Business

Communication
Unit – III
BBA 202 N
Business Letters
Prepared By – Ketki Khera (Assistant Professor)
What are business letters?
• A Business Letter is type of letter which serves as a means of
communication written for various commercial purposes.
• These purposes can be a business deal, complaint, warning,
notice, invitation, declaration, information, apology and various
other corporate matters.
• “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. It tells the story of the real character of the firm”
-H.N.Casson

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Kinds Of Business Letters
• Letters regarding quotations, offers and orders.
• Letters regarding trade references
• Letters regarding agency
• Circular Letter
• Letter of complaint and their adjustment
• Letters of credit
• Letters regarding bank transactions
• Letters regarding insurance
• Letters for clearing and forwarding agents
• Letters regarding employment

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Functions Of Business Letters
Business Letters secure, promote and maintain business without
complications.
• Keeping records and maintaining references: Letter is the
record of what was committed to a supplier or customer.
Business letters provides valuable data about earlier policies,
transactions, and all other activities of the organization.

• An authoritative proof: A business letter always serve as an

evidence. A letter signed by a responsible person acts as an
authoritative proof of what is said in it.
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• Maintain contacts where physical contact is not possible: Letter
can be sent at any place and at any distance. Sometimes
executives, professionals, politicians etc are difficult to
approach personally. But a letter can find easy access to
anybody.
• Exchange Business Information: The prime objective of a
business letter is to exchange business related information
between the parties involved.
• Building and Maintaining Business Relations: Business letters
helps to build and maintain business relations among various
parties like manufactures, distributors, support services and
consumers.
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• Maintaining Good Public Relations: The companies often
want to stay in touch with organisations and people with
whom they don’t have the direct business dealings. This
generate their goodwill and the awareness of their products
and services.

• Legal Functions: Business letters can prove evidence in

legal disputes, if any, that occur in a transaction.

• Making a lasting impression: Letters makes a lasting

impression on the reader’s mind as it stays with them and
works effectively every time it is red.

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What is a good Business Letter ?

• A good letter is one which fulfills the purpose for

which it is written.

• A good business letter can open up new channels

for the business, get more customers , reduce bad
debts and do a thousand of favorable acts to the
business.

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• A good letter can:
1. Sell goods & services.
2. Bring back lost customers.
3. Secure new customers.
4. Create goodwill.
5. Collect bad debts.
6. Adjusts new complaints.
7. Open new markets.

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Essential Characteristics of a Good
Business Letters
• Clarity: Every sentence should be clear and
unambiguous. Everything must be said in an easy,
simple and direct manner.

• Coherence: One thought should naturally follow another

and each sentence must show proper sequence. The
writer should know what he wants to accomplish in the
letter.

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• Simplicity: The letter should be written in simple
language.
Superfluous Style Suggested Style
As advised in our comm. As stated in our letter
In compliance with your request As Requested
As per your instructions As instructed

• Correctness: Facts and figures mentioned in a business

letter must be accurate. Documents like the Account
statement, sales invoice, Bills of Exchange etc. should
be carefully prepared.
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• Completeness: The letter should be complete in all aspects.
It must contain all the essential points and should not be
lacking in any information which is required by the
addressee.

• Conciseness or Brevity: A letter should be as short as

possible. Utmost economy of words should be enforced.
Incorrect Correct
“Send immediately the following “Please send the following goods
goods. Delay shall result in the immediately as we have to deliver
cancellation of order.” these goods to a customer by the
end of this month.”

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• Convincing: The letter written should convince the other
party that the facts stated therein are correct.
Incorrect Correct
“It is of the best quality and is in the “Firm has manufactured the product,
great demand.” after years of research, the quality of
which has been approved by the Bureau
Of Standards. + Copy of approval.”

• Courtesy: The tone of the business letter should be polite.

The language of the letter should not offend the reader.
Incorrect Correct
You have not cared at all to reply to “Perhaps due to, an oversight you
our letters.” have not replied to our letter.”

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• Originality: The writer should not try to copy age-long
phrases and sentences but, be original in his letter so that
he may be able to assert his individuality.

• Appearance: A business letter should have good, neat and

tidy appearance. It must be written on a proper letter paper,
should be neatly written or typed, carefully folded, and put
in the right size envelope.

