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BUSINESS LETTERS  For reasons of courtesy, we use a title with every name, such as: Mr.

,
A written message used to transact business which cannot be conveniently Mrs., or Miss. If the addressee holds some special title like Doctor,
conducted orally. It is formal and direct, with no literary pretentions. Professor, or Honorable, we use the title. Honorable is employed in
addressing a person prominent in affairs of government.
PURPOSES:  The generic name of a thoroughfare such as Street, Avenue,
1. To serve as a record. Boulevard, Drive, or Road should not be omitted.
2. An attempt to secure action from the reader.
4. The Attention Line—is used when it is important that the letter reach
PARTS OF A BUSINESS LETTER quickly the person who is best qualified to take care of it. As a general
1. Heading rule, the attention line should be centered.
1. Attention Line
2. Date Line
2. Subject Line
3. Inside Address 5. The Salutation—always starts at the left margin, followed by a colon.
3. Enclosure Reference are
4. Attention Line The correct salutation for a firm composed of men or of men and
used whenever needed;
5. Salutation women is Gentlemen. For a firm composed entirely of women,
the rest must be included in
6. Subject Line Mesdames.
every letter.
7. Body of the Letter Note: Do not use a salutation beginning with My when responsibility
As a general rule, double
8. Complimentary Closing for the letter is to be assumed by an organization rather than by an
spacing between each part
9. Signature Lines
of a letter should be individual.
10. Identification Initials
observed.
11. Inclosure Reference 6. The Subject Line—enables the reader to know at a glance what the
letter is about. It may be placed in various positions (sometimes above
1. The Heading— consists of the name of the firm or the individual and the inside address).
the address. Essential for a printed letterhead.
7. The Body of the Letter—contains the message. As a general rule,
2. The Date Line—consists of the month, the day of the month, and the single spacing should be employed within paragraphs of the letter
year. The date may be centered, typed flush with the margin, started at body. The two most important sentences of the letter body are the first
the center point of the page, or, in full-block letters, started at the left and the last. The first sentence should be utilized for a constructive
margin. purpose.
3. The Inside Address—consists of the name and address of the person 8. The Complimentary Closing—is the leave-taking line of the letter and
or the firm to whom the letter is written and should correspond in should be consistent with the salutation and the message contained in
essentials to the envelope address. the letter in representing the same degree of formality.
 It is written below the date at the left margin in letters addressed to Respectfully—should be used only when special respect is intended
government officials and also in personal letters of a rather formal and (indicates difference position, rank or authority).
dignified character. Yours truly—was the standard form used very widely in letters calling
 It is sometimes placed in the lower-left-hand portion of the sheet, for a medium degree of formality. Very truly yours and Yours very truly
beginning flush with the left-hand margin, two to five spaces below the are generally considered preferable to it and appropriate with the
last item of the signature, depending upon the amount of space
between the signature and the bottom margin.
salutations Gentlemen, Dear Sir, My dear Mr. Zamora, and Dear Mr. Types of Business Letters
Zamora.
Sincerely and cordially—are commonly employed when the writer is 1. Inquiries and Replies—these letters which ask or answer questions are
well acquainted with the addressee together with the salutation Dear usually brief and present no special difficulty. It consists of four steps:
Mr. Zamora. 1. State carefully the circumstances which necessitate the inquiry.
Dear Joey—when the writer is intimately acquainted with the 2. State any facts needed by the reader in making a complete reply.
addressee. He can omit yours in the complimentary close. 3. Ask for the information, or state the questions.
4. Express gratitude for the favor requested.
9. The Signature—applies to the entire signature unit which usually Note: It is customary to enclose postage for a reply; a note of thanks should
consists of two to four lines containing the following: follow a letter of this sort.
a. The typewritten name of the business organization in behalf of which The reply should do the following things:
the letter is written. 1. Acknowledge the inquiry, or state the circumstances necessitating the
b. The pen-written signature of the dictator. reply.
c. The typewritten name of the dictator. 2. Answer the questions fully.
d. The designation of the dictator’s business rank or position within the 3. Build goodwill and pave the way for further contact.
organization. Note: In handling replies, the writer should be prompt and systematic. If the
* Omit if name appears in the letterhead material is not immediately available, the inquiry should be acknowledge and
a date set for the final reply.
10. Identification Initials—the initial of the stenographer, and either the
name or the initials of the dictator are usually placed in the lower left- 2. Order and Acknowledgment—the order letter, as well as its
hand corner of the letter, ordinarily one or two spaces below the last acknowledgment and acceptance, constitutes a contract enforceable
line of the signature group. by law; therefore, every statement included in either should be
scrutinized carefully with that in mind.
11. Inclosure Reference—when other material besides the letter included An order letter should consists the following elements:
in the envelope, it should be noted in the left-hand corner on a line with 1. Name of the article ordered.
the bottom margin. (it is spelled with an initial i though enclosure is 2. Description of each item, giving size, style, finish, quality, material,
permissible; the number beyond one is indicated before the weight, or whatever will help in identifying the article wanted.
abbreviation: 2 incls. ) 3. Catalog number of the item, if it is available; if not, the page number of
the catalog (It is well also to include the number or date of the
ELEMENTS OF BUSINESS LETTERS catalog.)
1. Sender 4. Quantity of each item wanted.
2. Receiver 5. Price of each item, and the total price of the order
3. Message 6. Method of payment to be used by the buyer (Occasionally, the
GOLDEN RULE: conditions of acceptance of the order should be included.)
“Adapt the message to the reader” in substance, in language, and in 7. Method of shipment desired by the buyer.
tone. 8. Address to which the goods are to be shipped, especially important if
shipping address differs from post-office address.
9. Date at which goods are desired.
10. Items (g), (h), and (i) are usually included in the first paragraph and 3. An offer of an adjustment which is fair to both parties (may modern
item (f) in the last paragraph. adjustment letters begin with this section and is often combined with
11. the actual goods to be purchased is properly placed in tabular form, part a)
indented slightly from the left margin and so arranged that prices form 4. An assurance that the situation will not happen again to build up
the last column on the right. damaged goodwill.

