Chapter 3: Business letters.
3.1
Introduction.
3.2 Importance or essentials of Business
letters.
3.3 ‘You Attitude’ in Business letter.
3.4 Functions of Business letters.
3.5
Physical appearance of Business letter.
3.6
Business letter is a silent Ambassador of Goodwill.
3.7
Layout of Business letter.
3.8
Forms or format of Business letters:
3.8.1 Intended form.
3.8.2 Semi-block form.
3.8.3 Full block form.
3.9 Kinds of Business letters.
3.1 Introduction:
Every business organization, whether big or small,
has keep in touch with its suppliers, customers, government departments, banks,
insurance agencies, transporters, jobseekers and many more. The head of the
departments has to exchange information on different occasions/contexts. They
have to be written letters for making enquiries, placing orders,
acknowledgements & execution of customer’s orders, sending of collection
letters, reply to the complaint letters, mistakes in supply of goods.
Business letters are brief piece of communication.
They are so short in nature, so the writer of the letter should hardly think
& spend necessary time to plan before writing them. These business letters
are received with a less formal sense of relationship. Therefore, they tend to
act upon the receivers feelings & thoughts with great immediacy &
power. So, the writer of the letter should consider following three questions
before writing.
1. What is the exact message?
2. How will it act upon the receiver?
3. What would be the receiver’s reaction? I.e. whether
pleased/displeased/ neither pleased nor displeased but interested or
disinterested.
Above three questions should guide to writer in
writing letters.
3.2 Importance or essentials of Business
letters:
A business letter is an important form of written
communication. Following points can explain importance of business letters:
1.
Promptness: as
a communication rule, respond to the letter on the same day it is received.
Writer should acknowledge the letter & indicate how soon specific reply
will be sent.
2.
Knowledge of the subject: it indicates
that the writer of the letter should have knowledge of past correspondence
regarding the subject on which he is writing a letter, if any. The writer also
aware about requirement of the sender of the letter & the knowledge of the
firm’s business policies.
3.
Appropriateness: it indicates that, the writer should change
his tone & language of letter according to the need of occasion as well as
psychology of the reader.
4.
Accuracy, completeness & clarity: it indicates
that, the writer should mention all facts, figures, statements, quotations etc.
accurately. It is a good practice to verify them before being a part of your
business letter. If you are replying to the enquiry, make sure that you have
touched all the points. Every message should be absolutely clear & unambiguous.
So that it accomplishes the purpose for which it is being sent. Writer should
ensure that he has avoided all the pitfalls like faulty punctuations, faulty
arrangement of words or omission of words.
5.
Courtesy: it
implies that we seek favors politely & express our gratitude in favor of
readers. The general tone of letter should be mild & there should be
feeling for reader. Even failure to given reply is an act of discourtesy. So
the writer should punctual about reply of the letter. Courtesy gives better
result & can win the confidence of the receiver about organization.
6.
Tact: one should be very tactful while writing
letters. It is a quality that goes hand in hand with courtesy. The writer
should handle complaints and make their adjustments by using tactful language.
The essence of tactfulness lies in retaining the goodwill of organization &
writer.
7.
Persuasion: it means winning
confidence of people and people to your point of view, not by coercing them but
making them positive suggestions and explaining advantages of it. It also
includes ensuring them about advantages if they follow our suggestions.
8.
Conciseness: conciseness means applying principle of
brevity while writing a letter. Brevity means express in short about issue. The
business letter should be concise in the latest possible number of words. Don’t
loud your letter with irrelevant details & unnecessary information which
can consume valuable time of reader. Also writer should keep in mind that such
kind of letters can be neglected by readers & it may be harmful for success
of business.
9.
Style: the physical appearance of business letter
should express writer’s personality. It includes clear & concise writing;
point writing and arrangement of facts should be in the best possible order.
10.
Approach: the approach of the writer towards writing
letter should be positive & pleasant. The writer should avoid words like ‘no
& ‘sorry’. Instead of saying ‘no’ he should use ‘another time’ and ‘I will
try my best’ in place of sorry.
3.3
‘You Attitude’ in Business letter:
It implies that, in all type of communications, the
emphasis should be given on ‘you’ instead of ‘I’. In other words it is
recommended that the writer should avoid using words like ‘I’ & ‘we’ and
use more ‘you’. Most of the letter fails because they do not realize the
importance of “you attitude”; which helps to appreciate reader & would be
prompt to take quick & immediate positive action regarding subject of the
letter.
