BUSINESS LETTERS: CHARACTERISTICS,

TYPES
2

This unit reflects the techniques, characteristics, types, structure and

nature of business letters. It has three lessons which are designed to
develop in students the abilities to:
 Comprehend and apply the techniques in writing business letters
 Identify the characteristics of business letters so that student can
explain each characteristic of business letters all by themselves
 Explain the types of business letters
 Explain the nature and structure of business letters.
School of Business

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UNIT-2
Lesson-1: Nature Types and Principles of Writing Good
Business Letters

After reading this lesson you will be able to:

 explain the nature, types of various business letters
 understand and apply the principles of writing good business letters

Letters Defined
The information age generates more and more documents in the form of
letters, reports, memos, notices. So whether be at private sector or public
sector, or at home and abroad all professionals have to write letters
which serve as the media for conveying information among entities
and individuals. Sometimes you write to give information to some one,
sometimes you may be asking for some information from a particular
person, or a company; sometimes you want refund for your damaged
product from the supplier, or you like to send a note of condolence to one Letters serve as
of your depressed associate whose wife died recently, or you are writing media for conveying
information among
to inform a candidate that his application was not accepted whatever
entities and
your plans, you in fact do not write for yourself, but to inform others,
organisation.
and to fulfil a certain need. This need that moves you to write the letter
is your primary objective for writing the letter. You may have more
than one objectives in the same letter such as informing about steps,
instructing to follow the steps or acknowledge an order and clarifying a
vague order in the same letter. Then of course there is always the
secondary public relations objective that all business letters have. To
flourish its success and profit each company should work to improve the We write to inform
images of their company in public's minds. And the most important others and to fulfill
areas of public relation that a company should try to improve is its a certain need.
correspondence. As a rule the letters that a company writes create
strong impressions for a number of reasons.

First, letters are highly personalised messages, for they

single out a special reader and, usually a letter is written by a
single writer not by a team.

Second, they have the more formal effect than most face to
face communication.

Third, They receive the added impetus of the printed word

and have the quality of performance.

So a company can create good public relations only by presenting its face
in the best possible way through good business letters.

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Letters provide data for two main purposes:

1. To fulfil certain needs;
2. To elicit a definite response and to make the reader to be on the
writer's side.

Types of Business Letters

Letters typically go to people outside the organisations. By writing
letters you in fact present your organisations image, face to the outside
world. As a family member, social person you do write the personal
letters conveying your feelings, interests, good news, bad news,
depending on the type of relationship you have with the reader and also
on the message that is being conveyed. Business letters are written and
received for keeping all business transactions, relationships, perfect, live
in the business world. Most formal letters fall under three main category:
Writing 'yes' : accepting something, agreeing to a plan.
Writing 'no' : refusing something or disagreeing to a plan
or offer.
Writing for action : to move people to do something, to persuade
or to give orders sometimes.

On the job you might write the following common types of letters:
a. Sales Promotion letter designed to create interest in a product or
service.
b. Letter of instructions outlining a procedure to be carried out by
the reader.
c. Letter of transmittal (cover letters) to accompany reports and
other documents that you will mail out.
d. Letter of recommendations for friends, fellow workers or past
employees.
e. General business letters describing progress on a project,
requesting assistance, ordering parts or tools, confirming meeting
times, and so on.
f. Letter of inquiry, asking about the cost or availability of a
product, requesting advice for solving a problem, soliciting
comments about a job applicant and so on.
g. Complaint letters written to complain about disappointing service
or faulty products and to request adjustment.
You may also need to write letter in response to those letters received by
your company. You might also write letters to apply to colleges, to
compete for scholarship, or foreign study programmes, or to join a
campus organisations. These application letters are considered important
for good reasons: they provide evidence of your talent for clear self
expression, your level of confidence, your sensitivity to your readers,
your ability to recognise important points, your attention to detail your

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Different letters are
mastery of logical reasoning and your level of maturity and personality written for different
development. purposes.

Principles of Writing Good Letters

Depending upon its quality your letter will either open doors or, be a
waste of time. So to be an effective letter writer think of the good
communication principles that you can apply in writing a business letter.
The following basic principles will help you to produce a letter which is
most likely to achieve the desired result.
 Remember the basic rule: never send a letter until you genuinely feel
confident about signing it; your signature certifies your approval of
the content.

The You Approach

In writing a letter you face a blank page; you can easily write to please
Tone is the main
yourself only, forgetting that a flesh-and-blood person will be reading
ingredient of
your letter. The "you" perspective affects your tone and as the letter is message.
more personal than a report, tone is the major ingredient of your
message. Put yourself in your reader's place; ask yourself how readers
will respond to what you have just written. Your letter creates a
relationship with reader. So the words should be chosen carefully in
order not to offend and confuse the reader. Instead of writing:
"I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter
dated ..............., and I have to inform you
that .............."
It is better to write : "Thank you for your letter of .........., you
will be pleased to know that ..........."

