General Rules of Business Correspondence

- You should be familiar with two kinds of letters:

business letters and personal letters. Business organisations usually use printed letter-head for their business letters. Private business letters are typed on plain paper.

- You should answer all letters promptly: within ten days at the outside. If you can not fully answer them within that period, the least you can do is to acknowledge them and explain your delay.

- Let everyone involved know what action has been taken on a letter.

- You should always write a thank-you note to anyone who has given you a letter of introduction, reporting at the same time how well you were received or what results the introduction produced.

- You should sign and send out only the letters that are well typed, well spaced, faultlessly neat and inviting to the eye, i.e. letters that make a good first impression. The letter you write is always a mirror which reflect your appearance, taste and character.

When writing a business letter in English, be careful not to use an old-fashion commercial instruction book as a guide. The style of writing is changing rapidly. Every year it gets simpler and less formal. Business correspondents prefer simple English to express what they want to say as effectively as possible. But a writer of a business letter must create a good impression, so a few words to promote a feeling of friendship and good will be just to place.

However, compliments must not be exaggerated, as they may produce the opposite effect, and the reader may feel that the writer is being insincere.

The following is to be remembered when writing a business letter in English:

1. Make a new paragraph for a new subject.

2. Say what you want to say in the simplest, clearest way.

3. Don’t say aggressively.

4. Don’t exaggerate compliments.

5. Remember that real feelings will have more effect than pretended ones.