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PDF Business Letter

This document provides guidance on writing effective business letters. It discusses that business letters should be planned, anticipate the reader's questions, and maintain goodwill. The document outlines key purposes of business letters such as informing, ordering, and collecting dues. It recommends business letters follow principles like using a "you" attitude, being clear and concise, courteous, and emphasizing the positive. Features like brevity, clarity, accuracy, politeness and consideration of the recipient are discussed. Guidelines are provided on achieving correctness, completeness, and a positive approach. The document also reviews expressing courtesy, avoiding anger, and maintaining coherence. Finally, it outlines the standard format for business letters.

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amani zaher
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49 views33 pages

PDF Business Letter

This document provides guidance on writing effective business letters. It discusses that business letters should be planned, anticipate the reader's questions, and maintain goodwill. The document outlines key purposes of business letters such as informing, ordering, and collecting dues. It recommends business letters follow principles like using a "you" attitude, being clear and concise, courteous, and emphasizing the positive. Features like brevity, clarity, accuracy, politeness and consideration of the recipient are discussed. Guidelines are provided on achieving correctness, completeness, and a positive approach. The document also reviews expressing courtesy, avoiding anger, and maintaining coherence. Finally, it outlines the standard format for business letters.

Uploaded by

amani zaher
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Business Letters

Introduction
• A letter, whether long or short has to be
planned before it is written.
• When writing a business letter, the writer
produces one-sided conversation with the
reader in the sense that he/she has to
anticipate the reader's questions and provide
answers to those questions.
A carelessly written letter may fail to secure an order
or loan.

Business letters assist you in sustaining your business


relationships with other business and customers.
Purposes

 to inform
 to congratulate
 to enquire
 to order
 to request
 to collect dues
 to complain
 to make an adjustment
 to sell a product, service or scheme
BUSINESS LETTERS
 It is essential to write a business letter to
maintain contacts with the external world
including other businessmen, customers and
government departments.
 It serves as a record for future reference.
 It is used to build goodwill.
What is a Business Letter?
• A business letter is a letter written in formal
language, usually used when writing from one
business organization to another, or for
correspondence between organizations and
their customers, clients and other external
parties.
Business Letters
• Principles

 ‘You’ attitude
 Clear & concise
 Correct & complete
 Emphasize positive side
 Courteous & considerate
ACHIEVING THE “YOU ATTITUDE”:
FOUR GUIDELINES

• Never forget that your reader is a real person.


• Avoid writing cold, impersonal letters.
• Keep the reader in the forefront of your letter.
• Be courteous and tactful.
• Be neither boastful nor meek.
Tips For Business Letters
• Think of them as mainly persuasive
documents.
• Write a reader-orientated document not a
writer-oriented document.
• Be respectful
PROOF READING YOUR
LETTER
• Proofread everything that has your name on it.
• Take time to proofread your letter for:

• Errors of facts
• Miscalculations
• Accuracy of prices, dates, and serial numbers.
Features of an Effective Business
Letters
• Brevity
• Clarity
• Accuracy
• Politeness
• Consideration of the addressee
• Use of jargons
Brevity
• Present the subject matter in brief.
• Too many words often mar the beauty of
business correspondence and lead to
confusion.
Clarity
• Avoid vagueness or ambiguity.
• Business letter should be direct.
• In order to sound natural, the writer should use
plain conversational English.
• Howsoever serious matter is presented in a
letter, the writer should use a relaxed, clear
tone.
Accuracy
• Genuine information strengthens the business
relations between two business firms or two
individuals.
• Hence facts mentioned must be true and
genuine.
Politeness
• Politeness is a keyword in a business letter.
Therefore it should be courteously written.
• It should include the expressions such as
thanks, I regret, please, my pleasure.
• Letter of request or complaint should avoid
unpleasant and rude expressions.
Consideration of the addressee
• Keep in view the type of the addressee or the
receiver.
• Take into consideration the nature, the post
and also the mental level of the receiver so
that the reader can read it with ease.
Use of jargons
• The writer should use only those technical
terms which the reader of the letter is sure to
understand.
You Attitude
• Focus on the recipient’s needs, purposes or
interests instead of your own.
• Recipient oriented style is called you attitude.
• Use more of you and yours instead of I, me,
mine, us, our. Ours.
You Attitude
For Example: We are glad we can now send our
tape recorders.

