Letters

With the development of trade, commerce and industry, the use of letters has increased
considerably. The letters are an important device to get and convey the required information for
the success of an organization. It is through correspondence than an organization can build
relations with its customers, suppliers and other parties.

Business Letters or Commercial Letters

Such letters are exchanged between business houses. They also include the letters written by the
business houses to government departments on various subjects such as making presentation,
making Complaints, requesting for license, etc.

According to H.N. Casson, “A good business letter serves as master key that opens locked
doors. It opens markets. It opens the way for your goods or your services.”

Important Features of an Effective Business Letter

Business letters are an important part of any professional’s job. They are written to different
persons with different motives. Below are mentioned certain important features which should be
closely followed by a letter writer:

1. Brevity: The writer should be able to present the subject matter in brief because too much
words often spoil the beauty of a business correspondence and leads to confusion.

2. Clarity: The style of writing a business letter should be direct. In order to sound natural, the
writer should use plain conversational English. However, if serious matter is presented in a letter,
the writer should use relax and clear tone. But too familiar styles should also be avoided.

3. Accuracy: A business letter is like an ambassador, representing a firm, an industry or a

business concern. It strengths the business relations between two business firms or two
individuals. The accuracy of facts results in building goodwill between the sender and receiver
and we know that goodwill is the backbone of all business relations.

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4. Politeness: A business letter should be courteously written as politeness is a key word in
business world. A good letter should include expressions such as thanks, regret, pleasure, my
pleasure. Whether it is a letter of request or a letter of complaint, efforts should be made to avoid
unpleasant and rude expressions.

Types of Business Letters

1. Letter of Enquiry: When a buyer wishes to get some information about the quantity, price,
availability, etc of goods to be purchased or about the terms of sales, etc, he writes a letter of
enquiry to the seller. A letter of enquiry should be:

(a) Positive and Confident in Tone

(b) Straight Forward, Compact and Courteous

(c) Brief and to the point, yet clear, complete and correct

2. Letter of Replies: Replies usually contains price, quotations and other terms of sale such as
discount, credit, delivery, etc. Replies to regular customers should clearly, correctly and
accurately convey all the information sought by them. It must be drafted in such a way that the
enquiry may soon turned into a rewarding order.

3. Letter of Placing an Order: Letter of placing an order is the request for dispatch and delivery
of goods or the details of services either against payment or on credit. Such letters should include
particulars with regard to quantity, size and other specifications.

4. Letter of Claim or Complaint: The purpose of writing a letter of complaint or claim is not to
express your anger but its sole motive should be to find out the possible ways to solve the
problem so that business relations with that firm can be maintained.

5. Letter of Adjustment: For long term business relations, it is necessary to pay attention to the
complaint made by the customer. It is the duty of a manufacturer to satisfy the customer so that
his goodwill can be maintained in the market. The writer not only express his apology but also
give the reason which have caused the present inconvenience. Since the main objective of such

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letters of adjustment is to satisfy the customer so that future business transactions can continue.
Moreover, they help in restoring the confidence of the customer in an organization.

6. Sales Letter: A sales letter is a piece of direct mail which is designed to persuade the reader to
purchase a particular product or service in the absence of salesman. It has been defined as “a
form of direct mail in which an advertiser sends a letter to a potential customers” where
sales representatives are too expensive can be build up through sales letter.

Points to be kept in mind while writing a sales letters:

 Introduce the ideas in a way that compels the reader to take a positive action.

 Introduce yourself and the product well.

 Be clear in what you are offering.

 Choose your words as per the targeted audience.

 Always use a headline.

 Make the first sentence of each paragraph count.

 Use of font styles, font sizes, bullets, and numbering etc.

 Use relevant statement showing the credibility of the product.

 Suitable closing sentences.

 Correct use of salutation.

 Proper and complete details of the product and availability.

 Always ask for attention, build interest, desire, and call of action.

 Have a simple and convincing tone.

 Avoid creating confusion and uncertainty.

 Avoid being clever and funny.

 Include your name, signature, and other contact details.

 Do not use fancy words or slangs.

 Always revise and edit the letter.

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7. Circular Letter: Circular letter is one of the oldest types of letter. This kind of letter was
originated in ancient time when people felt the necessity of circulating any message to a large
number of people at a time in the same way. Circular letters circulates information relating to a
company, its products or services etc to a large number of people at a time. It place an important
role in the growth and development for business.

