Business Etiquette This book teaches individuals how to represent their

“See me!”
“I need this now!”
“Call Joe Schmoe and tell him to expect a price increase!”
When was the last time you received a similar e-mail
message that reminded you of one of the examples above—
curt, rude, and perhaps even a bit crude? How did it make
you feel about the sender?
It’s all too easy to compose brisk, impersonal e-mail
messages…but with just a little effort, we can humanize our
e-mail messages so that others will actually look forward to
checking their in-boxes for messages from us.
Begin with rapport-building comments in the first or
second sentence before getting down to business (for in-
stance, “Hope you had a good weekend, George” or
“Thanks for your quick response, Mary.”).
If you’ve got a request or suggestion, phrase it in the
same way you would if you were having an in-person dis-
cussion with the person. In other words, if you aren’t com-
fortable barking out orders like, “Tell me what’s happening
with the Jones account ASAP” when you’re looking the
person in the eye, don’t use the same (ineffective) commu-
nication strategy when composing an e-mail.
When concluding your messages, humanize them with
a friendly phrase like “Looking forward to seeing you next
week, “ or “I’ll be in my office today until 6 p.m.—but if
you’d like to visit by phone, call me at [phone].”
By humanizing your message, recipients will know you
are interacting with them as people first. Most importantly,
they will look forward to hearing from you.

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Business Etiquette
Tip #20
Tip #20
Tip #20
Tip #20
Tip #20
Use the pr
Use the pr
Use the pr
Use the pr
Use the proper salutation.
oper salutation.
oper salutation.
oper salutation.
oper salutation.
When writing a business letter, be formal with your
opening, especially if you are writing to someone outside of
the country. A proper, formal salutation is essential to any
business correspondence. Letters that begin with an im-
proper or nonexistent greeting may offend the receiver.
To begin, make sure your letter is formatted at the top
with the date and the name and full address of the person
to whom you are writing. Your salutation line should be
two spaces below the last line of the address (or below the
reference line, if there is one). At this point, the question
arises: Do you use the last name with the appropriate title
or the first name of the person you are writing to? Unless
you are already on a first-name basis with your addressee,
always use the formal mode of address—“Dear Mr. Smith”
or “Dear Ms. Jones.” Your salutation line should then end
with a colon, which is the preferred practice in most busi-
ness correspondence.
Rules for writing business letters vary from country to
country. Professional translation services should be famil-
iar with conventions for opening and closing corporate cor-
respondence in countries outside of the United States.
They’ll also assist with such conventions as the addressing
of envelopes and the proper use of names and titles. If you’re
uncertain about the procedure you should follow in draft-
ing a letter to an international contact and you don’t have
access to a translation service, your best bet may be to
check your own files for samples of correspondence from
the country—or call the nation’s embassy for suggestions.
TE
AM
FL
Y
Team-Fly
®

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51
Correspondence
Tip #21
Tip #21
Tip #21
Tip #21
Tip #21
Addr
Addr
Addr
Addr
Address spouses by their pr
ess spouses by their pr
ess spouses by their pr
ess spouses by their pr
ess spouses by their proper titles.
oper titles.
oper titles.
oper titles.
oper titles.
Marriage may not be as simple as it once was—and nei-
ther is addressing letters or invitations to married couples,
especially in a time of re-evaluation of traditional gender
roles. The stay-at-home wife is a rarity these days. You are
more likely to find that both spouses work outside the home
and that one or both hold professional degrees. So what
does this mean for our traditional methods of addressing a
letter (“Mr. and Mrs. George Smith”)? Here is a guide to
help you:
Š
When one or both are doctors:
Dr. and Mrs. George Smith
or
Dr. Mary Smith and Mr. George Smith
or
Dr. Mary Smith and Dr. George Smith
Š
When one or both are Reverends:
The Reverend George Smith and Mrs. Smith
or
The Reverend Mary Smith and Mr. George
Smith
or
The Reverend Mary Smith and The
Reverend George Smith
Š
When a woman uses her own name (or the
couple is not married):
Ms. (or Dr.) Mary Jones and Mr. (or Dr.)
George Smith

