Lec 2 Business Letters

LECTURE 2
BUSINESS
LETTERS
LETTERS
 are external correspondence
 reflect your communicative
abilities & your company’s image
 elicit the expected response
through clear, direct, courteous
and suitable writing.
 are written for different purposes
Parts/Components of a Business Letter
The 4 parts of a business letter in order

are:
 Heading – return address/letter head,
reference, and date
 Opening – inside address, salutation
 Body – subject line, message
 Closing – complimentary close,
signature block, enclosure notation, copy
notation
The Heading may include :
a) Letterhead or return address
- company’s name, postal, e-mail add, telephone,
telex and facsimile numbers.
a) Preprinted letterhead-address is centred
e.g.
CASCADE COUNTRY HOME
Stanley’s Creek Road
GUM TREE GULLEY NSW 2999
Telephone: (02) 76543210
Email: [email protected]
The Heading (cont.)
 When letterhead is absent, the
sender’s address will usually be placed
in the top left corner of the page.
 The name of the sender is not

included.
The Heading (cont.)
c) Reference
-for filing purposes
Your ref:
Our ref:
Nowadays, they are rarely used as it is difficult to

align on preprinted stationery.
Typists would just insert reference on a line of its
own.
The Heading (cont.)
 The reference includes the initials of the sender
(usually in upper case) and the typist ( in upper or
lower case, as preferred, after an oblique).
 A file or department reference may also be
included.
e.g.: RA/RA or RA/ra (Sender: Rose Ang)

RA/SC or RA/sc (typist: Susan Chan)
COMD/martd/0218
(Commercial Dept/marketing division/feb18)
The Heading (cont.)
d) Date
-between letterhead and inside address.
 In UK, day/month/year
Eg. 30 May 2018
Elsewhere, month/day/year
Eg. May 30, 2018
TAKE NOTE:
The name of the month MUST BE spelled in full
 e. g. December 21st, 2017 or
December 21, 2017
The Opening
a) Inside address includes the addressee’s
(recipient’s) -
 name including courtesy title ( Mr., Mrs., Ms )
 Job title
 Name of organization
 Full postal address (a post office box number
may be used in place of the street address)
e. g. Mrs. Serena Graham
Sales Manager
Siemens Corporation
12 Fleet Street
Sheffield St 11501
United Kingdom
The Opening (cont.)
 When writing letters overseas, include
country’s name on the final line.
 Mention AIRMAIL one clear line space
above the inside address.
Eg. AIRMAIL
Mr Doug Allen
Eagle Press Inc
24 South Bank
Toronto
Ontario
Canada M4J 7LK
The Opening (cont.)
 SPECIAL MARKINGS
Eg.
CONFIDENTIAL
Miss Iris Tan

Personnel Director
Soft Toys plc
21 Windsor Road
Birmingham
B2 5JT
The Opening (cont.)
 ATTENTION LINE
Eg.
FOR THE ATTENTION OF MR JOHN TYLER,
SALES MANAGER
Garden Supplies Ltd
24 Amber Street
Sheffield
S44 9DJ
Dear Sirs
The Opening (cont.)
b) Salutation/Greeting
 Your reader’s last name, preceded by Dear
and courtesy title
Eg. Dear Mr Smith Dear John
To organization, use formal salutation
Eg. Dear Sirs
To head of dept/organization
Eg. Dear Sir or Madam
To a dept, Dear would be inappropriate
Eg. Accounting Department
The Opening (cont.)
 Mr, Ms, Miss or Mrs-distinguish gender
 Ms is always correct for women unless they
prefer to be called as Miss or Mrs (marital
status)
 NOTE:
 Do not use “To whom it may concern”
- trite & imprecise
CALL THE COMPANY TO FIND OUT BEFORE

WRITING
The Body of the Letter
a) Subject Line (optional)
- A brief indication of the content of a
letter.
- Usually placed one clear line after the
salutation
- Written in upper case/initial capitals
with underscore.
e.g. Dear Mr. Tan
Revision of City Sales Tax or
REVISION OF CITY SALES TAX
Body of the letter (cont.)
b) Message – should contain at least 3

paragraphs:
1. Introductory paragraph (for greeting

and purpose)
2. Discussion paragraph (for details)
3. Concluding paragraph (for farewell)
Body of the letter (cont.)
 Single-space each paragraph

