequent type of communication you are likely to have with international readers. Be careful about technical vocabulary. Use common, easily understood vocabulary.
Keep your sentences simple and easy to understand. You may feel you already have many of the secrets of better business writing at your fingertips, but writing for an international audience can require a new set of rules.