Types of Business Letter

By : Walaa M Taleb

Business letter is an old form of official correspondence. A business letter is written by an individual to an organization or an organization to another organization. Business letters are written for various purposes. One writes a letter to enquire information, apply for a job, acknowledge someone's work, and appreciate one's job done, etc. As the motive of writing the letter is different, the style of the letter changes and you get different types of business letters. The various types of business letters are used by different people to serve their purpose of sending the message across. Let's take look at the most common types of business letters: 1. Acknowledgement Letter : This type of letter is written when you want to acknowledge someone for his help or support when you were in trouble. The letter can be used to just say thanks for something you have received from someone, which is of great help to you. 2. Apology Letter : An apology letter is written for a failure in delivering the desired results. If the person has taken up a task and he fails to meet the target then he apologizes and asks for an opportunity to improve in this type of letter. 3. Appreciation Letter : An appreciation letter is written to appreciate some one's work in the organization. This type of letter is written by a superior to his junior. An organization can also write an appreciation letter to other organization, thanking the client for doing business with them. 4. Complaint Letter : A complaint letter is written to show one that an error has occurred and that needs to be corrected as soon as possible. The letter can be used as a document that was used for warning the reader. 5. Inquiry Letter : The letter of inquiry is written to inquire about a product or service. If you have ordered a product and yet not received it then you can write a letter to inquire when you will be receiving it. 6. Order Letter : This letter is as the name suggests is used for ordering products. This letter can be used as a legal document to show the transaction between the customer and vendor. 7. Letter of Recommendation : This type of letter is written to recommend a person for a job position. The letter states the positive aspects of the applicant's personality and how he/she would be an asset for the organization. Letter of recommendation is even used for promoting a person in the organization. Acknowledgement Letter An acknowledgement letter is used to acknowledge a fact, action taken or a situation that happened. This letter is nothing but saying a thank you to someone who has helped or supported you in your difficult times. An acknowledgement is a spontaneous reaction whereas a thank you many times is used as a social norm. This sort of letter is used to convey your gratitude towards a person who stood with you in your bad phase. It is for a longer duration of time. A mere thank you works with a short term action. An acknowledgement is a great way to get response from other side. The letter has to be direct and should recall the past deeds and actions that you are acknowledging. This type of letter helps you in building a bond or strengthening the relationship with the recipient. This letter is also used to confirm that you have received
1

a letter, report and you are working on it. The letter should have a positive tone. Do not bring any conflicts that you had in the past in the letter. These tips will help you in writing an acknowledgement letter:

The letter should start with your name, and address. If the letter is official then print it on the company's letter head. Your address should be followed with recipient's address. There should be white space left between the two addresses. Both the addresses should be aligned on the left side. The letter has to directly address the person who has helped you in your bad time. You are acknowledging his effort in the letter. You can address the letter to a person who has sent you a letter, report, invitation. You acknowledge it by giving your acceptance that you have received it. The letter has to have date mentioned at the beginning. This helps in future correspondence as well as for reference. You have to take care while using salutation. Always use "Dear" followed by the individual's name. The letter has to be proofread before printing it finally. The letter should not have spelling, grammatical or typographical mistakes. Use professional fonts like Times New Roman or Arial. Throughout the letter use the same font. The font size should be readable. Always sign the copy of the letter before sending it. The letter needs to have a complimentary closure. Use phrases like yours truly, thanking you, yours sincerely, etc. in the end of the letter followed by your signature and full name.

Acknowledgement Letter An acknowledgement letter is an emotional letter. It is not just written to say thank you but to acknowledge someone's support you received in your bad times. You appreciate the action done by the person to help you. Acknowledgement is a spontaneous act while thank you is a social norm that one follows. You need to be sincere in writing this type of letter. You need to mention the positive effects of the action that was taken by the reader wile helping you. You begin this letter on a positive note and express your views. A Sample Acknowledgement letter Marie Jennings 1100 Las Tables Road, Templeton, CA, United States (805) 434-3500 October 05, 2009