While selling any product, seller should highlight
qualities of the product & how this product is beneficial to the
perspective customer. Mostly while writing sales letters, collection letters,
you attitude should be adopted for satisfactory turnover & collection of
credit. While writing letter for job application writer should explain how his
service will be benefited to the concern party.
3.4 Functions of Business letters:
Every
business letter has to perform different functions explained below:
1.
Record & reference: written
letter enjoys a distinct advantage over other mean of communications. They are
act as permanent record & can be preserved for future reference. It is not
possible for a writer to remember all the past transactions with customers,
suppliers, creditors and agreements made by organization with third party. But
they can be retrieved & referred easily, quickly & correctly only when
they are preserved properly as permanent records of the organization. So where
memory fails, records come to the rescue.
2.
Widening the approach: frequently, a business man finds it difficult to
send his representatives to all the places of his business connections. It is
the letter that reaches any place at any time at whatever distance. So it helps
to business organization to widen the area of operation & make promotion of
business. Only sales letter can send the goods of businessman to the thousands
of miles away, even across the country. It not only sends the goods but makes a
sales appeal, which results in developing a favorable atmosphere for business
organization. So letter is helpful to widen the approach of business.
3.
An Authoritative proof: any
commitment made in writing binds the parties concerned. A letter signed by a
responsible person as an authoritative proof of what is said in it; it can even
be treated as a valid document that can be produced as evidence in a court of
law in case of dispute. Action can be taken, responsibilities can be fixed
& mistakes can be pointed only if communications are in writing.
4.
Building goodwill: an important
purpose of a business letter is to sell good reputation & friendliness of a
company. It aims at building goodwill in customer-company relationship, holding
present customers, capturing new one and inviting customers to buy products by
making friends.
5.
Credit facility: in
order to promote sales, every businessman has to offer credit facilities to the
customers. For providing this facility, businessman should aware about
financial condition & mentality. So, business letter helps to organization
to find out creditworthiness of customers.
6.
Collection of over dues: Credit
facility is the part of business and cannot be stopped at any cost if
businessman has to grow his business. At the sometime non collection of over
dues on time may increase in debtors and may create huge losses for business.
Business letter plays an important role for collection of such over dues.
7.
Complaints & its solutions: business
letter plays an important role for making complaints to producer and/or dealers
of goods & services regarding price, quality, quantity, credit period and
mode of payment etc. it also helpful to remove misunderstanding between
organization, customers and other third parties.
3.5 Physical appearance of Business letter.
The
business letter should create favorable impression on the mind of recipient
& make addition to the goodwill of the business. So, good business letter
is treated as an asset of every business organization. The physical appearance
of a letter is important to become a good business letter. So, it should be
attractive, impressive peasant & helpful to influence to the person, who is
recipient of the same. Following figure shows the factors which determine
physical appearance of business letter:
Figure 3.1: Factors of Physical
appearance of Business letter.
1.
Paper: while writing business letter, every writer
should use standard quality paper with appropriate type & suitable for
nature & type of business. Poor quality paper is cheap, but it creates poor
opinion of the letter in the mind of reader. Mostly, for writing a business
letter, first page should be always a letter head, which should create good impression
due to attractiveness & decent nature. In addition to this different paper
may be used to identify different writers & departments from where letter
is delivered. Mostly the A-4 size paper is used for writing any type of
business letter. But the size of paper is different for some specific
countries, which are as under-
For USA
[8.5” X 11”] is standard size and
[5.5” X 8.5”] for short communication.
For UK
[8” X 10”] is standard size and
[5” X 8”] for short communication.
In India, above both sized papers are used for
writing letters.
2.
Typing: hand written letters are now becomes an old
fashion. In today’s dynamic business era, most of the business letters are
typed on typewriter or composed on processors, popularly known as micro
computer. The typewriter used for typing must be electronic typewriter with
good quality. Use of computer is more beneficial than electronic typewriter
because writer can type words as well as use visuals like graphs, tables,
diagrams and many more advanced features with the use of computer. It also
facilitates multiple copies of same letter and saved it for long period and can
be retrieved as and when required.
