Chapter 19
Business Letters
Business letters aren’t a quaint thing of the past. They’re necessary in all sorts of situations—from correcting a vendor’s error to recommending a job candidate to announcing a new service. Effective ones can increase your profitability—by getting key customers to renew large orders, for example, or persuading service providers to charge you less for repeat business. They can also create goodwill, which may eventually yield financial returns.
The pointers in this chapter will help you get those kinds of results.
Use direct, personal language
You see canned phrases like enclosed please find and as per all the time in letters. They’re high-sounding but low-performing. Your letters will be much clearer and more engaging ...
Get HBR Guide to Better Business Writing (HBR Guide Series) now with the O’Reilly learning platform.
O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.