Ronald Hamilton 34473 Golden Lantern Street, Dana Point, CA, United States (949) 496-0606 Dear Mr. Hamilton: I received the catalogue that you sent today. I appreciate your prompt service to my requirements. It has all the details that I wanted for the jewelry designing. I am pleased about the delivery in such a short span. This will help me in fulfilling my professional commitments. This is going to really help me in my assignment of
2

making new design for platinum jewelry. This catalogue will give me an idea about the latest designs in platinum jewelry, which I am unaware of. I have sent your payment for the catalogue. You will be receiving it in a day or two. Once again, thanks a lot for your quick service. If I require some more designs, I will contact you in a week. If you don't receive the payment, you can call me and I will look into the matter. Yours sincerely, Marie Jennings How to Write an Apology Letter? An apology letter is written to say sorry to someone for what he has said or done. An individual who accepts his/her mistake promptly then he/she will be in a position of writing an apology letter. Accepting the mistake and promptly writing this type of letter helps an individual in rebuilding personal or professional relationship. Your letter has to show that you have taken full responsibility of the error. This gesture of writing a letter will make your relationship healthy. This sort of letter has to be short and concise. The tone used should be positive and soft. The letter has to be written immediately after the mistake is committed. The letter should not talk about how the error happened but how you are going to rectify the error. What steps you are taking to repair the damage done and how those measures will not lead to further problems. The letter should have your plan of action. The language that you use in letter should not be dramatic but clear and the message has to be understood by the reader. Take a look at these tips that will help you in drafting an apology letter:

The letter has to be printed on company's letter head if it is for business purpose. You can even write a hand written apology letter for your friend, family member or relative. The letter should be addressed to the person who has suffered a loss due to your mistake. You have to say sorry to him/her. The steps that you are taking to rectify your error have to be specifically mentioned in the letter. Give detailed information about it in the main body of the letter. The letter has to be personalized as you are saying sorry to someone. Use formats available in books or on the internet but make changes in those according to your needs. The letter has to begin with "Dear" followed by the person's name. The letter has to end with a complimentary closure. The phrases like thanking you. Yours sincerely, etc. should be used followed by your signature and name. The letter should be flawless. The letter should use fonts like Times New Roman and Arial. The font size used in letter should be readable. The letter has to be drafted in such a manner that some of the damage should be repaired after reading the letter.

Apology Letter An apology letter is written to apologize to someone for wrongdoing. An apology letter is a humble way to accept your mistake and say how you are going to rectify the error that you committed. The tone of the letter should be soft and sincerity should flow from the words. You need to be quick at writing the apology letter after the error has occurred. This will help you in maintaining and saving a personal or professional relationship. This letter helps you in rebuilding your credibility before the injured party. Be free and clear in writing the apology letter.
3

A Sample Apology Letter Tim Spencer 16741 North Greasewood Street, Surprise, AZ, United States (623) 583-3500 December 27, 2008

Michelle Anderson 2480 Fairview Avenue North, Roseville, MN, United States (651) 633-4366

Dear Michelle: I'm really sorry that I could not come to your Christmas party. You had told me about this party and asked me to be there. However, I could not manage reaching the party. I had gone to meet my parents who stayed in Chicago last week. While returning from that trip, I met with an accident. I injured my shoulder but now I'm fine. I was advised rest for a week. Therefore I could not make it to the party. I should have called you and told you the situation. That just went out of my mind. You had planned about celebrating Christmas with me and friends for a long time. I apologize for ruining your party and having kept you waiting. I can say sorry right now in this letter. And will meet you personally in the coming week to tell you the situation as I will be there for a business meeting. That's all. Looking forward to meet you. Yours truly, Tim Apology Letter written to a Customer This apology letter is written to convey the company's apologies to a customer for late service, not providing the service at appropriate time, etc. This letter helps to strengthen the relationship between the customer and the company. Through this letter, customer comes to know that the company has understood their mistake; they have accepted it and started working on the same. An apology letter does a lot to repair the damage done. The tone of the letter should be soft and positive. You have to give the confidence to the customer that the thing that happened will not be repeated hence forth. You have to assure the customer about the quality of the service that you will be providing as well as you can give an incentive like a discount, free gift with no strings attached, etc. All this can be done through a well drafted apology letter. Kenneth Lee Customer Service Manager LG World 2310 West Kimberly Road, Davenport, IA, United States (563) 388-6082
4

