Writing Business Letters

What is a letter?

“A written or printed communication directed to

a person or organization.”
The Business Letter
What is a Business Letter?
A business letter is a letter written
in formal language writing from
one business organization to
another, for correspondence
between such organizations and
their customers, clients and other
external parties.
 Purpose

 serve as a reference for the future. .

 Provide information regarding
business activities
 Business letter in the form of
circular letter- many people can
read message within one time
 Establishment of relationship
 Solve misunderstandings
PARTS OF BUSINESS LETTERS
HEADING
Date
Inside Address
Salutation:
Body
Complimentary close:
Signature:
 123 Pine Street
Oak Ridge, NJ 07438

October 30, 2005

ABC Company
345 Spruce Street
Whatever, IL 01233

Dear Mr. Brown,

Insert the part of the body of the letter here.

The body of the letter should tell something
about what you hope to convey.

It should also have a closing paragraph in it.

There should be at least two sentences per
paragraph.

Sincerely,
Mrs. DeGraw
Mrs. DeGraw, Chairperson
 What is style?
The words in a
business letter and the
way in which they are
arranged express the
writer’s personality
and give the letter its
best appearance is
called its style.
Full block style
In full block style all the
elements of the letter, on
the page are aligned flush
with the left margin. Full
block is the easiest format
to use and it produces a
clean-looking page. It's also
common.
Double space
 A modified block business
letter is a letter that uses a
format that is slightly
different from the full
MODIFIED block letter. The return
BLOCK address, date,
complimentary closing and
STYLE the signature line are put
slightly to the right of the
paper's center. In addition,
these letters are the most
common in organizations.
 This is similar to the
Semi modified blocked letter
block
style. The only
difference is in the body
style of the letter wherein
paragraph is indented.
 Letters format
Modified Block Style Full Block Style
Semi Block Style
 This is the oldest letter
arrangement. Entries in
the heading, inside
address, body of the
INDENTED letter and the closing
sections such as
STYLE complimentary close,
signature and writer’s
identification are
indented.
 The first line of the
paragraph begins at the
HANGING left-hand margin. And
the other lines of the
INDENTED same paragraph are
STYLE indented three to four
spaces.
 This style is used when
you write a letter and
you do not know the
name and title of the
SIMPLIFIED person to whom you are
STYLE writing the letter.
The salutation and the
complimentary closing
are not used in this style.
OPTIONAL PARTS OF A
BUSINESS LETTER
 ATTENTION LINE

This is used if the

sender wants a
specific person to
read the letter and
to take charge of
the message.
 Where is it placed?

1. centered or underlined, before or

after the salutation
2. written after the name of the
company and department on the
inside address
 SUBJECT LINE
Subject line
helps tell your
reader at a glance
what your letter
is about. The
word “subject”
or “re” written
either in bold or
capital letters.
 Where is it placed?

1. Between salutation and body,

centered and underlined.
2. Right side of the inside address
3. Right side of salutation
 IDENTIFICATION INITIALS

It shows that the letter was typed by an

assistant or a secretary and not by the
signatory or sender. The initials of the sender
(in all capital letters) and the typist (in
lowercase) are typed on the left side justified,
two spaces below the signature and are
separated by a slash.
 ENCLOSURE NOTATION

It is used when an enclosure, either a

document or material, is sent with the letter. It
provides information such as the number of
enclosures and what kind of material is
enclosed. The word enclosure or its acceptable
abbreviations are typed two lines before the
reference initials or signature.
 Carbon Copy or Courtesy Copy (Cc)

