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BUSINESS LETTER

One of the products of technical writing is the business letter. Business letters are so called because they are used for business purposes. They serve any of these three purposes: to sell, to buy, and to promote good business relationship inasmuch as they are written by people who intend to effect business transactions, by people whose ultimate goal is to prosper in business and industry. ELEMENTS OF BUSINESS LETTER Unlike a social or friendly letter whose parts are limited to heading, salutation, body of the letter. Complimentary close, and signature, a business letter is composed of basic and miscellaneous elements. Its basic parts are the following: 1. Heading consists of the sender s address and the date line (month, day, and year); 2. Inside Address consists if the name of the addressee (recipient), his designation, his company and its business address; 3. Salutation serves as the welcome part of the letter; 4. Body of the letter gives the details of the communication and consists of the introduction(purpose), the body(discussion/elaboration), and the conclusion (token of appreciation/ call for action/ building of goodwill); 5. Complimentary close/ ending serves as the farewell part of the letter; and 6. Signature consists of the name of the signatory (sender) and his designation. Opposed to the basic elements which are essential and therefore, should always present, the miscellaneous parts are considered optional and therefore may be absent. The miscellaneous elements are as follows: 1. Reference line indicates the sequential number of the letter which is used for reference/ filing purposes; 2. Attention line bears the name of the addressee intended to read the letter if such name does not appear on the inside address; 3. Subject line contains the topic of the letter or the title the message elaborated in the body of the letter; 4. Identification notation or reference initials consists of the initials of the sender in all caps and the initials of his secretary/ typist in small letters; 5. Enclosure notation- refers to the item or items placed inside the envelope, other than the letter; 6. Carbon copy notation or distribution indicator refers to the persons going to receive the letter other than the addressee; and 7. Postscript contains some items that are omitted from the body of the letter and should be included.

The basic and miscellaneous parts are positioned below in a letter having a semi-block format.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

Reference line Heading Inside address Attention line Subject line Salutation Body of the letter

8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13.

Complimentary close/ ending Signature Identification notation Enclosure notation Carbon copy notation Postscript

STYLES AND FORMS OF BUSINESS LETTERS The elements of the business letter are not consistently positioned in one way. The formatting or layouting of business letters depends upon the sender or his typist/ secretary. The sender can choose from among the six letter styles presented below and go for the style which suits his needs.

Of the styles above, the most commonly used is the semi-block style, followed by the modified block style, because of its balanced presentation of elements. The purely block style is asymmetrical (lacking balance) because all elements are flushed with the left margin. The indented style is becoming obsolete. Having a unique presentation, the memorandum style is used in inter-office indented styles have the same format, but differ in paragraph indention; the first has no indention, the second has a normal (standard) indention, and the last has a hanging indention.

PUNCTUATION STYLES As far as punctuation is concerned, a business correspondent has three alternatives to choose from. These are the open punctuation, the closed punctuation, and the mixed, or standard punctuation. Except the body of the letter which has periods at the end of sentences, the letter elements do not bear punctuation marks at the end of lines in an open punctuation style. The reverse is true in a closed punctuation style, in which the letter elements are punctuated at the end of the lines. A mixture of open and closed punctuation styles, the standard punctuation has two elements with punctuation marks, the salutation with a colon and the complimentary close with a comma.

C S OF BUSINESS WRITING Letters must be written effectively for business transactions to take place. Hence, it is imperative on the part of the business correspondent to know what it takes to produce the desired effects. A thorough understanding of the C s letter writing or the properties of effective business letters is what he needs. So called because of their initials, these C s are as follows:

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12.

Coherence sticking together of ideas Use transitional or pivotal words. Clearness/ Clarity no ambiguity Use simple and familiar words. Consistency unity Use English words consistently. Conciseness brevity Use short words and construct short sentences. Avoid the use of unnecessary words. Completeness thoroughness Use full words and avoid omission of necessary words and ideas. Concreteness specificity Use specific words, not generic words. Correctness accuracy Use precise words and edit your letter before sending it. Courteousness/ Courtesy politeness Use polite words. Consideration kindness Use kind, not rude, words. Character personality/ individuality - Use your own words. Cheerfulness friendliness Use smiling and encouraging words. Conversational quality letter talk Use words in a conversational manner.