3.
Folding: after typing of the letter, writer has to fold
it to insert in envelope. It should be folded in a manner that it fits
comfortably in the envelope. There should be minimum folds to letter (not more
than two or three). If envelop used is a window envelope, a care should be take
to see that the inside address faces the transparent part of the envelope.
4.
Margin: to make a letter more attractive &
representative, there should be sufficient wide margin for all the sides of
letter. There should be 12 to 15 spaces from left hand side and 5 to 8 spaces
at right hand side. Sufficient space should be left at the top and bottom also.
The left side space may be used by receiver to make important remark on the
issue discussed in letter. Sufficient space avoids torn or mutilation of
important subject matter mentioned in letter while filing it.
5.
Paragraphs: if the letter is short, then it is not
necessary to make paragraphs. But if data typed is large & important to
mention, then writer has to divide this data in suitable numbers of paragraphs.
So, sufficient numbers of paragraphs make it suitable to discuss more subjects
independently in same letter. Reader can also read and digest subject matter
easily.
6.
Envelope: after
carefully folding the letter it should be inserting in envelope for delivery.
Envelope plays an important role to create impression upon the receiver. It
should be thick, impressive & attractive. The size, quality & color of
the envelope should be commensurate with the paper of letter. Low quality and
odd color letter may create bad impression on the mind of receiver. Even letter
is valuable & high quality. Mostly, brown, white or pink colored envelopes
should be preferred. The name & full address of the receiver should be
properly typed on the same. Similarly the mode of sending of the letter may be
written on the envelope i.e. local, inland, outland/airmail, registered A.D.
etc.
7.
Stamp: after writing of the address of receiver on
the envelope, the letter is ready for delivery but delivery is not possible
till the charges of delivery is to be paid to postal or currier authority. These
charges are popularly known as postal stamp. These charges are depends upon
weight of letter and mode of sending i.e. local, simple, or registered or speed
post. If the proper stamp is not affixed on the letter as per the standard,
there may be delay in service or letter may be returned for concern authority
with least possible penalty on the sender. If it is delivering to receiver,
then penalty will be charged on him.
3.6 Business letter is a silent Ambassador of
Goodwill:
A good business letter is a medium for communication
between two or more persons. Every letter delivered from business organization,
carries a message& helps to build reputation of the firm after reading it
by receiver. The reader should feel that he is directly communicating to the
writer. The letter should deliver the feeling of friendliness about the reader.
A good business letter should make able to the reader to see the varied faces
of the personality of the letter writer.
The letter writer should keep in mind that readers
are human beings with feelings and reactions of normal people. So he should
develop healthy public relations and create business goodwill through a
multitude of human contacts. In short, any business letter should be able to
bring two human beings closer together & helps to remove the feeling of
bitterness.
While adjusting complaints of customers, the writer
should be remembering that, “the customer is always right”. This attitude helps
to remove misunderstanding between sender & receiver of complaints &
satisfy the customers irrespective of the fault of any side. It is better
opportunity for letter writer to explain his case & present the fact in a
frank manner and convert bitterness in to sweet smile. Such attitude of letter
helps to save lot of time & less possibility of losing the customer’s
reputations. In short, while writing adjustment letters, customer’s point of
view should be taken into consideration.
After considering all above facts, we can say that
every business should be a messenger of goodwill or traveler of the firm or a
silent ambassador of goodwill.
3.7 Layout of Business letter:
A
business letter should have a layout that impresses. It is said that first
impression is the last impression. It may be said that appearance are
deceptive, but in daily affairs. Everyone is attracted by a good, presentable
appearance. The impression created by the personality is undoubtedly important
in a world, where there is a competition.
Like
a sales personnel, business letter represents his firm/organization. If a
poorly dressed, having unshaven, shabbily combed, unpolished shoes & having
no idea of etiquettes, sales person will creates poor impression about firm.
Same way, a unpleasant appearance of a letter fails to put impression on
reader. So letter should pay attention on its layout.
Every
business organization can choose their own layout, but the differences in a
layout are not as many as their similarities. The following are common to all
layouts. Their differences occur due to the typing or printing, conventions,
spacing etc.
Common parts
or elements or contents of Business letters:
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1.
Heading.
2.
