Instructor: Ms. Ayana Angelu N.

Cañoneo
ayanaangelucanoneo@gmail.com
THE BUSINESS CORRESPONDENCE AND BUSINESS LETTERS

1. Definition of Business Correspondence

2. The Importance of Business Correspondence
3. Qualities of Good Business Letters
4. Parts of Business Letter

Letterhead
Date Line
Inside Address
Salutation
Body
Closing or Complimentary Close
Signature Line
Notations
5. The Eight C’s of A Business Letter
6. Formats or Styles of a Business Letter
7. Margins, Indention, and Spacing of a Letter
8. Sample Business Letter
 THE BUSINESS CORRESPONDENCE AND BUSINESS LETTERS

Definition of Business Correspondence

People in business perform or respond to a multitude of transactions in
writing with their clients, associates or other business entities as an integral part of
their operations. Correspondence is the communication or exchange of
information or ideas through letters in order to inform, persuade, motivate,
negotiate, and/or promote. Business letters are the means through which ideas
and information are expressed in business activities. Business correspondence is a
process of communicating between two or more persons for business
propositions, exchange of business information or ideas, and other related
activities.

The Importance of Business Correspondence

1. Establishes and Keeps Good Business Relationship
Business people write to their clients or customers about their products
or services, or to reply to inquiries or orders. Sometimes, this exchange of
information happens on a national and even international sphere.
Business people can write to potential clients and give information about
their services, thus building new relationships.

2. Saves Time and Energy

Customers are able to save time and energy in making their inquiries or
orders through letters instead of going to the business or shop
themselves.

3. Serves as a Record or Evidence

Letters, when properly filed and compiled, are effective records of
transactions which can also serve as evidence in case of dispute between
client and business person.
 4. Promotes Goodwill
Ending a business correspondence with a courteous tone or pleasant
statement promotes goodwill.

Qualities of Good Business Letters

 Complete
 Simple and Clear
 Accurate
 Relevant
 Courteous and Neat
Aside from the content, the following external qualities should also be considered
in preparing a good business letter:
a. Paper – the kind and size of paper used
b. Fold – there should be minimum folds to the letter enough to fit the
envelopes. For window envelopes, the fold should be done in such a way
that would put the address of the receiver clearly visible through the
window of the envelope.
c. Envelope – use envelopes that are appropriate to the size of the letters

PARTS OF BUSINESS LETTER

A normal business letter has eight parts. In the order of their appearance,
they are:
 Letterhead
 Date Line
 Inside Address
 Salutation
 Body
 Closing or Complimentary Close
 Signature Line
 Notations
1. LETTERHEAD
 found at the uppermost part of the letter

Dax Hardware
38 Abba St., Luna, Rizal
4562899/2883091

 The topmost part of the letter gives these pieces of information:

o full name
o complete address
o contact numbers
o nature of the business of the company sending the letter

 The secondary information are:

o names of one or more officers
o telefax number
o logo
o corporate subsidiaries
 You can only find the letterhead on the first page of a letter consisting of
several pages.

2. DATE LINE
 Typed two or four spaces below the letterhead

TWO STANDARD WAYS OF WRITING THE DATE

1. The American Way [ May 8, 2011]
2. The British Way [May 2 2012]

3. INSIDE ADDRESS
 The inside address is written 4 to eight spaces below the date line on the left
margin. Normally, if this consist of three to four lines, the first line presents
the name of the person or company and the individual or official corporate
title of the like: Miss, Mrs., Atty., President, Manager.
 For example:

Mrs. Fely R. Zamora, Manager Atty. Alex B. Solid

Hope Enterprises Maxim Steel Corporation
38 Quirino Avenue, Quezon City 17 Taft Avenue, Manila

The following are some reminders on the proper way of writing titles:

1. Address an individual the way he usually signs his name.

2. Avoid abbreviating Christian names, corporation, company, and official
positions or ranks, like: Sergeant, Treasurer, Secretary, Sales Manager,
director, and the like.
3. You may abbreviate titles like Honorable, Reverend, Professor. But in
formal letters, it is preferable to write them in full.
4. Include the article “THE” before the company name like – “The Dean’s
Café, or The Paulinian Ladies Circle.
5. Write the titles—Honorable, Reverend in full if the article “The”
precedes them like “The Reverend Jose P. Gomez”, not The Rev. Jose P.
Gomez.
6. Use the titles Honorable, Reverend, Professor, and Superintendent
before full names, not before a last name, like—Professor Juliet J. Sales,
Honorable Orly D. Pecson, not Professor Ramos, Honorable Daza.
7. Use small letters in writing the Article “the “ in “the Reverend Lino V.
Paterno”, or “the Honorable Nestor G. Cortez” if the article is preceded
by other words in the sentence such as—Everybody stood up to greet
the Honorable Jose P. Laurel.

