26 Mechanics of Writing Business Letters

7/27/2019 26 Mechanics of Writing Business Letters

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UNIT 26 MECHANICS OFW RITING BUSINESSLETTERS

Structure26.0 Objectives26.1 Introduction26.2 Form of a business letter26.3 The layout26.4 Supplements to the letter26.5 Let us sum up26.6 Key words

26.0 OBJECTIVES

After studying this unit you should be able to:Arrange and format a letter correctlyList the various supplements to a business letter

26.1 INTRODUCTIONThere must have been many occasions when you needed to write letters to yourfriends or relatives living within the city or outside. Some of these letters might havebeen written for a specific reason like expressing condolence, sending birthdaygreetings, congratulations, etc. But very often, personal letters are just a way ofsaying 'Hello' and of exchanging news about each other. Such letters are looselywritten and need not have any focus or a fixed subject or length. Business letters, onthe other hand, are always written for a particular reason: like making an inquiry,seeking clarification, applying for a job or extending an invitation. In short,whenever a letter sets out to conduct a business, it is a business letter. Remember, abusiness letter does not have to be from one business house to another. So, when youapply for a job or for leave, write to get a prospectus or to seek information of anykind. you are writing a 'business letter'. As such, you have to follow certain rules.We shall elucidate these rules in the course of these units.You must read Block 1 of EEG-03 also along with this Block to get a comprehensiveview of Business correspondence.

26.2 FORM OF A BUSINESS LETTERA business letter should be neat and attractive which will create a positive impressionon the mind of its receiver or reader. Hence, the following points should always bekept in mind while writing such letters:1. Paper: Paper of good quality and standard size should be used for all officialcorrespondence. Proper care should be taken to avoid over-crowding orover-decoration while printing the necessary particulars regarding thereceiver's name, address, phone number, fax no. etc. Nowadays the use offullscap for office correspondence has become outdated, Instead, a standardsize paper is used for normal letters and 5%"x8%" or 7%"x8%"ho wn as .small size, are used for short letters.


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Business Communidation: 2. Typing: All official letters should be neatly typed by an efficient typist.Writing skills-l Usually, official letters are typed single space between lines and double spacebetween the paragraphs. Since at least one auplicate copy of each letter isneeded for office record, it is necessary to use good quality carbon paper fortyping. If you are using a computer see that a good clear printout is laken.

3. Margin: Proper margin on the left and right hand side of the letter as well asadequate space at the top and bottom of the letter makes it more appealingand attractive. Usually, a margin of 12/15 space is provided on the left handside and 5 to 8 spaces on the right side of the paper. If more than one page isused for a lengthy letter, extra care should be taken that identical margins areprovided on each page.

4. Folding: Folding of the letter is done according to the type and size of theenvelop that is used for sending the letter. Nonetheless, as far as possible theminimum number of folds should be made.

5. EnveIops: The size of the envelop to be used depends upon the size of theletter as well as the number of sheets or enclosures. Usually, the name andaddress of the addressee are printed on the back of the envelop. Some firmsalso get their logo, monogram, brand message or brand name printed on theenvelops.Window envelops may be used to save the time of typing the name andaddress of the party for whom it is meant. The letters are folded in such away that the full address typed on the letter-paper is visible through thewindow on the envelop. For this purpose, it is necessary to type the fullname and address of the party in the letter.

6. Address on Envelop: Full name and address of the party should be writtenor typed on the envelop. Abbreviations for street, village, district, city orcountry must be avoided as far as possible. If the pin code of the city isknown, it is always better to type it correctly for quicker delivery.The address of the sender is also typed on the envelop so that in the event ofnon-delivery, the letter may be returned to the sender and does not go to thedead-letter office. When the letter is sent by Book Post, Under Certificate ofPosting, Registered Post or Speed Post, the same should be clearly indicatedon the letter as well as on the envelop.

The LayoutA B

R.J. TravelsH-30 M. blockKailash Market

New Delhi - 3009/03/97

The Manager.Taj Hotel1 Mansingh RdNew Delhi - 110 024Sir,......................................................................................................................................