Date.
3.
Reference.
4.
Inside
address.
5.
Attention
line.
6.
Salutation.
7.
Subject.
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8. Main body of the letter.
9. Complimentary close.
10. Signature.
11. Identification mark.
12. Enclosure.
13. Post script
14. Courtesy copy or CC
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1.
Heading: most of the organizations are using printed
letterhead for correspondence. The letter head contains the name, the address,
telephone number and the telegraphic address, if any. It is usual to provide
the following information in the heading:
a.
Name of the firm.
b.
Address of the firm.
c.
Nature of the business.
d.
Symbol & trademark.
e.
Telephone number.
f.
Telex number.
g.
Fax number.
h.
Email address.
i.
WWW URL etc.
Many firms prefer to put much of this
information at the bottom of letterhead, where we may call it letter foot. The
example of heading is shown below:
Logo
or
Trade mark
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BAJAJ AUTO
FINANCE, (PVT.) LTD.
Pune-Mumbai
Highway, Aakurdi,
Pune-411 027.
Tel.: , Fax:
Telex: , Email:
Web:
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2.
Date: putting
the date on every letter is very important. It enables quick reference in
figures & helps in prompt action and orderly filing. It consists of day,
month & year. It is written exact below the address of the heading. It is typed
wither starting close from the left margin or ending closed to the right
margin, depending upon style adopted.
The date on the letter may be written by
in one of the following three ways:
i.
14th Feb. 2020.
ii. 14 Feb. 2020.
iii. Feb. 14, 2020.
While writing date, one should avoid the
following style of writing date:
14/2/2020 or 14-2-2020 or Feb. 14th,
2020 or 14 Feb., 2020
3.
Reference: the reference is printed either below the date
line. if the date written close to the left margin or on the same line in which
date is written near the right margin. It serves to identify either the
department or its section from which the correspondence is to be found. The
purpose of reference is to be is to enables replies to be linked with the
previous correspondence and also send relies to these letters to the proper
official.
Following are the usual forms of
reference:
1.
Your reference
no. PD/BAFL/243/--------.
2.
Your ref. no. PD/BAFL/196/---------------.
4.
Inside address: it
contains name & address of the organization or the individual to whom
letter is being sent. It should be written below the reference line, leaving
some space. It should be complete, and can be written in either of two ways as
shown below:
e.g. Bajaj Auto Finance Ltd.,
Pune-Mumbai highway,
Aakurdi, Pimpri-chinchwad,
Pune, Maharashtra.
Note: pin code is not applicable to inside
address.
or
e.g. Bajaj Auto Finance Ltd.,
Pune-Mumbai highway,
Aakurdi, Pimpri-chinchwad,
Pune, Maharashtra.
There are different types of modes of
addressing, which are given as below:
When the letter is being sent to an
individual, writer has to sure about prefixing of the addressee.
a.
‘Mr.’ or ‘Shri.’
is for addressing man whether one is married or unmarried.
b.
Only ‘Miss’ is
used for unmarried woman.
c.
‘Mrs.’ or
‘Shrimati’ is used for married woman.
d.
‘Ms’ is used for
a woman whose marital status is unknown.
e.
‘Messrs’ or
‘M/s’ is a plural and used while addressing a partnership firm.
e.g. M/s. Sultan Chand & Sons.
f.
Titles or rank such as Doctors, Professor, Reverend etc are used as
follows:
Prof. Gorakhnath Mane, Dr. Ganesh
Jagtap, Rev. Y.R. Martin, Col.V.G. More,
Padmashri Shridevi.
5.
Attention line: the attention line is drawn, to draw attention
of a particular person, officer or department. Generally it is written right
hand side of the letter head & underlined. So, the letter will reach to the
right person. There is no punctuation, but it is necessary to leave some space
between the word. The following is the example of attention line.
Bajaj
Auto Finance Ltd.,
Pune-Mumbai highway,
Akurdi, Pimpri-chinchwad,
Pune, Maharashtra.
For the attention of Mr. A.Y.
Kokamthankar or
Attention: Assistant Finance manager.
6.
Salutation: It is the greeting of the addressee. Writer
may choose the salutation on the basis of his familiarity with the reader and
the formality of the situation. The commonly used salutations are given below:
a.
