1

From Shivadurga: for III YrB.Tech. –Written communication -Business Letters

BUSINESS LETTERS

Business Correspondence: Business letters represent written communication through which opinions are expressed with information. These communications take place between two parties who are away from each other. This is also done to have written records to avoid memory lapses.

PURPOSE:

1. Both parties come closer to have transactions. 2. Coordinating with various sections of Organization.3. Bringing various business houses together by purchase and sale.4. As a proof of evidence for legal proceedings.5. As a future reference it tells on which date they interacted in the past.6. Putting the oral agreement on record so that it cannot be denied in future.

PRINCIPLES:

1.Clear purpose of writing: The writer makes it sure to what he is going to write, to whomhe is writing and why?

2.Four steps of writing letters: Planning, writing, revising and editing.

3.Clarity with brevity of the letter: Write as simply and as clearly as possible, and not to make the letter longer than necessary. Remember not to use informal language.

4.Accuracy: Accuracy of facts results in building goodwill between the two parties which is necessary for very Business.

5. Politeness: Courtesy must be maintained in the letters with polite words like thanks, I agree, I am pleased etc.

6. Use of Jargon: The Technical terms which are understood by the other party only can be used.

Structure andFeatures:

1. Formats:A business letter can be formatted in any of the three ways given below:

1. Block Format: It is a very popular format in India. In this format all the important heads such as date, address, salutation, paragraph and closure etc., start on the left side margin. Topic sentences are given in the beginning of each paragraph.

2. Modified Block format: It is a mixture of block and indented format. Here date line and closing signature are given at the right side. In other matters it does not differ from block format.

2

3. Simplified format: It is a good style for impersonal situations. Generally, it is used for those situations where the identity of the recipient is not known. No salutation and no complements at closure are given here.

2. Addresses:

1) Your Address :It should be written in the top right-hand corner of the letter.

2) The Address of the person you are writing to: The inside address should be written on the left, starting below your address.

Date: You can write this on the right or the left on the line after the address you are writing to.

3) Your signatureSign your name, then print it underneath the signature.

3. Content of a Formal Letter:

First paragraphThe first paragraph should be short and state the purpose of the letter- to make an enquiry, complain, request something, etc.

The paragraph or paragraphs in the middle of the letter should contain the relevant information behind the writing of the letter. Most letters in English are not very long, so keep the information to the essentials and concentrate on organizing it in a clear and logical manner rather than expanding too much.

Last Paragraph:The last paragraph of a formal letter should state what action you expect the recipient to take- to refund, send you information, etc.

4.Useful phrases and vocabulary for writing business letters.

Salutation

• Dear Mr. Rakesh• Dear Ms. Sophia• Dear Sir• Dear Madam• Dear Sir or Madam• Gentlemen

Starting •  We are writing- to inform you that ...- to confirm ...- to request ...

3

- to enquire about ...• I am contacting you for the following reason...• I recently read/heard about ..... and would like to know ....• Having seen your advertisement in ..., I would like to ...• I would be interested in (obtaining / receiving) ...• I received your address from ----- and would like to ...

Referring to previous  contact

• Thank you for your letter of March 15.• Thank you for contacting us.• In reply to your request, ...• Thank you for your letter regarding ...• With reference to our telephone conversation yesterday...• Further to our meeting last week ...• It was a pleasure meeting you in Delhi last month.• I enjoyed having lunch with you last week in Agra.• I would just like to confirm the main points we discussed       on Tuesday.

Making a request

• We would appreciate it if you would ...• I would be grateful if you could ... • Could you please send me ... • Could you possibly tell us / let us have ... • In addition, I would like to receive ...• It would be helpful if you could send us ...• I am interested in (obtaining / receiving) ...• I would appreciate your immediate attention to this matter.• Please let me know what action you propose to take.

Offering help

• Would you like us to ...?• We would be happy to ...• We are quite willing to ...• Our company would be pleased to ...

Giving good news

• We are pleased to announce that ...• I am delighted in inform you that ..• You will be pleased to learn that ...

Giving bad news  • We regret to inform you that ...• I'm afraid it would not be possible to ...• Unfortunately we cannot / we are unable to ...

4

• After careful consideration we have decided (not) to ...

Complaining 

• I am writing to express my dissatisfaction with ...• I am writing to complain about ...• Please note that the goods we ordered on ( date )       have not yet arrived.• We regret to inform you that our order n° ----- is now       considerably overdue.• I would like to query the transport charges which seem       unusually high.

