Business correspondence. How to write a letter to be answered

Business people get tons of letters every day. The team at Business Partner Search believes that everyone wants to know the gist right away so they can decide whether to read the letter further.

Entrepreneurs, investors and business angels will not waste their time with empty promises unsupported by facts and figures.

Ten rules for business correspondence that will help you reach your goal:

1. Start with a greeting. A common mistake in business correspondence is the lack of a simple formal greeting that tells the recipient that the letter is intended for them.
2. Be concise. Your job is to spark interest, and then provide additional information if you need it. You need to identify the most important information for the recipient and summarize it in a short paragraph. Think of it as a 30-second "elevator pitch presentation" in the form of an email.
3. Be literate. Most people have a negative attitude toward emails with grammatical and spelling errors and/or illegible content.
4. Try to put yourself in the recipient's shoes: "I know you're busy, so I'll get right to the point."
5. Check your signature block. Make sure it's properly and completely filled out: your full name, title, company.
6. When quoting statistics or operating on numbers, make sure they are correct and not exaggerated. There's nothing worse than starting a relationship with exaggerated or false information.
7. Avoid emoticons, slang, exclamation and question marks more than once and words in capslock. Try printing out your letter. If it doesn't seem professional on paper, then it's not professional in an email.
8. Speak their language. Whatever you're going to say, write in words that everyone can understand.
9. Use graphics wisely. If graphics don't enhance your message, don't use them.
10. Make sure the links in your email are displayed and work properly. When you insert links for more information, make sure they work so the recipient doesn't have to cut and paste them by hand. Also, make sure they go to the exact page you want, and that page provides the information you want. Sending people to your homepage and leaving them to decide where to go is not a good idea.

Use our advice, analyze your emails and you'll understand how to stand out.