Dear sir/madam:
When addressing to single person (whether married or not) , for ordinary
nusiness purpose.
b.
Dear sirs/mesdeams i.e. madams: for addressing two or more persons.
c.
Dear mr/shri/mrs.:
when writing letter to an officer by name.
d.
Your Excellency:
when addressing the foreign ambassador or high court commissioner.
e.
Gentleman: when
circular is to be too many addressees including individual, firm, society,
company etc. but now a day’s Dear sir/madam is also freely used in circulars.
While writing salutation, it is
customers to end the salutation with a comma.
7.
Subject: Many writers use subject lines to enable the
reader to quickly identify the subject or correspondence. It tells what the
correspondence is about. In addition, it contains any specific identifying
material that is supposed to helpful to know about letter before reading. It is
placed below the line of salutation & begins with left margin, although it
may be placed in the centre or intended. Sometimes, it includes reference of
previous correspondence, order number or invoice number etc. following are the
different forms of writing subject:
e.g. Subject: Enquiry
about………………
Reference: your letter dated on…………..
Sub: Enquiry about car loan
facilities for……………
Ref:
Your letter on dated………. etc.
About your: Order
number……………………..
In
reply, please refer to
file……………………..
8.
Main body of the letter: the main
purpose of a letter is to convey a message & produce suitable response in
the reader from this message. This is mainly done through the body of the letter.
Therefore, it is important to organize & arrange the material very
carefully. Usually the body of the letter is divided into three parts:
i. Opening or
first paragraph.
ii. Main or
second paragraph.
iii. Closing or
concluding paragraph.
In the first paragraph, reference to any
correspondence which has already taken place should be given. It is helpful to
draw attention of the reader, in brief.
In second paragraph, the main message
should be stated. If main aspect of the subject is not covered in second
paragraph then this paragraph should be extended in next one or maximum two.
More paragraphs in letter can be harmful for the business & reader can
neglect & feel monotony while reading such long letter. So, the writer
should avoid too many things to be covered in single letter.
In the concluding or closing paragraph,
writer must state clearly, what action is expected from reader or may end
letter indicating writer’s expectations, wishes or intentions.
9.
Complimentary close: After
completion of main body of letter, formal close is written to the left hand
side of the letter at bottom. The formal close must be matched with salutation.
It the salutation does not includes name of the recipient, the formal close is
‘yours faithfully’. If the salutation names recipient, the formal close is
‘yours sincerely’. The word ‘yours’ always begins with capital letter “Y” but
‘faithfully & sincerely’ always begins with small letter. A comma should be placed after complementary
close.
Following
are the some examples of formal close:
Salutations
Formal close
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Dear sir/madam, ------------------------ Yours
faithfully,
Dear
Ajay,---------------------------------- Yours Sincerely,
Dear gentleman/ My dear,--------------- Yours truly,
Respected
sir/madam,-------------------- Yours
respectfully,
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Yours respectfully is used when person
to whom you are writing letter occupying very high position like Ministers,
Ambassadors or person occupying secretariat post or equivalent.
10.
Signature: It is the signed name of the writer. It comes
below the complementary close. It should be always hand written. Stamp of
signature is not authorized for valuable information written. The person going
to sign the letter, he should keep four spaces below complementary close &
write down his/her full name with designation in business organization.
The style of the signature differs
according to the authority of person. Following are the some examples of
signature:
1.
For individual
or HUF
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Yours faithfully,
(Gorakhnath G. mane)
For……………….
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2.
For
partnership firm
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Yours faithfully,
M/s Jonson & Jonson
(Mr. Martin Jonson)
Partner/secretary.
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3.
For company
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Yours faithfully,
Bajaj Auto Ltd.
(Mr. S.Y. Sawant)
Finance officer.
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11.
Identification mark: these marks
are put in the left hand margin to identify the typist of letter. It is written
one or two spaces below the signature. e.g. If the letter is dictated by Mr.
S.V. Sharma and typed by Miss. Sarita Shirke, the identification marks may be put in either of
following ways
a.
SVS/SD
b.
SVS:SD
In SD in these case only names of the
person who typed letter is mentioned.
12.