3. Letters Giving Instructions—a usual preoccupation of the engineer or the 5. Letter of Application—it tries to sell the writer’s services; attempting to
architect is giving written instructions by means of a letter to subordinates, secure a position through this letter.
to other technical men, or to laymen who write for information or advice. Two Types:
 The elements of a letter of instructions are as follows: 1. The Letter Replying to an advertisement
1. A general statement which gives the reason for the letter and paves 2. The Unsolicited Letter
the way for the detailed instructions. A data form should contain the following items of information:
2. The detailed instructions. 1. Physical data such as age, height, weight, etc.
3. A request for a report, an expression of cooperation or thanks for the 2. Education, schools, colleges, and universities with dates of attendance
service to be rendered, or a statement opening the way for further and degrees.
correspondence to clear up obscure points. 3. Experience, with dates employed, type of work, addresses of firms,
Avoid 4. Special qualifications which fit the applicant for the work
a. “Please see that…” 5. Salary desired. It is often wise to omit this information entirely,
b. “You are expected to…” especially in unsolicited letters.
c. “The work is to be performed as follows…” 6. References, with names and addresses.
a. “Not less than I am now earning, P______”.
4. Claim and Adjustment Letter—are used whenever a misunderstanding b. “salary of secondary importance, but enough to live on ”.
arises between two parties which cannot be easily handled by word of c. “whatever is customary for this type of work”
mouth.
Claim Letter—attempts to put before the reader exactly what the writer thinks 6. Sales Letters—a tremendous volume of sales letters goes out every day,
has been wrong or unfair in a given transaction. and every professional is sure to be circularized with many of them.
Claim Letter consists of four steps, arranged in the following order: Four Steps of the Sales Letters called ABCD’s:
1. A complete and careful statement of what is wrong a. Attracting favorable attention by making the letter attractive in
2. A statement showing the inconvenience to which the claimant has appearance, easy to read, simple in language
been put, to arouse the interest of the adjuster. b. Building interest and desire
3. A request for an explanation, an adjustment, or whatever is needed c. Convincing the reader by quoting facts, figures, data
to make good the error. d. Directing favorable action by overcoming obstacles to action such as
4. A further appeal adapted to the reader’s pride, self-interest, sense of habits of procrastination
fair play, or fear.
In the adjustment letter, the functional order is as follows: 7. The Endorsement Letter—according to Webster’s New International
1. An expression of interest and sympathy or an apology Dictionary, endorse comes from dorsum, Latin for back.
2. A clear and complete statement of the facts so that the claimant may  (to many people) it means to sign on the back of a check, bill, or
understand the adjuster’s point of view commercial note.
 (popular meaning) is to support, approve, or recommend.
 (In military, legal, government and some business offices) it means 3. The Indented Style—less used now than formerly, The principal
reply, comment, or forwarding note added to a letter of document. objection to the use of the indented letter is the exacting task of
arranging the address and the signature
Characteristics of the Business letters 4. Full-Block Style—each part of the letter, except possibly the date line
1. CORRECTNESS—a business letter should be correct as to the facts and the file reference, is placed on the left margin.
given. Also applies to grammar, sentence construction, punctuations. Ease of execution.
2. CLEARNESS—the business letter is clear if it is easily understood. 5. The Hanging-indented Style—the first line of each paragraph is flush
Use simple, exact language. with margin, in line with the salutation and inside address. Other lines
3. CONCISENESS—is the art of saying a thing in as few words as are uniformly indented at least five spaces.
possible.
4. ORDER—for it is an important written record, the essential Simplified Letter
characteristic of a letter is to have logical organization.  the style is similar to that of the Full-block format, with all the parts
5. UNITY—no letter should deal with two unrelated subjects. beginning at the left margin.
6. COURTESY—is the attitude taken by the writer, expressing Note the following details of form:
friendliness and good-breeding; it strives to be polite in manner and 1. Place the date in top position.
phraseology. 2. Block the address at least 3 spaces below the date so that a window
7. CHARACTER, PERSONALITY, STYLE—the three qualities that are envelope may be used if desired.
interrelated to each other. Each letter has its own need thus 3. Place the subject caption at least 3 spaces below the address. Full
encouraging freshness and originality as well as adding personal touch capital letters may be used.
