Business Communication Skills Lecture 6

Business Letters

Lecturers
Linda Quagraine (Ms)
Edna Owusu-Bempah (Ms)

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 Que From lecture
As an Old student ASSO Secretary, Briefly
draft a notice and an Agenda of your upcoming
maiden meeting purposely to welcome Freshers
on campus.

Que2:What items must be included in drafting

a minutes of a meeting?
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Study Objectives:

To know:
What a business letter is
Purpose, need, parts, format and qualities of a good letter.
Types of business letters

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 Business Letters
 Business letters :
 may be defined as a media or means through which views are
expressed and ideas or information is communicated in writing
in the process of business activities.
 A written message used to transact business which cannot be
conveniently conducted orally. It is formal and direct, with no
literary pretentions.

 Letters are the oldest form of business communication

Letters
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  Business Letters Cont.….
Business letters are formal messages following specific formats.
They may be addressed to a particular person or organization.
Companies use them to request payment, thank customers or to
solicit business.
Letters form the most important part of business correspondence

 SO WHEN SHOULD WE WRITE?

 When we need to be most formal
 When we need to communicate to a different company or
organization.
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 Purpose of Business Letter

 Make business arrangements without necessarily meeting

 Permanent record of engagement

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  The Need for Business Letters
 Business letters are ambassadors of the organization because:

 Bring order into an organization

 Source of attraction for contracts

 Sell out the organization to people

 Good image for being efficient.

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Parts of Business Letter
1. Heading
2. Date
3. Reference
4. Inside Address
5. Subject
6. Salutation
7. Body of the letter
8. Complimentary close
9. Signature
10. Enclosures
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11. Copy Circulation 8
 Parts of Business Letter Cont.….

 1. Heading: Contains the name and postal address of the

business, E-mail address, Web-site address, Telephone
Number, Fax Number, Trade Mark or logo of the business

 2. Date: The date is normally written on the right hand side

corner after the heading as the day, month and years.

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Parts of Business Letter Cont.….
3. Reference: Indicates letter number & department from where the
letter is being sent and year. It helps in future reference. Is normally
given on the left hand corner after the address/ Date.

4. Inside address: Includes name & full address of person or the firm
to whom the letter is to be sent. • On the left hand side of the sheet
below the reference number. • Letters should be addressed to the
responsible head. Eg: The Secretary, The Principal, The Manager ,
The Vice Chancellor, University of Education Winneba etc.

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Parts of Business Letter Cont.….
5.Subject : It is a statement in brief, that indicates the matter to which
the letter relates attracting attention of the receiver immediately
 Eg: Enquiry about Samsung television, Your order No. C317/8 dated
12th March 2003

6. Salutation: This is placed below the inside address & is usually
followed by a comma (,)
 Various forms of salutation are: Sir/Madam:

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Parts of Business Letter Cont.….
7. Body of the letter :This comes after salutation & is main part of the letter
which contains the actual message of the sender.
 It is divided into three parts:
a) Opening part Introductory part of the letter. Attention of the reader should
be drawn to the previous correspondence, if any. Ex: With reference to your
letter no. 326 dated. 12th March 2003, I would like to draw your attention
towards the new brand of television.
b) Main part This part usually contains the subject matter of the letter. It
should be precise and written in clear words.
c) Concluding Part Statement the of sender’s intentions, hopes or
expectations concerning the next step to be taken.
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Parts of Business Letter Cont.…..
8. Complimentary Close : It is merely a polite way of ending a letter.

9. Signature : It is written in ink, immediately below the

complimentary close. Name of the writer should be typed
immediately below signature.
Eg: Yours faithfully Miss. Sandra Bones, Yours sincerely

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 Parts of Business Letter Cont.….
 10. Enclosures : This is required when documents like cheque,
draft, bills, receipts, lists, invoices etc. are attached with the letter.
These enclosures are listed one by one in serial numbers. Example :
Encl : (i) The list of goods received (ii) Cheque No:___

 11. Copy Circulation : This is required when copies of the letter are
also sent to persons apart of the addressee. It is denoted as C.C.
 Eg: Cc:
 Ag. Pro-Vice-Chancellor
 Registrar
 Dean, School of Business
 Heads of department
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 Essential Qualities of a Good Business
Letter
 We may classify the qualities of a good business letter as:

 a. Inner Qualities;
 The inner qualities of a good business letter refer to the quality of
language, its presentation, etc.

 b. Outer Qualities
 The outer qualities of a good business letter refers to the appearance
of the letter.
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 The inner qualities of a good business
letter.
 Simplicity - Simple and easy language should be used for writing business
letters.

