Reasons not to use jargon in a business letter

Business letters are an important part of communication in the professional environment.  Using jargon in a business letter, in most circumstances, is not the best approach to take. The reason for this is the letter may be too difficult for the recipient to understand what is being said if the correspondence is ladled in acronyms and other jargon not commonly known.

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The exception to this is if the letter is going to a person who works in the same industry or company. Either way, it is wise to carefully consider your content before you send your letter, be it email or snail mail. Be sure to always focus on your recipient or audience before you hit send or stamp the correspondence.

Reasons not to use jargon in correspondence

Business or industry jargon, in general, is an efficient way to communicate internally because abbreviated terminology, lingo, and acronyms are often efficient shortcuts, but is often not the best way to send messages external to the organization. But in many instances, it won’t be appropriate. Using jargon in a business letter tends to diminish the value of the message being sent because if the recipients are not familiar with the industry-speak they will often disregard the message and may quickly become frustrated if they don’t understand the jargon.

Obstructs good communication

Jargon also tends to lead to misunderstandings, misconstrued information and constructs barriers for open communication. All of which can cause problematic issues – if jargon is inserted into the letter (if they get as far to try to read the letter) recipients may try to decipher and come up with their own translations which may not entirely be correct. This can cause problems in business deals, partnerships or customer relations.

Builds barriers

In addition, recipients may feel disconnected or that a wall has been erected. In the case of sending out letters to customers or potential customers, jargon may immediately turn the reader off and he or she will pay closer attention to competitor communications that are easier to understand. While it may be mistakenly assumed that jargon may impress and dazzle customers, more often than not it has the opposite effect and can even lead to feelings of mistrust.

Essentially, if you’re taking the time to type, print out and send a business letter, the content is something you want to be read by the recipient(s). By avoiding using any jargon in business letters you will significantly increase the potential of your targeted audience reading your communication.
It is easy to use industry lingo when the language is second nature and spoken on a daily basis while on the job, however, when writing business communication, especially to people who are external to the organization or industry, it is wise to be careful about the use of jargon within the body of the letter. Always best to err on the side of caution to avoid alienating people you want to or have to work with.