Business letters are formal letters used

for business-to-business, business-

to-client, or client-to-business

correspondence.

Evolution of business letters

Standard Letter Parts

• Heading – shows the company name, address, phone or fax number, and logo. (letterhead)

• The letter starts with the date, use the month-day-year format unless the company requires another format.

• If the letter is prepared on plain paper, the writer’s address must be included to enable the receiver to respond.

• Writer’s name is omitted since it will appear on the signature block.

• Letter Address – includes: personal or professional title (e.g. Mr. Or Ms.) the name of the receiverhis/her professional position (if relevant)Company nameComplete address

• It begins a quadruple space after the dateline (three blank spaces in between).

Standard Letter Parts

• Salutation – The greeting that opens a letter and is placed a double space below the letter address.

• The salutation is omitted in the simplified block format.

• To show courtesy for the receiver, include a personal or professional title (ex. Dear Ms. Henson)

• If the letter were addressed not to one person, but to a group or company: “Ladies and Gentlemen,” would be appropriate. But to limit or avoid the use of this informal salutation, you may use the simplified block format and do away with the salutation.

Standard Letter Parts

• Body

contains the message of your letter.

Begins a double space below the salutation.

Paragraphs are single spaced with a double space between paragraphs.

Standard Letter Parts

• Complimentary Close - a phrase used to close a letter in the same way that you say goodbye at the end of a conversation.

• Should reflect the formality of your relationship with the receiver.

• Most common: “Yours truly,” “Sincerely yours,” “Sincerely” “Cordially” and “Cordially yours”

• “Sincerely” is considered neutral and is thus appropriate in a majority of business situation.

• Capitalize only the first word of the complimentary close.

Standard Letter Parts

• Signature block – consists of the writer’s name a quadruple space below the complimentary close.

• The writer’s signature is placed legibly in the space provided. (women may use a title to indicate her preference ; Ms., Miss or Mrs.).

• A business or professional title may be placed on the same line with the writer’s name or directly below it.

Standard Letter Parts

• Reference initials- consist of the keyboard operator’s initials keyed in lower case a double space below the signature block.

• The reference initials and the signature block identify the persons involved in the preparation of such document just in case later on someone would want to verify or authenticate.

Standard Letter Parts

BUSINESS LETTERTYPES

Business-to-business type• intended for company to company

communication

Business-to-client type• Intended for company to outside

the company

BUSINESS-TO-BUSINESS

o Appreciation Letter - a letter of gratitude and appreciation for help extended, or a good business deal. o Thank you - is a letter of gratitude. o Congratulations - is a letter that praises the recipient for a job well- done o Letter of Recognition - a written statement of recognized efforts similar to an appreciation letter. o Letter of Reference - is a character reference letter. It is a letter building up the character of a person to be accepted in a job.

o Recommendation - is an endorsement letter to hire a certain person. Sympathy letter - is a letter of condolences to a person or family. o Invitation letter - is a letter persuading a person or a company to join an event or an occasion. o Letter of credit - is a way of endorsing a certain business to be considered a credit loan. o Letter of interest - a reply to an invitation that confirms presence on the event/occasion. o Business memorandum - notices that are distributed to the staff. They are reminders of company activities, or imminent changes in the company.

o Business introduction - is done to introduce a new business to the readers.

o Business letter - a letter that talks about the plans for the business. o Donation letter - a letter asking for donations. o Termination letter - more popularly known as a resignation letter. It signifies someone's desire to leave a job permanently.

BUSINESS-TO-CLIENT

o Welcome Letter - welcomes the client and thanking him for choosing the company. o Letter of Appreciation - thanks the client for having business with the company. o Apology Letter - asking the client for reconsideration, and apologizes for failing to deliver. o Collection Letter - notice outstanding payments due.

o Invoice Letter Template - this is asking the clients to state the invoice number of their transactions. o Letter of Invitation - inviting a client to join a certain gathering. o Marketing Letter - is stating the newest products that the company will provide soon or is presently providing. o Rejection Letter - is stating the rejection of the client's request.

BUSINESSLETTTERFORMATS

Block

• Cost-efficient way of producing business documents.

• Easy-to-learn, less effort required. • All lines (including paragraphs) begin at

the left margin; therefore, no time is lost setting tabs and positioning letter parts.

Modified block

• The traditional letter format.

• The dateline, complimentary close, and signature block begin at the horizontal center of the page.

• Paragraphs may be indented five spaces if the writer prefers or the company policies require it; however, the indention creations unnecessary keystrokes that increase the cost of the letter.

• All other lines begin at the left margin.

Simplified block

• Efficient letter format. • Like block format, all lines begin at the left

margin; • However, the salutation and complimentary

close are omitted, and a subject line is required.

• Place the subject line a double space below the letter address and a double space above the body.

References:

• http://www.ehow.com/facts_5024015_business-letters-definition.html

• www.slideshare.net• Ezine articles