 Clarity - The language should be clear, so that the receiver will understand.

 Relevance - The letter should contain only essential and relevant

information.

 Courtesy - Courtesy wins the heart of the reader In business letters, courtesy
can be shown/expressed by using words like please, thank you, etc.

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 The inner qualities of a good business
letter.
 You- attitude : is a style of writing that places the writer
in the reader’s position, allowing a clear view of the
situation from the reader’s perspective.

 The writer then communicates in a manner sensitive to

the reader’s needs.

 Accuracy - The statements written in the letter should be

accurate to, the best of the sender’s knowledge.

 Accuracy demands that there are no errors in the usage of

language - in grammar, spellings, punctuations etc.
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The inner qualities of a good business letter
cont....
 Completeness - A complete letter is one that provides all necessary
information to the users.
 For example, while sending an order we should mention the
desirable features of the goods, i.e., their quality, shape, colour,
design, quantity, etc.

 Neatness - A neat letter is always impressive. A letter either

handwritten or typed, should be neat and attractive in appearance.

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  Outer Qualities OF B-L

 The outer qualities of a good business letter refers to the appearance

of the letter
 Includes :
 Quality of paper
 Color of the Paper
 Size of the paper
 Folding of letter
 Envelope

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Different Types Of Business Letters
Gartside L. in 'Modern Business Correspondence' classifies business letters as follows:
A) Information Letters:
 Routine Letters which includes letters of Enquiries Quotations ,Orders , Payment Letters
B) Sales Letters:
Which are mainly Offers letters
C) Problem Letters :
Complaints, Overdue Accounts
D) Goodwill Letters:
Greetings Thank You letters •
NB: It is widely accepted classification of Commercial letters

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Different Types Of Business Letters Cont.
….
Business letters can also be classified on the basis of approach:
 (a) Direct: All good news letters, offers of appointment, enquiries,
orders, promotion, intimation etc.
(b) Indirect: All 'bad news' letters like adjustment refusals, request
refusals, rejecting a job applicant etc.
(c) Persuasive: Offers of sales and services, job applications that have
been regarded as similar to sales letters fall in the category of
persuasive letters.

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 Kinds/Types of Business Letter
 Enquiry Letter
 Sometimes prospective buyers want to know the details of the goods
which they want to buy, like quality, quantity, price, mode of
delivery and payment etc.

 The letter written to sellers to know the details of the goods which
they want to buy, like quality, quantity, price, mode of delivery and
payment.

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  Guidelines for Enquiry letter

 Indicate the nature of enquiry at the beginning.

 State reasons for the enquiry.

 Clearly state what information you are seeking.

 Close with a statement which would elicit quick response.

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EXAMPLE OF ENQUIRY LETTER

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 Kinds/Types of Business Letter Cont.…
 Sales Letter

 Sales Letter , in simple words, is an advertisement to sell products or

services.

 The main aim of sales letter is to advertise your product in front of the
customers or clients .

 The sales letter explains the good features of the service you are providing.

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 Guidelines for sales letter
 Get attention from attractive opening.

 Arouse interest in the product.

 Present reader benefit information.

 Close with a clincher sentence.

 Mention about enclosures if added.

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Kinds/Types of Business Letter Cont.…
Order Letter : Prospective buyer after receiving the reply to his
enquiry letter may decide to place an order with that business which
offers goods at minimum price & at favorable terms and conditions.

Letters written by a buyer to the seller giving the order to purchase

the goods is called order letter.