8. Social Letter: Social letters are letters which are written and dispatched to fulfill social
obligations or to meet personal needs which may not be directly related to official or professional
activities. Some letters of this kind are letter of Congratulations, Invitations, Introductions,
Condolences, Regrets, etc. Their main function is to convey a friendly, usually unexpected
messages that builds goodwill and pride image of the organization among the general public.

9. Collection Letter: Collection letters are the letters which are issued to collect the money due
on the customers, parties, organizations and other persons. Collections letters are written in a
series because these require pressure. The series allows the writer to increase pressure slowly. A
person will finally take a requested action if he is reminded often enough and with increasing
pressure that he has to do it.

10. Application for Employment: Whenever an applicant applies for a job, he will have to draft
an application letter and send it along with resume/CV. The purpose of this application letter is
to let the reader know what is sent?, why it is sent? and how can it benefit the receiver by reading
it?

Moreover, the application letter provides the writer an opportunity to show his communication
skills and also some other traits of his personality.

11. Letters for Banking Correspondence: Letters that are exchanged between the bank and its
customers with a view to perform banking activities are known as letters related to bank.
Generally bank exchange letters with its various customers and other parties for collecting
deposits, granting credits and issuing letter of credits, transferring money, discounting bills,
collection & other banking activities. Such banking correspondence may be of the following
types:

 Letter exchanged between banks and its clients

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  Letter exchanged between banks and its branch office or head office
 Letter exchanged between two individual banks

12. Insurance Letter: There are many reasons for taking insurance and writing insurance letters.
Few insurances are compelled by law, few others are taken voluntarily. Motor Insurance is
legally compulsory. Insurance like theft insurance, life insurance, medical insurance, fire
insurance and accident insurance are taken by the insurer voluntarily.

13. Report: A report generally means “to give an account of something seem, heard, done,
etc.” According to Lesikar Flatley, “A business report is an orderly an objective communication
of factual information that serves a business purpose.”

Characteristics of a Good Report are:

 Written in Simple Language

 Reader-Oriented
 Accuracy
 Grammatically Accurate
 Properly Documented
 No Role of Imagination
 Based on Facts
 Objective in Approach

14. Memos: Memos is an abbreviation of memorandum which is often used inside the business.
It is a form of business letter. Today it has become an integral part of inter and intra departmental
correspondence. The word memorandum is derived from the Latin term “Memero” meaning “to
call, to mind”. As its name suggests one of the most important feature of memorandum is that it
leaves a memory in the organization.

Purpose served by Memos are:

 To issue instructions.
 To record facts and decisions.
 To explain organizational policies.

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  To invite employees or others for official meetings.
 To give some suggestions or recommendations.
 To transmit requests and brief reports to seniors.

The Structure of a Business Letter

The business letter’s precise structure is crucial to its look and readability. As you write your
letter, you can follow the structure below to create an effective document.

 Opening: Include your mailing address, the full date (for example, July 30,
2017), and the recipient’s name, company, and address. Skip one line between
your address, the date, and your recipient’s information. Don’t add your address
if you’re using letterhead that already contains it.

 Salutation: Address the recipient using “Dear,” along with their title and last
name, such as “Dear Mr. Collins” or “Dear Director Kinkade.” If you don’t know
the recipient’s gender, use their full name, such as “Dear Taylor Dean.” Finally,
be sure to add a colon to the end of the salutation.

 Body: In the first paragraph, introduce yourself and the main point of your letter.
Following paragraphs should go into the details of your main point, while your
final paragraph should restate the letter’s purpose and provide a call to action, if
necessary.

 Closing: Recommended formal closings include “Sincerely” or “Yours truly.”

For a more personal closing, consider using “Cordially” or “Best regards.”
Regardless of what you choose, add a comma to the end of it.

 Signature: Skip four lines after the closing and type your name. Skip another
line and type your job title and company name. If you’re submitting a hard copy,
sign your name in the empty space using blue or black ink.

 Enclosures: If you’re including documents with this letter, list them here.

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Another important part of the structure is the layout, which determines how the text is formatted.
The most common layout for a business letter is known as block format, which keeps all text
left-justified and single spaced, except for double spaces between the paragraphs. This layout
keeps the letter looking clean and easy to read.

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