How to write letters to be answered?

Each of us receives many letters. Yes, and sends no less. When we make an important letter, we expect that they will answer or do what we asked for.

However, if you count the number of incoming letters and multiply by the time it takes to read and answer everything - you will be shocked. The working day is just not enough for you.

There are simple tricks that will increase your chances of getting an answer. If you follow these tips, you will be grateful.
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1. Write briefly and to the point

People often write too much. When I compose an important letter, basically I think not about what else to add, but about what I can throw out. When it comes to email, less is better. If in doubt, whether something needs to be written - do not write.

2. Place the most important request at the beginning.

Many send letters without a “call to action”. Try to write so that the reader understands what you are trying to achieve. If you do not expect any response, report it immediately: “the information in the letter is just for your information, no action is required.”

Difficult question is not always possible to describe concisely. If you have a lot of text - please let your request at the very beginning.

When I write a super-important letter with an indication of the required deadlines, I highlight the main information in red and bold. Example: I am writing a letter inviting you to participate in an event. I will highlight in red the date of the event, the date until which you want to confirm participation, and the location of the event. All this information will be at the very beginning of the letter.

3. Break big letters into paragraphs.

When letters get too long due to an abundance of details, I break them into paragraphs (as in this post). Well-structured text helps to understand what is at stake. In addition, it will be easier for the reader to quickly look through the letter and find the necessary data. If the recipient opens your letter and sees a huge block of text, he will most likely wave off and switch to the rest of the mail (reread paragraph 2 - if you write all the most important things at the beginning and highlight it in bold, the recipient will at least remember what you wanted).

4. Write to someone alone

It is very important. This is the main reason why I took this text. I often see people who write all at once. For example, a CEO who writes to the entire board: “please help me get Google done” or “take a look at the list of potential investors and tell me what you think”.

Even if people are well motivated, they are unlikely to respond to the appeal to the group. This can be confirmed by any sociologist.

In the comments, Martin Peacock wrote that this is a generally known effect:

• Witness effect
• Blurring responsibility

Imagine that you received a letter saying: “Hey, Sarah, I would like to ask you for a little favor ...” - or even: “Sarah, I’m holding an event on February 17 and I want to know if you can come” . You understand that this letter is addressed to you personally. If you do not answer, you will fail your interlocutor.

When you send a letter with the text: "I would like someone to help me ..." - everyone will decide that someone else will help. Yes, there are people who respond to such letters. But they are much smaller than those who respond to a personal appeal.

Believe my experience - I have tried both options for many years.

The easiest thing to do is: write a general part of the letter that will be the same for everyone After that create several text options. Add the name of the person you are contacting. I often attribute something personal at the beginning of each letter and / or change the data related to the question.

Of course, this is harder than writing one letter for everyone. Therefore, in case the question is not very important, I do a mass mailing. However, when it comes to something serious, I write personal letters.

I found an application that should ease my task. It is called ToutApp . I met its creator and tried the demo version. I liked how it is done and what it can do.

5. The subject of the letter should be weighty.

The title of the letter means nothing less than the text of the tweet or the title of the article. We are a generation of runaway readers. We review the email headers to see which ones need to be opened. A few days later, if the letter was not read, it most likely went missing. Unless you remind him, they will never answer him.

Therefore, write the headlines so that your letters read!

I am writing something like:

• small but very important request
• important entry: company a / company b
• end of the round table "The Future of TV" - confirm participation this week
• small question - can you help?

Or something like that. Once again, I don’t always write perfect headlines — I often click “send” without thinking. However, if this is an important letter, the fate of the answer depends on its title.

6. Time of day matters

Do not send important letters on Friday evening (only if you have a very urgent matter). I usually write the text of the letter at the end of the week, and send it on Monday morning. I want the letter to be at the top of the list, and not at the bottom. Many start their workday with checking email (although productivity experts advise against doing so!)

I was told that ToutApp is able to send letters according to a predetermined schedule.

By the way, if I write a post for a blog on Saturday, Monday morning, I remind you of this on Twitter - for the same reason.

7. Lather, rinse and repeat

When I was younger, I suffered if my letters were not answered. I myself then received few letters and could answer all.

Over the years, I realized that some people are overwhelmed and cannot process everything that comes to them. The higher your position, the more difficult the requirements, the more work, and so on. The older we get, the more responsibility we have outside of work, and the less people sit until 2 am to respond to each letter.

So just send your request again. I usually press “answer all” so that the addressee sees that this is the second letter on the same topic. I do not blame anyone. This is stupid. If I speak with important people, then putting them in an uncomfortable position is the last thing I want.

I just write something like: “I know that you are very busy. I hope you do not mind that my letter again comes into your field of vision ”and repeat my request.

After waiting some time (so as not to look like an annoying beggar), I send the letter a third time. And I say: “I apologize for the repeated letter, I did not want to be intrusive. However, I hope that you have two minutes for me until next Wednesday, in order to ... ”

Translator's comment: I would like to add one more tip from personal practice. If you need to write a letter in a foreign language that you don’t speak fluently - don’t waste time and don’t torture yourself by squeezing wording and phrases that have been remembered since school days. Immediately write a letter in your native language, and then translate it from a good, trusted translator. In this case, you will succeed in “what I wanted to say,” and not “how it was possible to formulate.”

If you do not have a reliable translator at hand, you can try our Alconost Nitro live online translation service . I am sure that saving time and the effect of a well-written and translated letter are worth the money you will pay for the translation.

To test the service for free - register in the system, send us your username and a couple of lines about yourself at nitro@alconost.com, and we will give you a coupon for account replenishment. Coupon is valid only for new accounts.


About the translator

The article is translated in Alconost.

Alconost is engaged in the localization of applications, games and websites in 60 languages. Language translators, linguistic testing, cloud platform with API, continuous localization, 24/7 project managers, any formats of string resources.

We also make advertising and training videos - for websites selling, image, advertising, training, teasers, expliners, trailers for Google Play and the App Store.

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