This enlists all the recipients of the letter in

alphabetical order or according to their rank if
in case of departments in an agency or
company. It is usually typed on the left corner
above the bottom margin.
ESSENTIALS IN WRITING A
BUSINESS LETTER
1. Use good quality paper when
you send a letter to someone to
show respect to the receiver and
for the receiver to have
favourable impression on you
and your company.
2. Go with the standard white
bond paper for the letters,
though some companies make
use of color coding in different
departments to facilitate easy
recognition and quick response.
3. Utilize an 8 ½ inches by 11
inches standard short bond
paper.
4. Use good quality size 10 plain
or window envelope, whatever is
applicable.
5. Use 1 inch margin on all four
sides of the letter and justify
paragraphs to have more
professional appearance.
6. Employ single-spaced texts;
double space between
paragraphs.
7. Use the standard and formal
font styles with font size 12 in
encoding your letters.
8. Refrain from using varied font
styles on the same letter, doing
such within a professional letter
is NOT allowed.
9. Avoid using unnecessary
highlights.
The 7Cs to Effective Messages
Identify the purpose of the
following letters:
APPROACHES IN LETTER
WRITING
 DIRECT APPROACH
Basic Rule: Begin the letter with a
statement that tells the positive
response, but don’t end there. The
rest of the body of the letter will
explain the instructions and other
details how the positive response will
be carried out, what to do, how to
achieve it and other related
instructions or information to
 INDIRECT APPROACH

Basic Rule: Write the

negative response in the
middle of the paragraph
or the middle part of the
letter
 PERSUASIVE APPROACH

Basic Rule: Put invitation for

action at the end part of your
message. With this, the reader
is given time first to imagine
using and benefitting from the
product or or service that the
writer is selling.
CC: Mrs. Paz Reyes
RE: Invitation
Attention: Mr. Andrew Santos
Enc: Program
COMMON TYPES OF BUSINESS
LETTER
INQUIRY LETTER WITH REQUEST
 INQUIRY LETTER WITH REQUEST

This letter is used to inquire

pertinent information on a
specific subject. You are
requesting for the other party
to take action on your
requested information.
 GUIDELINES IN WRITING AN
INQUIRY LETTER WITH REQUEST
 First Paragraph
Identify who you are, give
information about your
designation, your company
and your connection to the
existing concern that made
you write.
 Second Paragraph
Tell the reader what you
want in relation to your
purpose for writing, present
complete details to make the
reader understand the
transaction.
 Third Paragraph
You may conclude your
letter by asking the reader to
do something for you in
relation to your purpose for
writing.
LETTER WITH PURE REQUEST
LETTER WITH PURE REQUEST

It is written without
conducting an inquiry but you
are asking permission or
requesting something from the
other party other than
information.
TRANSMITTAL LETTERS
 TRANSMITTAL LETTERS

A cover letter that is used to accompany

an item sent is called the transmittal letter.
It is a letter which contents give
information and explanation about the
document sent like signed contracts sent
for evaluation and approval, business
proposals that need attention and
consideration and other items can either
be simple or important that contains
 First Paragraph
Start the first paragraph by
telling the reasons why you are
writing and mention the type
and the name of the document
that you are sending.
 Second Paragraph
The writer must give a
background information in the
second paragraph and describe
the contents of the items sent
including length and volume and
what the writer will do with it this.
You may also make a reference to
a previous discussion or
 Third Paragraph
You may include in the last
paragraph about specific dates
when this item must be returned
or submitted. To make it sure that
the receiver can call you
conveniently if he or she has
concern or questions regarding
the instructions of the items
AKNOWLEDGEMENT LETTER

An acknowledgement letter, though

short, is considered a formal letter
that gives legal validity of a
transaction. It serves as a receipt
document of any item received. The
sender needs to be informed that such
documents or items sent are received
by the intended person and that the
 How to organize the
acknowledgement letter?
• Identify the appropriate and correct
name and other details of the person the
acknowledgement letter is sent.
•Briefly enumerate or name the items that
you have received including the date of
the letter as your reference.
•Complete the letter by promoting other
products and services to be availed; before
closing keep in mind to establish good will
with client.
Common Types of Business Letters
Inquiry
Letter

Sales
Letter Letter of
Apology

Types
Letter of
Resignatio Letter of
n Complaint

Letter of
Adjustmen
t
 SALES LETTER

It offers a product or service

to the potential clients. It has
to include good persuasive
language in order to attract
buyers or patronizers.
 LETTER OF RESERVATION

The main purpose of this

letter is to place a reservation
or order for a product or
services in a company.
 LETTER OF APOLOGY

It is written to correct the

error made and to restore the
company’s reputation and
professional relationships.
 LETTER OF RESIGNATION

