Correspondence
CHAPTER: 6
Purpose
•Business letters are written to inform
readers of specific information.
•You might also write a business letter to
persuade others to take action.
•Business letters even function as
advertisements, like in case of Sales Letter.
Letter Format
• The fully block open punctuation
style is the most common format
for business letters.
• All the elements are lined up
along an invisible line down the
left side of the page. The text is
single spaced, with no indent at
the first paragraph of the
sentence.
Examples of opening lines
• I am writing to enquire about …
• After having seen your advertisement in … , I would like
…
• After having received your address from … , I …
• I received your address from … and would like …
• With reference to your letter of 8 June, I …
• We/I recently wrote to you about …
• Thank you for your letter of 8 May.
• Thank you for your letter regarding..
• Thank you for your letter/e-mail about …
• In reply to your letter of 8 May…
• We look forward to a successful working
relationship in the future.
Examples of closing lines
• Should you need any further information,
please do not hesitate to contact me.
• Once again, I apologize for any
inconvenience.
• We hope that we may continue to rely on your
valued custom.
• I would appreciate your immediate attention
to this matter.
Parts of a Letter
1. Letterhead of your Organization
2. Date
3. Inside Address
4. Subject Line
5. Salutation
6. Body
7. Complimentary Closing
8. Writer’s Signature Block
9. Your full name (typed)
[Link] Notations CC
Heading or Letterhead
• Place your full return address and the date in the heading (if no
letterhead).
• Avoid writing name (your name appears at the end of the letter)
• Spell out words such as street, avenue, first, and west rather than
abbreviating them.
• The date usually goes directly beneath the last line of the return address.
Avoid abbreviating the name of the month.
• Begin the heading about two inches from the top of the page.
• If you are using letterhead that gives the company address, enter only the
date, below the last line of the letterhead.
Inside Address
• the recipient’s full name
• Title/designation
• address in the inside address,
• One line below the date, depending on the length of the letter
Subject Line
• An optional element in a letter is a subject line.
• It follows the recipient’s address
• Insert one blank line above and one blank line below the subject line.
• The subject line in a letter functions as an aid in focusing the topic and
filing the letter.
• Subject lines are especially useful if you are writing to a large company and
do not know the name or title of the recipient. In such cases, you may
address a letter to an appropriate department or identify the subject in a
subject line and use no salutation.
Salutation
• In most business letters, the salutation contains the recipient’s personal title (such as Mr.,
Ms., Dr.) and last name, followed by a colon (:).
• If you are on a first-name basis with the recipient, use only the first name in the salutation.
• Address women as Ms. unless they have expressed a preference for Miss or Mrs.
• Professional titles (such as Professor, Senator, Major) take precedence over Ms. and
similar courtesy titles.
• When a person’s first name could refer to either a woman or a man, one solution is to use
both the first and last names in the salutation.
• Avoid “To Whom It May Concern” because it is impersonal and dated.
• Dear Professor Ali and Dr. Alishba: [two recipients], Dear Ms. Asma, Ms. Aleena, and Mr.
Asim: [three recipients], Dear Colleagues: [Members, or other suitable collective term].
• In other circumstances in which you do not know the recipient’s name, use a title
appropriate to the context of the letter, such as Dear Customer or Dear IT Professional.
• Dear Sir/Madam
Body
• The body of the letter should begin a line below the salutation
• Leave a line within paragraphs
• To provide a fuller appearance to a very short letter, you can increase the
side margins, increase the font size and insert extra space above the
inside address, the writer’s signature block, and the initials of the person
typing the letter..
• Components of Body:
1. Purpose
2. Details
3. Call for Action
4. Closing off
Complimentary Closing
• Type the complimentary closing a space below the body.
• Use a standard expression such as Sincerely, Yours sincerely or
Yours truly.
• If the recipient is a friend as well as a business associate, you
can use a less-formal closing such as Best wishes or Best
regards or, simply, Best.
• Capitalize only the initial letter of the first word, and follow the
expression with a comma (,).
Writer’s Signature Block
• Type your full name four lines below and aligned with the complimentary
closing.
• Sign the letter in the space between the complimentary closing and your
name.
• On the next line include your business title, if appropriate.
• The following lines may contain individual contact information, such as a
telephone number or an e-mail address, if not included in the letterhead
or the body of your letter.
End Notations
• Reference initials show the letter writer’s initials in capital letters,
followed by a slash mark (or colon), and then the initials of the person
typing the letter in lowercase letters (When the writer is also the person
typing the letter, no initials are needed).