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 Kinds/Types of Business Letter Cont.…
 Quotation Letter

 A quotation letter is sent in reply to an enquiry letter. It should

contain point by point detailed information.

 After receiving the letter of enquiry from a prospective buyer, the

sellers supply the relevant information by writing a letter that is
called quotation letter.

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
Guidelines for quotation letter
 Mention the letter number and date of enquiry letter to which reply
is made.

 Give detailed information in points.

 Mention the terms and conditioned involved.

 Keep in mind that the letter will be examined from several points of
view: quality, price, promptness in reply, etc.
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 Kinds/types of business letter cont.…
 A complaint letter is written when the purchaser does not find the
goods/ service up to his satisfaction.

 It is normally written by the purchaser/ customer when he receives

wrong, defective or damaged goods or receives incorrect quantity of
goods/ services.

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 Guidelines for Complaint letters

Should be written immediately after receiving the defective goods.

Mistakes as well as difficulty due to mistake should be mentioned.

Proposal to correct the mistakes should be made.

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Kinds/Types of Business Letter Cont.…
 Recovery Letter : Letter written by the seller for collection of money
for the goods supplied to the buyer is called Recovery Letter.

Aim of letter is to collect money without annoying the customers.

Letter should include information regarding the amount of arrears,

argument for payment and last date for payment.

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 Kinds/Types of Business Letter Cont.…
Job Application Letter
It is a letter which is written to the employer for the purpose of
making a request for a certain job.

Written in order to persuade prospective employer, as to why he/she is

suitable person to get employed for certain job.

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Kinds/Types of Business Letter Cont.…
Job Application Letter
Also known as cover letter & generally has a resume attached.

Applicants personal information such as name, address etc.,

Applicants work information like job experience, academics etc.

At the end applicant’s signature to authenticate the information given

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 Guidelines for job application letter
 Personal details.

 Educational details.

 Training its nature and duration.

 Experience – organization in which you worked, nature of duties and

duration.

 Other accomplishments prizes and awards won, research paper and

books published.

 References.
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Purpose of Job Application
1) Attention: Gain desired attention of employer expressing that
candidate is interested in the job.
2) Interest: Candidate sells his/her qualifications & highlights strong
points to create employer’s interest.
3) Desire: While describing his/her achievements explains how he/she
will be beneficial for the company
4) Action: A request made for an interview or future meeting with the
employer.

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Types of Job Application
1) Solicited Job Application: Are sent in response to job
advertisements to an invitation (usually advertisement).
 Advantage is a vacancy exists and that the employer is anxious to fill
it.
 Disadvantage is that if faces competition.

2) Unsolicited Job application: Written to an employer who has not

invited an application, does not face competition. But, possibility of
non-availability of job is its disadvantage.

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 Kinds/Types of Business Letter Cont.…
• Cover letter/ Covering letter
• Letter of transmittal used to inform about attached documents to a second
party. • It is an application which courteously & precisely gives all information
about the documents enclosed in it.

• Mainly 2 types of cover letters:

• i. Document cover letter -When transmittal letter is used to convey or depict
attached documents to second party
One page short business letter which contains brief information of enclosed or
attached documents sent.
• • Documents like reports, contracts, plans, legal papers, travel documents,
brochures, product samples, photos, booklet etc., are attached in Document
cover letter
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Kinds/Types of Business Letter Cont.…
• ii. Resume cover letter-Two types of Resume Cover Letter
Academic Cover Letter when one is applying for research
grant or job in academic field or Business Cover Letter for
Individuals who are keen to join business related jobs use
these type of letters.

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 Kinds/Types of Business Letter Cont.…
• ii. Resume cover letter- There are two types of Resume Cover
Letter.

• a. Academic Cover Letter when one is applying for research grant

or job in academic field or Business Cover Letter for Individuals
who are keen to join business related jobs use these type of letters.

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 Any Questions???
Take Home-Assignment
 Que 1: Identify the formatting styles available for
writing a business letter.

 Que 2: Explain what the ff letters are used for and how
they should be written.
a) Resignation letter
b) Recommendation letter
c) Adjustment letter
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