Nama : Adam Ramadhan

NPM : 20112113
Kelas : 4 KB 01

BUSINESS LETTERS
A. DEFINITION & ELEMENTS

1. Application Letters
If you are applying for an advertised position, have the ad in front of you and refer to it
frequently. Be sure to address all the job requirements in the letter.
Match some of the keywords and skills from the advertisement or company Website with
the skills in your resume and letter.
Return Information
It is now permissible to only include your name, E-mail address and cell phone number. It
is acceptable to eliminate your address due to privacy and safety issues. Be sure your Email address is mature and professional. Ideally, it should contain parts of your name for
ease of use.
Inside/Letter Address
It is very important that you address your letter carefully. After spending time making your
letter perfect, you do not want it to be directed to the wrong person or get lost in the mail.
If there is a contact name on the ad, address your letter to that person. (Mr. John Smith)
If you are writing to a company for a job, the chances are that unless you have contacts on
the inside you will not know the name of the person you need to use in the inside address.
In this case you can address your letter to the manager of the specific department (Sales
Manager, Personnel Manager, etc.) or use Ladies and Gentlemen.
You should also make sure that the recipient's name, department and address details on the
envelope are the same as at the top of the letter.
Salutation
This is also known as the greeting. The persons name should be followed by a colon (:) or
left blank. Do not use a comma. (Commas are permissible for use in personal letters; not
business letters.)
Dear Mr. Smith:

If you know the name of the person to whom you are writing.

Dear Ms. Chambers:

If you are not sure of the marital status of a female recipient.

Ladies and Gentlemen:

Body

If you have no idea as to the name of the recipient.

The body of the letter contains four basic parts and should be three or four paragraphs
long. These paragraphs should attract the employers attention; state your interest in the
company and position; arouse the employers desire to interview you; and request that the
employer take action in the form of an interview. (AIDA)
First Paragraph
Identify
the
purpose
of
the
letterwhy
Be

specific. Tell

the

reader

how

you

learned

you
about

are
a

job

writing.
opening.

Tell the employer what job you want.

Examples:

In response to the advertised position in The Evening Sun on July12, please

consider my rsum in your search for an office assistant.

I was pleased to hear from Jeremy Green that you will soon have a vacancy for a
Marketing Assistant. I am very interested in this position. With the skills that I
possess, I know that I could be an asset to your company.

I am writing to apply for the Photographic Assistant position as advertised in the

November 1 edition of The Evening Sun.

Referrals and leads from friends and family members (networking) are the best way to
learn about a job. Most employers enjoy getting referrals. They trust the recommendation
of a valued employee or friend who states that you would be a good employee.
Examples:

Mr. Peter Lo, a programmer in the systems programming department, suggested

that I contact you regarding an opening you may soon have for a Marketing
Trainee.

I was referred to you by Mike Thomas, who is a member of my church and a

longtime family friend.

I am sending you my resume to you because of a referral from Mike Thomas, an

associate in your Baltimore store.

Second Paragraph
Why should an employer be interested in hiring you? Briefly describe your professional
and academic qualifications that are relevant to the position. Relate experiences that you
have had, classes you have taken or skills you possess that satisfy the job requirements. If
the job was advertised, refer to all of the required skills mentioned.

Examples:

As a computer science major with a sincere interest in................. (elaborate your

educational background)

Interacting with people has always been one of my strongest attributes. During my
last summer job, I coordinated..........(state your work experience)

For my senior graduation project, I built a personal computer .............. (state your
ability)

Third Paragraph
Emphasize what you can do for the company. Outline a relevant career goal. For example,
if you are applying for sales positions, do not say that you are training to be an airline
pilot. Expand on the most relevant points of your resume.
Example:
Because I am energetic, reliable, and resourceful, I would be an asset to your
organization. I am willing to learn new things and be the best employee that I can be.
Fourth Paragraph
Request action. For example, indicate your desire for a personal interview and that you're
able to meet with the employer at their convenience. Include your cell phone number and
when it would be a good time to call.
Some advertisements ask you to include salary requirements. You can choose to ignore
this. You can either wait until the interview to talk about money and mention a broad
salary range.
Examples:

You can reach me on my cell phone any day after 4 p.m. E-mail is also a great way
to contact me as I check it daily. I look forward to hearing from you soon. Thank
you for your time and consideration.

I hope that my qualifications are of interest to you and that an interview might be
arranged at your convenience. I can be reached at (717) 876-5432 or a message
can be left on my cell phone. I look forward to meeting you.

Closing the letter

Finish your letter with an appropriate Complimentary Closing (Sincerely, or Sincerely

yours,).

Leave enough room to sign the letter before keying your name. Do not forget to

sign it. Remember to include an enclosure notation at the bottom.

