In a post today ( in BBC News ), discusses the government of India’s strong interest in returning to the expansion levels of yesteryear. With a former growth rate of around nine percent annually, India’s latest growth rate has been around 6.5%+ recently. Actually, 6.5% looks great compared to many countries around the world for [...]
Changes in the world are not limited to quickly evolving technology. Many people communicate today by exchanging e-mail or texting messages. What impact do these forms of business letters have on our interpersonal skills today and how do they change our relationships?
The increase in text messaging has increased in recent years. It’s quick, hip and fast. E-mail is similar. Get an e-mail and instantly return a reply just as quickly. Get right to the point and feel as though “communication” has taken place. Usually, it’s a short reply answering what the sender asked or a brief acknowledgment that a message was received in a few words that don’t seem to convey or warrant a thought process. Business letters, on the other hand, take time and thought.
What has happened to handwritten business letters as a communication tool? It’s a sad fact today that children are usually not taught cursive writing in schools. USA Today reports that penmanship is left behind and handwriting is not a priority. Many children today cannot read handwriting, let alone write it.
Many baby boomers were taught the Palmer Method of handwriting. The Palmer Method was developed by Austin Norman Palmer around 1888 and became the most popular handwriting system in the early 1900s. The Palmer Method lasted until displacement by the movement to teach printing instead of cursive as the dominant handwriting style for students. And, they all print today.
Besides being a deterrent in not being able to sign and write out a check or sign a will, handwriting is a personal signature reflection of a person. Handwriting experts depend on this handwriting. Handwritten business letters set a businessperson apart in the mind of a business letter recipient as unique and professional.
Handwritten business letters do make a positive difference…adding a special touch to a business relationship. A handwritten business letter is a personal reflection from someone expressly centered on you. As Liz Carpenter commented, “What a lot we lost when we stopped writing letters. You can’t read a phone call.”
Try sending a low-key professional, handwritten business letter to a senior executive prospect. The response may be a pleasant surprise.
Mike McCann
Mike-at-GlobalBusinessCafe.com
Effective business letter writing skills is still one of the most difficult competencies for young employees to master. Here are tips that can help…
Write like a journalist
Good journalists are experts at getting their message across so the skills they display give a great skeleton to use as a guide to your writing. Here are the ABCs…
A – Accuracy
B – Brevity
C – Clarity
Accuracy
As a business letter writer you want your writing to cover the topic, help the ideas flow and answer the questions being addressed. A key to good writing is to ensure what you have stated in your writing paints an accurate image in the reader’s mind.
Leave your piece of work for a day and then read it again. Using this method can help you find the weaknesses in what you have produced. The best method is then to hand what you have written to a colleague to see if you have made sense,
Ensure that what you have written is grammatically ‘correct’ and that you have followed the conventions that your business letter requires. As another writer on this topic puts it: “This is one of the most important post-writing tasks that you need to do.” Grammar in most cases is what difference between a readable and understandable piece of work and a nonsensical one. Grammar can change your meaning dramatically.
Here’s an example to demonstrate the point:
a) A woman without her man is nothing.
b) A woman: without her, man is nothing.
You must proofread your work as another reader may not know that if your intent was to express point a) above or point b)
Accuracy is also governed by giving the appropriate amount of information, too little and mistaken image will occur in the readers mind and too much will lead to reader confusion.
Information on “brevity” and “clarity” coming soon.
Mike McCann
Mike-at-GlobalBusinessCafe.com
E-mail is quick, alive and well – no doubt. Businesspeople see voluminous amounts of e-mail daily. E-mail recipients routinely tune out all messages but the ones from known acquaintances. With this e-mail “filter” in mind, how do you reach decision makers? Professional and unique business letters delivered via postal mail.
I systematically mail small, business-like notes to senior-level decision makers to bypass normal “filters” that decision makers setup…causing me to stand apart from other vendors. With more than 1,000 letters mailed to date, all but two individuals were pleased with my introductory note.
The introductory note’s bases it success on a professional and unique format that says to the recipient, “I acknowledge your worth as being a decision maker worthy to receive a custom communique from me and all I ask for in return is no more than 15 minutes of your time to make a professional presentation.” From limiting quantities mailed each week to the matching postage stamps, an introductory letter says “you are special and worthy of customization” to every recipient.
How effectively do you believe e-mail can do this? Senior-level decision makers know the difference between genuine attention to detail (small postal note) and a mere attempt to bypass a gatekeeper (direct e-mail). Want results – use the old-fashioned mail.
Mike McCann
Mike-at-GlobalBusinessCafe.com