INTRODUCTION Letters are the ambassadors of your

organisation. Many people will never meet you, but they will form an impression based on your correspondence

A letter has a key-role to play in personal and business communication

People have a tendency to avoid letter writing for one of two reasons:

1) they find the task unpleasant or

2) they fear or know they are bad at it.

. The category you can do something to change, is the second one. Become aware of common mistakes people make when writing letters and you can improve your letter writing skills

TYPES OF LETTERS

•INFORMAL LETTER WRITING–Letters to friends and relatives

•BUSINESS LETTER WRITING–Used by traders, firms and companies

•OFFICIAL LETTER WRITING–Communication of information by government officials from one dept to another and also to companies.

What is a Business Letter?

A business letter is a letter written in formal language, usually used when writing from one department to another, or for correspondence between such organizations and their customers, clients and other external parties.

PURPOSE OF EFFECTIVE WRITING

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• Writing is essential to communicate your message clearly and professionally.

• To incite action in those who you supervise, work with and require action from.

• Lack of confidence in the workforce who struggle with the basics of writing including grammar, spelling and punctuation.

• While writing a letter the writer has to anticipate the reader's questions and provide answers to those questions.

Examples of Letters in Business

• Enquiries: requesting information, catalogue, prices, estimates, details, samples, suggesting if something is possible, methods of payment, asking for discount, delivery times, etc.

• Replies and Quotes: confirming help, selling products, referring to someone, suggesting demonstration, contacting local representatives, quotations, price lists, discount, alternatives to something, explaining payment, delivery times, product training programmers, fix and negotiate terms, estimates.

• Orders: placing order, letter of acceptance confirming conditions and terms, delivery times, packing, shipping, accepting or rejecting changes, delivery delays, refusing a delivery …

Examples of Letters in Business

• Payment: invoices, pro-forms, statements of account, methods of payment (home or abroad), advice of payment, of non-payment, further reminders and final demands

• Complaints: writing complaints, explaining problems, suggesting acceptable solutions, replies to complaints, justifiable and unjustifiable complaints, explaining company's situation, adjusting accounting errors.

• Credit and Banks: form of credit, credit requirements, asking for credit, accepting or refusing credit, taking up references, bank facilities, deposit accounts, requesting cheque books, credit cars, overdraft, outstanding orders

Writing Effective Letters

• Analyze Your Audience:– Who is my audience?– Will my audience be favorably or unfavorably disposed to what I

am going to say?– What kinds of information will my audience expect me to supply?– How will my audience use the information I am sending?– What impression do I want my letter to make on readers?

• Have a clear sense of your purpose and theirs

• Select the best communication strategy

• Draft, revise, and edit your letter

The Main Components of a Business Letter

• Business letters usually contain the following information (in this order):

1. Writer's address (street, city, country).2. Date of writing 3. Recipient's name, job title, and address4. Subject 5. Salutation or Greeting (Dear Mr./ Mrs./ Ms…..)

6. Message (body of the letter) 7. Closing 8. writer's signature, typed name, and position of sender 9. In some situations, a business letter may also include the following optional

information:10. Writer's Initials: typist's initials ( if writer did not type letter).11. Enclosures (Encl:) 12. Carbon copy Recipients (cc:)13. Photocopy recipients (xc:)

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Salutation • To address a person whose name or sex you

do not know you use Dear Sir or Madam• *When you do not know the name of a man

you are writing to, Dear Sir is used.• *If you are addressing a woman whose name

you do not know, you use Dear Madam.

• When you are addressing a company, you begin your letter Dear Sirs

An opening

This says why you are writing. For example

• *We are writing to enquire about...*We are writing in connection with...*We are interested in ...and we would like to know...

If you are answering the letter, you can start:

• *We have received your letter of....*Thank you for your letter of....

BASIC BODY STYLE:Plan your letter in advance and keep it simple1ST PART of the body: • State the purpose of the letter2ND PART of the body: • Sate your point. explain what you want to happen. Explain the information you have. You have a lot of information? Break it, make short paragraphs, list the points, or include it as an attachment.3RD PART of the body: • Call for action or request some form of action. what to do and when to do it Thank the reader for his or her response

Signing off…..Here are some ways to end a letter• *I look forward to receiving your reply/order/products

*Looking forward to hearing from you• *I hope that this information will help

*Please contact me/let me know if you need any further information

• If you know them personally - Yours sincerely• If you don’t know them - Yours faithfully• RE-READ YOUR WHOLE LETTER!!!!

Basic Letter Formats

There are three common formats for the business letter:

1. The unblocked format.

2. The semi-blocked format.

3. The blocked format.

The unblocked format

The first line of the paragraph is indented a few spaces

The writer's address, the date, the closing, the writer's signature , and the typed version of the writer's name and job title are indented two thirds of the way across the page.

The semi-blocked format

The first line of the paragraph is lined up with the left margin

There is an extra blank line between paragraphs to signal the start of a new paragraph.

The writer's address, date, closing, and signature are indented as in the unblocked format.

The blocked format

The first lines of paragraphs and all the other address, date, closing and signature information are lined up with the left margin.

There is an extra blank line between paragraphs.

The Use of Letterhead Stationery

• When a writer is representing a company or organization, he/she should use the organization's letterhead stationery for correspondences with people outside the organization.

• When using letterhead, the location of the writer's address, city, state will be usually given in the letterhead typed at the top of the page.

