Letter Writing What is Business communication? What is the role of Letter writing in Business or in Technical Communication? In modern time, the concept of Business has changed. With the advancement in the field of science and in the means of transports and communication there is a great change in the development of trade and commerce. The goods produced in local area are sold in the foreign markets and vice versa. To run the business successfully the concept of Business Communication becomes necessary part of Business. It is the fact that no organization is independent in business field. In business every organization has to depend on other organizations for the raw materials and in order to sustain the relationship with other organizations there must be effective communication among organizations. The word Communication means the imparting, conveying or exchange of ideas, knowledge, etc. whether by speech, writing or sign Internal Communication: Internal Communication means exchange of information internally by phone, e-mail, fax, inter-office memo within the organization related to the work. It helps employees do their work systematically and have a clear vision of the goals of the company they work for. External Communication External Communication carries information out of the organization related to the work. In business field messages are exchanged with customers, traders, distributors, competitors, investors and representatives. It requires good and effective communication to build a favorable image of an organization and to promote its performance. CS/ Business Letter Writing/ 1
In business communication, letter writing has played a significant role in the progress and development of trade and industry. Today most of the business of the world is carried on by means of a letter. Goods are bought and sold, complaints are registered and solved and misunderstandings are cleared up by means of letters. There are other means of communication for Business activities such as oral medium or audio-visual medium but only letter serves the right purpose. Written correspondence or Letter creates permanent records; it contributes to legal defenses when litigation arises. In modern times, Business Letters act as an Ambassador. As Ambassador maintains relationship among nations, Business Letters in the same way establish relationship between two companies or traders or their relationship with customers In letter writing, the information is organized, presented and communicated in a specific format. In letter the writing should be concise, clear and accurate. The writing takes into account the audience s needs, biases and prior understanding. The writing presents information to help readers solve a problem or gain a better understanding of a situation. The writing conveys technical, complex, or specialized information in a way that is easy for non-technical readers to understand. In short, in business communication, letters create an impression of the business party and the communication done with the use of letter makes business dealing or negotiation comprehensive. CS/ Business Letter Writing/ 2
Structure/Parts of Business Letter: Structure of business letter includes two types of elements: Standard Elements and Additional Elements. Standard Elements: Heading: Heading includes the name and the address of the writer of the letter. This element is also known as letterhead. It appears in the beginning of the letter aligning either left margin or right margin depending upon the layout. Date: This element refers to the date the letter was written. It includes the date, month and year. Date appears below the heading. There are two methods of writing the date: Method I: The date is written in ordinal numbers. e.g. 5th July 2009. The figures of the date are written as 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 15th, 25th and so on. The name of the month is followed by the date and the year is written last. Method II: The date is written in Cardinal numbers, e.g. July 5, 2009. According to this method, the name of the month is written first. The date is followed by the month and the year is written last. Inside address: Inside address includes the Name, Post and the full address of the person who is going to receive the letter. It is the same as it will appear on the envelope. Salutation: CS/ Business Letter Writing/ 3
In salutation we address the person who is going to receive the letter in the following way. Salutation is placed leaving one space below inside address. For example: Sir, Madam, Dear Sir, Dear Madam, Dear Sirs, Gentlemen, Mesdames, Dear Mr. Trivedi, Dear Mrs. Trivedi, Dear Prof. Joshi, Dear Kuldeep, Dear Roma, This form of salutation is used in government correspondence or while writing letters to such offices. This form of salutation is commonly used in business correspondence This form of salutation is used when the letter is written to business firms or companies This form is used in America while writing letters to Board of Directors, Committees, Public Bodies and Big companies. This form of salutation is used when to letter is addressed to a firm of ladies In modern time, this form is used by business man when he has business relation with the person to whom he is writing a letter. The name of person is written followed by Dear This is an informal use. This form of salutation is used when the writer has personal relation with the recipient of the letter CS/ Business Letter Writing/ 4