to it. 4. Omit the salutation.
8. TONE—a letter should not be written in a condescending, pompous, 5. Below the paragraphs, double-space between the paragraphs.
sarcastic, didactic, flippant, suspicious, or humble tone. The writer 6. Indent quoted matter listings five spaces. If items are numbered, place
should consider the reader as intelligent, human, honest, and fair- the numbers at the left margin.
minded. 7. Omit the complimentary close.
8. At least five spaces below the body of the letter, Full capital letters are
APPEARANCE commonly used.
1. Stationery—the prestige gained through the use of good paper 9. Place the source reference below the typewritten signature. It may be
 The standard sheet of business stationery is 8 ½ x 11inches in size, omitted.
white or very light shade of cream, brown, gray, and blue color. 10. To indicate a carbon copy, type the name of the receiver below the last
2. Letter Styles—the form of indentions. line. If more than one copy is to be sent, list the names of the receivers
Forms of Indentions: in one line.
1. The Block Style—the insider address and all paragraph beginnings 3. Punctuation Styles—there are three commonly punctuation styles for business
start at the left margin. Each member of the signature group is aligned letters:
1. Open Punctuation Style—this style requires that no punctuation except the
vertically with the complimentary close. message. It is often used with full-blocked.
2. The Semi-block Style—is identical with the Block Style except that the 2. Standard Punctuation Style—this style is commonly used. The salutation is
first line of paragraph is indented five, sometimes ten spaces. Standard followed by a colon, and the complimentary close is followed by a comma.
punctuation is commonly used. 3. Closed Punctuation Style—this style is perhaps the least used and is not
recommended for use in modern letter.
What are Memos? Conclusion
1. Memos are less formal and shorter than letter 1. Summarizes the main idea, suggests or requests action.
2. Used most often for communication within one organization 2. Memos do not have a complimentary close or signature line.
3. The heading and overall tone make a memo different from a business 3. Memos end with a call to action.
letter.
4. All information is on single topic. Cc or c Section
 Lists who has a copy of the memo
A memo is a document typically used for communication within an  "cc" can also be placed at the end of the memo below the distribution
organization. Memos can be as formal as a business letter and to present a list (if used).
report.
Features of standard memos:
Uses of memo 1. No salutation - Omit “Dear Chris Crowell, Dear Employees,”
1. To give information to some one 2. No close - Omit “Sincerely, Cordially,”
2. To issue an instruction 3. No signature or signature block
3. To request for help 4. Use full block format without indention.
4. To give suggestions 5. Headings are optional.
-- Never use a separate heading for the first paragraph.
The purpose of a memo is to convey important information efficiently. -- Each heading must cover all the information until the next heading
The content of memos varies widely. 6. Double-space between paragraphs
1. Giving recommendations. 7. Triple-space before a heading
2. Outl ining new procedures.
3. Announcing personnel changes. Three stages in Memo writing:
4. Conveying confidential information. 1. Pre-planning - Who? Why? What? Where? When?
LAYOUT 2. Writing: (Sequence) - Order, Enclosures, Photocopies, etc.
1) First write the word “Memo” 3. Review: - Edit for Clarity, Check Spelling & Grammar
2) Include “To” (who should get the memo?)
3) “From” (who sent the memo?) Elements of an Effective Memo
4) Subject (what is the memo about?) 1. Grabs the reader's attention.
5) Date 2. Provides information, makes a recommendation, or asks for action.
Date Section 3. Supports your position or explains benefits to reader.
1. Lists the month, date, and year the memo was written. 4. Mentions next steps and deadlines.
2. Do not use abbreviations.
3. Avoid using numbers for months and days. Characteristics of Effective Memos
1. Civilized: use courtesy and tact
Body of the memo 2. Concise: condense information
1. Introduction - states the general problem or main idea. 3. Coherent: use clear and logical structure
2. Statement of facts - states the facts or discusses the problem or issue. 4. Compelling: use persuasive diction
3. Argument - explains importance or relevance of facts. 5. Correct: follow conventions of quality writing
Some Types of Memos
1. Information Memo - used to deliver or request information or assistance.
1. First paragraph provides main idea.
2. Second paragraph expands on the details
3. Third paragraph outlines the action required.
1. Present most important material first.
(The first sentence of the memo should explain clearly its purpose, e.g.
“The purpose of this memo is to request authorization to travel to the
Juarez branch Thursday to meet with the other inspectors.”)
2. Arrange remaining material in descending order of importance.
3. Use a moderately formal tone.

