How to write a business letter. About rent reduction. Examples of letters in English in business correspondence

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:

about cooperation.
cooperation, negotiations.
A reminder of the need to fulfill obligations under the contract.
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 compiling

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:

The document itself does not have any legal force, however, it is drawn up according to all design rules. Its structure and style of presentation must comply with generally accepted principles of modern document flow.
Sentences are constructed logically, in a clear sequence. Ornate, complex, emotional, and especially colloquial expressions are absent. The tonality is neutral.
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.
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.).
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:

Spelling and punctuation errors are not allowed - the text of the letter should always be checked at least 1-2 times before sending.
Violation of the business style of presentation, the presence of emotional phrases, excessive politeness or, conversely, severity.
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.”
Too large or, conversely, too small volume. Usually the entire text can be fit into 1-2 pages. However, this does not mean that you do not need to communicate everything to your partner. important information. Volumetric data, diagrams, document forms can be included in applications.
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

Use in the text of standard phrases characteristic of business speech– a completely normal and even desirable phenomenon. 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...

2019 samples

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

Request data

Request

Commercial offer

Letter of guarantee

Claim

Gratitude

Apologies

A service letter is a document that is an integral part 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 resolve various economic or production issues. With its help, enterprises and organizations communicate with the external environment: partners, clients or government agencies. Usually a service letter is used for this.

This is the general name for a written document, which can be:

responding to previously received messages or requests;
accompanying paper sent to the addressee along with other documents or materials;
an initiative letter, in cases where another method of communication is impossible.

Each of the listed options has its own characteristics. However, there are general rules, in accordance with which any official letter is usually drawn up. This is understandable, because it is with business correspondence, for example, that most often the conclusion of most transactions begins. A properly executed document can create a favorable impression on the recipient about a future possible partner.

Types of business letters

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

Accompanying. In the case when it contains a message stating that there is an application package for it.
Pretentious. That is, it expresses dissatisfaction with a particular situation (claim).
Instructive. The text gives specific instructions.
Guaranteed. The sender confirms the future fulfillment of the obligations set out in the document.
Informational. The letter contains information that may be of interest to the recipient.
Advertising. Information is provided to attract cooperation.
Notification letter. Information about public events.
Confirmation letter. obtaining certain documents or materials.
A letter of request. The text contains an appeal to encourage the addressee to take action.
By message letter. In it, the sender provides specific information of mutual interest to the parties.

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

Drawing up a letter of claim

In matters of cooperation, situations sometimes 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, he usually sets out his proposals for eliminating the violation of his legal rights. This is a service letter. A sample of such a document can be drawn up arbitrarily. The following points must be taken into account:

must be formal and business-like with a partnership mindset.
The essence of the complaint must be expressed very clearly.
When presenting information, you need to convincingly operate with specific facts.

The letter of claim must contain:

sender's details (name, return address and contact numbers);
complete information about the addressee;
description of the circumstances under which the conflict situation occurred;
link to legal norms which the counterparty, for its part, violated;
specific requirements to eliminate the violation, indicating the deadlines for their implementation;
consequences that may occur if the opposing party evades their execution.

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

Design rules

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

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

1. Any official letter must be written on letterhead. It is developed in advance by office management specialists and approved by order of the head of the enterprise.

2. The document must contain certain details:

2.1. Information about the recipient and sender.

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

2.4. Title.

2.5. 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.

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 drawn up correctly, 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 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:

Introductory. The sender states the topic, reason and reasons for his writing. Here you can refer to regulations, which by law serve as the basis for providing a response. In addition, it is worth paying attention to some points regarding the situation in question. They will help reveal the essence of the issue.
Main. This part aims to clarify and persuade. The text must be clear, concise and concise, and the facts presented must be verified and objective. If necessary, they can be confirmed with real numbers.

This text is usually followed by a list of applications. The document ends with the sender's signature. In addition, you need to know how to write a service letter so as not to offend the recipient. Firstly, it is advisable to begin addressing him with the phrase “Dear.” Secondly, it can be used in text participial phrases such as “having carefully studied your proposals” or “carefully checked your comments.” Such observance of etiquette will only benefit both parties.