Apologizing We are sorry for the delay in replying to ... I regret any inconvenience caused (by) ... I would like to apologize for the (delay, inconvenience)... Once again, please accept my apologies for ...

Orders Thank you for your quotation of ... We are pleased to place an order with your company for.. We would like to cancel our order no ..... Please confirm receipt of our order. I am pleased to acknowledge receipt of your order no ..... Your order will be processed as quickly as possible. It will take about (two/three) weeks to process your order. We can guarantee you delivery before ...(date) Unfortunately these articles are no longer available /

are out of stock.

Prices Please send us your price list. You will find enclosed our most recent catalogue and price list. Please note that our prices are subject to change

without notice. We have pleasure in enclosing a detailed quotation. We can make you a firm offer of ...

Referring to payment Our terms of payment are as follows  ... Our records show that we have not yet received

payment of ... According to our records ... Please send payment as soon as possible. You will receive a credit note for the sum of ...

Enclosing documents I am enclosing ... Please find enclosed ...

5

You will find enclosed ...

Closing remarks If we can be of any further assistance, please let us know. If I can help in any way, please do not hesitate to

contact me. If you require more information ... For further details ... Thank you for taking this into consideration. Thank you for your help. We hope you are happy with this arrangement. We hope you can settle this matter to our satisfaction.

Referring to future business

We look forward to a successful working relationship in the future.

We would be (very) pleased to do business with your company. I would be happy to have an opportunity to work with

your firm.

Referring to future contact

I look forward to seeing you next week. Looking forward to hearing from you, ... Looking forward to receiving your comments, I look forward to meeting you on the (date). I would appreciate a reply at your earliest convenience. An early reply would be appreciated.

Ending business letters Sincerely,    }

Yours sincerely,}  for all customers / clients

Sincerely yours,}  

Yours faithfully, in more formal letters

Regards,for those you already know and/or with whomyou have a working relationship

Drafting Business letters.

1.Enquiry Letters:

6

1. Solicited enquiry: Due to heavy competition, seller himself tries to reach prospective buyers directly or indirectly. Catalogues, price lists etc are sent to the buyers along with the letter. When the buyer enquires about the terms and conditions for buying the product, it is called solicited enquiry.

2. Unsolicited enquiry: The buyers write to different sellers of a particular product after collecting their names and addresses from various sources.This type of enquiry is called unsolicited enquiry.

3. Credit enquiry: This is the enquiry that is done to purchase a product on credit not on cash. The sellers may require guarantee of credit references.

Sample letter of Enquiry:Indian Fertilizers

Tel.042-24867903 Post BoxNo.-323

Date: 01-08-201 12, Radha Krishna Road, Mathura.

The National Fertilizers Limited,

23, P.B.Road, Gurgaon,

Haryana.

Sub: Urea –Agency Regarding

Dear Sir,

With reference to your letter and advertisement in “The Times of India” dated 21.06-2013 regarding the agency to be given to wholesalers; it is to state that we are very old and established firms in the city. We manage a variety of fertilizers and many of its qualities.

We are willing to accept authorized representation and dealership for your product and we would appreciate if you send us your terms and conditions of agency authorized dealership. We can furnish you with satisfactory bank and other references.

Thank you

Yours sincerely,

(Govind, Manager ).

A LETTER OFQUOTATION:

7

A letter of quotation is a letter requesting a price quote on a specific product or service. For example, if you want to get your air conditioning system replaced, you would write a letter of quotation to a ventilation company explaining your situation and requesting a quote to complete the job.

Be specific; include as many details as possible; the more information included the more accurate a quote you will receive.

Sample letter of quotation:

PERFECT PACKAGING COMPANY

515, Holi Gate Market , Mathura. U.P. India.

August 1, 2013.

Mr. Kripa Shankar,

The Sales Officer,

Lakshmi Paper Mills,

Shahkanj, Agra.

Sub.: Purchase of notebooks and paper for packaging

Dear Mr. Kripa Shankar,

We intend to purchase a large stock of notebooks and special paper for packaging. You are invited to submit your most competitive quotation.

If your prices and conditions are found suitable and your quality of paper of high standard, we shall consider giving you a five year contract for the supply of notebooks and packaging papers.

Please send your quotation. An early reply will be highly solicited.

Yours sincerely,

Biharilal, Manager.

3. An order letter is the same as a purchase order. In an order letter, you will give the

place where you are purchasing an item and the detailed instructions regarding your order. It is also considered a legal record of that transaction.

8

SAMPLE ORDER LETTER:

August 1, 2013.

425 ,Govind Road,

GoverdhanChowraha,

Mathura. .

