Examples of rules for business correspondence by email. Business correspondence etiquette

Last time, we shared with you the rules for writing business official printed letters, as well as various established ethical standards.

When we start talking about business correspondence, we should pay attention to the fact that Lately it is increasingly moving into electronic format. After all, today the speed of communication is one of the essential attributes of successful cooperation.

Therefore, I decided to highlight in a separate article the rules of business correspondence specifically in electronic format via e-mail. And then we will close the issue of business correspondence completely. In some ways, the information in both articles may overlap, I just want each individual checklist to look complete and complete.

So, meet the 100 golden rules of business email correspondence:

1. Develop a corporate template in your corporate style and determine for yourself the types and forms of business correspondence letters - this will give your message formality.
2. The width of a corporate template should be between 500-650 pixels.
3. Always keep in mind that your email may be read on a mobile device - optimize your corporate template accordingly.
4. Official emails don't have to be creative.
5. Work on your corporate email address - no “kisonka”, “bomberman” or other nicknames.
6. The most optimal form of address is [email protected].
7. Mailing addresses starting with info@, ad@, office@, reklama@, inbox@, etc. - do not inspire much confidence in personal business correspondence.
8. Follow the rule “one letter - one news item”.
9. Likewise, a formal email should only have one targeted action.
10. Before sending, make sure that the existing e-mail belongs to the person you need, and not to another employee of the recipient’s company.
11. Always fill in the “subject line”.
12. Try to ensure that the subject line of the letter does not exceed 50 characters - this way it will definitely be fully displayed on mobile devices.
13. The purpose and subject of your letter should already be visible when examining the “subject line”.
14. Do not use single word subject lines (“hello”, “question”, “answer”, “information”, etc.).
15. Always fill out the preheader.
16. An official letter (form, signature, seal) can be sent in scanned form from a corporate mailbox.
17. If the recipient is waiting for a letter from you, you should not entrust this mission to a subordinate - maintain the “status” of communication.
18. Choose a font that is easy to read (for emails best option- 14 point), avoid fragments of text in small font - use standard fonts, do not experiment.
19. Always say hello to the recipient of the email via text.
20. In modern practice of official email correspondence, the use of incomplete names is allowed, for example, “Hello, Yulia!” instead of “Hello, Yulia!” You can also move away from using a middle name when addressing someone.
21. Address the recipient of the letter by name not only during the greeting.
22. If there are several recipients, address not a specific person, but everyone: “gentlemen”, “friends”, “partners”, “colleagues”, etc.
23. Triple check the company name, position and full name of the recipient.
24. When contacting the recipient, accurately determine his gender; there is no need to fool around with the “Dear...” style option.
25. Leave informal communication for personal correspondence.
26. It would not be amiss to mention at the beginning of the letter where and under what circumstances you met the recipient.
27. A light compliment at the beginning of an email is a powerful move.
28. If the recipient asked you to write him a letter, tell him so at the very beginning.
29. When replying to a letter, use the “Reply” option so that the “Re:” prefix appears in the subject line of the letter and the correspondence history is saved.
30. Writing words in capital letters in official documents is a tactless act.
31. Exclamation mark- the enemy of official business correspondence.
32. It is customary to address a specific person with “you”; if the letter has several recipients, use “you”.
33. Even if the recipient is yours good friend, it is not customary to show “familiarity” in official correspondence.
34. If your letter is a response to another letter, mention this at the very beginning.
35. When replying to a letter, always thank the sender, for example: “Sergey, thank you for your letter.”
36. Never respond with dissatisfaction to a “dissatisfied” letter, do not respond to aggression with aggression.
37. If the information in your letter is of particular importance, mark it with a special “flag”.
38. Nobody likes to read long letters; try to invest in “one screen”; According to the rules of e-mail correspondence, in one letter the whole essence can be stated in 6-7 sentences.
39. An e-mail should be twice as long as the same letter written on paper.
40. Do not write in the following tones - overly confident, commanding, pleading and threatening.
41. If you're writing your first cold email to a specific person and you haven't met yet, be sure to tell them where you got that person's address.
42. The classic structure of an official e-mail letter includes three elements: a brief introductory part (the reasons and purpose of the letter), the main part (the essence and the main idea appeals), the final part (instructions, conclusions, requests, suggestions, information about the desired action, etc.).
43. Nobody forbids using subheadings in a business letter that clearly highlight the structure of the letter.
44. Write so that the paragraph does not exceed 3-4 lines.
45. Use wide margins, not too much space between lines, and a blank line between paragraphs.
46. The length of one line should be in the range of 60-80 characters.
47. Align your corporate template to the center of the screen.
48. Place the lists in numbered and bulleted lists.
49. In emails, the number of items in lists should be in the range of 3-7 positions.
50. Do not use Internet slang (such as “Good day”) and do not decorate the letter with emoticons.
51. In business emails there is no place for jargon, popular slang, anecdotes (as well as any other humor), aphorisms, proverbs and even metaphors.
52. Try not to use words of foreign origin - replace them with Russian synonyms.
53. Be careful with abbreviations and abbreviations - the reader must understand them.