Enclosure: very often a letter carries long with it some
important papers, such as proof of date of birth, copies of certificates/testimonials,
price list, invoice, receipts, bill/cash memo, cheque, draft, photocopies of
previous communication and so on. The writer must mention these documents at
the bottom left side margin by any one of the following way:
1.
Enclosures: four
[only number of documents attached is mentioned.]
2.
Encl: a.
………………………..
b.
………………………..
c. ………………………..
d. ………………………..
3. Enclosed Mark sheet, Identity card, Pan
Card, Aadhar card etc.
13.
Post script: ‘Post
Script’ is the word derived from Latin word ‘Post scriptum’, it means mention
something afterwards. Post script regarding letter means, if the writer has
forgotten to mention something which is important and necessary to mention, has
to be written under this heading. Generally, a writer is not supposed to forget
any important item. But some information or part of concern message may flow
after the letter has been written or typed; the writer has supposed to mention
it under post script very carefully and precisely.
14. Courtesy copy or
CC: When the copies of a letter are supposed to be
sent to some other people, directly or indirectly, concerned with the same
matter or subject. In such cases the name of the persons to whom copies are
sent should be types adjacent to the left margin like below:
CC Mr.
G.B. Mane
or
Copy to Mr. G.B. Mane.
or
Copies to Mr. G.B.Mane & Miss. Sonali Shirke.
3.8
Forms or format of Business
letters:
There is no standard layout or format for a business
letter. It is essential for a person writing a letter. He/she has to pay
attention to the letter head, width & margin, outward number, date, inside
address, salutation, body of the letter, complementary close & signature.
It is depend on the writer’s choice to choose a letter format for all business correspondence
of all departments to maintain uniformity.
There are following three types of formats are used
for business correspondence:
1. Intended form.
2. Full block form.
3. Semi-block form.
1.
Intended form: it
is one of the oldest & traditional formats of business letter. In this format date & inside
address appeared to right side top, while salutation and subject line are typed
with the immediate left hand margin. The main body of the letter is divided into
two or three paragraph. The first line of each paragraph is intended five
spaces from the left margin. The complementary close & signature appears to
right hand side bottom. Each line of signature is intended three spaces from
the spaces from the beginning of the complementary close.
Following figure shows the format of Intended form
of business letter:
THE
HEADING
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DATE:______________
INSIDE ADDRESS
___________________
___________________
___________________
SALUTATION,
SUBJECT LINE
_________________________________________________.
_________________________________________________.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ BODY OF THE LETTER ______________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.
COMPLEMENTRAY
CLOSE______________________,
SIGNATURE______________________.
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Figure
3.2: Intended form format of business letter
2.Full block form:
this is the widely used format of
business letter in every business
organization. The main feature of full block format is that all the content of
the letter appears to left hand side including complementary close &
paragraph. There are no spaces in beginning of every paragraph but after each
paragraph two spaces will be given in between.
Following figure shows the format of full block of
business letter:
THE
HEADING
|
DATE:______________
INSIDE
ADDRESS
___________________
___________________
___________________
SALUTATION,
SUBJECT
LINE _________________________________________________.
_________________________________________________.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________BODY
OF T THE LETTER _______________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________
.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.
COMPLEMENTRAY
CLOSE______________________,
SIGNATURE______________________.
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Figure
3.3: Full block format of business letter:
3.
Semi-block form: it
shows features of intended form as well as full block from. The content of
beginning like inside address, subject salutation and main body is started with
left hand side without paragraph. But after the end of each, there are two
spaces in between. Complementary close & signature will be appeared to
right hand side bottom of the letter head. Date is appeared to right side top.
Following figure shows the format of
Semi-block of business letter:
THE
HEADING
|
DATE:______________
INSIDE
ADDRESS
___________________
___________________
___________________
SALUTATION,
SUBJECT
LINE _________________________________________________.
_________________________________________________.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________BODY
OF T THE LETTER _______________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________
.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.
COMPLEMENTRAY
CLOSE______________________,
SIGNATURE______________________.
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Figure
3.3: Semi block format of business letter.
3.9 Kinds of Business letters:
There are various kinds of business letters flowing in & out of business
organization. There are different occasion/context for which suitable letters
have to be written to the outside world i.e. suppliers, customers, government
departments, banks, transporters, job seekers and many more.