• Enclosure notations indicate that the writer is sending material along with
the letter (an invoice, an article, and so on).
• Enclosure notations may take several forms: Enclosure: Final Safety
Report
• Copy notation (“cc:”) tells the reader that a copy of the letter is being sent
to the named recipient(s).
• Use a blind-copy notation (“bcc:”) when you do not want the addressee
to know that a copy is being sent to someone else. A blind-copy notation
appears only on the copy, not on the original (“bcc: Dr. Ali Afzal”).
Types of Business Letters
POSITIVE
NEGATIVE
NEUTRAL
PERSUASIVE
1. Letter of Acknowledgement
• Sent to acknowledge receipt of something when a
written record is appropriate.
• An acknowledge may also be sent to
acknowledge receipt of another letter or
document which requires further attention. As
such you would clearly state that you will look into
the matter and reply in more detail at a later date.
2. LETTER OF ENQUIRY
• Enquiries for information about goods or
services are sent and received in business
all the time.
• In your letter remember to state clearly
exactly what you want – information? a
catalogue? a price list? a quotation?
• Keep your enquiry brief and to the point.
3. Letter of Complaint
• When you have a genuine complaint, you will feel
angry but remember that the other party may not to be
blame .
• They may have a perfectly good defense. Therefore,
your letter should be confined to a statement of the
facts followed by an enquiry about what the company
will do about it or a suggestion of how you expect the
matter to be dealt with.
• At all costs avoid rudeness .
USEFUL PHRASES FOR LETTER OF
COMPLAINT
• I am displeased with the quality of these goods.
• This is causing us a great deal of inconvenience.
• Please look into this and arrange for the goods to be
replaced.
• These goods are well below the standard expected.
• I expect to receive a complete refund soon.
• The standard of workmanship is totally inadequate.
4. Adjustment Letter
• Adjustment letter gives an opportunity to
investigate, explain and put things right.
USEFUL PHRASES FOR LETTER OF
ADJUSTMENT
• I have looked into this matter and have found out
that…
• I am very sorry to hear about...
• Please accept my apologies for any inconvenience
caused.
• Thank you for bringing the matter to our attention.
• I sincerely hope that you will have no further
Correspondence Guidelines • 1. Know Your Purpose
• 2. Know Your Readers
• 3. Follow Correct Format (CONTENT + FORMAT)
• 4. Follow ABC Format
• 5. Follow the 3 Cs Strategy (Capture, Convince,
Contact)
• 6. Stress the You Attitude
• 7. Use Attachment for Details
• 8. Be Diplomatic
• 9. Edit Carefully
• 10. Respond Quickly
Letter vs Memo
Letter Memo
• A memo is used internally within an
• Letters are used both external organization moving upward, downward
communication (mostly) or horizontally. It is never sent outside.
• A letter requires inside address, • A memo may omit return address,
salutation, complimentary close if it
Salutation and complimentary uses To, from, Date and Subject
close. heading.
• Communicating to external • Memo can use technical jargons and
people through letter, simple abbreviations because their meaning is
words are encouraged rather understood by the people within the
than jargons. organization.
PURPOSES
Documentation – report on expenses, Procedures – explain how to set up accounts,
incidents, accidents, problems encountered, operate new machinery, use new software,
projected costs, study findings, hiring, firings, create a new company Web site, or solve a
and relocation of staff or equipment. problem.
Cover/transmittal – tell the reader you have Confirmation – tell the reader about a meeting
attached a document. agenda, date, time, and location; decision to
purchase or sell; conclusion arrived at; and fees,
costs or expenditure.
Feasibility – study the possibility of changes in Status – provide a daily, weekly, monthly,
the workplace (practices, procedures, location, quarterly, biannual, or yearly progress report
staffing, equipment, mission or visions). about sales, staffing, travel, practices,
procedures and finances.
Recommendations – provide reasons to Inquiry – ask questions about upcoming
purchase new equipment, fire or hire personnel, processes, procedures, or assignments
contract with new providers, merge with other
companies, revise current practices and review
EXAMPLES
One-word subject lines don’t communicate effectively, e.g.
Flawed: Subject: COMPTROLLERS
Corrected: Subject: Salary Increase For Comptrollers
Introduction - example
1. 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.
2. As a follow-up to our phone conversation yesterday (8/12/05). I have
met with your VP regarding your suggestions, He’d like to meet with
you to discuss the following ideas in more detail.