CLASSIFICATION OF BUSINESS LETTERS


KIND Application Letter Purpose and Other Details To apply for a job; it is of two kinds solicited (a response to an advertisement) and unsolicited; its body consists of four paragraphs representing the ABCD (attracting favorable attention, building interest and desire, convincing the reader, and directing favorable action) of an application letter; it is usually accompanied by a personal resume or bio-data sheet having four sections (personal data, scholastic record or educational background, employment record or work experiences and character references); it usually ends with a call for action. To promote the sale of the company s products and services; its body consists of the ABCD of a sales letter similar to that of an application letter; it usually ends with a call for action. To buy products and services; its body presents in tabular form the catalogue numbers, quantities, qualities (product descriptions), unit prices, and amounts of the items being purchased; it specifies the time, place and manner of delivery and the terms and manner of payment; it usually ends with a call for action. To ask for a refund or discount (cash claim), a replacement of defective product or delivery of undelivered products (merchandise claim), delivery of service (service claim)or payment of insurance (insurance claim); it usually ends with a call for action.

Sales Letter

Order Letter

Claim Letter

Adjustment Letter Inquiry Letter

To adjust what has been claimed (cash, merchandise, service or insurance); it usually ends with a building of goodwill. To inquire or ask questions about something, e.g., prices of commodities; it usually ends with a call for action. To answer the questions raised in the inquiry letter, it usually ends with a building of goodwill. To designate someone to serve in a certain position; it usually ends with a call for action. To accept the position designated or the invitation given; it usually with a token of appreciation. To reject the position designated; it usually ends with a building of goodwill. T o invite someone to serve as a guest speaker/lecturer in a convention or as an attendee in a gathering; it usually ends with a call for action. To reject an invitation to a party or another gathering; it usually ends with a building of goodwill. To let two persons or parties get acquainted with each other; it usually ends with a building of goodwill. To recommend somebody to assume a certain position or to do a certain task; it usually ends with a call for action. To vouch for the character of an applicant to a certain position; it is usually written by someone whose name appears among the character references in the applicant s personal resume; it usually ends with a building of goodwill. To indicate one s desire to leave the company for personal or other reasons; it usually ends with a token of appreciation. To end the services of an employee for one reason or another; it usually ends with a token of appreciation. To manifest jubilation over another s success or gain, particularly in his business or profession; it usually ends with a building of goodwill. To manifest sorrow over another s failure or loss, particularly in

Reply Letter

Appointment Letter

Acceptance Letter Refusal Letter

Invitation Letter

Regret Letter

Introduction Letter

Recommendation Letter Referral Letter

Resignation Letter

Termination Letter

Congratulations Letter

Condolence Letter

his business or profession; it usually ends with a building of goodwill. Appreciation Letter To give thanks to someone who has done another a favor; it usually ends with a token of appreciation. To give orders for someone to follow; it usually ends with a call for action. To give a notice pertaining to something, e.g., transfer of business location; it usually ends with a building of goodwill. To ask for assistance, whether financial or not, in doing an undertaking; it usually ends with a token of appreciation. To ask for the granting of a loan; it considers the C s of credit (character, capital, collateral, capacity, and conditions); it usually ends with a call for action and is accomplished in ready-made printed form. To ask for payment of a loan or an obligation; it comes in four stages (statement of account/notice, follow-up, warning, and threat); it usually ends with a call for action. To transmit or send money or anything to someone; it usually ends with a call for action. To acknowledge the receipt of a thing remitted; it usually ends with a token of appreciation. To accompany a report or something to be transmitted; it usually ends with a building of goodwill. To offer service at a specified cost; it usually ends with a call for action. To indicate an approval of a proposed item; it usually ends with a call for action. To verify the correctness of the amount of the accounts in financial statements; it usually ends with a building of goodwill. To make a reservation for a room or accommodation in a hotel and the like; it usually ends with a call for action.

Instructions Letter

Notification Letter

Solicitation Letter

Credit Letter

Collection Letter

Remittance Letter

Acknowledgement Letter Transmittal Letter

Proposal Letter

Approval Letter

Confirmation Letter

Reservation Letter

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