BASIC PRINCIPLES OF GOOD BUSINESS MESSAGES

BEL432 BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONAL CORRESPONDENCE

Nazatul Shahreen Zainal Abidin, APB, UiTM Kelantan

Business Language
There are 4 characteristics of business language: Conciseness Completeness Effectiveness Positiveness

Nazatul Shahreen Zainal Abidin, APB, UiTM Kelantan

Very important time is money

Help to convey a direct and clear message To encourage the readers to have a reaction
To promote goodwill in the readers

Nazatul Shahreen Zainal Abidin, APB, UiTM Kelantan

Dear Ali Aliuddin, It was a pleasure to speak with you the other day. I am looking forward to meeting with you on November 15 to discuss whether outsourcing manufacturing capacity at your firm will be will be profitable. To confirm, we will be meeting in your office, 5555 Jalan Tenggiling at 3:00pm. Please contact me if I am mistaken. Again, I thank you for your time and effort. I am certain that our meeting will prove productive to our goals.

Sincerely,
Kamal Kamaluddin

Nazatul Shahreen Zainal Abidin, APB, UiTM Kelantan

Very important to retain the goodwill of customers. A rude letter can make you lose business. Be extremely polite at all times and mindful of the Ps and Qs, i.e.: please, thank you and sorry. Even if you happen to get a rude letter from a customer, you must respond politely. If the company is at fault, apologize for the mistake and for the inconvenience caused.

Nazatul Shahreen Zainal Abidin, APB, UiTM Kelantan

Dear Sahar Saharuddin,

I was deeply embarrassed by your telephone call yesterday. Before apologizing, however, I want to assure you that I will not allow such an error to recur; our company has a favorable record of customer satisfaction and I will not allow that to change.
Immediately following our conversation, I ordered our delivery trucks to arrive at your premises tomorrow to deliver the missing products and pick up the incorrectly-shipped items. I apologize for the inconveniences this must have caused you. Please call me at 09-9762555 if there is anything I can do for you.

Sincerely,
Amar Amaruddin
Nazatul Shahreen Zainal Abidin, APB, UiTM Kelantan 6

 Business letters should be brief and to the point. Avoid unnecessary details and roundabout expressions. Business letters should give maximum information to the reader, using minimum words.

Nazatul Shahreen Zainal Abidin, APB, UiTM Kelantan

Tone
Formal. Avoid casual words and slang.

Write the letter as if you are applying for a job,

not as if you were talking to a friend. Avoid phrases such as, "you know what I mean," "it's cool," and "you know that." Stay away from the light, conversational tone found in e-mails and messages to friends. Project professionalism in your writing.

Nazatul Shahreen Zainal Abidin, APB, UiTM Kelantan

Intent and Clarity

State the intent of your letter in as few words

as possible.
Write short and clear sentences. Do not use complicated words when a simpler word will do. Include just enough information so that your message is clear and concise.

Nazatul Shahreen Zainal Abidin, APB, UiTM Kelantan

Dear Faiz Faizuddin,

I am in receipt of your letter of October 10, 2012. I have looked through our records and determined that our check no. 1100023654 in the amount of RM2,515 was sent to you on October 2, 2012. If you do not receive this check by October 15, 2012, please contact me and I will immediately forward a replacement check to you. Sincerely, Nashar Nasharuddin

Nazatul Shahreen Zainal Abidin, APB, UiTM Kelantan

10

Pronoun Use
1st and 2nd person is acceptable. Using I and you help to create a

connection between the author and reader of the message.

When printing your message on paper that includes your business's letterhead, use the pronoun we. To imply that the opinions or information presented in the letter are those of the entire company rather than just you.
Nazatul Shahreen Zainal Abidin, APB, UiTM Kelantan 11

Dear Rahman Rahmanuddin,

Our credit department has notified me that your account is past due. You are one of our preferred customers and therefore we want to offer any assistance we can. We know that most overdue balances result from clerical errors. However, should you require additional time to settle your balance, please feel free to give us a call at 09-9762555. We value your business, and sincerely hope that this gesture will be of some help. Thank you for your kind consideration, and we look forward to seeing you soon.
Yours truly, Karim Karimuddin

Nazatul Shahreen Zainal Abidin, APB, UiTM Kelantan

12

Format
The proper format of a business letter: the date, addresses of the writer and recipient, greeting, body, closing and signature. The recipient may not view your letter as professional if each of these sections is not included.

Nazatul Shahreen Zainal Abidin, APB, UiTM Kelantan

13

What are the principles of business letters?

1. determine the purpose of the message 2. plan the message 3. use natural conversational language 4. be compact and clear 5. be courteous, friendly and helpful

Nazatul Shahreen Zainal Abidin, APB, UiTM Kelantan

14

Business writing has only two goals:

1. To make people understand you.
2. To get them to take action.

Nazatul Shahreen Zainal Abidin, APB, UiTM Kelantan

15

So
Your readers will take the proper action only when they know not just what you say, but what you

want.
buy your products or services? confirm a decision? to think you are good to do business with?
All these things buying, confirming, or even thinking are actions.

For your readers to understand what you want, they must first understand what you mean in your writing. If he or she has to guess, there is a good chance the guess might be wrong.

Nazatul Shahreen Zainal Abidin, APB, UiTM Kelantan

16