A well-written and well-structured business letter contributes significantly to business success. A business letter can help you form new relationships and strengthen existing ones. In a business letter, conciseness and courtesy are critical. For an effective business letter, we should follow the rules of brevity and courtesy. These two topics are discussed below:
Brevity and Courtesy of Business Letter
- The brevity of the Business Letter
One of the most important characteristics of a business letter is its conciseness. A business letter should avoid unnecessary topics or irrelevant facts, so it should be brief but comprehensive. As we all know, businessmen have a limited amount of time to go through various letters, documents, faxes, and transcripts. As a result, a business letter written in a descriptive manner will not have a strong appeal to them.
Unnecessary words and superfluous information should be avoided in a business letter. Because letter brevity is the soul of commercial correspondence, the writer must ensure that every sentence he has written is imbued with appropriate meaning. The readers will respect it if it is concise. Therefore, to draft any Business letter, ‘the writer or sender must be specific, to the point, and disclose everything in brief. As it is rightly said ‘Brevity is the soul of wit.
Brevity is said to be the soul of wit. As a result, it is considered the lifeblood of a business letter. A concise but informative letter is a symbol of the writer’s intelligence. It saves the reader time and increases his interest in the letter. As a result, an informative but brief letter can easily accomplish a business goal.
- Courtesy of Business Letter
There is no other way to persuade or motivate the recipient of a business letter than with courtesy. As we all know, courtesy is free but has a big impact. Courtesy makes friends, and friends in business are just as important as they are in other areas of life. Courtesy should be present throughout a business letter because it soothes anger and pays off in the long run.
Courtesy implies that the overall tone of the letter should be gentle and considerate of the feelings of others. Curt and impolite letters have no place in business. For the sake of brevity, courtesy should not be sacrificed. Even when writing letters of complaint or refusal, discourteous and unpleasant language should be avoided.
Naturally, everyone lacks courtesy, and if this is reflected in a business letter, the receiver gains the confidence to properly honor the letter. And the letter’s goal is to be accomplished. Even if a letter is rude, the response should be courteous. There is an old adage that says, “Courtesy costs nothing but gains everything.” When writing a business letter, the writer should use courteous language to show respect to the readers. A courteous and politely written business letter can easily gain the sympathy of the readers.