Date- May 08, 2008

Patricia Davis 404 Arrowhead Drive, Denison, IA, United States (712) 263-2012

Dear Ms. Davis : I am writing this letter to convey my apologies for the inconvenience. My company is late in fixing your air conditioner. I just saw the request that you had sent on May 1. I was not in the office and have just returned from a week long holiday. There were many changes in the company during last week and therefore your request was ignored. I have reviewed your request and will be sending the person to fix your air conditioner by today evening. You had to wait for a week so I will make sure that it is fixed as soon as possible. There will be some problem in valve as you mention that water is leaking out. You need not pay any charges for the service that we provide today. In the next two months, you don't have to pay any charge for the servicing that we provide for your air conditioner. You have been a valuable customer for us. I assure you that such a thing will not happen in future. We will be providing good service for all the products that you have bought from our company. We are committed to give best service to our customers. Once again, I am sorry for the trouble. You can contact me on phone at (563) 388-6082 for any further requirements. I am always there to serve you.

Yours sincerely Kenneth Lee Student Apology Letter A student is writing this apology letter for not attending the interview. He/she is giving the reason for not making it to the interview in the letter. This type of letter is short and direct. The student is asking whether he/she will get one more opportunity to meet the recruiter for an interview. The student is accepting the responsibility and wants to make sure that he is not overlooked in the recruitment process. The letter tries to insist that he/ she should get at least a chance to meet the hiring manager. This sort of letter helps in building a relationship. Robert Brown 1121 East Atlantic Street, South Hill, VA United States (434) 447-3610 April 12, 2008
5

Donna Adams Human Resource Executive Sun Pharmaceuticals 671 South park Boulevard, Colonial Heights, VA, United States (804) 526-0844 Dear Ms. Adams: I'm sorry for not attending an interview scheduled for April 11 at 10.30 am in your company. My sister met with an accident yesterday morning and I had to rush to the hospital. My parents had gone to a business trip and came last night. I had to be with her for the entire day as she was all alone in the hospital. Your company is a leader in pharmaceutical sector. Working with you is a dream job for many young students. I would like to know if you can reschedule my interview. I have completed my Post Graduate Diploma in Marketing. I have an internship experience of working with Glen Mark Pharmaceuticals. My educational qualification and internship experience fit in the eligibility criteria that you had advertised for the position of Marketing Assistant in your organization. I have also worked as an intern with marketing research firm as I have completed my degree with Statistics as a major. I hope you will consider my sincere apologies and give me an opportunity to meet you once regarding the position of Marketing Assistant. With this letter, I am enclosing my resume for your perusal. I look forward for a positive reply from you. Yours truly, Robert Brown Appreciation Letter An appreciation letter is written to encourage someone for his/her performance. You can appreciate a person for the help and support that he/she gave you in difficult times. You just need to thank him/her through this letter. Writing such a letter and receiving such a letter both are special occasions. So make the use of right words to draft this letter in an effective manner. Promptness and honesty are two key areas when you write this sort of letter. You have to be direct and precise in the act of thanking. Always make sure that the letter is addressed to the person who has helped you A Sample Appreciation Letter (Print the letter on company's letter head) Roger Wright Secretary Rotary Club 626 North Columbia Center Boulevard, Kennewick, WA, United States (509) 736-6888 May 10, 2009
6

