Department: Translation

Business Letters
Communication Skills

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 CONTENTS

1. Introduction (What is business letters?) page 3

2. Types of Business Letter Formats, page 4
3. How to Format a Business Letter, page 5,6,7,8
4. Business letter format example, page 7
5. Parts of a Business Letter, page 9
6. References, page 10

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 What is business letters?
A business letter is a letter from one company to another, or between such
organizations and their customers, clients, or other external parties. The overall
style of letter depends on the relationship between the parties concerned. Business
letters can have many types of content, for example to request direct information or
action from another party, to order supplies from a supplier, to point out a mistake
by the letter's recipient, to reply directly to a request, to apologize for a wrong, or
to convey goodwill. A business letter is sometimes useful because it produces a
permanent written record, and may be taken more seriously by the recipient than
other forms of communication.

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 Types of Business Letter Formats
Common types of business letters include:

 Cover letters. Sent with a package, report or other item, the purpose of a cover
letter is to describe what is enclosed and provide a description of what the
receiver should do with it.
 Thank you letters. These can be great for networking and relationship building.
Don’t just write a, “Thanks for,” and leave it at that. Provide more details about
what they did and how it helped you, and then close with a second expression of
thankfulness.
 Complaint letters. The key to these types of letters is to demonstrate that you are
displeased without being over-the-top angry. Suggest how the receiver of the
letter might correct the situation.
 Adjustment letters. This is a response to a complaint letter. The point is to be
humble in the response and to offer potential solutions. You want to avoid
burning bridges and instead use your response as a relationship-building tool.
 Bad news letters. The key with bad news letters is to soften the blow. Being
direct is valued in business writing. But when writing bad news letters, it’s best
to remind the receiver about what actually works in your business relationship
before breaking the bad news to him or her.
 Acknowledgment letters. They are meant to acknowledge that you received an
item from someone, or that you are aware of a fact or error they pointed out. Let
the receiver know when you received the package or information, and then thank
them for it.
 Memos Often used to spread important news and directives inside a company,
the point with memos is to be fast and to the point with your communications.
 Congratulatory letters. The point with these types of letters is to stay on point
and avoid sounding over-the-top or mocking. Describe what motivated you to
send a congratulations and the positive feedback that you have already heard.
Keep the letter concise.
 Response letters. This is about explaining or listing off how a request was
fulfilled.
 Letter of request. They key with these types of letters is to ask for help without
groveling or being overly emotional. Take a hard look at the adjectives you’re
using in the letter.
 Sales letters. These letters require a strong call to action or hook at the beginning
so that the receiver continues to read and discovers the benefits of whatever you
are selling. Make sure to provide information so that they can easily respond.

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How to Format a Business Letter
When formatting your business letter, readability should be your top priority. From
selecting a font style to correcting margins, you should make sure your letter is
clean, clear and highly readable. There are a few different things to think about
when formatting your business letter:

1. Select a professional font size and style

2. Include sections for all necessary information
3. Pay attention to spacing and margins
4. Begin and end your letter properly

Let’s explore each of these formatting instructions in detail.

1. Select a professional font size and style

When deciding on which font to choose for your business letter, you should pay
attention to cleanliness and readability. While it may seem tempting to select a
stylistic font that personalised the letter, it might be difficult for your audience to
read. They should be able to get the information they need from your letter as
quickly as possible.

Here are a few examples of popular fonts used in professional documents:

 Arial
 Avenir
 Calibri
 Corbel
 Garamond
 Georgia
 Gill Sans
 Helvetica
 Open Sans
 Roboto
 Times New Roman

When selecting a font size, you should consider the smallest size in which your
document will still be easily readable. You should stay between 10 and 12 points

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for your font. Smaller than 10 point fonts will be difficult to read, while fonts
larger than 12 points might appear unprofessional.

2. Include sections for all necessary information

When designing the layout for your business letter, you should keep in mind all of
the necessary information typically included on a professional document.
Typically, a business letter includes the following information at the top:

 Your contact information (Name, job title, company, address, phone number,
email)
 The date
 Recipient’s contact information (Name, job title, company, company
address)

This information is followed by a salutation and then the body, followed by your
close and signature. When drafting your business letter, be sure to include all
appropriate information.

3. Pay attention to spacing and margins

Spacing plays an important role in making your business letter appear readable and
professional. Be sure to put spaces between the elements at the top of your letter
(your contact information, the date and their contact information) followed by
another space to begin your letter.