Plain English
The reader of a business letter is not interested in the type of person who
has written the letter but in the content of the letter i.e., what the letter
say, and how simply and easily he can grasp the message, and help his
organisation.
So avoid stuffy, tired and over blown phrases (letterese) that you might
think will impress your reader. Here are a few of the many Letterese that
make letters unimaginative and boring:

DO NOT USE USE

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Letterese Translated into plain English

As per your request As you requested

Contingent upon receipt of As soon we receive

I beg to differ I disagree

It is imperative that you reply You must reply

Please be advised that my new My new address is

address is

We are in hopes that you succeed Good luck

In the immediate future Soon

I humbly request that you consider Please consider

Pursuant to our agreement As we agreed

I beg to acknowledge receipt of I received

Notice that, all the above letterese are exaggerated, sound insincere and
above all no one speaks in this way. So why not write as you would
speak in a classroom? Be natural in your expression while you write a
business letter.

Clear Purpose
Before writing as you plan, answer these questions:
A. What purpose do I wish to achieve (get a job, file a complaint, ask
for an information, answer an inquiry, give instructions, share
good news, share bad news).
B. What facts does my reader know? (dates, cost, model numbers,
enclosures, measurements, other details).
C. To whom am I writing? (reader's name? or title? write to a person
not a title).
D. What is my relationship with reader? (Is he an employer,
employee, a person asking for favour, customer asking for refund,
an associate, a stranger?)
Answer to all of the above questions will help you prepare the draft and
after writing the draft ask yourself three more questions such as:
a. How will my readers react to my statement as phrased? (with
anger, hostility, pleasure, confusion, resistance, satisfaction).
b. What impression will readers get from my letter? (courteous,
friendly, confident, dull, intelligent)

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c. Am I ready to sign my letter? (This one will take you to some

more thought)
Do not submit or mail your letter until you have answered these
questions and keep on revising as often as you need to achieve your
purpose.

Aim for brevity, accuracy, and conviction

This one is the most important principle of all communication skills. For
readability, keep your letter short, straight, formal and right to the point.
Give readers as much as they need no more no less even. Also write
with conviction i.e., write what you believe in, in order to sound
convincing to your readers.

Direct-Indirect Plan
The reaction that you visualise from your readers should help you
organise your material whether you should apply direct or indirect
method of writing. In the direct plan you put the main points right away
in your body section of the letter followed by explanation. Usually use
the direct plan for good news writing, inquiry or application or other
routine correspondence.
If you expect your reader to disapprove or need to be persuading or
refusing a claim then use the indirect plan i.e., give the explanation
before the main points. The indirect plan in fact makes readers more
tolerant of bad news or more receptive to the writer's arguments stated in
the letter.

SUMMARY

 Think before you write

 Analyse the purpose of the letter and reader's needs
 Make sure you have included all the points relevant to your purpose
 Use a courteous tone and 'you' approach
 Use plain, precise English and avoid Letterese
 Be concise and keep your language warm and personal

ACTIVITY
These questions are designed to help you assess how far you have
understood and can apply the learning you have accomplished by

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answering (in written form) the following questions:

1. What are the reasons that are responsible for creating strong
impressions on the letters written by a company?
2. What is the primary purpose of writing a business letter?
3. Name at least five types of business letters that you might write on
any work day.
4. Which of the following phrases you should not use for writing a
letter? What are the correct or plain English against each of the
phrases.
a. Please be advised that my new telephone number is 606263
b. You must reply the moment you reach Dhaka airport.
c. I shall see you in the immediate future.
d. We shall carry our duties as per your order
5. What are the questions that you ask yourself before you begin to
write a letter, in fact plan for it?

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Lesson-2: Techniques of Writing Effective Letters

After reading this lesson you will be able to:

 identify the standard parts and specialised parts of formal letters
 select and use the appropriate and accepted format (provided in the
lesson) for writing any formal letters.

Introduction
An efficient document, or a letter, or a report is never just 'happens' 
instead, the writer plans, organises, revises to meet the purpose of the
letter, document, and readers' needs and interest. Also to make it an
effective one, the writer connects its writing with the readers by
recognising their differences in background, their specific needs,
temperaments, preferences, fears, attitude, etc.
Whenever you write a formal business letter make sure that you include
the structure of all good communications, and also the required general
parts. Depending on the nature, and type of letters that you will be
writing, you might have to include the specialised parts essential for
formal business letters.