4. SALUTATION OR GREETING
 This is written on the left margin, two to four spaces below the Inside
Address.
 The most formal salutations for top-ranking government officials are Sir and
Madam. Lower than this are Dear Sir or Dear Ma’am, and for friendly, intimate
and informal relationships, you may use My Dear Cora, Dear Peter, Dear
Helen, and so on.
 In formal business letters, the Salutation is followed by a colon; informal and
friendly letters, by a comma. These two—colon and comma—are the only
punctuation marks used after the salutation of a business letter.

Samples of Salutations:

 Gentlemen – the salutation for letters addressed to a company, club,

committee, and other organizations composed of males or both males
and females.
 Ladies- for organizations exclusively for females

 However, if there is a particular person whom you want to read the letter
addressed to the company, you can write this person’s name in the Attention
Line, a letter part considered as an extension of the Inside Address and can
be placed between the Inside Address and the Salutation or opposite the
Salutation.

Examples:
(1)
GONZALES ENTERPRISES
23 Yulo Street
Cubao, Quezon City

Attention: Engr. Hector N. Nolasco

Gentlemen:

(2)

GONZALES ENTERPRISES
23 Yulo Street
Cubao, Quezon City

Gentlemen: Attention: Engr. Hector N. Nolasco

 There are also Salutations, like To Our Dealers, To the PTA Members, Dear
Customers, that are situated at the upper center of the bond paper. These
kinds of Salutations are good for formal letters making an announcement
to a group of people.
 Another secondary part of a business letter found in the area of the
Salutation is the Subject Line placed two spaces below the Greeting. In a
modified block letter, it is usually centered, and in a full block style, it is at
the left margin. Serving as the title of the letter, the Subject Line states the
purpose or the topic of the letter in a short sentence. Here are examples on
how the Subject Line is written.

Dear Engr. Lanuza

Subject: Repainting of the DAX Fun House

Please, comply with our agreement on the repainting of the DAX Fun House
before the end of summer 2011. It is surprising that, soon, May will end, yet
none of your men is coming to see us regarding this matter.

Nova Hills Bank

28 Pawid Street
Fairview, Quezon City

Gentlemen: Subject: Repainting of the DAX Fun House

Please, comply with our agreement on the repainting of the DAX Fun House
before the end of summer 2011. It is surprising that, soon, May will end, yet
none of your men is coming to see us regarding this matter.

5. BODY
 the biggest part of the business letter
 begins two spaces below the salutation
 the spacing is double between the paragraphs of the letter
 It is in this part where you may convey all the messages you want your
reader you understand. To do this, you have to comply the 8C’s of a letter.

May 15, 2019

6. CLOSING OR COMPLIMENTARY CLOSE

 Typed two to four spaces below the Body
 Uses only one mark—comma (,)
 If the closing is of several words, only the initial word should be
capitalized.
Below are some of the most commonly used Closings ranging from formal to
informal ways:

Very respectfully yours,

Respectfully yours,

Very truly yours,

Truly yours,

Sincerely yours,

Cordially yours,

Best wishes,

Kindest regards,

7. SIGNATURE LINE
 In business letters, two signatures are needed—the printed or
typewritten signature and the penned signature.
 The printed signature is typed four spaces below the Closing. It is four
spaces because the other two spaces are for the penned signature of
the writer and for the fully capitalized name of the company
represented by the writer. If the name of the company is in the
letterhead, you may do away with your typewritten signature. With
regards to the signature of a woman writer, consider the following
assumptions:

1. It is assumed that a surname preceded by initials belongs to a man.

Example:

Yours truly,
M.S. Lopez
 2. It is assumed that a name not preceded by Miss or Mrs. always
means a name of an unmarried woman.

Respectfully yours,
Myrna S. Lopez

8. NOTATIONS
 The following are notations that come two spaces below the Signature
Line.
1. Identification Initials
 These are initials of the writer or dictator and the typist or
transcriber.
 A colon, a slash mark, or a differentiation in letter size is used to
separate the two kinds of initials. (e.g. KM:LY, KM/LY, KM ly)
2. Enclosure
 These are the important documents or papers that the writer
would like to attach to the letter.
 This inclusion of papers in the letter would eventually be
discovered by the reader through the explicit statement of these
documents in the body of the letter and in the enclosure.
 Enclosure is a notation written two spaces below the initials of
the dictator and the typist and appearing in full word, Enclosure
or in an abbreviated form, Enc..