• If a letter requires more than one page, the additional pages are called continuation pages are typed on plain paper, not letterhead.

Technical Suggestions on Letters• Capitalization

– Don’t overdo it (e.g. no need to cap job titles, seasons of the yr, courses taken, senior, agriculture, etc.)

• Punctuation– Don’t overuse commas, semicolons; use periods to

avoid run-on sentences; no need to use period after two-letter abbreviation of state or street

• Spelling– No mistakes (use spell check); pay attention to

hyphenated words (e.g. in-depth, two word adjectives preceding noun).

• Small words better than big words for eg:– try vs endeavor– end vs terminate– begin vs commence

Technical Suggestions on Letters• Use conversational style

– Example: ‘Enclosed herewith is the above mentioned and requested information’ vs ‘I am enclosing the information you requested’

• ACTIVE vs. PASSIVE Instead of: In early April, all applications will be reviewed by the

committee Use: The committee will review all applications in early April

Don’t use multiple fonts or typefaces. In addition to making sure your chosen font is easy to read, you should also avoid the use of too many typefaces

Do not use language that is too colloquial like "Don't worry, I'll get your money back". Something like

" Your loan will be repaid" is much better

INFORMAL VS FORMAL In the process of going from the informal to

the formal, certain syntactic changes often take place like:

• - Verbal style tends to become Nominal• e.g. I received -> I acknowledged receipt.• - Present tense change:• e.g. I'm referring -> I refer• - Personal becomes Impersonal• e.g. I am reluctant to resort to such measures• -> we are reluctant to resort to such ,measures.

INFORMAL VS FORMAL• Active to passive voice transformation:• e.g. You haven't settle your bill yet• -> Payment of your bill is still outstanding• - Contractions are replaced by full forms:• e.g. I'll have to -> I shall have to• - Short, simple sentences become longer and more

complex:• e.g. I refer to your letter of 10th October. In it we asked

you to clear the balance of $ 519.35. This amount has been outstanding since last July

• -> With reference to your letter of 10th October, we would like to remind you again to clear the balance of $ 519.35, which has been outstanding since last July.

Common grammar errors and recommendations

IS BECAUSE?• Mistake: The reason that our stock price fell

is because third quarter earnings were low.• Correction: The reason that our stock price

fell is that third quarter earnings were low.GOOD OR WELL?• Mistake: We are pleased to report that the

mutual funds performed good this fiscal year.

• Correction: We are pleased to report that the mutual funds performed well this fiscal year.

Common grammar errors and recommendations

DISTANCE, MONEY, AND TIME?• Mistake: Six miles are the distance between the

home office and the satellite office.• Correction: Six miles is the distance between the

home office and the satellite office.ITS OR THEIR?• Mistake: The practice of this management

company is to have each corporate tenant sign their lease on the third day of the month.

• Correction: The practice of this management company is to have each corporate tenant sign its lease on the third day of the month

Common grammar errors and recommendations

IT'S OR ITS?• Mistake: Energy Electronics is introducing it's brand new

line of heating units at the convention.• Correction: Energy Electronics is introducing its brand

new line of heating units at the convention. WHO OR WHOM?• Mistake: We will award free parking to the employee

who the personnel director selects.• Correction: We will award free parking to the employee

whom the personnel director selects.

The Importance of drafting Letters

• Represent your company’s public image and your competence

• More personal than a report, yet more formal than memos or e-mail

• More permanent than e-mail

• Constitute an official legal record of an agreement

All depends upon how well it is drafted and presented

Drafting good letters is an art that all people especially technical should

master.

The style and skills required for formal writing are best developed by practice and experience, but with the right tools and know-how it is not hard to improve.

So, lets make a start right now…..

FINAL QUOTES

Writing letter exercises

• Pretending that you were working for an advertising company and one of its competitors invited you to work for them. Writing a letter accepting/refusing the invitation

• Pretending that your company receives complaints from your familiar customers, write a reply to this complaint.

• Pretending that you are applying for a job in HUFS campus, write an application form for this situation.

Points to be noted in CLAIM LETTERS:Purpose: Express a complaint and request specific

action (must have both)

• Choose a direct or indirect approach– Direct is best for routine claim letters: claim is backed by

guarantee, warrantee, contract, reputation, or more– Indirect is best for arguable claim letters: when the claim is

debatable or unusual• Use a professional, rational, if possible positive, tone,

and not a hostile, negative, and/or emotional tone• Clearly describe product or service with necessary

details• Explain the problem with details• Propose a fair, precise, and appropriate

request/adjustment• Present an explicit deadline

ADJUSTMENT LETTERS:

Purpose: Respond to claim letter with solution

• Work to reconcile the situation and restore the customer's trust in your company

• “Be prompt, courteous, and decisive”• Use a positive or neutral tone without

being begrudging or taking full blame• Two types: “Yes” or “No”

“YES” ADJUSTMENT LETTERS

• Start with an apology and admit claim is justified

• Quickly present favorable news

• Specifically state how you are correcting the problem

• Explain what happened and why

• Conclude with a friendly, positive note

“NO” ADJUSTMENT LETTERS

• Use an indirect approach• “Thank the customer for writing”• Restate the customer’s problem• Explain what happened and why without placing

blame• Clearly state discussion without hedging• Link “no” to benefits• Conclude with concise gracious statement to

(leave) open the door to future business