2. Inquiry Letters
Inquiry Letter is a letter written to request information and/or ascertain its authenticity. A
letter of inquiry deals with various matters like job vacancies, funding, grants,
scholarships, projects, sales, pre-proposals and others. The term is common in various
business setups as it implies fund request or pre-proposal information. Owing to this usage,
the term may be considered exclusive to these setups alone. But that is not the case, to this
effect the below definition offers a justified meaning.
Inquiry Letter Definition
A document requesting information sent on behalf of an individual or an organisation for
their own respective purposes, which can be mutually beneficial to the recipient and the
sender.
The term Inquiry is same as Enquiry. The former is more commonly used in U.S.
and the latter one is more common in U.K. There are some other terms which represent
the letters; these are Letter of Intent, Letter of Interest, Query letter, Prospecting
Letter, Pre-proposal Letter and Concept Paper. The term Cover Letter, Business
Letter, Request Letter and Sales Letter is also applied to an inquiry letter especially
when the objective is same as that of letter for inquiry.
A letter of inquiry serves to facilitate business operations and satisfaction of the sender.
Inquiry letters remove any misunderstanding and are time savers, especially when two
parties want to reach an understanding. The communication towards this effect resolves
the issue without any delay. With relation to it being a Pre-proposal letter, the inquiry
letter is also termed as a Condensed Version of a Proposal. It is the outcome of the
purpose of the letter which highlights the points of a proposal instead of a full-fledged
proposal.
On an individuals basis, these letters are sent to companies that are willing to hire but
haven't advertised job openings. It can also be a letter addressed to editor in-charge of a
publication proposing certain literary work. It can be a letter from a student who is vying
for a seat in a college or a business that provides an internship. So, the objective of an
enquiry letter is same but its projections and audiences are different. Same goes for its
method of delivery, it can be sent via paper mail or electronic mail.

3. Complaint Letters
A Complaint letter is a letter from the buyer containing claims for compensation to the
seller because of damage to goods, goods lost in transit, quality does not comply with an
order that could be detrimental to the buyer. In this case, the buyer should include a good
reason about the complaint. If the claim is proven, then the buyer is entitled to receive
replacement of goods or reimbursement.However, if damage to the goods was caused by
the buyer himself then he is not entitled to claim losses to the seller.
On the other hand, the seller must examine the charges against him by investigating the
causes of this complaint. Is it really the fault of the seller, the carelessness of the packing,
delivery of goods or the buyer? Thus, he can contact the party who made a mistake. If the
fault is caused by the seller, he has to accept these demands. When the fault of the sender
or transport, then the seller may request accountability from them. Similarly, if the fault
comes from the buyer.
A good complaint letter consists of 4 parts :

Opening Information : We hereby inform you that we have received our order on
time.

Problem : However, after we check it, it turns out there is some stuff that does not
comply with our orders and some others were damaged.

Request : We hope that you can check them out and replace the damaged stuff as
soon as possible.

Closing : We look forward to hearing from you shortly.

4. Purchase Order Letters

As per the life cycle of a product an enquiry about it does not always end in a sale. Once a
customer likes a product it results in a sale but only through a verbal order or a written one.
A Purchase Order is the document that initiates the purchase and helps close the sale. In
todays times of multiple companiesavailable for all products, there is some amount of

trust in the customer and even a verbal confirmation of an order is acceptable. But most of
the times it is only against some advance.
A Purchase Order Letter is a document that confirms to the seller that the customer in a
specified time frame requires a particular quantity of the product. Nowadays one company
to the other confirming the order, which is generally a bulk order, writes Purchase Order
Letters or it is written by an individual to a company again in the case of placing a bulk
order.
DOS AND DONTS OF PURCHASE ORDER LETTER

A Purchase Order Letter should be written as soon as the decision for the purchase
has been made

The company with whom the order is being placed should be given enough time to
execute the order

The letter should clearly indicate the product code or item number, the size and the
quantities being ordered

The date when the Purchase Order Letter is being generated is very important
because that identifies when the order was placed

If the order is being placed by a company then it usually should be in a Purchase

Order format

The Purchase Order Letter should also indicate the date by when the order is
expected to be executed or delivered

If any advance has already been paid against the order, it must be mentioned in the
Purchase Order Letter

The address where the order has to be delivered should be very clearly mentioned
in the letter along with any landmarks, if any, to locate the address

The Purchase Order Letter should give the details of the costing of the price
including taxes, etc so that there is no confusion while making the payment

The name of the company or dealer with which the order is being placed should be
clearly written on the letter to avoid any miscommunication of details

The contents of the letter must be carefully read through to ensure that the order
details have been correctly mentioned

The Purchase Order Letter should ideally be typed but the signatory should
personally sign it

B. EXAMPLES
1. Application Letters

2. Inquiry Letters

3. Complaint Letters

4. Purchase Order Letters

Bibliography/Sources:

https://sites.google.com/a/southwesternsd.org/

https://targetstudy.com/letters/inquiry-letter/

http://www.englet.com/

http://www.sampleletters.net/