Introduction-Body-Conclusion Structure
All useful messages  whether in the form of a book, chapter, news
article, report, or memo typically follow a common organising pattern:
Introduction - Body - Conclusion
Most letters include a brief introduction paragraph (having three to five
lines, or fewer) in which you identify yourself, and your purpose for
writing the letter.
There may be one or more paragraphs in your body section of the letter
detailing the messages you want to convey.
Then comes the conclusion section. Where you tie up your information
and courteously encourage your readers to act.

Standard Parts
Letters typically have six parts, in order from top to bottom:
heading,
inside address,
salutation,
the text (Introduction-body-conclusion),
complimentary close,
and signature.
Heading
If your stationary is blank, include your address and the date (do not
include your name) as shown in Fig.-1 of this lesson. But, if you have a

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stationary containing letter head of your company, then simply include

the date two lines below the letterhead as shown in Fig.-1 of this lesson.
Depending on the length of the letter, place your heading at least one
inch below the top of your page and far enough to the right. Avoid
abbreviations except the Postal Services two-letter state abbreviations
(foreign countries like UK USA) when addressing the envelope and in
the heading itself. Sample below.
Street Address ...................................... House # 16, Road # 2
Dhanmondi R/A
City, Post Code ................................... Dhaka 1205, Bangladesh
Month, Day, Year ................................ August 20, 1995
Inside Address
Place your inside address using the reader's title (Director General) two
to six spaces below your heading and near the left margin. Include only
the routinely abbreviated titles such as (Mr., Ms., Dr.). Titles such as
major, captain are written out in full. Do not write "Dr. A. M. Safi
Ph.D." only write Dr. A. M. Safi.
Salutation
Place your salutation two spaces below your inside address. Begin
your salutation with "Dear" and end with a colon ("Dear Mr. Zafar").
Always include the person's full title. Use the attention line if you do not
know the person's name or sender but only know the position title.
Current trend is to address reader by his or her first name if that is the
way of addressing people in that country. For example, the Germans get
annoyed if you address them by first name. Also people from China,
Japan, Bangladesh, India, Mexico do not appreciate the informal tone
which is so common in British and American culture. So to overcome
this difficulty you should be aware of the culture of that country before
communicating in letter form. Example:
Dear Ms. Jerina:
Dear Mr. Haroon:
Also people consider the greeting 'Dear Sir' or 'Madam' appropriate in
India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, but these type of greetings are too formal,
and old-fashioned according to British and American culture. So it is
sometimes best to use the attention line.
Letter Text
Begin your introduction two spaces below your salutation. For letters
that will fill most of the page, use single-spacing within the paragraphs,
and double-spacing between. For short letters double space within
paragraphs, and triple-space between to balance the page.
Complimentary Close
Place your complementary close two spaces below the concluding
paragraph, aligned with your heading. Make sure the complimentary
close parallel the level of formality in your salutation, and reflects your

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relationship with the reader. Some conventional complimentary close

are as follows:
Respectfully,
Sincerely,
Cordially,
Best wishes,
Warmest regards,
Regards,
Truly,
The complimentary close is followed by a comma.
Signature
Type your full name and title four spaces below your complimentary
close. Sign in the space between.
Sincerely,

SHIHAB ZAFAR
Research Associate

Your signature indicates your approval of and responsibility for the

letter (even if it is typed by a secretary). If you are writing on behalf of
the company, or group that bears legal responsibility for the
correspondence, type the company's name in full capital two spaces
below the complimentary close; place your typed name and title four
spaces below the company name and sign in between. (Fig.-1)
Yours truly,

TAMUN LABORATORIES

TABASSUM ZAFAR
Research Associate

Specialised Parts
Some business or official letters require one or more specialised parts.
Attention Line
Use an attention line when writing to a firm, institution and when you
want a particular person (whose name you don't know) title, or
department to receive the letter.
ATTENTION : Research and Development Division
ATTENTION : District Financial Supervisor

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Usually drop two spaces below the inside address, and place the attention
line either near the left margin, or centred on the page. (Example given
in Fig.-1)

Subject Line
In order to forecast and draw the attention of a busy reader a subject line
is sometimes used as a good device.
SUBJECT: Application for the Post of the Local Consultant
(Junior)
Place the subject line two spaces below the inside address. Write in caps
or underline it.

Typists Initials
If you give someone the responsibility to type your letter than place your
initials (in caps) and your typist's initials (in lower case) two spaces
below the typed signature.

SZ/tk
But sometimes due to fear of repeatation the writer's initial may be
eliminated.