Broadly speaking letters can be classified as personal
& non-personal letters. Personal letters are informal & they are
written to exchange news or to seek favors. Non-personal letters are business
letters. They are formal in nature & written to third parties related with
business organization (whether directly or indirectly) for conducting their
business.
Following are the different kinds or forms of
business letters:
1.
Letter of Enquiry.
2.
Replies to Enquiry letter.
3.
Letter of Quotation.
4.
Letter for placing an order.
5.
Complaint letter.
6.
Adjustment letter.
7.
Sales letter.
8.
Circular letter.
9.
Letter for application of agency.
1.
Letter of Enquiry: when a buyer writes a letter to the seller to get
information of availability of goods quantity, quality, price, mode of payment
& delivery of goods, such letter is called an enquiry letter. Enquiry
letters are broadly classified in following four types:
a.
Specific Enquiry: When
buyer writes a letter with an intention to know about particular or specific
information about specific product, such enquiry is called as specific enquiry.
b.
General Enquiry: When buyer writes a letter with an intention
to collect information of general nature, such enquiry is called as general
enquiry.
c.
Solicited Enquiry:
An enquiry made in response to the seller’s
advertisement and publicity, enquiry is called as solicited enquiry.
d.
Unsolicited Enquiry: When buyer
makes an enquiry at his own initiative to buy goods & services, enquiry is
called as unsolicited enquiry.
2.
Replies to Enquiry letter: A reply to the enquiry letter is an opportunity
for promoting sales. It is addressed to the prospective buyer in answer to his
enquiry. It is necessary to give prompt attention to it. The sales manager must
look into enquiry letter for purchasing problem of certain company. In order to
convert ‘Enquiry’ into ‘Order’ the supplier must not lose time in sending
complete reply.
Following points
should be included in to replies to enquiry letter:
a.
Price: price per piece/dozen/box/kg/tone etc.
b.
Quantity: per
item/dozen/per 100 etc.
c.
Terms of trade:
discount, credit facility, delivery of goods, insurance, reveling charges etc.
While sending reply, price list & quotation may
be sent separately or may be enclosed with the letter.
3.
Letter of Quotation: the quotation
letters plays very crucial role in increase in sales and profit of business
organization. They are the replies to the enquiry. It is offered by seller to
sale certain product or services; with specific prices, terms & conditions.
Mostly the supplier uses standard quotation form for quoting prices & all
the necessary details of product or services. But while using such printed
quotation forms supplier should accompany it with a courteous covering letter,
which shows personal interest & friendly attitude towards party sent an
enquiry letter. A quotation letter specifically mentions the terms regarding
packing of the article, mode of dispatch or transportation, time of delivery,
mode of payment, discounts & concessions offered etc. sometimes is also
consist stock of goods available with supplier. If the enquired goods are not
available with supplier, they should request the enquirer to wait for
anticipated period.
4.
Letter for placing an order: after considering the enquiries & receiving
quotations from different suppliers, the buyer considers their competitive
prices, qualities and other terms quoted. Buyer selects best one of them,
suitable and fulfills his requirements. The quotations are ‘offer’ to buyer
while the order placed by the buyer is an acceptance by the relations between
the buyer and the supplier. Sometimes, the purchase manager appoints a
committee to scrutinize various quotations and recommends the names of some
suppliers who quotes competitive prices & takes the decision about the
final selection of the supplier. After that purchase manager places order with
them for machineries, equipments, spare parts, tools, raw material & other
essential commodities & services required for the production.
Sometimes, suppliers send their representative to
the purchase committee for personal discussion in order to understand the
needs, requirements & problems of the buyer. But before sending
representative, supplier must send the quotation letter to buyer.
Execution
of order letter:
When a supplier receives an order, he may be sent an
acknowledgement through a short letter or post card. A printed acknowledgement
or post card may suit for small routine orders, but the supplier can make use
of an opportunity provided by every order to build an abiding, friendly &
profitable relationship with the buyer by writing a special acknowledgement,
which states, when the delivery is expected and, if the goods ordered cannot be
supplied, supplier should clearly explained why he cannot supplied it. An acknowledgement
of an order must have cheerful & pleasant approach. It must express deep
gratitude & appreciate the buyer’s interest in the goods ordered. The supplier
can even mention the favorable aspect of the goods, competitive prices and
other terms & services.