 Double-space between paragraphs
 Block all paragraphs in a block style
letter (begin at the left margin)
 Either block or indent 5 space in a
modified block style letter
The Closing of the Letter
The closing includes a
complimentary closing phrase,
the writer’s name and title, OR
typed name of the organization,
an enclosure notation,
a mailing notation,
a copy notation, and/or
a post script
Closing (cont.)
a) Complimentary Close
- 2 spaces after the last paragraph.
- Should match the form of address
used in the salutation/greeting.
- Dear Sir, Dear Sirs, Dear Madam,
Dear Sir or Madam (Yours faithfully)
- Dear Mr Leighton, Dear Mrs Yap,
Dear Caroline, Dear Sam (Yours
sincerely)
Closing (cont.)
b) Signature block comes after the
Complimentary Close.
It includes sender’s signature, sender’s
name and designation.
Yours sincerely Yours faithfully
Joanne Taylor Alan
Joanne Taylor (Mrs) Alan Brown
Marketing Manager General Manager
Closing (cont.)
 If you are writing on behalf of the sender,
include ‘For’ or ‘pp’ in front of the sender’s
printed name
 ‘pp’ – per procurationem, which means ‘on
behalf of’
Yours faithfully
Shirley Taylor
Shirley Taylor
pp Edward Nathan
Chairman
Closing (cont.)
 Enclosure notation
- anything that is included in the envelope
with the letter.
- type ‘Enc’ or ‘Encs’, one line after the
sender’s designation.
e.g. Marketing Manager
Enclosures OR (Enc / Encs)
1. Catalogue
2. Reply card
Closing (cont.)
Copy Notation – to indicate you are sending a copy to
a third party.
Position this one line below the enclosure notation.
Type “Copy” or “cc” (copy circulated/ courtesy copy)
followed by the name & designation of the recipient.
If more than 2 recipients – alphabetical order
e.g. c c : Darren Chong, General Manager

Candice Reeves, Accountant
Ashley Silverstone, Company Secretary
Closing (cont.)
 If writer does not wish the recipient to

know that a third person is receiving a
copy of the letter, then ‘bcc’ (blind
courtesy copy) is used.
 Only on the file copy and bcc copies.
E.g.
bcc Mr Gordon Clark, Chief Executive
Styles of a Business Letter
Fully Blocked Style – style that is

most widely used (thought to have
businesslike appearance & this layout
reduces typing time – no indentations)
Modified Blocked Style – another

appropriate letter style
Punctuation Style
 Open Punctuation is commonly used.
 Punctuation marks are used within the

message itself.
 Open punctuation requires no punctuation

after date, inside address, salutation,
complimentary close etc.
Continuation Pages
The continuation pages (2nd page onwards)

should carry the following:
 the page number the name of the addressee
 reference (if applicable)
 the date that appears on the first page
 the name of the addressee
e.g. 2
LL/ST
1 June 2018
Mr Simon Lee
EFFECTIVE LETTER WRITING
 15 C’s
1. Courteous – pleasant, polite
2. Cordial – friendly, congenial
3. Clear – understandable
4. Concise – brief
5. Complete – comprehensive
6. Coherent – unified, flowing
7. Concrete – exact, specific
8. Common – familiar, jargon-free
EFFECTIVE LETTER WRITING
9. Candid – forthright, open

10. Concerned – interested, helpful
11. Considerate – tactful
12. Convincing – persuasive
13. Credible – believable
14. Conversational – not stiff and formal
15. Correct – error-free
 the use
 the problems/issues
 Suffixes
 etiquette
E MAIL
E-MAIL
 sent via intranet/internet
 quick, easy and cheap
 can create, send, receive, file, copy,
print & delete electronic messages
 has become an essential tool in
business
7 sins of an email
1. Your e-mail messages often bounce back because
of an error in the address.
2. You sometimes wish you could backtrack after
sending a message, but it’s too late.
3. You are frequently interrupted throughout the day
with a constant flow of e-mails.
4. You have sometimes sent messages via e-mail
when you know a telephone call would have been
better.
5. You haven’t done any housekeeping or deleted
any messages for a long time.
6. You have sent private or confidential messages via
e-mail, which you have later regretted.
7. You sometimes send messages off quickly without
a greeting or a sign-off, and without checking
through for a good grammar, spelling and
punctuation.
 .biz
 .com
 .edu
 .gov
 .info
 .mil
 .org
Suffixes
Can you guess the e-mail suffixes of the
following countries
countries?
Country Suffix Country Suffix
Australia India
Brunei Korea
Canada New Zealand
Denmark Sudan
Egypt Taiwan
France Thailand
Germany Vietnam
Suffixes
Despite the wide usage of e-mails,
problems do occur:
1. No common standards, guidelines.
2. System overloads, miscommunication