Procedure

The drafting of official letters is the responsibility of clerks, secretaries or other employees assigned these duties. When starting work, they must adhere to a certain sequence in their actions. The process of drawing up such a document usually goes through the following stages:

A thorough study of the circumstances of this issue. It is necessary to fully control the situation in order to correctly assess possible ways her decisions.
Drafting a letter. Here it is necessary to take into account all the above requirements.
Coordination of the prepared text. Sometimes it has to be edited taking into account the manager’s comments. He may make some clarifications or clarifications on the topic.
Approval by his supervisor.
Final execution and signing of the document.
Registering a letter.
Sending correspondence to the recipient.

Only after going through all these stages, the letter, having reached the addressee, will be able to fulfill the mission assigned to it.

Mandatory regulations

To issue a service letter, you must take into account that its first page must be printed on special form. For the rest you can use regular blank sheets A4 format. Here you need to remember that the text field itself has its own boundaries: the top and bottom are 2 centimeters, the left - 3.5 centimeters, the right - 1 centimeter. Do not violate standard sizes in order to fit information on one sheet. It’s better to comply with all the rules and just add an extra page.

You must also type the text according to all the rules:

1. For printing, use the standard Times New Roman font. It is better not to use other options.

2. Font sizes are also regulated:

for the main text - 14;
arrangement of pages and mark of execution - 12.

3. Placement of details is also carried out in accordance with the rules:

line spacing - 1;
text is aligned “widthwise”;
hyphens are placed 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 mandatory for the correct execution of letters for the appropriate purpose.

Location of details

To correctly compile a standard business letter, you need to clearly know where its details and components should be located. The answers to these questions are contained in GOST R 6.30-2003. It describes in detail the form of a service letter. Essentially, this is a sample in which the totality of all the details of the document are located in a certain way. It is needed in order to:

Unify the process of issuing official (business) letters.
Be able to centrally prepare standard forms in advance, while reducing the need to do some of the work manually.
Facilitate and reduce the time of visual search for information.
Expand the capabilities of processing letters using computers and other equipment.

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

emblems and coat of arms;
author;
source data;
title;
statements;
addressee;
resolutions;
text;
signatures and attachments;
approvals and assurances;
marks.

Placing information in certain sectors allows specialists to better navigate the document, and ordinary users facilitates the process of compiling 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 must know the basic requirements for official letters:

Availability of a special (company) form.
Proper use and placement of details.
The text should be readable and well edited. To present the essence of the issue, it is better to give preference to simple common sentences. You need to express yourself briefly so that each word carries as much information as possible.
Depending on the type, the document must be prepared accordingly. The letter may also contain several aspects. In this case, when presenting, it is necessary to try to combine them.
Correctly use the standards established for typing.
Try to ensure that the content of the letter does not contain categorical expressions. The recipient may perceive these phrases as threats. When constructing proposals, it is better to use introductory words such as “apparently”, “as is known”, “possibly” and “as follows”.

Fulfilling these requirements in practice helps to properly manage document flow in the enterprise.

Probably everyone has at least once had to deal with the need to write a business letter. When compiling it, you involuntarily come to the conclusion that it is not at all easy. There are many business letter writing rules and regulations that you need to know. The article describes in detail the process of drawing up a document, provides samples of business letters, and discusses their types and design.

Form

Ready-made forms will add solidity and indicate the reliability of the company. They contain the necessary information about the organization, such as:

Name.
Address.
Contact phone numbers.
Website.
Email.
Logo.
Other contact details.

There are no strict rules regarding forms. Therefore, each organization independently decides what information to include in them.

How to write business letters correctly? Preparation

Business letters are written and formatted in a certain way, subject to their inherent rules and requirements. Depending on the goal, the author thinks through the content in detail in order to obtain the result he is calculating. He must clearly understand what information the addressee already knows about the subject of the letter, what to base it on and what will be new in it. The arguments depend on what goal the author is pursuing. The process of preparing a business letter can be divided into the following stages:

Studying the issue.
Writing a draft letter.
Its approval.
Signing.
Registration.
Sending to the recipient.