The Manager,

D/4, Genuine Electronics,

Big Bazaar, Mathura.

Sub.: Order of PCs

Dear Sir,

We have come to know that you supply the HCL PCs. We place an order of 50 HCL PCs at the rates given in your catalogue excluding the packing charges. We hope that the consignment would reach us within 15days of the placing of this order with you.

Our cheque to cover your bill will be sent to you as soon as the goods reach us and are found satisfactory.

Please send the consignment on time and also take special care in packaging the goods so that they may reach us in good condition.

Yours sincerely,

Madan Mohan.

4. LETTER OF CLAIM OR COMPLAINT:

Human beings are liable to commit mistakes. Sometimes important services are rendered unsatisfactorily, goods are consigned to wrong destination, sometimes too late or less than the required quantities and sometimes goods are received in damaged condition. Hence letters

9

arewritten to bring these mistakes to the notice of those who must own the responsibility for them are called claim or complaint letters.

Sample Letter of claim or Complaint:

BLUEMOUNTAINELECTRONICS, HOLI GATE, MATHURA. 1.8.2013

The Sales Manager,

HCL Info-systems Ltd.

Noida-20311, India.

Sub.: Complaint for damaged CPUs

Dear Sir,

I would like to draw your attention to the delivery of 35 computers sent to us as per our order No.3030. I regret to inform you that 3 CPU have been received in a damaged condition. Please replace them with the right ones.

We would be thankful to you if you could replace them at the earliest.

Yours sincerely,

Anil Mehta.

Purchase Manager.

5. CREDIT LETTER

The term ‘credit’ generally means as agreement that one makes with some business establishment to pay later for something one buys. ’Buy now and pay later’ is a common practice of the business world.Business on large scale is almost impossible without credit facilities. Offering credit may be risky so it is necessary to check the status of being trusted to pay back money. Details of the credit applicant about his present employer, source of income, his bank accounts and also other details of his financial standing should be obtained.

Sample Credit Letter

UNIVERSAL COMPUTER CENTRE,

234, North Avenue, Lucknow, U.P.

10

01.08.2013.

Mr. Pradeep,

Sales Manager,

Starryeyes Electronics Pvt.Ltd.,

333, Park Street,Lucknow.

Dear Sirs,

Sub: Order for 50 Lap-tops.

Since we have good business relations with you and also that the lap-tops manufactured by you are the best, we would like to place this order for 50 Lap-tops on 60- days credit. You may check our credit with Mr. S.Saxena, General Manager, Canara Bank, 23, Goodwill Road, Lucknow.

We hope to receive your favourable response at the earliest. If you require further information or references, I would be happy to supply anything you need. For your satisfaction, I have enclosed a list of our financial holding and three business references.

Thank you in advance for your help in this matter.

Yours sincerely,

Praveen Arora.

6.Sales Letter:

Important features of a sales letter: - To convince the reader to buy the product having the following qualities: 1. Attention 2. Interest 3. Desire. 4. Action

11

The following points can be promoted for sale:1. Name of the product, 2. Usefulness of the product, 3. Advantages of using the product, 4. Price in relation to quality 5. The places from where the product can be obtained.6.Varioustypes of offers given and duration of the offer. 7. Free demonstration if arranged. 8. Guarantee for good working, 9. Warrantee period 10. As appeal to the customer.

Sample Sales Letter:

MALHOTRA BUILDERS,

121, Delhi-Agra Road, Chaumuha, Mathura , India . Pin.400048

Web: www.Malhotrabuilders.comTelephone: 0565 244747, 09898678042.

Date :20.07.2013

(It can be addressed to anyone by Name)

Dear Sir,

We have manufactured houses of your dream. “ Krishna Greens-Super tech “ promises to provide you economical and very comfortable house .

Krishna Greens-Super Tech provides 2/3/4 Bedroom Luxurious Apartments with all modern amenities on the main Road. There are beautiful lush green parks, swimming pools, gymnasiums, parking spaces, centrally located super markets and many other facilities.

As you will see from the enclosed pamphlets, there are three models for you to choose from Popular, Deluxe and Royal for approximately Rs. 10,000,00, Rs. 15,000,00 and Rs. 20,000,00 respectively. Book one which you want by sending the enclosed proforma duly filled, alongwith a DD for Rs. 50,000. Apply before 30th September, 2013 and get a surprise gift. Contact our office at the address given above.

Your satisfaction is our commitment.

Yours sincerely,

Shyamsunder, Manager, Krishna Greens-Super Tech.