The Value of Quality Business Correspondence

Proper communication is the pillar of business interactions – it can say a huge deal about you, way before the first actual personal interaction. A simple, basic letter can tell a whole lot about you to the reader – everything from education and awareness of standard practices, to passion and attention to detail. Knowing how to communicate with people is the pillar of business success, and if you know how to do it eye-to-eye, you shouldn’t have too much trouble learning about how to do it through correspondence. Of course, dedication and time are going to need to be invested here.

Professionalism

We live in a world where business people communicate on a more relaxed level than decades ago; dress codes are getting more casual, and people are much friendlier; but this doesn’t mean that professionalism is out of the question. First, you need to realize what professionalism exactly entails; being professional means being able to convey a particular message to the target, not missing out on anything, while being respectful and careful not to step on any toes.

A professional letter isn’t one that will leave the reader feeling like they’ve just read something directly from the IRS; on the contrary, it should make them feel respected! Professionalism means a well-formatted letter, printed on quality paper and neatly folded. The content should be friendly, aloof, but dedicated towards sending the right message. That is what professionalism means.

Format

While this may sound tedious and stuck-up, it is the format that actually staggers people. Whatever type of content you opt for (you can be strictly RP, or addressing the recipient in a friendly, non-condescending way), you should make the format appear professional – you are a professional, after all!

A carefully formatted letter is left-aligned, single-spaced with a one-inch margin. The standard 11- or 12- point type size should be used as a rule of thumb; you could go higher or lower, but there really is no reason to do this, as this can make the font appear too goofy or, alternatively, too difficult to read.

Next, the line just below the letterhead should contain the date of the message, with a line of space separating the date and the address of the recipient. One line of space after the recipient’s address should be followed by a simple, professional greeting, a colon and another line of space. From that point on, you’re on your own: other than using ‘they’ instead of ‘she’ or ‘he’, being respectful, and not acting condescending, you’re free to do as you please.

Email marketing

One of the main means of business correspondence is email marketing. This is especially important because email marketing has an incredibly low spelling and grammar error tolerance, precisely because the same email (perhaps personalized in terms of the user’s name) is probably sent to a wide variety of your leads, who will not take kindly to ridiculous grammar and spelling mistakes.

Even a completely correct email, in grammatical and spelling terms, is far from good enough. A carefully devised email with a proper signature will go a long way in evoking respect from the user. Use an original email signature generator for those professional-looking info boxes at the bottom of each email you send.

Use your entrepreneur skills

As for the content, there really isn’t too much to be said here; if you are good at communicating with people in real life, chances are that your entrepreneur skills will show face in your emails. It is essential that you avoid stepping on anyone’s toes and that you be respectful and humble towards your customers/users/leads, but try being open, friendly and relaxed in your correspondence.

Professionalism, format and content are the pillars of quality business correspondence. Maintain outstanding email quality and make the most out of your entrepreneurship skills here. Leaving a good impression will get you places!