Structure of business letters

When composing a letter, it is necessary to saturate it with information, that is, put all the necessary information there. It can be simple or complex. In a simple letter, the content clearly and concisely conveys information that generally does not require a response from the recipient. A complex one may consist of several sections, points and paragraphs. Each paragraph presents one aspect of information. These types of business letter samples typically consist of an introductory, body, and closing section.

Below is an example of writing a business letter - its introductory part.

The main part describes situations and events, provides their analysis and evidence. It is in this part that they convince that they need to act in one way or another, prove how things were and inform about the need to participate in any event, giving various arguments.

The conclusion contains conclusions that are made in the form of proposals, requests, reminders, refusals, and so on.

An example of writing a business letter - its final part - is presented below. This summarizes the requirement stated in the main one.

All information provided should be optimally consistent and understandable.

Each letter begins with a centered address. This small part is extremely important. When choosing it, the author must consider:

Addressee's position.
The nature of the relationship.
Formality.
Etiquette.

At the end of the letter there should be polite form. For example: “...I express hope for further cooperation (gratitude for the invitation)...” These phrases are followed by the author's signature.

Style

All letters must be kept in formal business style, which means the use of speech for official business relations. The features of such a language are formed under the following circumstances:

The main participants in business relations are legal entities, on behalf of whose managers and officials letters are written.
Relations in organizations are strictly regulated.
The subject of communication is the activities of the company.
Management documents generally have a specific addressee.
Often, in the course of an organization's activities, the same situations occur.

In this regard, the information contained in a business letter should be:

Official, impersonal, emphasizing the distance between participants in communication.
Addressed, intended for a specific addressee.
Current at the time of writing.
Reliable and impartial.
Reasoned to induce the recipient to perform any action.
Complete for decision making.

Requirements

A business letter must meet the following requirements:

Speech is standardized at all levels - lexical, morphological and syntactic. It contains many expressions, terms and formulas.
The tone of writing is neutral, restrained and strict, without the use of emotional and expressive language.
Accuracy and clarity of the text, without logical errors, clarity and thoughtfulness of wording.
Conciseness and brevity - without using expressions that carry additional meaning.
The use of language formulas formed as a result of repeated situations.
The use of terms, that is, words or phrases that have special concepts.
The use of abbreviations, which can be lexical (that is, compound words formed by removing letters from parts of words: LLC, GOST, and so on) and graphic (that is, word designations in abbreviated form: grn, zh-d, etc.).
The use of constructions in the genitive and instrumental cases.
Phrases with verbal nouns (“provide support” instead of “support”).
Using simple common sentences.

The above business letter samples below are shown in full version(with the main part). The information meets all the requirements of an official business style.

Types of business letters

It is best to write a business letter on one specific issue. If it is necessary to solve several issues at once, it is recommended to draw up several different options.

Business letters can have the following content:

Accompanying. Such letters are usually needed to inform you where to send documents.
(How to write a business letter? A sample cover letter will help those who need to write this type of document.)

Guaranteed. They are written to confirm any promises or conditions. For example, payment for work, rent, delivery times, etc. can be guaranteed.
Thanks. They began to be used especially often in Lately. Letters like this show good form. partnerships. They can be issued on regular letterhead or on colored paper with a beautiful print.
(How to write a business letter? A sample thank-you letter is compiled in free form, depending on the tasks that it solves. In in this case the letter expresses its essence in the shortest form. Such a sample, made on colored paper with an ornament, can hang on the wall in the company premises in a place of honor.)

Informational.
Instructive.
Congratulations.
Advertising.

There are also letters:

Proposals for cooperation. Quite common in recent times, sent to organizations, are often of an advertising nature, for example, like this sample. It is quite difficult to write commercial letters; you need to take into account many nuances in order to get attention, and even more so, to become interested. But if you compose it according to the sample below, it has every chance of success.

Invitations. They are sent, inviting them to participate in various events. They are usually addressed to a manager or official, but can also be addressed to an entire team.
Requests.
Notices.
Requests and many others.