54. An email is an indicator of your brevity. Therefore, if you are thinking about whether to put a comma or a period, give preference to the period.
55. Highlight the important idea of ​​the text in bold font - just do not overuse it.
56. Do not underline words - the reader may confuse them with a link.
57. In the response letter, the use of the vocabulary of the first letter is encouraged.
58. The passive (passive) voice is appropriate only in very formal correspondence; if the style of the letter should build loyalty and convey interest, use the active voice (active).
59. When responding to a specific letter, you can quote the sender - this will allow him to remember the points you need.
60. Never include sensitive or confidential information in an email - because your text may accidentally end up in the hands of the “wrong person”.
61. In email letters, it is customary to use three options for presentation - from specific to general, from general to specific, and presenting information in chronological order.
62. Remember that it is better to attach images rather than use them in the body of the letter, as they may be disabled by the recipient; if a template is used, the letter should be readable even when displaying images is disabled.
63. Avoid background images; they are often blocked by email programs.
64. Don’t turn your letter into “Murzilka”; you don’t need to indulge in colored fonts.
65. Visually, the letter design should have no more than three primary colors.
66. Reduce the use of various graphic special effects (shadows, glows, gradients, etc.) to a minimum.
67. To display and show the link, use the usual Blue colour.
68. The main links should be on the left side of the letter, so that a right-handed person reading the letter from a phone (held in right hand), could easily click on them.
69. It is customary to include information about further actions in the final part of the email.
70. Do not use words and phrases at the final stage that can be considered manipulation (“we hope for mutually beneficial cooperation”, “thank you in advance for your answer”, “we will wait for your response letter”, etc.).
71. If you need to send a letter that is bulky in terms of text, it is better to break it into two parts, and in the text of the first part, make an announcement about what awaits the recipient in the next letter.
72. It is not advisable to use a postscript in business email correspondence.
73. At the end of the letter (namely in the “signature”), indicate your contact information - and provide information on which you can respond very quickly without any secretaries.
74. It is not advisable to indicate several phone numbers and email addresses; leave only those contacts to which you will immediately respond.
75. It is advisable to start the signature with template but polite phrases “With respect” or “With sincere wishes”; Options in the style of “Sincerely yours” in business correspondence are unacceptable.
76. Adding your photo to your signature shows your openness, just choose good photos, “passport masterpieces” are of no interest to anyone.
77. Carefully check the text of the letter for errors and typos.
78. It is not advisable to include information in the body of an email that could be included in attachments.
79. If there are attachments to your email, be sure to mention them in the body of the main email and tell them what information is there.
80. Do not send files without cover letter.
81. The text of the letter should contain information about each application - a short and clear explanation.
82. The file name in the attachment must match its name in the main letter.
83. If the attachment to the letter is large in size, do not overload the recipient's server; send a link to download the file in the letter field.
84. Applications with the extension .exe (or other “software” formats) by e-mail no need to send.
85. According to business etiquette, it is not customary to send emails on weekends and holidays, in the first half of Monday, and also in the afternoon on Friday.
86. Reply to emails quickly - in a business environment it is customary to respond within 3 hours, maximum within a day.
87. Answer letters in detail - this very well shows your excellent business qualities.
88. Even if in a letter the sender asks you a question that requires a “yes” or “no” answer, in official correspondence it is customary to communicate the reason for your decision.
89. According to the rules of etiquette, if one letter develops into correspondence, then it is completed by the person who initiated the communication.
90. If you and the recipient have a whole correspondence on different topics, respond to the desired letter in accordance with the specific discussion.
91. If you answer several questions in a letter, duplicate or quote the question, and then answer it.
92. Before sending a response letter, make sure that you have answered all the questions asked.
93. Never refuse a harsh form, soften the effect.
94. If you go on vacation, don’t forget to set up “auto-reply when absent” in your email program; at the same time, indicate in such a letter the contact information of the person who is replacing you (provided that he is authorized to resolve the necessary issues).
95. Try to send all the necessary information on the topic of discussion in one letter; it’s not very good when, with an interval of several minutes, the recipient sees another letter from you, starting with a phrase, for example: “Sorry, I forgot to say...”.
96. Inform the sender that you have received his letter, and also tell him when to expect your response - this is a good tactic that will immediately endear you to your interlocutor.
97. Do not use automatically configured notifications when you receive an email. Still, correspondence is a personal matter, and the letter “Your letter has been received, I will answer as soon as possible” speaks of stereotypes and is completely devoid of specifics.
98. In an email, do not share someone else's information without citing the source.
99. Never give out another person's email address without permission and warning.
100. If over time you realize or find out that you sent a letter with inaccurate, outdated or unreliable information, send a follow-up letter with a new letter, apologize and provide the current correct information.