Yours Sincerely(R.ANAND)

Hon. Secretary

R.J. Travels fH-30 M. BlockKailash MarketNew Delhi - 309" March, 1996 - ..The ManagerTaj Hotel

. .Mansingh Rd.New Delhi - 110 024.Sir,........................................................................................................................................................Sincerely Yours(R-ANAND)Hen. Secretary


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Medhanics of WritingBusiness LettersR. J. TRAVELS LTD

The ManagerTaj Hotel1 - Mansingh Rd.New Delhi- 110 024Sir,..............................................................................................................................

Yours faithfully

(R.ANAND)Hon. Secretary

9.3.96DelhiMy Dear Ravi,.............................................

.......................................................................................................................................

Love,Masi

Look at letters A to D. The first three are business letters while D is a personal letter.List all the differences that you notice. How many differences did you see?Let us concentrate on the business letters now. The format or layout of a businessletter should give you the following information:-1. When the letter was sent - i.e. the date.2. From where the letter is being sent - i.e. the address of the sender.3. Who is sending the letter - i.e. the name and designation of the sender.4. To whom the letter is being sent - i.e. the name and designation of the

receiver.5 . Where the letter is being sent - i.e. the address of the receiver.The DateAll letters, including personal ones, must carry the date on which the letter is sent. Ina personal letter, the date appears on the right-hand comer (as in D), but in a businessletter, the date can be written on the top right hand comer under the sender's address(as in A); on the top left hand comer between the sender's and receiver's address (asin B) or in the left or right hand comer when a letter head is used (as in C).There are various ways of writing the date such as: 9 March 1999,9.3.99 ,9th. March'96; March 9th1999.(The Americans may even write the year first, then month followed by the date likethis; 1996 March 9. But you are advised to follow the Indian system as shown above.)The Address of the SenderNow go back and look at the letters A and B. In letter A the address of the senderappears on the top right-hand comer, while in letter B, the sender's address is on thetop left-hand comer. While it is' the common practice to follow pattern A in letters

, written by hand, it is found to be much more convenient to follow pattern B whiletyping the letters.


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ng Skills-I Since m ost business letters are typed, pattern B has become the standard practice andthe sender's address, date, receiver's address, sender's sign ature, nam e and designationall appear on the left hand side in one row.Now look at letter C. Do you notice that the sender's address is not typed anywhere.Can yo u guess why this is so'? Yes, you guessed it right. This is because the letter iswritten on the letter head paper which m eans that the address of the sender is alreadyprinted on the paper so there is no need to w rite it again unless you wish to get yourreply a t a d ifferent address.The sender's address should consist of the following:The nam e of the company or institution,Nam e of the building (if given)Number of the premises and street nameArea (if given)City and pin code

Madhu Travels,Gom ati Towers, Flat 3H-50 Rafi Marg,New Delhi 110 00 1

The Name and Designation of the SenderRemem ber, the name and designation of the sender DOES NOT appear with thesender's address. So, how d o we know the name o f the sender and the post s/heoccupies i.e. hidh er designa tion? For this, we have to look at the end of the letter.The sender puts h ish er signature after the complimentary close like "Yoursfaithfully". Often, the signature is difficult to read and it does not carry the full nameof the sender. Also, it does not tell us whether the sender is a male or a female. It isfor this reason that the sender's full nam e is written or typed in capital letters underthe signatures, and it is put in brackets.But there is still an important piece of information missing. Yes, we still do notknow th e post that the sender holds in the organisation. So, under the full name wehave the designation of the sender. Here is an example:-Yours sincerely, Yours faithfully, You rs faitl~fu lly

(SEEMA KAPOOR) (R.S. PILLA I)Warden Proprietor (RAVI CHOPRA )Assistant Manager~ e m e k b e r ,hat even when the letters are typed, the sender always puts hidh ersignature in ink.The Name andlor Designation of the ReceiverYou saw that the name and designation of the sender does not app ear with the addressof the sender but it is different in case of the receiver. Look at the followingexamples:-

Mrs. S . Ali, Principal Mrs. S. Ali The PrincipalSofia College, Principal, Sofia Sofia CollegeCollege,