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Structure Of A
Business
Letter

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Components:
1. Heading 7. Signature
2. Inside Name and 8. Enclosures
Address 9. Postscripts
3. Opening Salutation 10.Identification Mark
4. Subject
5. Body of the letter
6. Complimentary Close or
Subscription
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Heading:
• Most of the firms use printed letter heads these days.
The headings consists of following information:
a) The name of the sender;
b) The address of the sender;
c) The nature of the business of the sender;
d) The name of the department writing the letter;
e) Mobile phone, email address;
f) Date of writing the letter.
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Axis Institute of Technology & Management, Kanpur 17
Axis Institute of Technology & Management, Kanpur 18
 Use of Punctuation

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Date:
• There are 3 styles of putting down dates.
i) English Style: 23rd January 2020
ii) American Style: January 23, 2020
iii) Oxford University Press Style: 23 January 2020

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Axis Institute of Technology & Management, Kanpur 21
Inside address:
• This part of the letter shows the name and address of the
person or party to whom the letter has been addressed.
• Inside address is written on the left-hand side of the page
just after the printer portion of the letter paper.
• Inside address should always be same as the address on
the envelope.
• Generally, it is written in three lines ;
• First Line: Name of the person or firm
• Second Line: No. of shop and name of the street
• Third Line: Name of the city
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Axis Institute of Technology & Management, Kanpur 23
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Reference or Subject

• The reference is given to indicate the context in which

the letter is written. This includes date, reference to
previous invitation, correspondence or advertisement
number. When a second reference is given by the
sender for future communication, it is brought under
our reference.

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• The subject gives a preview of the main content of the
letter. It puts in a nutshell the whole body of the letter in just
three words or in a single sentence. Often it looks like a
topical sentence.

• When you apply for a job, the subject can be simply

Application for the post of program manager, Application for
the post of assistant professor, Application for the post of
deputy manager and so on.

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Axis Institute of Technology & Management, Kanpur 28
Opening Salutation
• Salutations are pleasant greetings before the beginning of
something. It’s Just like the way we greet somebody in
morning by saying: Good Morning, Hello, etc.

• It shows whether the relationship is hierarchical, equal,

friendly, intimate, formal, business-like, etc. For instance,
‘Honorable Sir/Madam’, is used for somebody superior like
the Justice, the Chief Minister or a very important person.
When a person writes to a dignified higher authority,
‘Respected Sir/Madam’ is used.
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• Currently, ‘Dear Sir/Madam’ is the commonly accepted
salutation.

• Look at the given example and see how it moves from a

formal level to an informal one, and then, to an intimate
level: Dear sir, My dear sir, Dear Mr. Aswin Kumar, Dear
Mr. Kumar, Dear Mr. Ashwin, Dear Aswin, My dear
Aswin, Dearest Aswin, My dearest Aswin, and Aswin.

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Axis Institute of Technology & Management, Kanpur 31
Body Of the letter
• We can divide the message in the body of the letter into
three main divisions. The first paragraph will be introductory
paragraph and it will have the statement of purpose. It will
tell, for instance, what the sender wants to buy, order, sell,
receive, replace, complain, etc. on behalf of his/her
company. The middle paragraph details and gives other
information surrounding the purpose.
• This is followed by the final paragraph where the ground is
prepared for a polite closing and conclusion with a note of
hope.

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Axis Institute of Technology & Management, Kanpur 33
COMPLIMENTARY CLOSE

• By using a complimentary close, apart from the polite

way of concluding the letter in the final paragraph, you
take a courteous departure. This part of the letter is
separated by giving two spaces below the last line of
the body of the letter. Complimentary close must agree
with the salutation.

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• For example, if the salutation is Sir/Madam it signifies a
formal relationship and it goes with: yours
faithfully/respectfully/obediently/truly. If it is Dear Mr.
Nigam or Dear reader, it goes with Yours sincerely. If you
wish to use a neutral and widely accepted closing, then
you can use Sincerely yours or Cordially yours. If you are
in some doubt, it’s safe to use Sincerely.

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Axis Institute of Technology & Management, Kanpur 36
SIGNATURE
• Signature is actually the signed name of the writer. It is
here the sender gives the authenticity to the
information that is carried in the letter. Only when it is
signed, the information becomes authentic. The
signature part includes often the name, the title
(especially if the name is likely to leave the reader in
doubt) and the position (if already not mentioned in the
letter head).