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Business Etiquette
Tip #22
Tip #22
Tip #22
Tip #22
Tip #22
Make fax, e-mail, and over
Make fax, e-mail, and over
Make fax, e-mail, and over
Make fax, e-mail, and over
Make fax, e-mail, and overnight mail guarantees.
night mail guarantees.
night mail guarantees.
night mail guarantees.
night mail guarantees.
Does what you’re sending “absolutely, positively” have
to reach its destination by a certain time?
When faxing or sending a document “overnight” or via
courier, let the receiver know that you are a person of your
word. Give the person a realistic time estimate of when the
information will be received. If you know that you can have
the information to the person by a given time (within an
hour via fax or courier or by 10:30 a.m. the next business
morning via Federal Express, UPS, etc.), take personal re-
sponsibility for the shipment! Say, “I will personally see to
it that you receive the package via [fax/courier/overnight]
by [whatever time]. If you don’t have the materials by that
time, please let me know.” Here’s a variation that allows
you to take ownership for following up on a fax transmis-
sion. Say, “I will fax this information to you by 5 p.m. today.
You will also receive a voice mail from me to confirm the
time it was sent.” Then call as you’d promised. This step
will virtually remove the possibility that your transmission
will “slip through the cracks.”
Tip #23
Tip #23
Tip #23
Tip #23
Tip #23
Get your e-mail messages r
Get your e-mail messages r
Get your e-mail messages r
Get your e-mail messages r
Get your e-mail messages read first.
ead first.
ead first.
ead first.
ead first.
It’s 6 p.m. and you check your e-mail one last time be-
fore leaving work. You find that you have three messages
from clients that you decide to take a few minutes to answer.
In such a situation, when should you actually 
send 
your
responses? Most people hit “send” as soon as they reply to
each message. Others reply to messages they receive after
5:30 p.m. as soon as they open them…but select the option

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Correspondence
that allows the communications to remain in their “out box”
until, say, 7:30 a.m.–8 a.m. the following morning. If you have
the opportunity, you should choose the latter option.
“Why?” Most professionals with e-mail boxes find their
messages arranged in descending order—in other words,
the most recent message received is listed first. As a result,
they usually open the most recently sent messages. For that
reason, it makes sense to respond to messages upon receiv-
ing them and send them early the following day.
Tip #24
Tip #24
Tip #24
Tip #24
Tip #24
Follow up on “special deliveries” after
Follow up on “special deliveries” after
Follow up on “special deliveries” after
Follow up on “special deliveries” after
Follow up on “special deliveries” after
you’ve made the guarantee.
you’ve made the guarantee.
you’ve made the guarantee.
you’ve made the guarantee.
you’ve made the guarantee.
When faxing a document or sending something via over-
night mail or by courier, monitoring its progress is crucial!
Ensure that the package was received safely by taking ap-
propriate follow-up measures. This not only keeps the lines
of communication open, but it reassures the receiver that
you are taking care of the document’s safe delivery. It also
lets the receiver know that you are a person of your word.
Make the call!
Tip #25
Tip #25
Tip #25
Tip #25
Tip #25
Include a cover letter with “impersonal”
Include a cover letter with “impersonal”
Include a cover letter with “impersonal”
Include a cover letter with “impersonal”
Include a cover letter with “impersonal”
written materials.
written materials.
written materials.
written materials.
written materials.
Rather than sending that contract “cold”—add some
warmth! It may help you win or retain a customer. Always
include a cover letter with checks, legal documents, pro-
posals, or other written materials. The cover page adds
warmth and personality to what otherwise may be perceived
as an impersonal enclosure. Another great way to add a
personal touch to your cover letter is to sign it with a blue

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Business Etiquette
fountain pen. (Black may be mistaken for a preprinted
signature.) If you can, add a postscript that refers to some-
thing personal your contact mentioned to you. For ex-
ample: “Hope you have a great vacation!” or “Hope you
enjoy