If you know the name of the person you are writing to, you can address them asshow n in E and F. But even when you know the name, you still have to write thedesignation . Can you think why? There are two reasons for it. Firstly, there may bename working in the organisation so the designation will tellfor. Secondly, if yoc fail to mention the designation, the


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letter may be heated as a personal letter rather than an official one. For example, Mechanics of Writingmost letters addressed to the Principal are opened by the secretary who reads them Business Lettersand sometimes answers them on behalf of the Principal. If the letter is a personal one,she will leave it for the Principal who may be too busy to look at it.There is another point to keep in mind. In the case of am, ou normally add Mr.before the name but when addressing a lady, it can become awkward if you do notknow whether she is married or single. In that case, the best way is to address a ladyas MS. In fact, many women prefer that even when they are married. So, you wouldaddress the lady as: MS. S. Ali.The Address of The ReceiverThe address of the receiver is always written under the designation and it is writtenon the top left hand comer of the paper. The receiver's address should comprise thefollowing,The name of the receiver (if you know it). MS S. Ali,The designation PrincipalThe name of the institution Sofia College,Name of building (if any)Name of the Street Nehru Road,City and code Chennai 600 012Let us suppose that you are replying to a letter and you have the address of the personyou are writing to on the letter head. You will notice that the letter head cames a lotof information like the telephone numbers, the residential tel. No., Fax No., E-mail,address of the branches of the company, etc. But when you write down the address,you only have to pick the address to which you plan to send the letter, and thetelephone numbers etc. are not to be mentioned. Look at the following letter head:-

FABHOLIDAY (TravelsPvt. Ltd.

G-55, Connaught Circus, H.O.Hote1 ImperialNew Delhi-110 00 1 JanpathTel: 3325786,3324308 New Dell$- 110 001Fax: 3 1-61588 Tel: 3324789,3325559Fax: 3 1-62925BRANCHES: MUMBAI BANGALORE, CALCUTTA, HYDERABAD, CHENNAI,CHANDIGARH.If you decide to write to this Agency, you will have to decide which branch you wishto write to.One other question that may bother you is this. If you are writing to an Institution ora Concern for the first time, whom do you address the letter to?Here are some very general tips:When writing to a Hostel, you write to The WardenWhen writing to a Newspaper, you write to The EditorWhen writing to a Club, you write to The SecretaryWhen writing to a shop, you write to The ProprietorWhen writing to an Hotel, you write to , The Manager


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onrsmess ~omm&nication: Check Your Progress 1Writing Skills-1 Look at the layout of the following business letter and point out all the errors, i.e.what's m issing, what's not needed and what is at the wrong place.

Ravi Saxena,52 DDA Flats.The W ardenKalind i HostelLucknowMadam,

Yours faithhlly(Secretary, Residents Association)

Now that you h ave learnt the general layout of a business letter, write to thefollowing Concerns. You are required to comp lete the layout only and not write theletter. You can invent your own addresses.Write to:1. Anne Jacob, the secretary of a youth club.2. To th e manager of an Insurance company in Mum bai.3. A travel agency in Chenn ai.Forms Of Salutation And The BeginningsW li le writing a personal letter, you can start with any form o f endearment like Mydear, Dearest, Darling, etc. But a business letter starts with Dear SirfMadam or evena simple SirMaclam is enough. If you wish to address the receiver by h idhe r name,you can say:Dear Dr. Pillai, Dear MS Nagpal, Dear Mr. Kapoor,Remember, it is preferable to address people only by their surnam e i.e. it is moreacceptable to say Dear Dr. Pillai rather than Dear Dr. S.M. Pillai,So far so good, but what do we do after that? How d o we begin a letter? We cannotsay "Namskar. How are you these days?"If you are writing for the first time, ask you rself: What is the reason for this letter? Isthe letter being w ritten to seek information, to ask for an application form, tocom plain, to invite?Begin yo ur letter by saying why you are writing. There are many ways of d oing this:I am writing to ask ......confirm ............complain ...........invite ...............thank ...............If you wish to sound more polite and formal you m ay begin thus:


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I would like to inquireconfirminvitethank

Check Your Progress 2I. Given below is a list of verbs and verb phrases. Choose a suitable verb tocomplete the sentences below. You may begin your sentences with "I amwiiting to -----"or "I would like to ... .."ask, inquire about, confirm, apologise for, invite, inform, complain about, thank,requesf apply for.