And lastly, bring up the emails you have received from other people (companies). Study them and pay attention to the moments that personally caused you indignation. Try not to use such roughness in your letters.

When reposting this article, please provide a link to the original source. This is our official document in electronic form. If he appears “one to one” on your behalf (the name of a company, community, etc.) - think about what impression he will then form about you...

We want your new emails to help create a strong impression and inspire trust.

And yes, if your company needs a package of email letters for official correspondence (requests, notices, notifications, etc.) - we are ready to prepare it for you at the highest and most serious level. They can be safely sent even to the President.

P.S. Your Denis Kaplunov Studio - we shared our “tricks” again.

Business correspondence V modern world business is an important part of success. Employees of any organization are faced with the need to compose their own business correspondence and respond to incoming messages every day.

Business correspondence has its own broad classification: official, personal, external, internal, according to the purpose of writing and the form of sending.

One of the competencies of a modern employee is the ability to write correctly. business letter: gratitude, request, confirmation, guarantee, claim, press release, congratulations, recommendation and others.

Let's look at the basic steps in writing a business letter.

Business correspondence culture- this includes the design of the letter, the literacy of the text, and the correct use of words and expressions. Therefore, it is best to use a draft first so that you can check yourself later and eliminate unpleasant misunderstandings.

The structure of a business letter includes: an address to the addressee, a preamble, the main body, and a conclusion.

Business correspondence does not allow addresses on “you”. Therefore, most often the address begins with the words “Dear...”. The continuation of the appeal depends on many factors. The manager's first and patronymic name is used in case of personal acquaintance (however, it is often used in letters addressed to the manager government agency). To the manager commercial organization It is acceptable to address the person with the word “Mr.” and add a surname without initials. If you do not know the ranks of military personnel or the exact names of positions of senior officials, it is better not to use them. In this case, the recipient’s first name and patronymic will look more correct than an error.

The preamble is needed to show the motivation and purpose of the letter in a few words. For this, the expressions used are: In accordance with ... (name of the document, normative source), For the purpose of ..., In response to ..., In confirmation of ..., In order to provide ..., In connection with .... and other suitable phrases.

Next, we compose the main text, which should clarify your position, opinion, request in several paragraphs (two to four). It is necessary to coordinate the textual information with which the narrative is being told. Entity more often uses the third person singular and plural, and individuals convey information from the sole and first person. Sentences should be consistent and logical so that the recipient has a complete picture of what you want to write about. The text of the letter should not be interpreted in two ways. should cover one subject or issue and should not exceed two pages.

In conclusion, it is necessary to briefly summarize the purpose of the letter once again.

The rules for conducting business correspondence provide for clear formatting of business letters. After the text of the letter has been checked, edited, and agreed upon, it must be formatted correctly.

The business letter form contains information about the organization: name, physical address, telephone, fax, website and e-mail, as well as other necessary details.

A business letter must have margins: on the left - three centimeters, on the right - one to one and a half centimeters.

The font most often used is Times New Roman, 12 (14) point size, single (one and a half) spacing between lines.

The header of a business letter in the upper right corner contains the answer to the question “Who is the letter addressed to”: the manager, director, administration, etc. indicating the position, company name, surname and initials.

If the letter contains attachments that are issued on separate sheets, you must indicate their number before the sender’s signature.

A necessary part of a business letter is information about the contractor, and the last name, first name, patronymic must be given in full, as well as the contact phone number where it is best to contact a specific employee.