Example:

VM: CG

Enc.
Birth Certificate
3. Carbon Copy
 This notation is found two spaces below the last line of the
signature. Its purpose is to let the reader now that a copy of the
letter is sent to another person or recipient whose name is not
mentioned in the address. The term Carbon Copy or the symbol
CC may then be written this kind of notations, and written after
CC or Carbon Copy is the full name and the corporate position
of the other recipient.
Example:

Sincerely yours,

Miss Lorna L. Robles

Manager, Purchasing Department

CC. Atty. Jose P. Gamboa

4. Blind Copy
 If the writer, in confidence, decides to give a copy of the letter
to a person not referred to in the address, he may note this as
“blind carbon copy” or “bcc” on the copy for the “secret”
recipient.
 This “bcc” is not reflected in the original. Actually though they
are not noted as carbon copies, they may not be, at all times,
carbon, but may be photographic or Xeroxed copies.
5. Postscript or PS.
 This may be added after the last notation. It serves as a device
for emphasis. Two spaces below the Identification Initials or
two spaces below the Enclosure, or CC is where you can write
the symbol PS..
 THE EIGHT (8) C’S OF A BUSINESS LETTER
When businesses write letters, it's important that they keep several key points in
mind. Business letters often contain 8 C’s-- clarity, conciseness, consideration,
courtesy, concreteness, cheerfulness, correctness and character.
1. Clarity
The first element of all business letters is that they should be clear. This includes
the purpose of the letter and words used within the text. Clearly state your point
near the beginning to allow the reader a clear understanding of the letter's
purpose.
2. Conciseness
Avoid using extra words in a business letter. The element of conciseness refers to
stating an idea in the fewest words possible. Don’t add superfluous information
or extra words to fill space. Simply state the information that's important and
pertinent, and leave it at that.
3. Consideration
A business letter should also be considerate. This element is important because
you must think about the reader and his feelings and point of view. Make the
letter about him and not you.
4. Courtesy
Business letters should show respect to the reader and should demonstrate the
writer’s personal respect for the reader and the company he works for.
5. Concreteness
Concreteness refers to using vivid wording within the letter that appeals to the
reader’s senses. If a business letter is dull, the reader may skim through, missing
important points.
6. Cheerfulness
When writing a business letter, demonstrate a positive attitude that expresses joy
and cheer.
 7. Correctness
A business letter must always be accurate. This means ensuring every word within
the document contains accurate facts and figures. This includes proofreading the
letter to check for grammar and spelling mistakes.
8. Character
Every business letter should show a bit of uniqueness from the writer. This gives
the letter character and may make it more interesting.

FORMATS OR STYLES OF A BUSINESS LETTER

Full Block Style

LETTERHEAD

_________________ 1. Date Line

_________________
_________________ 2. Inside Address
_________________

_________________: 3. Salutation

_________________________________________________________
4. Body of the Letter
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________.

_________________ 5. Complimentary Close

_________________ 6. Signature Line

_________________ 7. Notations
 Semi-Block Style

LETTERHEAD

1. Date Line

_________________

_________________
_________________ 2. Inside Address
_________________

_________________: 3. Salutation

………_________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
4. Body of the Letter
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________.

5. Closing _________________

6. Signature _________________

7. Notations
_________________
 Modified Block Style

LETTERHEAD

1. Date Line

_________________

_________________
_________________ 2. Inside Address
_________________

_________________: 3. Salutation

4. Body of the Letter

4. Body of the Letter
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________.

5. Closing _________________

6. Signature _________________

7. Notations
_________________
 Indented or Traditional Style

LETTERHEAD

1. Heading
_____________________
___________________
_______________
2. Inside Address
_________________
_______________
____________

_________________: 3. Salutation

___________________________________________________________________
4. Body of the Letter
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________.

5. Complimentary Close
_________________

6. Signature
_________________

7. Notations
_________________
 Hanging Style

LETTERHEAD

1. Heading
______________________
________________
________________
2. Inside Address
_________________
_______________
_______________

_________________: 3. Salutation

_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
4. Body of the Letter
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_________________________.

5. Closing
_________________

6. Signature
_________________

7. Notations
_________________
 Memorandum Style

LETTERHEAD

MEMORANDUM

DATE: _________________
TO: ___________________
FROM:_________________
SUBJECT: ______________

________________________________________________
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
_____________________________.