You would be glad to know that your tape


recorders are ready for sale.

You attitude is a matter of genuine empathy.


You Attitude
You attitude may not help at times.
For example:- If someone makes mistake,
minimize ill feeling by referring to the
mistake impersonally rather than pointing
out directly.
For ex: We have a problem instead of ‘you
caused a problem.’
You Attitude
You attitude Impersonal attitude
• You should never • This type of paper
use this type of does not work well in
paper for photocopiers.
photocopiers. • The wires have not
• You have not been connected
connected the wires properly.
properly.
Correctness and Completeness
• Correctness refers to concreteness or
precision.
• Completeness refers to thoroughness or
giving all the required details.
• To be correct and complete you need to
understand the purpose of the letter and
think clearly.
To achieve correctness and
completeness
• Use evaluative and factual words/ phrases rather
than abstract and general expressions.
• Use unambiguous words.
• Proof read your message for accuracy of spelling
and grammar before sending.
To achieve correctness and
completeness
• Check whether you have answered all the queries
and provided all the details.
• Ex:- We need a large office.
• We need at least 10,000 square feet.
Positive Approach

• Avoid words with negative connotations.


• Frame your message with words which will
not hurt or offend your readers.
• Replace unpleasant words with mild terms or
expressions.
• Emphasise the positive side of your message.
• Stress what is or what will be rather than what
is not and what will not be.
Positive Approach

• Tell what you have done or what you can do


instead of what you have not done or what
you cannot do.
Positive Approach
Negative Positive
• We never change • You may exchange the
damaged goods. purchased goods
provided they are in
good condition.
Courtesy and Consideration
• Being polite means, earning respect and
sustaining your relationship with your readers.
• A rude and short letter should not be retaliated
with an equivalently and vehemently rude
reply.
• While writing a business letter we should be in
a cool, favorable and reasonable frame of
mind.
Courtesy and Consideration
Original Revised

• Your indifferent • Had you been a bit


attitude has caused more careful, we could
a great loss. have avoided this 20%
loss.
Certain phrases which express
courtesy and consideration
• Many thanks for your letter dated…
• Kindly respond to our request for…
• Please refer to our order dated…
• You will be pleased to know that…
• We appreciate your prompt response to our…
• We are sorry that we may not be able to grant
you…
Avoid artificial and angry
expressions
• Please permit to say that…
• We beg to state that…
• Never has there been, nor there will be, a
customer as good as you.
• I simply cannot understand your negligence.
• We have no intention of allowing this state of
affairs to continue.
Coherence

• The topic sentence should be placed in the


beginning of a paragraph so that it can give
the gist of the whole paragraph immediately.
Letter Format
Your Address

Date

(The person or company you are writing to)

Address

Greeting (Salutation Examples)

Dear Mr./Ms. Last Name:


Use a formal salutation, not a first name, unless you know the person well. If you do not know the person's gender, you can write out their full
name. For instance, "Dear Pat Crody" instead of "Dear Mr. Crody" or "Dear Ms. Crody." If you do not know the recipient’s name, it’s still common
and acceptable to use the old-fashioned “To Whom It May Concern.”

Body of Letter

 The first paragraph of your letter should provide an introduction as to why you are writing so that your reason for contacting the person is
obvious from the beginning.
 Then, in the following paragraphs, provide specific details about your request or the information you are providing.
 The last paragraph of your letter should repeat the reason you are writing and thank the reader for reviewing your request. If appropriate, it
should also politely ask for a quick response .

Closing

Yours sincerely, (Closing Examples)

Signature

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