Business correspondence should be kept in order, as it is important evidence of the company’s activities on this issue.

In principle, questions about how and by what means can be created and sent should not arise. However, not everyone is ready to immediately begin this task when it comes to official letters, especially when the author of the letter expects to receive a response. I'll open it for you little secret business correspondence, the stricter the character and style of the letter, the greater the chance of a response from the recipient. In this lesson, I will provide several sample emails that should help users decide on their own style and subsequently compose messages in the most competent way.

First, we need to decide what nature the letter we are creating will be. I divide all outgoing emails into three main types:

• Business offer
• Business inquiry
• Friendly address

Accordingly, for all three types I have templates, both in the form of simple text files and in the form of templates tailored for specific email programs. Let's move on to each of them in order.

Business offer

Hello (Good afternoon), [name of the person being addressed]!

It is advisable to indicate the name in any letter when communicating, because a personal address puts a person in a friendly mood. However, if you still can’t find out the name, a template greeting will suffice.

Let me present to your attention new service(new product) from our company [company name].

Let me offer cooperation in the field of [name of field of activity].

Next, briefly describe the advantages of your proposal in terms of price or some quality characteristics. The main thing is not to overdo it. Megabytes of text, and even supplemented with bright, meaningless pictures, only scare people away. If the recipient of the letter is interested in your offer from the first lines, he will definitely contact you for additional information.

If you are seriously interested in necessary people contacted you the first time you contacted us, it makes sense to think about accessibility not only by email. It would be a good idea to create accounts in services such as ICQ andSkype. Sometimes it is much easier for a person to contact you by regular telephone, if, of course, you prudently left the number in your signature.

Why do you need to duplicate your own e-mail address in the signature, you ask, if it is automatically forwarded by the mail server. The rule here is that excessive information in business correspondence is never unnecessary. Let’s imagine a situation where your letter is received by a person who is potentially not interested in the offer, or who is simply not competent to respond to it correctly. It forwards the received message to another user, but for some reason, information about the true sender is lost from the automatically added data, which makes it difficult to contact you. However, it will always be enough to look at the signature to determine the author of the letter and his necessary contacts.

Business inquiry

Hello (Good afternoon)!

Or, if the addressee's name is known, then (Dear, [Name, Patronymic])!

Please provide information about the product (service) [name of product/service] with a description full specifications and competitive qualities.

Based Federal Law RF [document number and date], please provide information [describe the data necessary to obtain].

You can also contact the management of a particular service on the Internet if your rights are violated.

In connection with the violation of clause [clause number in the user agreement] of the user agreement, namely: “[quote full text named point]”, I ask you to conduct an inspection and take appropriate sanctions against the culprit [responsible (if we are talking about service employees)] person [site (name of site)]. Please report the results of the inspection and the sanctions imposed to [your own email address].

Friendly address

Greetings (Good day) (Hello), [person's name]!

When you first contact us in a friendly manner, good indicator your text message will be complete. A correctly written, voluminous text will indicate your high interest in contacting the right person and will arouse a desire for a response. Don't forget to open up the conversation with a few initial questions.

Example email

Official correspondence is a very special genre that you must master if you are going to climb the ladder. career ladder. Good business writing skills will serve you faithfully: they will help you communicate with subordinates, superiors and partners, and will emphasize your education and outlook. The style of communication should be restrained, focused, without deviating from the given topic.

Features of business communication

Any communication: both personal and written is interaction with people in order to exchange information, make an impression, and come to an agreement. Nothing human is alien to us, we sometimes give free rein to our emotions, but in the business sphere there should be no place for the violent manifestation of our feelings, character traits and temperament.

It is impossible to imagine that at an international meeting the presidents different countries sang songs, laughed loudly, or expressed personal hostility. That’s why etiquette exists, to make our lives as comfortable and orderly as possible.

An important feature of business communication is that it cannot be interrupted mid-sentence. You need to write a response to every letter you receive, even if you don’t feel like it. If you received a call and did not pick up the phone in time, you must call back. Of course, communicating with some people can be unpleasant. That is why stress resistance is on the list of required qualities for a manager.

A business meeting, telephone conversation or business email correspondence certainly has some purpose. As a result, the parties must come to conclusions, discuss the project, agree on a strategic partnership, and so on.

Rules for email correspondence

IN writing There are, perhaps, even more restrictions and conventions than in oral communication. When communicating with the interlocutor directly, in a personal meeting, we can place intonation emphasis on this or that fact, clarify something if the interlocutor did not understand us. If admitted speech error, we can fix it right away. But in a service letter we must express ourselves as clearly and clearly as possible so that the words do not imply double interpretation.

