bussiness letter

Business letters

     A business letter is written in formal language. The letter is written for official correspondence between two organizations and organizations and customers, clients, etc. The style of the business letter depends on the relationship that is shared between the two parties.

       A business letter is used for various purposes like offering a business deal to other organization, accepting an offer, denying an offer, new schemes for customer, extending the contract with a client.

Take a look at the following points about parts of the letter :

Letterhead: The formal business letter should always begin with letterhead. The letter head gives the receiver an idea about who has sent the letter.

Date: The date has to written exactly below the letter head. The date has to be written in full with day, month and year. Take a look at this example : 20 October 2005 or October 20, 2005

Receiver's Address: The next important part is the receiver's address.

Salutation: This is the opening line of the letter. In a formal business letter, you need to write dear followed by Mr./Ms with his or her name.

Body: In the first line itself, clearly mention the message of your letter. The letter should be able to convey your message directly to the reader. The letter should consist of paragraphs. Each new point should have separate paragraph. The last paragraph should sum up the letter and ask the receiver to do an action based on your letter.

Complimentary Closure: In the end of the letter you have to use complimentary close. You can use words like "Yours faithfully", etc. "Yours sincerely", etc. Comma has to be included after the close. You have to insert your full name at the end leaving few spaces to sign the letter.

Return addres

British English

                Position: The sender's address is usually placed in the top right corner of the letter.

American English

                Position: The sender's address is usually placed in the top left corner, below the date, or at the end of the letter, below the signature.

Date

British English

Write    : 30 October 2003

Position               :  On the right, one                           

                                  line below the

                                 sender's address

American english

Write    : October 30, 2003

                Position               : Top left corner.

Inside address

British English

                The recipient's address starts on the same line as the date or one line below the date. The position of recipient’s address is in left corner.

American English

                The recipient's address starts two lines below the sender's address (or two lines below the date if the sender's address isn't placed in the top left corner).

There  are steps to make business letter

•       The Start

The start of any business letter begins by addressing the recipient of the letter.

Dear Personnel Director,

Dear Sir or Madam: (use if you don't know who you are writing to)

Dear Dr, Mr, Mrs, Miss or Ms Smith: (use if you know who you are writing to, and have

a formal relationship with Ms or Mrs)

•       The Reference

                Begin by referencing a specific conversation or other contact means. If this is the first letter in a conversation, you can also  provider the reason for writing.

•       The Reason for Writing

I am writing to...

... inquire about

... apologize for

... Confirm

... comment on

... apply for

·         Enclosing

I am enclosing
Please find enclosed
Enclosed you will find

·         Closing

      Thank you for your help Please contact us again if we can help in any way.

there are any problems.
you have any questions.

·         Reference to Future Contact

I look forward to ...
hearing from you soon.
meeting you next Tuesday.
seeing you next Thursday.

·         Finish

Yours faithfully, (If you don't know the name of the person you're writing to)

Yours sincerely, (If you know the name of the person you're writing to)

Best wishes, Best regards, (If the person is a close business contact or friend)

The following abbreviations are widely used in letters

asap = as soon as possible

cc = carbon copy (when you send a copy of a letter to more than one person, you use this abbreviation to let them know)

enc. = enclosure (when you include other papers with your letter)

pp = per procurationem (A Latin phrase meaning that you are signing the letter on somebody else's behalf; if they are not there to sign it themselves, etc)

ps = postscript (when you want to add something after you've finished and signed it)

pto (informal) = please turn over (to make sure that the other person knows the letter continues on the other side of the page)

RSVP = please reply

Types of business letters

Business letter is an old form of official correspondence. A business letter is written by an individual to an organization or an organization to another organization.

•       Acknowledgement Letter :This type of letter is written when you want to acknowledge some one for his help or support when you were in trouble.

•       Apology Letter :An apology letter is written for a failure in delivering the desired results.

•       Appreciation Letter :An appreciation letter is written to appreciate some one's work in the organization.

•       Complaint Letter :A complaint letter is written to show one that an error has occurred and that needs to be corrected as soon as possible.

•       Inquiry Letter :The letter of inquiry is written to inquire about a product or service.

•       Order Letter :This letter is as the name suggests is used for ordering products.

•       Letter of Recommendation :This type of letter is written to recommend a person for a job position.

below is an example video of job interview.