UNIT-3 [ Lesson-3: Letters of Good Relations ]
Letters of Good Relations
After reading this lesson you will be able to:
- distinguish letters of good relations from other types of letters
- write letters of
- – congratulation
– appreciation/thank you letters
– sympathy
– welcome
-farewell, and - write greetings/best wishes cards
Introduction
Goodwill letters (LGR) can be of several types depending on the occasion for which it is written. In this lesson you will find
- Letter of Congratulation
- Letter of Appreciation/Thank you letters
- Letters of Sympathy
- Letters of Welcome
- Letters of Farewell
- Greetings/Wishes Cards
TASK 1 QUESTION 1
A Letters of Congratulation
Everyone wants to be recognised for outstanding achievement. You can write letters of congratulation to your business friends, associates and customer for an achievement in their business as well as personal life.
Business occasions may be
- promotions
- honours
- getting remarkable contracts
- company anniversaries
- elections to office
- new partnership
- opening new office/plants
Personal occasions for writing LGR are
- marriages
- births
- graduations
- winning awards and prizes
ACTIVITY
- How many types of LGR are there? Include cards in your list.
ACTIVITY
- On what occasions do you write letters of congratulation?
- What guidelines would you follow to write letters of congratulation?
Read the following samples of letters of congratulation.
SAMPLE OF LETTERS OF CONGRATULATION
Situation 1
ELECTIONS TO OFFICE
Mr. Abu Taleb has been elected Mayor of Dhaka city Corporation, President, New Market Shopkeepers’ Association writes to him a letter of congratulation.
Situation 2
COMPANY ANNIVERSARY
Purba Bangla Brokers Ltd. (PBBL) a bakery firm for the sale of tea is going to celebrate 25 years in business. Durcan Brothers Ltd. is sending a card congratulating PBBL on this occasion.
Note
Full name and address of the primary reader is not generally put in the card, but on the envelope. The sender’s name and address is also put on the envelope, particularly if it is an overseas mail.
Example
Baby girl Born – Greetings Card
Note
Sometimes companies have their own greetings cards with the company name printed on the cover and a short message inside. For example:
Season’s greetings
or
Happy New Year
In such cases you have to simply write the name of the person you are sending the card to and sign at the bottom.
ACTIVITY
Write a suitable letter/card of congratulations for each of the situations.
Situations
1. Mr. Afazuddowla has been elected president, Dhaka Chamber of Commerce for two years. Mr. Razaul Karim Director, Mukti Soap Factory writes to him a letter of congratulation.
2. Mr. Asheq Hussain, Manager shipping, Karnaphuli Shipping Ltd. Chittagong has won the national championship trophy in lawn tennis. Mr. Raihan Masud, Director, Cosmical Offshore Ltd. congratulates him for his feat.
3. The City Bank Ltd. is going to open a branch in Meera Bazar, Sylhet. MD, Uttara Motors Ltd. sends a congratulations card to Mr. Sharif Ahmed, MD. The City Bank Ltd.
4. Miss Shamim Jahan, Manager Public Relations Dept., Hotel Sonartari is getting married next month, i.e., on 14 April 1995. Mr. Joha White head General Manager, Hotel Sheraton Writes to Miss Jahan, congratulating her on her wedding and regrets his inability to attend it.
Letters of Appreciation/Thank you Letters
When a business client/associate performs an official assignment successfully, or does some other work which show thoughtfulness and care, he/she deserves praise and thanks. Write to him a letter of appreciation or a thank you letter. You can send him a Thank You card too.
Some occasions on which you can send a Thank You card or write a letter of appreciation are:
– placing large orders
– prompt settlement of accounts
– opening a bank account
– efficient management of seminars and workshops
– treating an official guest with care and thoughtfulness, etc.
For writing letters of appreciation/thank you letters consider the following points:
good managers show their appreciation through both ceremonial
occasions and written messages.
- thank you letters are a way of giving your customers a VIP treatment
- in thank you letters you don’t expect a reply
- in your letter be specific about what the reader has done for you
- show your appreciation by demonstrating what the contribution will help to accomplish
Letters of Appreciation
THANKS FOR A DINNER
Letters of Appreciation
THANKS FOR PLACING A LARGE ORDER
Letter of Sympathy
WHY and HOW?
Considering the humane qualities of business relations, we must deal with sorrow the same way we deal with congratulations on moments of joy as success. A helping hand or a message of sympathy extended to a person suffering misfortune can be very meaningful.
As a businessman you are to convey sympathies to your employees, customers and business associates in situations involving
- death
- sickness
- accident
- serious loss
- or other misfortune
On such occasions you can hand write your message or if the relationship is purely business, type it on company letter head.
How can you write a letter of sympathy?
You have to be very careful about the message of sympathy including the language because your reader is in difficult circumstances.
Therefore, when you write your message of sympathy
– begin directly
– identify the event and
– express sympathy
– concentrate on the positive details appropriate to the situation
It is not always easy to write something positive when a patient is in death-bed or dead. In such cases it will be inappropriate to send a “Get Well Soon” card. What you can do is concentrate on the positive aspects of the patient’s care and situation, or write about the good qualities of the deceased. End your letter with appositive note, saying that the good qualities of the deceased will be remembered. You can even offer help.
Letters of sympathy
On the sudden death of an employee
Note
In case of writing to a very close colleague/business associate use a personal and friendly tone. Notice the use of contractions (it’s for it is, you’ll for you will etc.) in Fig. C1.2. The letter is hand-written on a plain sheet of paper.
ACTIVITY
Write a letter of sympathy to a business associate who has suffered a serious loss in business.
ACTIVITY
Write a letter of sympathy to an employee who has recently lost his mother in a road accident.
Letter of Welcome
Welcome messages make people feel their presence is very much wanted/appreciated. In business you can welcome new comers to town who can be prospective clients, new accounts, new membership, and new
employees or colleagues in office.
Welcoming a new comer is simple courtesy, but for a businessman it means more than that. It is an incentive to a prospective customer for it is public relations that play an important part in business.A welcome letter is simple and direct, and usually emphasises the assests the new comer brings to the organisation.
ACTIVITY
Faisal Khan has just moved to a new neighbourhood. Limbo Dry cleaners writes a letter of welcome to Mr. Khan.
– Write the letter on behalf of Limbo Dry Cleaners.
ACTIVITY
Mushtaque Rabbi, a young architect has joined Najma and Co. Ltd., a construction firm in Dhaka. Farook Khan, Asst. Manager welcomes him on behalf of the company.
– Write a letter/card for Mr. Khan.
Letters of Farewell
In business, farewell messages are written to people who are leaving the present posting for some other place of work.
It is simple courtesy to write a letter of farewell to an outgoing client/associate/colleague. This makes him/her feel good and important. He knows how much he was cared for, how much he meant to his/her colleagues.
Writing farewell messages helps one’s business grow in the same way as writing welcome messages does. If your company has branches or local offices, your client would surely like to continue business through those. After all it is personal relations that matter in business.
A farewell letter is simple and direct in which you recall the assets the outgoing client had brought with him/her. Assure him/her nourishing fond memories and wish him success in the new assignment.
ACTIVITY
Write a letter of farewell to a valued customer who used to be a resident of your five star hotel whenever he was in the capital. New he is going to London to assume new responsibilities as manager of an international
bank.