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Axis Institute of Technology & Management, Kanpur 38
Additional Elements
• Addressee notation
• Attention line
• Enclosure notation
• Copy notation
• Mailing notation
• Postscript
• Identification Mark

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• Addressee notation: This notation generally appears a double
space above the inside address, in all capital letters. PERSONAL,
CONFIDENTIAL, PLEASE FORWARD, and THROUGH PROPER
CHANNEL are examples of such notations that are used in
letters that have a restricted readership or that must be handled
in a special way.

• Attention line: An attention line is used when the inside

address does not include the name of an individual. It can be
used to draw the attention of a particular person or a particular
department in an organization so as to ensure a quick and
prompt action in response to the letter. The attention line may be
placed two spaces below the inside address. It is generally given
in bold as well as capital letters, and is included in the following
manner: ATTENTION: DR SATISH YADAV, PRODUCTION UNIT
ATTENTION: PERSONNEL MANAGER
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• Copy notation: This is an optional component. It indicates
who is receiving a courtesy copy (cc). Some companies
indicate copies made on a photocopier (pc), or they simply
use copy (c). Recipients are listed in the order of rank if they
hold different ranks or in alphabetical order if they hold
equal ranks. This part follows reference initials or enclosure
notations: Cc: Charles Mathew Pc: Leela Sampson Copy to
Ben Adams C: Rahul Bhatia

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• Mailing notation: This is placed either at the bottom of the
letter after reference initials or enclosure notations, or at
the top of the letter above the inside address on the left-
hand side. Mailing notations such as BY REGISTERED POST,
BY COURIER, BY SPEED POST, etc. will generally appear in
capital letters to catch the attention. In addition, the same
notation will also appear on the envelope.

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Enclosure

• The enclosure or the attachment is attached along with

the letter as a supporting document. If there is single a
single enclosure, you can indicate that by enclosure: 1
• If there are two enclosures you can simply say
enclosures: 2.
• Sometimes if the documents attached are important,
then, they are specified, for example Enclosure: 1 MOU
dated 1 September, 2010.

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Axis Institute of Technology & Management, Kanpur 44
POST SCRIPT

• After the letter is concluded, in personal letters, an

afterthought is included under P. S. The short form P. S.
indicates post script, which refers to something that is
written after. People even write P.P.S. a later thought to
an afterthought! It is okay with personal letters but it
should be avoided in business letters.

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Axis Institute of Technology & Management, Kanpur 46
Identification Mark
• At the bottom of the letter may also be found initials of the
clerk, who types the letter. These are put down with a view
to hold the typist responsible for its typing out.
• Sometimes, the person responsible for writing the letter
also puts down his initials after the initials of the typist.
• Thus, RS-KL means that Ram Sahai has written the letter
and Krishna Lal has typed it out.
• In invoices, statement of accounts, etc. the signature of the
person making and checking it, are placed as above.

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LAYOUT

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Block Layout

• The block layout, also known as the complete block layout,

is extremely popular as it makes the letter look attractive,
elegant, and efficient. The main characteristic of this layout
is that all elements except the letterhead heading are
aligned to the left margin.

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Axis Institute of Technology & Management, Kanpur 50
Modified Block Layout
• The modified block format differs from the block format in
the positioning of certain elements: the heading is center
aligned whereas the dateline, complimentary close, and
signature block are right-aligned.

• Although organizations seem to prefer the full block format,

the modified block is also acceptable. The modified block’s
appearance is often considered to be more balanced and
traditional.

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Axis Institute of Technology & Management, Kanpur 52
Business Letters

• We become part of an organization by sending to them our

job application along with résumé.

• Once selected, we write them an acceptance letter. After

becoming an integral part of the organization, many
business letters such as instruction, complaint, sales,
tender, and collection letters are written on a daily basis.

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Types of Business Letters & Objectives

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Refer the sample letters and then attempt the
assignment.

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• Write a letter to your insurance company United
India Limited making a claim of 15 lakh to
compensate losses of stocks incurred in your
business due to recent fire?

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 Thank you
Axis Institute of Technology & Management,
Kanpur