2. Persuasive Memo - Used to encourage the reader to undertake an action


he doesn't have to take.
1. First paragraph begins with an agreeable point.
2. Second paragraph introduces the idea.
3. Third paragraph states benefits to the reader.
4. Fourth paragraph outlines the action required.
5. Fifth paragraph ends with a call to action.
Structure of persuasive memos:
1. Attention - Attracts reader’s attention to problem
2. Interest - Highlights ways of reducing costs
3. Desire
4. Action

3. Directive Memo - A directive memo states a policy or procedure you want


the reader or co-worker to follow.
- Directive memos are useful for leaders to provide instruction to subordinates
that is clear and concise.

4. Technical Memo - A technical memo is a concise presentation of results,


with a logical progression from the principles which are core to the analysis
towards the conclusions that were drawn from the results.
 Used primarily for simple experiments in which the methods
 Usually from a subordinate to a higher up
What is Proposal Writing? 4. Request for Information (RFI):Sometimes before a customer
 A proposal is an essential marketing document that cultivates an initial issues THE 3 ABOVE. to gain "marketing intelligence" about what
professional relationship between an organization and a donor over a products, services, and vendors are available.
project to be implemented.
2) Informally Solicited - are typically the result of conversations held
Types of Proposals between a vendor and a prospective customer.
1) Research Proposal - is a document written by a researcher that - known as a sole-source proposal
provides a detailed description of the proposed program. - less than 25-pages, with many less than 5 pages.
- It is like an outline of the entire research process that gives a reader a
summary of the information discussed in a project 3) Unsolicited - are marketing brochures.
 They are always generic,
2) Business Proposal - is a written offer from a seller to a prospective  Used as "leave-behinds" or "give-aways"
buyer.  They are not designed to close a sale, just introduce the
 Business proposals are often a key step in the complex sales possibility of a sale.
process—i.e., whenever a buyer considers more than price in a
purchase. Proposal management - is an inherently collaborative process.
 The professional organization devoted to the advancement of the art basic roles and responsibilities:
and science of proposal development is The Association of Proposal 1) Creator - responsible for creating and editing content.
Management Professionals. 2) Editor - responsible for tuning the content message and the style of
delivery, including translation and localization.
 A proposal puts the buyer's requirements in a context that favors the 3) Publisher - responsible for releasing the content for use.
sellers products and services, and educates the buyer about the 4) Administrator - responsible for managing access permissions to documents
capabilities of the seller in satisfying their needs. and files, usually accomplished by assigning access rights to user groups or
 A successful proposal results in a sale, where both parties get what roles.
they want, a win-win situation. 5) Consumer or viewer - the person who reads or otherwise takes in content
after it is published or shared.
Types of Business Proposals
1) Formally Solicited - are written in response to published requirements. Five tips for creating a efficient business proposal.
 It contains. 1. Know What Your Customer Needs
1. Request For Proposal(RFP):RFPs provide detailed specifications 2. Keep It Simple
of what the customer wants to buy. Customers issue RFPs when their 3. Get Professional - use software like QuoteBase
needs cannot be met with generally available products or services. 4. Keep Them on Their Toes - don’t have to be boring
2. Request for Quotation (RFQ): Customers issue RFQs when they 5. Re-Read it for Errors:
want to buy large amounts of a commodity and price is not the only
issue.
3. Invitation for Bid (IFB):Customers issue IFBs when they are
buying some service, such as construction.

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