The letter is written by the

employee addressed to the
employer with an intention of
terminating your bond of
employer-employee
relationship with the company.
 LETTER OF ACCEPTANCE

It is a positive message given

to a request or offer.
 LETTER OF COMPLAINT

A letter of complaint is a
formal written communication
of any dissatisfaction on
products or services.
 LETTER OF ADJUSTMENT

It is a letter in response to
the letter of complaint. It
usually contains the logical and
reasonable answer for the
complaint given by the client.
Starting • We are / I am writing
• to inform you that ...
• to confirm ...
• to request...
• to inquire about …
Referring to previous • Thank you for your letter of March 15.
contact • Thank you for contacting us.
• Thank you for your letter regarding ...
• With reference to our telephone
conversation yesterday...
• It was a pleasure meeting you in London last
month.
Making a request •We would appreciate it if you would ...
•In addition, I would like to receive ...
•It would be helpful if you could send us ...
•I am interested in (obtaining / receiving) ...
•Please let me know what action you propose
to take.
Offering help • Would you like us to ...?
• We would be happy to ...
• We are quite willing to ...
• Our company would be pleased to ...
Giving good news • We are pleased to announce that ...
• I am delighted in inform you that ..
• You will be pleased to learn that ...
Giving bad news
• We regret to inform you that ...
• I'm afraid it would not be possible to ...
• After careful consideration we have decided (not) to ...
Complaining • I am writing to express my dissatisfaction with ...
• Please note that the goods we ordered on ( date )
have not yet arrived.
• We regret to inform you that our order n ----- is now
considerably overdue.
• I would like to query the transport charges which seem
unusually high.
Write an appropriate letter for the following
situations:

Write a letter to the National

Library inquiring about the
availability of a very old book
containing Philippine
Literature short stories written
from 1940’s-1950’s era.
Write an appropriate letter for the following
situations:

Write a letter to your major

English subject teacher because
you were not able to submit
your final book review project
on time.
Write an appropriate letter for the following
situations:

Assume that your family reserved a

private pool and five rooms in a beach
resort for your upcoming family reunion.
Reservation was made three weeks prior to
the event. On the day of your reunion you
found out that only three rooms were
reserved and the rest of the rooms were all
booked. Write an appropriate letter to the
company.
Write an appropriate letter for the following
situations:

Your school is producing a fund

raising concert. Write a letter to
another school to convince their
students to watch the concert.
Provide the complete details
necessary to sell the most number
of tickets.
 MEMORANDUM

Memorandum or memo is
the correspondence used to
disseminate information from
one department to another
department.
 Memo Conventions

• Less formal and shorter than letters

• Used most often for communication

within one organization
 Subject Line
100% of readers read the subject line
Write the “focus” and “topic” for the subject line
Don’t write: “Comptrollers”
Do write:
“Salary Increases for Comptrollers”
“Termination of Comptrollers”
“Hiring Procedures for Comptrollers”
“Vacation Schedules for Comptrollers”
“Vacation Schedules for Comptrollers”
“Training Seminars for Comptrollers”
 Introduction
Write one or two clear introductory sentences
What you want
Why you are writing
Examples:
“In the third of our series of quality control meetings
this quarter, I’d like to get together again to determine
if improvements have been made.”
“As a follow-up to our phone conversation yesterday
(11/2/00), I have met with out VP regarding your
suggestions. He’d like to meet with you to discuss
the following ideas in more detail.”
 Discussion
Respond with the reporter’s questions:
Who, What, When, Why, Where, and How
Make your information accessible by applying
highlighting techniques
Itemization
White space
Boldface type
Headings
Columns
Graphics
 Conclusion
Conclude with either a complimentary close or a directive
close
Complimentary close: motivates readers and leave them
happy
“If our quarterly sales continue to improve at this rate,
we will double our sales expectations by 2005.
Congratulations!”
Directive close: tells readers exactly what you want them
to do next or provides dated action
“Next Wednesday (11/13/09), Mr. Jones will provide
each of you a timetable of events and a summary of
accomplishments.”
 Additional Memo Writing Tips

Use parenthetical definitions for your

audience
Use simple words, readable sentences,
and specific detail
Write in informal, friendly tone
Use proper grammar