Dear Customer, Dear Member, Dear Subscribers This form of salutation is used in circular letters Message: This part occupies the greatest amount of space. Here we include our purpose of the letter and some important information about the letter in detail. Complimentary Close: This element is a single word or phase separated from the message by a blank line. For complimentary close we can use phrases like: Complimentary Close Yours faithfully, Yours truly, Yours very truly, Very truly yours, Yours truly, Your sincerely, Sincerely yours, Details This form is used in business correspondence. This form is in harmony with Dear Sir, Dear Madam, as the salutation This form is used in America and it is in the harmony with Dear Sir: Dear Madam: as the salutation This form indicates some personal relationship and is in harmony with the salutation such as Dear Mr. Joseph, Dear Mr. Joshi. It is more used in America This form shows personal relationship between the writer and the recipient. In Business letter this form is less used. CS/ Business Letter Writing/ 5
Signature Block: In signature block we have to mention our short name and put our signature at the end of the letter. Example: Jay Dixit Hindustan Chemical Limited ADDITIONAL ELEMENTS: Additional elements include: Addressee notation Attention line Subject line Enclosure notation Copy notation Mailing notation Addressee Notation: This notation generally appears a double space above the inside address in capital letters. For example: PERSONAL CONFIDENTIAL TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN Subject Line: This line directly says the main purpose of the letter in short. For example: Subject: Information regarding last week s inspection. Enclosure Notation: CS/ Business Letter Writing/ 6
This notation appears at the bottom of the letter where we mention all the names of documents that we attach with the letter. For example: Enclosure: 1. Draft of proposal 2. Invoice photocopy 3. Report 4. Proposal Copy Notation: Copy notation mentions the names of persons who are going to receive a copy of the letter. Here the recipients of the letter are listed in the following manner: Cc: Charles Mathew Copy to Ben Adams Mailing Notation: This notation is placed either at the bottom of the letter or in the very beginning of the letter above the inside address. It refers to the name of the medium through which the letter is sent. Mailing notations such as: By registered post By courier By speed post etc. CS/ Business Letter Writing/ 7
TYPES OF LETTER : There are mainly five types of letter which are as under: Inquiry letter or letter of inquiry: Letters of inquiry are written by persons or organizations to get specific information about particular product or services. In this type of letter the main aim is to ask (inquire) information. Complaint letter: This letter is written to draw the attention of a specific persons or organization to their mismanagements or mistakes. Here, we send complain through letter this is why it is called complaint letter. We generally write complaint letter Billing errors Damaged goods Wrong quantity Late delivery Non delivery Poor service etc. Regret letter: This type of letter is written to show the sympathy with the person who has got a trouble, difficulties or a big loss. Adjustment letter: Adjustment letters are written in reply to claim letters. In this we have to apologize for our mismanagement and mistakes. We also have to assure to correct the mistakes through this letter. We can write the adjustment letter with the help of the following guidelines. Thank the customer for bringing the mistake to your notice Whether you agree or disagree completely or partially, tell him how you will remedy the problem. Explain how the mistake has occurred. Admit your fault. CS/ Business Letter Writing/ 8
Assure him to correct the mistakes as soon as possible. Clarify any action that your customer must take. Apologize for the problem occurred. LAYOUTS OF BUSINESS LETTERS: There are mainly four lay outs in which business letters are drafted: Block layout: Block layout. Modified block layout. Semi- block layout. Simplified layout. Now-a-days block layout has become popular in business field. In this layout all the elements are aligned to the left margin and punctuation marks are omitted in each element except message, salutation and complimentary close. Modified block layout: Modified block layout is traditional in its appearance. In this layout heading, complimentary close, and signature block are aligned to the right margin. And rest of the elements are aligned to the left margin. Semi-block layout: This layout resembles modified block layout style but here little bit difference is there. Here the message starts a few spaces away from the left margin. While rest of the elements follow modified block layout style. Simplified layout: Though this format resembles block layout it differs from block layout in following manners: Simplified layout omits salutation Omits complimentary close. Here are sample of above mentioned layouts of business letters: CS/ Business Letter Writing/ 9