Amanda Madison Director, Women Studies Center 351 Industrial Park Boulevard, Endicott, NY, United States (607) 757-2420 Dear Ms. Madison, I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude for accepting our invitation and participation in a seminar on "Gender Biases at Work Place" in Chicago. The entire organizing committee has asked me to convey their appreciation for your fabulous participation and the support that you gave us in making the seminar a success. The efforts that you took to be part of the conference are worth appreciating. You took time out of your busy schedule and made yourself available on a very short notice. The presentation of your research paper on "How gender biases do happen in various organizations even in twenty-first century?" was really good and showed your knowledge in the field of women studies. I, as one of the members of organizing committee, had a fabulous time with you. It was a learning process for me and I really had fun. It was indeed a pleasure to be part of a seminar where you had participated. Thank you once again. Looking forward to listen to you on various women issues in the future. Yours sincerely Roger Wright Secretary How to Write a Complaint Letter? A complaint letter is written to complain about wrong doing, bad state of affairs, etc. to authorities. This letter helps your voice to reach at the right place and person. The letter has to mention the complaint in first place. The letter will help you in keeping a track of how much time and efforts you have give to solve a problem. This letter can be used as an important document to fight your case. This sort of letter is used to raise your concerns about unfair things happening in society. You can write a letter to government offices about the infrastructure in the city, pollution and traffic problems, etc. A citizen has ever right to complain and make the authorities aware of the situations. In this manner, you can pressurize the system and get the work done. The complaint letter has to be clear, concise and factual All the facts have to be mentioned clearly and briefly in the letter written to authorities. Take a look at following points that will help you in writing a complaint letter:

The letter has to begin with your name and address followed by receiver's name and address. The letter has to address the specific person who will solve your concern. This letter has to mention the facts like dates, people concerned, amount invested, etc. This will help the officials in fin understanding the nature of your complaint in the first glance. The letter should have a polite, positive and soft tone. Your anger and aggression should not come out through the letter. The letter should show respect towards the authorities. The letter has to be concise. Use short paragraphs to describe your complaint and hoe you have to face
7

trouble due to the problem. Every thing has to be clearly specified. Honesty is the best policy. Go with this saying when you graft this sort of letter, this will help the people whom you are complaining to understand the real state and how you are suffering. You can enclose the photocopies of documents like receipts, agreements, prior complaint letters, hard copies of email received, etc. to make your points strong and giving proof of how the system has not helped you. Do not use the letter as a means of threatening the company for giving you a bad product or service. After many complaint letters, the situation remains same then you can use stern voice tactfully in the letter. If you are really going for a legal action then mention it in the letter. The letter has to be signed with your full name at the end. The letter has to carry your contact numbers and email address so that the authorities can contact you. Proofread the letter before dispatching it. The letter should not have typographical, spelling or grammatical errors.

Complaint Letter A complaint letter is used to complaint about a product, service or a person to the higher authority. The complaint letter should be concise, clear and factual. The letter has to clearly mention what actually the problem is. The letter has to describe the problem in a precise manner. All the dates, details, requirements, etc. have to be mentioned so that it helps the reader understand the problem easily. Even if you are angry and frustrated, the letter should use a friendly tone. This helps the other party in reciprocating and the action is taken quickly. All the main points of the problem that you are facing need to be highlighted in the letter. A Sample Complaint Letter Ellen Johnson 1920 Southeast Hulsizer Drive, Ankeny, IA, United States (515) 281-3705 February 12, 2008 Henry Richardson Customer Service CL Sports Ltd. 2025 East River Parkway, Minneapolis, MN, United States (612) 596-6100 Dear Mr. Richardson: I had recently ordered a pair of sports shoes (Item # 1234) from your company's website on February 05, 2008. I received the sports shoes on February 10. On opening the parcel, I found that the shoes were defective. There is a small tear in the front part of the left shoe. My order number is CD789456. I am sending the parcel back to your company address with this letter. The shoes were an urgent requirement so I have purchased another pair from a local sports shop. As I have already bought a pair, you can credit the amount to my account once you receive the parcel. Thank you for patiently reading this letter. I have been a loyal customer of your company for last five years. I
8

never had a problem with any of your products. This has happened for the first time. Will get back to you if I need any sports equipment in the future. Yours truly, Ellen Johnson Customer Complaint Letter A customer complaint letter is written to complain about bad service provided by the company. The letter describes how the customer is not getting value for the money paid as the service or product is not up to the mark. In the sample below, a customer is complaining about the poor quality of training given by the training institute. The customer has problems with the trainer and teaching methodology. The letter is direct and to the point. It clearly states the problem and facts in a concise manner. This sort of letter has to use a soft and polite tone. The receiver should not be insulted through the letter. The anger and aggression should not come out through the letter. This type of letter helps the authorities in understanding your problems and they can try solving those. This letter is a useful document to fight a case if you sue to the company in the consumer courts. Anthony Thomson Finance Executive G Soft Consultancies 6330 Brooklyn Boulevard, Brooklyn Center, MN, United States (763) 503-3534 Date: February 12, 2009