They used to say: “Paper will endure anything,” meaning that even unreliable facts can be written. We are of the opinion that You need to conduct business correspondence as honestly as possible. By the way, now fewer and fewer paper letters are sent. Basically, contracts and other documents are sent to them. In this case, letterheads are used as evidence of the high status of the organization.

Nowadays, in most cases, business correspondence takes place in the virtual space, and it has its own characteristics. When a dialogue is just beginning, according to etiquette, it is customary to write a greeting, for example: “Hello, dear Oleg Sergeevich! " And when you contact us later during the working day, you can omit the greeting.

Literacy

Written communications, including by email, require compliance language norms and impeccable literacy. After all, correspondence will reveal your gaps to an educated interlocutor. Therefore, we advise you to check what you have written using special services if you are not entirely confident in your own knowledge.

Let us list the general rules required by the ethics of electronic communication. They are quite simple, but many, alas, neglect them:

• the beginning of each sentence is written with a capital letter;
• a period is placed at the end of the phrase so that the meaning of what is read is clear;
• To break down a problem and suggest solutions, it is useful to use a bulleted or numbered list;
• for clarity, it is good to use tables, graphs, diagrams;
• do not try to deliberately seem like a smart, educated interlocutor, do not complicate simple thoughts with excessive participial and participial phrases;
• the simpler you express your thoughts, the better;
• Although in everyday speech culture requires the avoidance of jargon, in the business environment professional jargon and borrowings from English are now considered in good form(but don't overdo it!).

Types of business letters

Their structure is almost the same. As for the volume, long text does not look good in the body of the letter. It is better to format it as a separate file and attach it as an attachment. In this case, in the letter itself, after the greeting, you need to briefly indicate what is being discussed in the attached file.

Letter structure (beginning)

Except general rules, it is important to know some details of business writing. We will give rules that will be appropriate in the vast majority of cases.

The beginning of an email is called the header. It contains the organization's logo. It is useful to always have at hand (that is, on the desktop of your computer) a template in which this logo is included.

Unlike offline communication, modern rules there is no obligation to greet the addressee, and you can immediately, calling him by name and patronymic, state the essence of the matter. However, many continue to write at the beginning of the message: “ Good morning! ", "Hello! ", "Good evening! " or "Greetings." And this is also no deviation from the norm.

The requirements for the main part of the letter assume that this is the meaning of the correspondence. Dividing the text into paragraphs is considered good form, a sign of attentiveness to the interlocutor. In each paragraph, one or another aspect of the topic is named and revealed. In addition to identifying the problem, it is customary to suggest ways to solve it. So to speak, to reveal a business idea in miniature.

Letter structure (conclusion)

How to send a business message?

Most office employees keep a very extensive archive of letters in their email inbox. To prevent the interlocutor from getting confused in a lengthy correspondence, it is recommended to send the letter as a response. When you click the corresponding box at the beginning of the subject line, the English abbreviation “Re...” appears. This is very convenient because the recipient will immediately remember the progress of the correspondence.

You can save your entire history virtual communication with a given interlocutor, but you can leave only the latest or most significant quotes. Modern business etiquette requires responding to emails fairly quickly. After all, we spend a significant part of our day at the work computer. In addition, mail can be checked from mobile devices.

If you are worried whether the letter has reached the addressee, use the convenient “Receipt Notification” function, which is available on almost all mail servers. This way you will know that the email has been reviewed.

If the message is of particular importance and urgency, then it is permissible to write an SMS or make a phone call to remind you about the letter.

It is not worth mentioning that a quick response to emails indicates your seriousness and mobility in solving work issues.

Do we need stamps?

Among creative figures, the use of cliches is not accepted and, moreover, is ridiculed and condemned. But in business correspondence, stamps help reflect standard situations.

Business conversation It is impossible to imagine without correspondence, since a personal meeting to resolve cooperation issues is not always possible. Most pressing problems business correspondence

Business communication cannot be imagined without correspondence, since a personal meeting to resolve cooperation issues is not always possible. Business correspondence helps solve most pressing problems in short time, but failure to follow the rules of etiquette or illogical structure of the letter can harm the partnership or alienate a potential client. As in formal negotiations, there are certain rules: the format of the letter and the style of communication.

General rules for conducting business correspondence