Penned Signature (optional)

_________________
 Margins, Indention, Spacing of a Letter

A letter looks a more pleasing picture if it is centered on the page. To

accomplish this, the typist, when using regular business stationary leaves a
margin of an inch and a half on the right and on the left, takes pain to
keep the right margin even and leaves a margin of at least an inch at the
bottom of the page. If the letter is short, the margins are two inches wide
and the spaces above the letter are approximately equal.
The spacing of the letter parts depends on the size of the letter. If the
letter is short (has up to 125 words), the number of spaces between the last
line of the letterhead and the dateline should be eight; a medium-size letter
(125-225 words), six spaces: and a long letter (225 or more words), two
spaces.
Folding and Envelope of a Letter
Likewise, consider the letter envelope and the folding of the letter
before you put it inside the envelope. The address on the envelope plus its
format must be similar to the inside address. And, the folding of the paper
must allow a four-centimeter top edge of the paper to protrude or stick-out
to make the unfolding of the paper faster or easier.
To add distinction to correspondence, use paper, ink, and an envelope
of good quality. The right paper is 8 ½ by 11 inches in size. For short letter,
you may use 6 by 9 ½ inches in size. An envelope that matches the paper
and is strong enough to stand rough handling and heavy enough to prevent
the writing from showing through is the right one for business-letter writing.

Note: You can watch videos on YouTube on how to fold the letter. Check the links
below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ru50Zz6lnT8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5gelIkXXLg
 SAMPLE BUSINESS LETTER

[Date]

[Recipient’s name]
[Job title]
[Address]

Dear [Salutation & name],

I am writing in regards of the position of Management Trainee to serve your organisation, which I saw
advertised on jobsDB. I believe that [company name] offers the ideal environment in which I can pursue
my goals of becoming successful in the field of fashion business and retail management.

As my CV describes, I have earned my Bachelor of Science in Business Marketing degree at [university

name], achieving high grades in modules that focused on [xxx], [xxx] and [xxx]. My studies have given
me a groundwork of business and sales knowledge, and analytical skills that are crucial for me to thrive
in this field.

I wish to pursue a career in fashion business because I have a strong personal interest in design and
fashion, and I enjoy the store environment and interacting with customers. I have worked at [company
name] as a Customer Relations Intern, which required me to work as part of a team and to deal directly
with customers. During the three-month internship, I developed skills in ascertaining and fulfilling
customer service needs personally, over the phone or formally through email. When the situation
demanded it, I was always able to take the initiative, hold an intense work ethic, work under pressure
and meet deadlines.

I am very excited about the opportunity to apply my skills and experience to a fashion apparel retailer as
prestigious as yours. As an ambitious and capable individual, I firmly believe that you will find me a
worthy candidate.
Please have a look at my enclosed resume for additional details regarding my qualification and
expertise. Letters of recommendation are available upon request. I look forward to the opportunity to
discuss this position with you more in an interview.

Sincerely yours,

[Signature]
JANELLA P. ANGELES

_________________ E-N-D—O-F—L-E-S-S-O-N__________________
You can check your next activity below. 
Consider and determine the following aspects before writing your
letter. Answer briefly.
1. Identify and specify the person or company you intend to
send your letter. Describe the person or company by
indicating the specialization/expertise, type of
work/services/products, and location of work/business.

2. Write a brief, direct and substantial letter expressing your

intent to become a trainee in a company. Use the full-block
style. Include all necessary details of a business letter.

_________________

_________________
_________________
_________________

_________________:

_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________.

_________________,
Barceros, E.L. 2011. Technical Writing in this Era of Globalization and Modern
Technology: REX Book Store
De belen, R.T, Enriquez B.B. 2015. Elements of Business and Technical Writing
(First Edition): Wiseman’s Books Trading, Inc.
Casela, N.C , Cuevas G.J.M. 2010. Developing Technical Writing towards Meeting
Academic Challenges:Books Atbp.Publishing Corp.
https://bizfluent.com/info-8396664-8-cs-business-letter.html
https://www.google.com/search?q=business+letter+sample&sxsrf=ALeKk01WEX
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MLFvAuX6cWCy3yYDBV0A:1605505626452&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&v
ed=2ahUKEwj_r7LErobtAhVYyYsBHfhQDJIQ_AUoAXoECAMQAw&biw=1366
&bih=625#imgrc=16ytrWNTZXt9KM