Nancy Adams Director Eve's Training Academy 231 Pillsbury Drive Southeast, Minneapolis, MN, United States (612) 625-5000

Dear Ms. Adams, One of our employees, Sarah Parker attended your two day work shop on "Credit and Risk Management" on February 10 in Minneapolis. She was disappointed with the teaching methodology of the trainer and the content of the session. The outline of the course given on your brochure was all together different than what was dealt with in the training. Your course outline gave four topics under the heading Risk Management but in the training only one hour was spent on what is the concept of risk management. Other points were not dealt in depth. The trainer was not in a position to answer the queries and doubts raised by the participants. That was due to sheer lack of practical knowledge. Sarah traveled all the way to attend your session. She did not gain anything out of it. Your academy should refund half the amount paid as she did not attend the entire two day workshop. We need refund of $ 250 paid as a registration fee. With this letter, we are enclosing the photocopy of the registration for your perusal.
9

We had high expectations from the training. Those expectations were due to the large customer base and testimonials from prior customers. Nowadays, the quality of your trainers and the entire management of your academy are degrading. You have to seriously look into it. If you need to discuss anything with me or Sarah, you can contact us on phone at (763) 503-3534 or gsoft@gmail.com. We look forward for your reply. Yours truly,

Anthony Thomson How to Write Letter of Inquiry? A letter of inquiry is written to inquire about an issue from a higher authority. The letter is drafted to get some more information which is not available on website, brochures, literature of the product. The letter is written by a customer to the company seeking some information about a new product or service. This sort of letter is written by a student to university to get information about a recently launched course. This type of letter is written to governmental officials to understand how to complete a procedure or apply for a license, etc. To seek information that can be used is the main objective of this letter. The letter is specially written to enquire about a product, service, course, government rules, etc. from authorities. The letter has to use formal language with soft and positive tone. The letter has to be to the point, short and precise. The letter should give out the main purpose in the first few lines so that the reader can clearly understand the motive. The letter has to clearly state the issue and aspect of the issue you want to inquire about. Be clear in what you are inquiring about and how the authority can help you in that regard. Here are some suggestions that will help you in drafting a letter of inquiry:

This letter has to be printed on a company's letter head if used for professional purpose or on a good quality paper. The letter should have sender and receiver's name and address with the date. All the three things should be left aligned. The letter has to begin with the word "Dear" followed by the name of the person. This is used as a salutation. In the first paragraph, letter has to give out the main purpose of inquiring. The letter has to address the concerned authority who can help you in giving information about your inquiry. Clarity is a must so that the authority can give you the information that you are inquiring after reading this letter. The letter has to close with a complimentary closure. The phrases like thanking you, yours truly followed by sender's name and signature should be used. The letter should be free from typographical, grammatical and spelling errors. The letter should use professional fonts and readable font size.

Letter of Inquiry A letter of inquiry is written to inquire about a product or service offered by the company. In this letter, you request the concerned person from the company to give you information. Some students, who want to seek an admission for a course, write a letter of inquiry to get information about new courses available on the campus.

10

A graduate who wants to get an entry level job, writes this sort of letter to gather information about the vacant job positions. An inquiry letter should specify the purpose of writing the letter in the very beginning. You have to be courteous while writing this letter. Ask the information only if you don't get it on the internet. Keep in mind that your request for the information will be a time consuming job for the other party. You have to understand that when you are writing a letter of inquiry. A Sample Letter of Inquiry Charles Taylor 4511 John Tyler Highway, Williamsburg, VA, United States (757) 564-3955 Date: October 15, 2008 Linda Robinson Admission Coordinator Virginia University 918 Emmet Street South, Charlottesville, VA, United States (434) 924-3344 Dear Ms. Robinson: I have heard a lot about the various courses offered by Virginia University. The official website of the university gives a lot of guidance and helps students who want admission. This is of great use as you can go through the courses and select a few that you are interested in.