How to write a response to a letter. Example

The answer must begin by repeating the request stated in the first letter. Then the results of its consideration are given and approval or a reason for refusal is expressed. A business response letter may contain an alternative solution to the expected information. Typically it meets the following principles:

Availability of a link to the first letter and its contents.
Identical language means.
Comparable scope and content aspects.
Compliance with a certain sequence.

Decor

In addition to using corporate letterheads for business letters, it is necessary to take into account other subtleties when designing them. These are details, rules for abbreviations, writing addresses, headings, text length, field widths, and more.

Samples of a business letter help you compose it, taking into account all the subtleties and nuances. They are used by both beginning office workers and experienced workers. Thanks to the samples, they learn how to write letters correctly and save a lot of time.

Business writing is one of the main communication tools in any business. A well-written business letter will help create a positive impression of the company. And one illiterately written letter can destroy your entire reputation. We have already written about the rules of business correspondence, now let's look at specific examples business letters.

Samples of business letters

There are many types of business letters - business proposals, letters of claim, letters of gratitude, letters of refusal, cover letters, letters of guarantee, information and so on. The principles of their compilation are practically no different from each other. Take a look again to avoid mistakes.

Examples of thank you letters

Example of a letter of guarantee

Sample response letter

This clear example what a polite letter containing a refusal might look like:

Example of a newsletter

Example of a letter of complaint

Examples of letters in English in business correspondence

Unfortunately, not everyone has a high level of English proficiency. And often managers are somewhat lost when they need to write a business letter to English language. If even in Russian people cannot always understand each other in correspondence, then what can we say about foreign language? The best way out in this situation is to search for similar letters and use suitable phrases from them in your letter. Here are three examples of business letters in English: a letter of gratitude to the client, a letter clarifying the terms of the transaction, and a letter of response to the purchase offer. Each file contains a version of the letter in English and its translation into Russian.
Download a letter of gratitude to the client in English.
Download the letter with the terms of the deal in English.
Download the letter of response to the purchase offer in English.

Structure of a business letter

A clear structure is an essential characteristic of a business letter. It will help the recipient quickly understand the meaning of what is written and reduce the time it takes to read it. A business letter consists of the following main parts:

1. Heading (subject of the letter). The title of the letter should contain its brief purpose or essence. You cannot use any abstract phrases here. It should be clear to the recipient what the letter is about based on the title alone. For example, “About changes in prices for the supply of products” or “Business proposal for trade cooperation with company XXX.”

2. Greeting. The greeting “Dear + First Name and Patronymic!” is considered traditional in business letters. However, it is not necessary to use the name. You can also address the addressee through his position: “Dear Mr. Director!” However, keep in mind that calling by name somewhat reduces the psychological distance and emphasizes the well-established business relationship. If the letter is addressed to a group of people, then it is acceptable to write “Dear ladies and gentlemen!”, “Dear partners!” and so on. Using the abbreviations Mr., Ms., or initials is perceived as disrespectful, so try to avoid it.

3. Statement of the purpose of writing the letter, its essence, and main idea. This is the main part of the letter. Here you write directly about the very reason for writing the letter.

4. Your proposals for solving this problem, recommendations, requests, complaints. Business letters almost always require a certain reaction from the addressee (except for purely informational letters). Therefore, it is important to describe not only the problem itself, but also offer your own options for solving it. If you write a complaint, then ask that appropriate measures be taken; if you make an offer of cooperation, then describe it possible options. In short, the recipient of your letter must not only understand “what” you want from him, but also understand “how” you propose to implement it. Then it will be a real business letter.

5. Brief summary and conclusions. At the very end we can summarize all of the above. However, it is not always possible to do this very briefly. In this case, it’s not worth writing in several sentences what you already described in the first two paragraphs. remember, that best friend a business letter is about brevity. Therefore, in most cases it is enough to limit yourself to the phrases “I hope for successful cooperation”, “I am waiting for your answer on this issue” and so on.

6. Signature. A business letter is signed with the position, first and last name of the sender with the traditional phrase “With respect.” Other options are also possible: “With Best wishes", "Sincerely yours" and so on, depending on the closeness of your contact with the recipient. The phrase “With respect” is the most universal, so if you are in doubt about how it would be more appropriate to subscribe, then use this phrase and you definitely won’t miss.

