General Guidelines
If writing a business letter takes you much longer than in your own language, here are a few guidelines that you may find helpful.
The tone should be friendly and polite.
as well as the correct spelling of the person's name and title. Use Ms. for women and Mr. for men. You can use Mrs. for a woman if you are 100% sure that she is married.
(e. g. January 15th, 2012 or 15 January 2012).
words or expressions that are too technical or complicated.
Example : Mr. Brown will travel by plane to London on Monday, June 5th. A technician will install the equipment in your office on Tuesday.
'herewith', 'herein', 'aforementioned', etc. are rarely used in letters. The following style of sentence is preferable: "You will find more information on our products in the enclosed brochure." |
Useful phrases and vocabulary for writing business letters
Salutation | • Dear Mr. Brown • Dear Ms. White • Dear Sir • Dear Madam • Dear Sir or Madam • Gentlemen |
Starting | • We are writing - to inform you that... - to confirm... - to request... - to enquire about... • I am contacting you for the following reason... • I recently read/heard about..... and would like to know.... • Having seen your advertisement in..., I would like to... • I would be interested in (obtaining / receiving) ... • I received your address from ----- and would like to... |
Referring to previous | • Thank you for your letter of March 15. • Thank you for contacting us. • In reply to your request, ... • Thank you for your letter regarding... • With reference to our telephone conversation yesterday... • It was a pleasure meeting you in London last month. |
Making a request | • We would appreciate it if you would... • I would be grateful if you could... • Could you please send me... • Could you possibly tell us / let us have... • In addition, I would like to receive... • It would be helpful if you could send us... • I am interested in (obtaining / receiving) ... • I would appreciate your immediate attention to this matter. |
Offering help | • Would you like us to...? • We would be happy to... • We are quite willing to... • Our company would be pleased to... |
Giving good news | • We are pleased to announce that... • I am delighted to inform you that … • You will be pleased to learn that... |
Giving bad news | • We regret to inform you that... • I'm afraid it would not be possible to... • Unfortunately we cannot / we are unable to... • After careful consideration we have decided (not) to... |
Complaining | • I am writing to express my dissatisfaction with... • Please note that the goods we ordered on ( date ) • We regret to inform you that our order n° ----- is now considerably overdue. • I would like to query the transport charges which seem unusually high. |
Why We Need More Ethics In Business Negotiations
The political gamesmanship that has turned the urgent need to raise the US debt limit into a countdown to the first-ever downgrade of America’s credit rating is perhaps the best example of why there is a real need for a higher standard of ethics in business negotiations. The fact that the stewards of ‘the good faith and credit of the US’ seem willing to allow a very preventable catastrophic financial event damage the nation’s economic standing in the world demonstrates how a lack of ethical judgment can ruin the future of both parties involved in a negotiation – even if the final decision is legal.
Congress and the president can legally destroy the credit rating of the US, but that doesn’t make it moral or ethical to do so. It doesn’t make good business sense either, because the political parties, by refusing to compromise on a debt ceiling agreement, may nonetheless collaborate on a decision that could doom any business goals either side has for the nation.
Politics aside, many corporations will ignore ethical considerations when making business decisions due to pressure from intense competition, the quest for higher profits or simple greed. Equally, ‘winning the deal’ sometimes becomes more important for executives than compromising to establish a relationship that could be used to forge multiple deals in the future.
Dealing ethically in business means wanting to establish a reputation for behaving fairly and honestly with competitors and clients. It also means taking into account all stakeholders in the deal – not just the two parties negotiating, but the entire community that may be affected by the long-term consequences. And perhaps most important, ethical business practices mean being prepared to do what’s right, even if it’s not profitable at the moment.
For example, when Johnson & Johnson decided to allow its Belgian subsidiary, Tibotec Pharmaceuticals, to distribute an experimental AIDS drug free to people in poorer nations in 2004, the company lost money by giving the medicine away, but sped up the development time of the drug and improved its humanitarian reputation around the world. Ethically, speeding the development of a drug that could prevent more AIDS deaths was more important than striking a deal to make money in nations where few people could probably afford the drug at the time.
During difficult economic times especially, it may be tempting for businesses to ‘stick it’ to competitors or customers by negotiating rates that take advantage of the situation. Businesses must remember, however, that we live in an increasingly transparent society where the terms of most deals by public companies eventually come to light. Executives need to consider how they will defend their company once their negotiating tactics are exposed.
The consequences of being found to have negotiated in bad faith often take years to overcome. The reputational damage caused can sometimes be irreparable. The marketplace often punishes those whose word cannot be trusted, so increased scrutiny, skepticism from analysts and fewer partners to do ventures with are all possible outcomes of unethical negotiations. We’ve already seen the US dealing with increased scrutiny from ratings agencies, growing skepticism about the strength of the US dollar and US Treasury bonds and a slowdown of international business deals due to the uncertainty surrounding the resolution of the debt ceiling issue.
Negotiation skills exercises
Negotiation skills exercise The Charity Donation
Background
Every year a wealthy benefactor allocates a sum of money to charity. There are no strings attached to the donation. She worked with a team of people to help her decide how to allocate money.
Your brief
Your team should negotiate with the other teams to secure the funds you need – referred to the briefing sheets. The overall sum of money available is Ј100,000. It is known that traditionally the benefactor and her team prefer to give out large lump sum of money rather than lots of small amounts; but also that they usually want their award of money to have the maximum impact for the most people. The benefactor and her team are busy people and would like the charitable organisations to negotiate amongst themselves and come up with their own agreement as to how the funds should be allocated.
Briefing sheet one AIDS foundation charity
You represent an international AIDS foundation charity whose aims are to:
Provide information and advice guidance education across the globe to those suffering from or concerned about AIDS/HIV
Establish dedicated care facilities in three countries for people in the advanced stages of AIDS.
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