In the body paragraphs, your letter should be single-spaced to create a clean yet
readable document. You should include a space between each paragraph and
before and after your closing. It is best practice to align your entire letter to the left
side of the page as opposed to centred or aligned right. This makes it easy to follow
for the audience.

Typically, a professional document has one-inch margins. It is appropriate for

margins to be a bit larger than usual (up to one and a quarter inch) for business
letters.

4. Begin and end your letter properly

As you start your letter, you should address the recipient appropriately. If you do
not know the recipient, it is appropriate to include a general greeting like “To
Whom it May Concern” or addressing them by their job title such as “Dear
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Director of Finance.” If you know the recipient’s name but have never formally
met them or have only briefly met, you should include a more proper greeting like,
“Dear Mr. (Last Name)” or “Dear Ms. (Last Name)”. If you have a deeper
relationship with the recipient, feel free to greet them with their first name as you
would address them in person.

Select a brief, appropriate closing as you end your letter like “Sincerely,”
“Respectfully” or “All the best” followed by your first and last name and job title.
You should include a space between the close and your name.

Business letter format example

Here’s an example of a business letter format you can use as a template when
drafting your own business letter:

Roshni Duttaa Gomez

Sr. Project Manager
Asomtech Solutions
42/08, Bose road
Kolkata, West Bengal, India
050 2948 2948
[email protected]

July 1, 2019
Ram Prasad
Sr. Data Analyst
Clouddatanow Tech
101 Solanki Street
Kanchan marg, Kolkata, West Bengal

Dear Ram Prasad,

It is my pleasure to strongly recommend Aashna Singhania for the Jr. Data Analyst
role with Clouddatanow Tech. I am Roshni Duttaa, a project manager at Asomtech
Solutions. I have 12 years of experience working in the tech industry and have seen
many young professionals come and go. Ms. Singhania is one individual I have
worked with who uniquely stands out.

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During our time together, Aashna displayed great talents in data analytics. When
we first met, I was immediately impressed with Aashna but during the time we
worked together, her understanding of analysing data to achieve results for our
company grew far more than that of her peers.

It’s not just her technical skills that impress me. Aashna was a joy to work with
because of her amazingly positive attitude and ability to communicate across
teams. Her focus and attention to detail were also necessary and valued not just by
me but also by her peers who often relied on her to get the job done.

I am absolutely confident that Aashna would be a great fit at Clouddatanow Tech.

Not only will she bring the kind of skills and experiences you’re looking for in an
applicant, she will quickly become an asset and help your company grow in any
way she can.

If you need more information or specific examples, please do not hesitate to

contact me at 050 2948 2948. As a recommendation letter likely only provides a
snapshot of her talents and achievements, I would be happy to further elaborate on
my time working with her.

Sincerely,
Roshni Dutta
Sr. Project Manager

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 Parts of a Business Letter
Most experts agree that a business letter should have at least the following
seven parts in a business letter:

1. Sender’s address. You don’t want the recipient to have to look up your address in
order to write a response. A phone number and email address can be included as
well.
2. Date. It should be immediately apparent when the letter was written. That way,
the recipient can more easily be reminded of when and why the letter was written
especially if it revolved around a particular event or business situation.
3. Recipient’s address. You don’t want your assistant to have to look up the address
to send the letter (or you don’t want to have to look up the address again
yourself).
4. Salutation. A “To whom it may concern” is a surefire way to get your letter
lining a wastepaper basket. It’s important to have a name in the recipient’s
address and salutation, even if you have to call up the company or do some
searching on LinkedIn to find out who the letter should go to.
5. Body. It’s generally wise to stay professional and get to the point. As with any
communications, being clear and concise tends to reflect best on the writer.
6. Closing/signature. The signature gives a personal touch to the letter, shows
exactly who it’s from and that you approve the contents of the letter.
7. Enclosures. It’s important to have a list of any additional items enclosed with the
business letter, in case the recipient misplaces them.

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 References
-First website: Indeed

Indeed’s link: https://in.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/business-

letter-format-and-example

-Second website: Smallbiz Ahmad

Smallbiz Ahmad’s:
https://sba.thehartford.com/business-management/marketing/business-letter-
formats/

- Wikipedia

Wikipedia’s link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_letter

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