It would also be a good idea to add options for contacting you in your signature: other email addresses, work phone numbers, Skype. The benefit of this is not only that the recipient, if desired, will be able to quickly contact you in a way convenient for him, but also that this way you will demonstrate your openness and readiness to communicate with the recipient.

And don’t forget that an official letter is first and foremost a document. Therefore, by neglecting the rules for drawing it up, you irrevocably ruin the reputation of your company and yourself as a specialist.

There are special requirements for processing outgoing correspondence. This is due to the fact that it is of an informational and reference nature. When drawing up a service letter, it is worth taking into account the requirements of GOST R 6.30-2003 “Unified documentation systems. Unified system of organizational and administrative documentation. Requirements for paperwork” and use the organization’s forms. For details, you must refer to GOST R 6.30-2003 (from 07/01/2018 you will need to refer to GOST R 7.0.97-2016). This will allow you to maintain a clear structure of the document and maintain the required style of business communication, as well as correctly arrange the details of a business letter.

It is important to note that GOST R 6.30-2003 (as well as GOST R 7.0.97-2016) is advisory and organizations can themselves develop letterheads for business correspondence. Compliance with this GOST is mandatory only for federal executive authorities.

The header of the document can be positioned either longitudinally or have an angular position (the details of the letter form, telephone numbers and addresses of organizations are usually located here). A sample letter with a corner arrangement of details is the most common option in modern office work.

Sample letter form with corner details

At the top of the document are indicated:

date of;
number;
reference to the registration number and date of the document (if the correspondence is a response);
title to the text, stated in one phrase.

The header of the service letter is located under the registration number. It contains an appeal to the addressee. FULL NAME. and the addressee's position should be located on the right top corner document. A message to the recipient is written in the center.

From whom and to whom

The details of the sender's company are most often indicated on the company's letterhead. It is also necessary to correctly indicate the recipient of the correspondence, in other words, the addressee’s details:

Company name;
Name structural unit where outgoing correspondence is sent;
recipient's position;
surname and initials of the recipient;
mailing address organizations.

Sample letter on company letterhead

It is important to note that if a letter with the same content needs to be sent to several recipients, then first of all it is necessary to indicate the address of the main recipient and only then the others.

For example:

LLC "Elki-Palki"

Legal department

Moscow, Zelenaya street, 5

COPY

to CEO

LLC "Green Branches"

Simakov V.A.

Saint Petersburg,

Frunze Street, 3

Date and number

After the outgoing document has been signed, a date is stamped on it. The date can be in the format 05/17/2018 or May 17, 2019. In cases where the date is indicated several times in a document, it is recommended to maintain the same writing style.

The registration number is assigned in accordance with the system for registering outgoing documentation adopted by the organization, and only after signing the document. The registration number consists of the serial number of the document, which can be supplemented by a case index or letters.

It is important to note that registering an outgoing document makes it easier for both you and your recipient to process mail.

When responding to received official correspondence, it is necessary to fill out the details “link to registration number and date of request.” In this case, the response letter indicates the date and number of the received message. This will provide more fast processing correspondence to the recipient company.

Who signs

Official correspondence is mainly signed by managers, and in the event of his absence from the workplace - by his deputies or other officials who perform the duties of the manager during his absence.

It is important to note that modern business correspondence is sent not only by mail, but also by telegraph, fax and Email.

Do I need to indicate the artist?

Despite the fact that each business message is signed by the head of the company or his authorized officials, the correspondence itself is conducted by an ordinary ordinary employee, i.e., the executive. It is his name and contact information that we indicate in this part.

Information about the artist is always located at the very bottom, in the last lines. The full name, patronymic and surname of the employee is written, with his contact phone number on a new line, and even lower - his email address. We leave the font the same.

Is there a stamp?

Letters are usually not stamped, but if outgoing correspondence is of an official nature, issued on the organization’s letterhead and is intended to enter into legal relations with someone or another organization and be responsible for all positions expressed in the letter, management may wish to add additional details in the form of a seal.