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Business writing exists for the purpose of clear and concise professional written communication, which is much needed when dealing with colleagues, business partners, suppliers, brand representatives, various organizations, etc. Business writing plays a vital role for companies, where clear and efficient communication is essential for their daily activities. Therefore, all sent messages, emails, and other correspondence must be well-structured, easily understandable, and carry a friendly yet respectful tone.
In most companies, the responsibilities of its employees include checking emails, writing business letters: to potential employees, colleagues, business partners, representatives of various companies, government agencies – depending on their role within a company. However, a problem with many employees is that they don’t have the right skills to write successful business letters. If you are one of those people, let’s work on your business writing. No worries, as we are here to help!
Business Correspondence is the Voice of your Company
Many people have trouble understanding why it is so important for a business letter to be formal and professionals – surely its main goal is to transfer certain information and nothing more, right? Unfortunately, there is more to it than that.
Readers of your letter always base their impression of you and a company as a whole based on how your email sounds. The goal of business writing is to provide concise communication while keeping your company’s image in mind. Words we use and sentences we write are critical – they shape the recipient’s perception of the company and can be a deciding factor of whether they decide to do business with them. This is what makes learning the proper way to formally communicate so important for purposes of business.
Main Features of Good Business Letter
Practicing your business writing can be done by writing emails, communicating with your company’s partners, preparing quotations, discussing cooperation, etc. To do that, you will need to write many letters. There are a few simple tips on improving business writing that you should always keep in mind if you want your letters to sound professional.
A business document, regardless of its purpose and recipient, must meet the following five requirements:
1. Be clear and to the point.
2. Be brief but informative.
3. Have a formal tone.
4. Be polite.
5. Contain no errors.
Photo by Cytonn Photography on Unsplash
Why you should Work on Business Writing Skills
Building up your skills is always a great idea, and business communication is just one of them. However, not many people know that enhancing the abilities of business correspondence can do wonders for one’s other skills as well. Trust us when we tell you that working on improving your business writing makes you better in more than one way.
Here are ways in which practicing business writing benefits a person:
1) Helps with your oral business communication.
There are various forms of business communication. It makes sense that before you write something down you compose and work through the text in your mind. This ultimately means that while you write a business letter your brain is actively working on recalling correct words, building sentences, keeping track of grammar and punctuation rules, structuring your text, and proper delivery.
The more business texts you write, the more fast and efficient the process of creating them becomes. Even if at the beginning you had to look up correct formal phrases, ways to start and end the letter, to sound professional, once you get 3-5 letters under your belt creating them will become easier and come more naturally. In time, you will think of correct ways to convey any message formally from the top of your head, and in doing so you will become proficient in on-the-spot oral communication on any business-related topic. Sounds handy, doesn’t it?
2) Teaches you to deliver your thoughts and ideas swiftly, clearly, and consecutively.
A huge part of business communication is being able to “compress” a sizable amount of information into a brief paragraph. As we mentioned before, formal letters should always be short and to the point, because their main point is to convey certain information swiftly and efficiently. Besides, no one wants to spend more time than they have to on reading a letter at work, as people have important tasks to get done. This way, by keeping writing business letters, you will be learning how to deliver information efficiently, which can be very helpful in any situation in life.
3) Makes for a more valued professional.
Imagine that an employee has been writing business letters for a month now and is getting really good at it. They have built a skill that distinguishes them from other colleagues. Don’t let anyone convince you otherwise – it is not a very common skill, but the one that is crucial when working in a company that holds many business interactions.
People who can write formal texts fast can get a lot more assignments at work – it may be composing proposals, conversing with important partners, managing dialogue with suppliers, interacting with loyal customers, assisting bosses with their correspondence – you name it!
4) Allows for rational use of work time.
If one doesn’t have any experience with business writing, composing a formal letter can be a daunting and time-consuming task. One can spend hours on a single letter, looking up examples online, trying to think of the right words, sifting through all the information they must note and make it more compact, etc., while all other tasks remain on hold.
The truth is, no one is going to be interested in a reason why some of your assignments got pushed back, as it is up to you to properly manage your time. But after getting good at writing, any letter will take under 10 minutes to compose, leaving plenty of time for other duties.
5) Can boost your career.
By reading this far you already have a pretty good idea of how good business writing skills can help you at your work but have you considered that they may even open up new possibilities for you? Being good at writing is a skill that you can use to help other people with their work or study, making a profit out of it for yourself.
For example, you can partake in an online writing service and put your newfound experience to good use. Many people live on their writing abilities, so why can’t you? Even if you don’t consider it as a full-time option, you can do it in your spare time for some extra benefit.
Finishing Up
In modern business, most inquiries are resolved via correspondence. Through letters, companies look for new customers, agree on cooperation, communicate with partners or suppliers, and settle disagreements. Effective correspondence helps to achieve success, while poor one leads to loss of money, time, and reputation. Furthermore, building the skill of excellent written communications will benefit not just your company, but you personally. This is why working on proper business writing is very important and should be one of your goals for 2021.
Author’s bio. Jessica Fender is a professional writer and educational blogger at GetGoodGrade, an aggregator for useful college resources and websites. Jessica enjoys sharing her ideas to make writing and learning fun.