The supplier must be careful & punctual in executing
the order. If they send the right goods of right quality at right time, they
can build sound reputation and goodwill of his organization. Goods demanded
should be promptly & properly packed for safety & convenience of transportation.
It should be dispatched to the buyer’s address by specified mode of transport. Before
dispatching the goods it is essential to verify the quality & quantity of
goods. Also name & address of the buyer to whom it is to be dispatched
should be verified.
The next step in the process of order fulfillment is
to prepare the invoice, stating amount payable by the buyer & description
of the goods in consignment.
5.
Complaint letter: In a business organization, the sales department
accepts the order & starts making necessary arrangement for sending the
goods. There are number of people involved in this process & sometimes
someone of them commits mistakes quite unknowingly. When buyer discovers any mistakes
or discrepancy, he brings it to the notice of the sales department of supplier
by writing complaint letter. It is written with the hope that the supplier might
settle the matter without any further conflict between them.
Many buyers discover genuine mistakes soon after receiving
the consignment. Such mistakes must be immediately brought to the notice of the
supplier, because it may cause inconvenience & financial loss to buyer. But
the buyer should do it without displaying any anger & ironical remark. The anger
and sarcasm can snap the good and friendly business relations between seller
& buyer.
6.
Adjustment letter: every complaint
letter must be welcomed by the supplier even though he can’t enjoy it. It may
express dissatisfaction or anger of the buyer for the inconvenience caused to
him due to the supplier’s mistakes. But the supplier should glad to receive the
opportunity provided by the complaint letter to realize his mistake and to
correct it. Adjustment letters are reply to the complaint letter. In order to maintain
business relations, business interests, reputation of business, the supplier
must handle this correspondence very carefully, tactfully & delicately. Firstly
he has to the customer for making complaint because they could have abandoned
him & placed the orders with the other suppliers. Therefore, the complaint must
be treated as an opportunity to save customer, to preserve the customers goodwill
& to put the things right. The supplier has to answer the complaint
promptly, satisfactorily & specifically, so that customer realizes his
sincerity & willingness to serve. The decision regarding the customers clam
must be taken only after sound thinking & investigation. If this requires
more time, the supplier should at least send an immediate acknowledge of
complaint.
7.
Sales letter: Sales letters are unsolicited letters, written
by suppliers or manufacturers of goods, to know the customers about their
product; which is coming to the market. There are different ways to attract
customers towards our goods & services. Like advertisement on T.V., radio,
newspaper etc. but in some situations correspondence is more useful, because it
directly contact to the prospective customer. The effectiveness of such letters
depends on the writer’s ability to use language suited to his purpose that is above
all to influence the recipient, his thinking, his taste & behavior. Therefore,
sales letters are persuasive or indirect approach letter.
8.
Circular letter: a businessman sends circular letter, when he
has to communicate a formal message to number of customers, shareholders,
suppliers, business friends, employees etc. it conveys message about certain
fundamental change in the structure & policy of the business organization. It
circulates same message to all the receivers. Its subject matter is of common
interest to all the customers & other business associates. It is printed or
typed in large scale because the same message is transmitted to several
receivers. Therefore, it must be drafted appropriately and carefully. It must
have attractive style, effective language, meaningful and catchy words,
suitable tone & you attitude.
The circular letters are advantageous especially because
it saves time & money. As it contains common message, they can be made
comprehensive enough for communicating business policy of business organization.
It is also useful for circulating important information regarding decision taken
by the management & changes made in the structure of business organization.
9.
Letter for application of agency: Agency is a
work handover or possession of goods or negotiation of sales of business
organization to the third party, which is called the agent. He is paid for
handling work of business organization. In such case, business organization is called
as principal of that agent.
The person willing to obtain an agency has to write
to the manufacturer in persuasive language. He has to mention his wide
experience in that line of business. His well established position, knowledge
of the market, facilities of advertising, showroom etc.
While drafting agency letter, he should make a reference
to the advertisement of the manufacturer. If his application is based on some
other source, he has to mention that source in letter. He should also express his sincere desire to
offer his service & to work as an agent to promote the sale product in
specified area.
The applicant has to give detail information about
his business experience, financial capabilities, stock taking capacity, storage
facility, place & his personal business contact. Also he should mention minimum
two trade references & bank references.
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