.....he poor quality of the cloth used........he rude behaviour of my clerk...

.....y ou for the excellent arrangements..........he post you advertised.....he dates which we agreed on........he nature of the job you have advertised..........y ou for a favoh

.....y ou that your hotel booking is done...

.....y ou to send me the details...

.....y ou to the annual function...What you have learnt so far is to begin a letter when you are writing to a Company orInstitution for the first time. Now, we will see how to begin a letter when we arereplying to a letter. Before we do that here is a simple exercise for you:-11. You were given a list of verbs above. Now supply nouns for these verbs.

The first is done for you:-Inquire inquiryconfirmapologiseinviteinformcomplainthankrequestapply

As mentioned earlier, these are the phrases that you will require for most businessletters. When you reply to a letter, you can use one of the following sentences tobegin the letter.With reference to your ----orwith regard to your (requestfinquiryetc.)Thank you for the orI wish to thank you for the (information/interest etc.)You must keep in mind that you cannot use the same sentences with every noungiven above. For example, you CANNOT SAY:

Mechanics of WritingBusiness Letters

Thank you for your complaintThank you for the inquiry.


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ommunication:~k i l h - 1

CheckYour Progress 3Write "Thank you" for "With reference to" in reply to the following., e.g.:I am writing to warn you... With reference to your warning.. . .1. I am writing to complain...2. I would like to inquire... .3. Isuggest...4. I would like to apply...5. This is to confirm...6. We would like to invite you...7. I am writing to request you.,.8. I am writing to inform you...9. I wish to congratulate you...10. I am writing to remind you...If you are replying to some information or news that you are supposed to be happyabout, you can start by saying:We are pleasedlhappy to know/learn/hear/that...Now let us look at another very common way to starting a reply. Here, you beginthe answer repeating the date on which the letter you are replying to was writtenand you also repeat the purpose of the letter. This is very helpful for the receiver ofyour letter because s/he knows straight away what you are talking about. Givenbelow, you have the example of a letter inviting Mr. Murthy to a function and belowthat are examples of two kinds of replies that you can give: (You are only being giventhe beginnings of the letters and not the complete letters.)Example 1March 7th. 1996.Dear Dr. Murthy,I am writing to invite you to the Annual hc t ion of our College to be held on the 3rdof April, 1996.- - -A reply to the above letter:March 12th. 1996.Dear Mr. Negi,Thank you for the invitation to the Annual function of your college. I am glad toaccept the invitation....Example 2March 12th. 1996.Dear Mr. Negi,With reference to your letter dated 7th March'96, inviting me to the Annual hc t ionof your college to be held on the 3rd. of April, I amwriting to inform you that I amglad to accept the invitation.....


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You notice that in exam ple 2, Mr. Murthy has repeated the date and the messag e of Mechanics of Writingthe letter in the first line. This will help Mr. Negi because he does not have to look at Business Lettershis file to find out which letter Mr. Murthy is replying to.Many times, business letters carry a Reference Number like 17iL39 8. In this caseyou can say:

.....ith reference to your letter 17iL398 , dated 7th March,Form of Com plimentary CloseOur next problem is how io close a letter. When you write a letter to ask for a favou rlike seekinp. ir.fonnation, making a req uest, etc. the most comm on way is to sayThank you. Yours Sincerely/faithfu lly,etc. On the other hand, if you wish to getan answ er to your letter, you m ay c lose like this:I look forward to hearing from you.You can add, I look forward to hearing from you soo n/ at the earliest.If you are expecting something else instead of a reply to your letter, you can mentionthat instead of "hearing from you". Suppo se you have w ritten a letter invitingsomeone to a m eeting, you may say:I look forward to meeting you on Friday.If you wish to be more formal and polite you can w rite the following:We would ap preciate an early reply.An early reply will be greatly appreciated.I would be grateful for a prom pt answer.This kind of a line is w ritten at the end of a letter in a pa ragraph by itself.And we finally come to the final close. You might notice that most business lettersend with "Yours faithfully"or "Your sincerely". Even though most people do notfollow this practice but the correct form is that when you begin your letter with "D earSirhia dam", you should end it with "Y ours faithfully" but when you begin your letterby addressing a name like "Dea r Dr. Murthy " you close the letter with "Yourssincerely" like this:Dear Sir,