Enclosure Notation
If you are giving other documents with your letter, then, add one of these
notations one space below the typist's initials.
Enclosure:
Enclosure 2
Encl. 3
In case of very important documents name them:
Enclosures: 4 Certified Checks, 1 set of Master Plan.

Distribution Notation
If you are distributing copies of your letter to other readers, indicate so
one space below any enclosure notation.
xc: Office file
Shamsul Alam
xc: Director
xc: Manager, Personnel

Post Script
A post script is usually given if the writer wants to draw the attention of
the reader to a particular point he wants to emphasise. Do also use Post
Script to add a personal note:
P.S. You will appreciate the way he/she handles customers.

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But do not use a Post Script for a point you have forgotten, in that case
you better write a fresh one. You can place the Post Script two spaces
below any other notation. Use the Post Script sparingly in professional
communication.

Appropriate Format
Your letter should have uniform margins, spacing and indentation: leave
at least 2.5 inches as top margin and 1 to 1.5 inches as side and bottom
margin; single space within paragraphs and double space between
paragraphs. Avoid hyphenating at the end of a line. If your letter needs
more than one page, begin the second page seven spaces from the top,
with a notation identifying the addressee, date and page number. They
are typed in plain paper, not letterhead.
Shamsul Arefin, July 25, 1995 page-2.
Begin your text two spaces below this notation. A sample is given in
Fig-2. Notice that it contains enough information to identify the second
page if it gets separated from the first page.

Accepted Letter Form

Although several letter forms are acceptable and your office, company,
or institution may have its own letter head stationary, there are two
common forms: Semiblock and Modified Block.
In semiblock there is no indentation (Fig.-3) and in modified block the
first sentence of each paragraph is indented five spaces (Fig.-4)

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Fig,-1 A sample letter to show various parts of a letter

PANKASH PAPER CO.

BEACH ROAD, COX'S BAZAR

August 20, 1995

Mr. Jamal Uddin
20 Ranking Street
Dhaka-1000

ATTENTION : Mr. Uddin

In answer to your inquiry about leasing lakeside areas at Cox's Bazar, we

have no lands for lease in "highly remote areas." We have some limited
number of leases available, but you would have to visit our office to
know the exact location.
Dropby in any week day morning between 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. You
need to apply for a building permit too.
Thank you for your inquiry.
Yours truly,

PANKASH PAPER COMPANY

PRIMA KABIR
Town Site Manager

PK/pc

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Fig.-2 SAMPLE OF A CONTINUATION PAGE; BLOCKED

FORMAT

Md. Jamal Uddin August 20, 1995, Page-2

Sincerely yours,

Writer's Signature

WRITERS TYPED NAME

PK/pc

Enclosure:

xc.: Mr. S. Murray

Ms. Tanya Zafar

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2"
1" margin 10 Spaces 1" margin

6 Spaces

2 Spaces

2 Spaces

2 Spaces

2 Spaces

2 Spaces

4 Spaces

Fig.-3 A SEMIBLOCK LETTER

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1" margin 1" margin

Indent 5 Spaces

Indent 5 Spaces

Indent 5 Spaces

Fig.-4 A MODIFIED BLOCK LETTER

Fig-5 LOCATION OF BACKGROUND INFORMATION IN A

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LETTER UNBLOCKED FORMAT

(On letterhead stationary, the writer's address will already be
printed)

Heading Writer's Street Address

Writer's City, State, Count

Date :
Inside Reader's Name
Address Reader's Job Title
Reader's Organisation/Company
Organisation's Street Address
Organisation's, City, Country

Subject Subject :

Salutation Dear Name of Reader:

Letter text

Compli- Sincerely yours,

mentary
Close
Writer's Signature

Writer's Typed Name

Writer's Initials : Typist's initials
(If writer did not type letter)

Enclosure (if appropriate)

cc.: Name of recipient (of carbon copy of letter)
or
xc.: Name of recipient (of photocopy of letter)

SUMMARY
A good letter is carefully designed by its writer in order to make the
content worth reading, organisation easy to follow, and style readable,

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and clear. Always remember to do a little more than you have to for
your reader and maintain a balance between knowledge of your subjects
and the skill in organisation and presentation of that information.

ACTIVITY
Write a letter to personnel Manager of an "XYZ Company" stating that
you have accepted their employment offer for the post of
"PROBATIONARY OFFICER."

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Question for Review

These questions are designed to help you assess how far you have
understood and can apply the learning you have accomplished by
answering (in written form) the following questions:

1. What do you mean by the good structure of all communications?

2. What are the standard parts of a letter? Name them.
3. Which ones are called specialised parts? Just name them. Does a
letter need all the specialised parts to be an effective one?
4. What is a post script? How do you place it in your letter?

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