UNIT-2 [ Lesson-1: Nature Types and Principles of Writing Good Business Letters ]
After reading this lesson you will be able to:
- explain the nature, types of various business letters
- understand and apply the principles of writing good business letters
Nature Types and Principles of Writing Good Business Letters
Letters Defined
The information age generates more and more documents in the form of letters, reports, memos, notices. So whether be at private sector or public sector, or at home and abroad all professionals have to write letters which serve as the media for conveying information among entities and individuals.
Sometimes you write to give information to some one, sometimes you may be asking for some information from a particular person, or a company; sometimes you want refund for your damaged product from the supplier, or you like to send a note of condolence to one of your depressed associate whose wife died recently, or you are writing to inform a candidate that his application was not accepted whatever your plans,
you in fact do not write for yourself, but to inform others, and to fulfil a certain need. This need that moves you to write the letter is your primary objective for writing the letter. You may have more than one objectives in the same letter such as informing about steps, instructing to follow the steps or acknowledge an order and clarifying a vague order in the same letter.
Then of course there is always the secondary public relations objective that all business letters have. To flourish its success and profit each company should work to improve the images of their company in public’s minds. And the most important areas of public relation that a company should try to improve is its correspondence. As a rule the letters that a company writes create strong impressions for a number of reasons.
Letters serve as media for conveying information among entities and organisation
We write to inform others and to fulfill a certain need.
First, letters are highly personalised messages, for they single out a special reader and, usually a letter is written by a single writer not by a team.
Second, they have the more formal effect than most face to face communication.
Third, They receive the added impetus of the printed word and have the quality of performance.
So a company can create good public relations only by presenting its face in the best possible way through good business letters.
Letters provide data for two main purposes:
1. To fulfil certain needs;
2. To elicit a definite response and to make the reader to be on the writer’s side.
Types of Business Letters
Letters typically go to people outside the organisations. By writing letters you in fact present your organisations image, face to the outside world. As a family member, social person you do write the personal
letters conveying your feelings, interests, good news, bad news, depending on the type of relationship you have with the reader and also on the message that is being conveyed.
Business letters are written and received for keeping all business transactions, relationships, perfect, live in the business world. Most formal letters fall under three main category:
- Writing ‘yes’ : accepting something, agreeing to a plan.
- Writing ‘no’ : refusing something or disagreeing to a plan or offer.
- Writing for action : to move people to do something, to persuade or to give orders sometimes.
On the job you might write the following common types of letters:
a. Sales Promotion letter designed to create interest in a product or service.
b. Letter of instructions outlining a procedure to be carried out by the reader.
c. Letter of transmittal (cover letters) to accompany reports and other documents that you will mail out.
d. Letter of recommendations for friends, fellow workers or past employees.
e. General business letters describing progress on a project, requesting assistance, ordering parts or tools, confirming meeting times, and so on.
f. Letter of inquiry, asking about the cost or availability of a product, requesting advice for solving a problem, soliciting comments about a job applicant and so on.
g. Complaint letters written to complain about disappointing service or faulty products and to request adjustment.
You may also need to write letter in response to those letters received by your company. You might also write letters to apply to colleges, to compete for scholarship, or foreign study programmes, or to join a campus organisations.
These application letters are considered important for good reasons:they provide evidence of your talent for clear self expression, your level of confidence, your sensitivity to your readers, your ability to recognise important points, your attention to detail your mastery of logical reasoning and your level of maturity and personality development.
Different letters are written for different purposes.
Principles of Writing Good Letters
Depending upon its quality your letter will either open doors or, be a waste of time. So to be an effective letter writer think of the good communication principles that you can apply in writing a business letter.
The following basic principles will help you to produce a letter which is most likely to achieve the desired result.
- Remember the basic rule: never send a letter until you genuinely feel confident about signing it; your signature certifies your approval of the content
Tone is the main ingredient of message.
The You Approach
In writing a letter you face a blank page; you can easily write to please yourself only, forgetting that a flesh-and-blood person will be reading your letter. The “you” perspective affects your tone and as the letter is
more personal than a report, tone is the major ingredient of your message.
Put yourself in your reader’s place; ask yourself how readers will respond to what you have just written. Your letter creates a relationship with reader. So the words should be chosen carefully in order not to offend and confuse the reader. Instead of writing:
“I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter
dated ……………, and I have to inform you
that …………..”
It is better to write :
“Thank you for your letter of ………., you
will be pleased to know that ………..”
Plain English
The reader of a business letter is not interested in the type of person who has written the letter but in the content of the letter i.e., what the letter say, and how simply and easily he can grasp the message, and help his organisation.
So avoid stuffy, tired and over blown phrases (letterese) that you might think will impress your reader. Here are a few of the many Letterese that make letters unimaginative and boring:
Clear Purpose
Before writing as you plan, answer these questions:
A. What purpose do I wish to achieve (get a job, file a complaint, ask for an information, answer an inquiry, give instructions, share good news, share bad news).
B. What facts does my reader know? (dates, cost, model numbers, enclosures, measurements, other details).
C. To whom am I writing? (reader’s name? or title? write to a person not a title).
D. What is my relationship with reader? (Is he an employer, employee, a person asking for favour, customer asking for refund, an associate, a stranger?)
Answer to all of the above questions will help you prepare the draft and after writing the draft ask yourself three more questions such as:
a. How will my readers react to my statement as phrased? (with anger, hostility, pleasure, confusion, resistance, satisfaction).
b. What impression will readers get from my letter? (courteous, friendly, confident, dull, intelligent)
c. Am I ready to sign my letter? (This one will take you to some more thought)
Do not submit or mail your letter until you have answered these questions and keep on revising as often as you need to achieve your purpose.
Aim for brevity, accuracy, and conviction
This one is the most important principle of all communication skills. For readability, keep your letter short, straight, formal and right to the point. Give readers as much as they need no more no less even. Also write with conviction i.e., write what you believe in, in order to sound convincing to your readers.
Direct-Indirect Plan
The reaction that you visualise from your readers should help you organise your material whether you should apply direct or indirect method of writing. In the direct plan you put the main points right away in your body section of the letter followed by explanation. Usually use the direct plan for good news writing, inquiry or application or other routine correspondence.
If you expect your reader to disapprove or need to be persuading or refusing a claim then use the indirect plan i.e., give the explanation before the main points. The indirect plan in fact makes readers more tolerant of bad news or more receptive to the writer’s arguments stated in the letter.
SUMMARY
- Think before you write
- Analyse the purpose of the letter and reader’s needs
- Make sure you have included all the points relevant to your purpose
- Use a courteous tone and ‘you’ approach
- Use plain, precise English and avoid Letterese
- Be concise and keep your language warm and personal
ACTIVITY
These questions are designed to help you assess how far you have understood and can apply the learning you have accomplished by
answering (in written form) the following questions:
1. What are the reasons that are responsible for creating strong impressions on the letters written by a company?
2. What is the primary purpose of writing a business letter?
3. Name at least five types of business letters that you might write on any work day.
4. Which of the following phrases you should not use for writing a letter? What are the correct or plain English against each of the phrases.
a. Please be advised that my new telephone number is 606263
b. You must reply the moment you reach Dhaka airport.
c. I shall see you in the immediate future.
d. We shall carry our duties as per your order
5. What are the questions that you ask yourself before you begin to write a letter, in fact plan for it?