...............................................Yours faithfully,Dear Dr. Murthy,

Y ou rs sincerely,..............................................Check Your Progress 41. Fax a letter to Oberoi Hotel, Delhi to find out if they have a room availablefor the 8th and 9th of A pril and about the room rates.2. Write a reply to the following letter:


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usiness Communication: ~ ~ ~ l l ~ndustries,Writing Skills- H-30 Annadurai Marg,Mana Mallai,Chenneai - 600 03 110th May, 1996.The M anager,Moti Plastics,12 Najafgarh RoadDelhi - 1 I0 011

I am writing to inform you that our Sales Representative Shri Mukul Deb will bevisiting your factory on 10th M ay'96 around 10 am. Kindly c o n f m if this isconvenient to you.Thank you,Yours faithfully,(ANURAG MEHTA)Assistant Manager

26.4 SUPPLEMENT TO THE LETTER

Beside the main content of a letter, there are a few supplements which should also benoted carefully. Each supplement either adds to or supplements the information, orfurther strengthens its presentation and completeness. These are discussed below:1. Enclosures: Very often one or more documents are required to be sent alongwith a letter. In such a case it should be indicated on the left-hand comer ofthe le tter by writing the word 'Enclosures', 'Encl.' or 'Encls', noting against itthe number of docum ents enclosed. If the enclosu res are important, theirnature is also briefly mentioned as for instance:Encl. one Copy of Invoice.The despatch clerk must ensure that all enclosure indicated in the letter are attachedto the letter.2. Post Sc rip t (P.S.): If something is written after the completion of letter, it isknown as Post Script or P.S. Only important and urgent information, notknown earlier, should be written as post script. As the P.S. is a part of aletter, it must bear the initials of the writer below it. If we have to write morethan one P.S., it is better to rewrite the whole letter and not spoil the -compactness of the commun ication.

26.5 LET US SUM UP

W e have primarily concentrated on making you aw are of the format of a businessletter.


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Mechanics of Writingimpression in the minds of the add ressee, the letter needs to be Br~siness ettersmanner. Simplicity and courtesy should run throughout theter. Paper of good quality and standard size should be used for all officialorrespondence. The letter should be neatly typed with proper margin. A well-structured business letter consists of the subject, inside address, salutation, the mainlimentary close and the signature of the writer. The body of letter shouldIn everyletter, the writer of the letter or the authorized person should put his he r signature athe end o f the letter. --26.6 -myWORDS

Salutation: Form of g reeting while addressing an individual or a firm orcompany.Complimentary close: Formal expression of respect or regard of the letter writertowards the addressee, written just below the body of a letter.Supplements: Docum ents enc losed or additional ixxformation included afterthe main body of the letter.

26.7 ANSWERSCheck Your Progress 11. The name o f the sender should be w ritten in brackets below his signature noton top.2. The address of the sender is incomplete- ity not given3. The address of the addressee is also incomplete.. The date is not given.

Check Your Progress 21. I am writing to complain about--------2. I would like to apologize for ----------

. I would like to thank -----------I am writing to apply for ---------

5 . I am writing to confirm ---------. I would like to inquire about ------. I would like to ask --------8. I am writing to inform ------L-


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Business Com munication:Writing Skills-I 9 . I would like to request -------10. 1would like to invite --------11. inquiryconfirmation

apologyinvitation,.informationcomplaintthankfulnessrequestapplication

Check Your Progress 31. With reference to your complaint.2. Y it h reference to your inquiry.3. d a n k you for your suggest ion.4. With reference to. your application of the elates ----5 . With reference to you're the conljrmation.6 . Than k you for the invitation7. With reference to your request on ----8. Than k you for the information.9. Thank you for the greetings ----10. With reference to the reminder letter of -----

26 Mechanics of Writing Business Letters

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