While going through courses in Management, I came across a course in Waste Management. This featured under the category of green education. That really interested me as I have completed my honors in Environmental Science. I love nature and want to do something to nurture it through my profession. I feel waste management is a course that will help me fulfill my dream. A lot of jobs are available in this field of management as many countries have started feeling the heat of global warming. I have some knowledge about the basics of this course but I need detailed information, so that I can take a decision to pursue my post graduate degree in waste management. I request you to send me the detailed course structure, curriculum and admission procedure for the course as these details are not available on the website. The website gives information about fee structure, duration of course and eligibility criterion for admission. You can send me information on my email address- charles_taylor@hotmail.com. This will be great help for me. I know it is a tough task and it will be time consuming. I look forward to your positive reply. Yours truly, Charles Taylor

Order Letter (sample)

11

Almazan Trading 211 Rizal St., Laoag City Dear Mariano Farin: We have received your order last (date) as contained in the attached purchase order form. We acknowledge and confirm the acceptance to the said order. However, these are the following exceptions: (Give the full and specific descriptions) We assume that you agree to the same exception included here unless you send us an objection within (grace period) of receipt of this notice. Thank you for being a valuable customer. Sincerely, Ferdi Pucdot Sample 2 December 21, 2007 Dear Sir: We apologized for having a problem encountered with regards to your brand new [name of product]. Whereas we request our customers make contact with their dealer in the event of a problem. And in your case, we recognize it. May we request that you will carefully package the unit in its original box and send it to us, so that our product technician will thoroughly examined it to determine the source of the problem. If the product has only minor modification, we shall fix it and we will return the product back to you within 30 days. And the unit found out to be defective then we will send you a replacement immediately. Again, we are very sorry for the inconvenience using the product and thank you for your consideration and for buying our [product name]. Very truly, This is a sample letter recommendation for a business school applicant. The letter demonstrates the applicant's leadership experience and shows how a recommendation letter should be formatted. ===Sample Letter of Recommendation=== To Whom It May Concern: I would like to take an opportunity to offer a formal recommendation for Jane Glass. As the Senior Coordinator for Heartland Commerce I have known Jane for approximately two years and feel that she is a deserving candidate for your business school program. Jane joined our organization as an entry-level customer service representative. Demonstrating an incredible initiative and a strong dedication, she moved up the ranks quickly. After only six months, she was promoted to team leader. The board could not help but notice how successful she was in her new position and quickly offered her another promotion, making her part of the executive management team. Jane leads by example and many people here find her enthusiasm and dedication both inspiring and
12

motivating. As part of the executive management team, Jane has worked hard to build authentic relationships with the employees. Her efforts have created a happier and more productive team. I believe Jane exhibits many of the qualities that are essential to business managers and business students. An education at your esteemed business school will help her hone these qualities, while enhancing her career opportunities. I highly recommend Jane Glass for your program and hope that you will carefully consider admission application. Sincerely, Debra Max Senior Coordinator Heartland Commerce ===Sample Letter of Recommendation=== To Whom It May Concern: This letter is my personal recommendation for Cathy Douglas. Until just recently, I have been Cathy's immediate supervisor for several years. I found her to be consistently pleasant, tackling all assignments with dedication and a smile. Besides being a joy to work with, Cathy is a take-charge person who is able to present creative ideas and communicate the benefits. She has successfully developed several marketing plans for our company that have resulted in increased revenue. During her tenure, we saw an increase in profits that exceeded one million dollars. The new revenue was a direct result of the plans implemented by Cathy. Though she was an asset to our marketing efforts, Cathy was also extraordinarily helpful in other areas of the company. In addition to writing effective training modules for sales representatives, Cathy assumed a leadership role in sales meetings, inspiring and motivating other employees. I highly recommend Cathy for employment. She is a team player and would make a great asset to any organization. Sincerely, Sharon Feeney Marketing Manager ABC Productions

13