These are the layout patterns. They show how layouts differ from one another. Observe them closely and learn the difference among them. CS/ Business Letter Writing/ 10
In order to understand the layouts of business letter, see the following examples of letters: Mr. XYZ 18, Meghdut Society Mahavirnagar Ahmedabad Ph: 00067800 BLOCK LAY OUT Date: 18 t h July 2011 The Managing Director H C L Company Bangalore South India Respected Sir, I am writing this letter to inform you that before three months ago I purchased a computer from your branch at Ahmedabad. Now the computer is not working properly. It remains on for several minutes and then turns off itself. Regarding this case I request you to replace my computer as soon as possible. Information about the purchase of the computer is following. Invoice No. 4578/c Consignment No. 08967503/c Order No. 3452 Warranty Card No. 4563709/c I hope that you will consider my case and replace my computer as early as possible. Yours truly, Mr. X Y Z CS/ Business Letter Writing/ 11
MODIFIED BLOCK LAY OUT The Principal H N Engineering College Mahesana A`bad road Mahesana Date: July 18, 2011 The Managing Director H C L Company Bangalore South India Respected Sir, This letter is for your information that we require 60 computers for our H N Engineering College therefore we hereby demand a quotation for 60 pc from your company. Regarding this case we request you to send your quotation as early as possible to our address or you may send it through e mail. Our email address is mentioned in the letter. Email: hneng@gmail.com Yours truly, X Y Z CS/ Business Letter Writing/ 12
SEMI BLOCK LAYOUT Mr. X Y Z 18, Meghdut Societ Mahavirnagar Ahmedabad Date: 18 th August 2010 The Managing Director H C L Company Bangalore South India Respected Sir, I am writing this letter to inform you that before three months ago I purchased a computer from your branch at Ahmedabad. Now the computer is not working properly. It remains on for several minutes and then turns off itself. Regarding this case I request you to replace my computer as soon as possible. Information about the purchase of the computer is following. Invoice No. 4578/c Consignment No. 08967503/c I hope that you will consider my case and replace my computer as early as possible. Yours truly, xyz CS/ Business Letter Writing/ 13
SIMPLIFIED BLOCK LAY OUT The Principal H N Engineering College Mahesana A`bad road Mahesana Ph: 00067800 hnengcol@gmail.com Date: 18 th September 2011 The Managing Director H C L Company Bangalore South India This letter is for your information that we require 60 computers for our H N engineering college therefore we hereby demand a quotation for 60 pc from your company. Regarding this case we request you to send your quotation as early as possible to our address or you may send it through e mail. Our email address is mentioned in the letter. X Y Z CS/ Business Letter Writing/ 14
KEEP THESE THINGS IN YOUR MIND STANDARD ELEMENTS IN LETTER Mr. X Y Z 18, Meghdut society Mahavirnagar Ahmedabad Ph: 00067800 HEADING Date: 18 th August 2009 DATE The Managing Director H C L Company Bangalore South India INSIDE ADDRESS Respected Sir, SALUTATION MESSAGE/ BODY I am writing this letter to inform you that before three months ago I purchased a computer from your branch at Ahmedabad. Now the computer is not working properly. It remains on for several minutes and then turns off itself. Regarding this case I request you to replace my computer as soon as possible. Information about the purchase of the computer is following. Yours truly, Mr. X Y Z COMPLIMENTARY CLOSE SIGNATURE BLOCK CS/ Business Letter Writing/ 15
Message: you may use the following lines as the initial lines (1) This letter is to inform you that (2) This is for your information that.. (3) I am / we are writing this letter for your in formation that. (4) I am /we are writing this in order to inform you that Following lines are very important for complain letter (1) Two months ago we/ I purchased from your company but now is not working/ recently I have come across a defect in. (2) When I opened the consignment I found that all were broken/ were defected. (3) Regarding this case I hereby claim for the compensation/ replacement. (4) I hope you will consider my case and replace/ compensate as soon as possible. (5) My invoice no. consignment No. and order No. are as under: CS/ Business Letter Writing/ 16