happens, reputations get damaged,
feelings are hurt and time is wasted.
3. Informality of an e-mail message
(content) might face legal action.
4. Messages could be intercepted by
management who owns the system
NETIQUETTE
 Never think you’re talking to a computer!
 Ensure you follow the rules of good
writing.
 Take off the caps lock. DON’T SHOUT!
 Informality is OK in e-mails
 Question your subject heading.
 Use short sentences & paragraphs.
 Enumerate with numbers/bullets.
 Tidy up long sentences.
 Take pride in your finished message.
 Ensure everything is right before you hit
‘send’.
To [email protected]
From [email protected] (Shirley Taylor)
Date 2 June 2018 14:30
Subject Customer Services Training
Dear Rosehannah
We are considering sending some of our staff on a training course on Customer Services. Do
you have a suitable course available within the next few months? If so please let me have the
dates and times plus costs.
If there isn’t a regular Pioneer course scheduled, can you tailor-make a course specially for our
staff? We could hold it in our conference room.
Perhaps we can arrange to meet to discuss this. Are you free next Friday 08 June at 11a.m.? I
could come over to you, or you could come over to my office. Please let me know.
Shirley Taylor
Project Manager
Shirley Taylor Training and Consultancy
Tel: +65 64726076 Fax: +65 63392710
Mobile: +65 96355907
FAX MESSAGES
send copies of letters, memos, reports,
graphs, blueprints, and artwork over
ordinary phone lines
relatively cheap, internal/external
- Confidentiality must be protected unless

the other user has own private fax
machine & details.
FAX GUIDELINES
 E-mail your reader before you fax
 Print your message in a larger font size
(12 or 14)
 Avoid writing comments in margins or at the
top or bottom of a fax
 Please include:
a) The persons sending and receiving the fax
b) Their addresses, phone and fax numbers
c) The total number of pages being faxed
(3-4pgs)
 Nowadays, most companies would have their
own templates.
The Community Resource Centre
29 Viva Street, Victory Park, Freedomville, Comradia
Telephone: (0120) 6789 Fax: (012) 10112
e-mail: [email protected]
To: Gabriel Pele, fieldworker, Jojo Agricultural Project
From: Karabu Xavier, fieldwork manager
Telephone: (012) 112233
Fax: (012) 445566
Date: 5 June 2018
Number of pages: 1, including this page
Message: Thank you for agreeing to speak at our conference. With this fax
cover sheet you will receive the conference programme. Please let
us know if you need any special equipment for your presentation.
Thank you.

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LECTURE 2

The 4 parts of a business letter in order

 The name of the sender is not

Nowadays, they are rarely used as it is difficult to

e.g.: RA/RA or RA/ra (Sender: Rose Ang)

Miss Iris Tan

- trite & imprecise

CALL THE COMPANY TO FIND OUT BEFORE

b) Message – should contain at least 3

1. Introductory paragraph (for greeting

 Single-space each paragraph

e.g. c c : Darren Chong, General Manager

 If writer does not wish the recipient to

Fully Blocked Style – style that is

Modified Blocked Style – another

 Open Punctuation is commonly used.

 Punctuation marks are used within the

 Open punctuation requires no punctuation

The continuation pages (2nd page onwards)

9. Candid – forthright, open

2. System overloads, miscommunication

From [email protected] (Shirley Taylor)

Date 2 June 2018 14:30

Subject Customer Services Training

- Confidentiality must be protected unless

To: Gabriel Pele, fieldworker, Jojo Agricultural Project

From: Karabu Xavier, fieldwork manager

Telephone: (012) 112233

Fax: (012) 445566

Date: 5 June 2018

Number of pages: 1, including this page

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