BUSINESS COMMUNICATION

BUSINESS LETTERS AND MEMOS

MBA SEM-1

SEC- B
ROLL NO: 41-50

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Meaning of Business Letters and Memos
Business letter writing

Basic principles of effective business letter writing

Components of business letter
Kinds of business letter

 Meaning of Memos
Writing effective Memos

Memo report format

 Business letter: Business letter is a written message

addressed to a person or Organization.

Business Letter Writing:

Business letter writing is effectual when one knows why

one is writing a letter.

And also knows the readers need.

Every business letter should be Clear, Helpful, and as

friendly as the topics allows.

Basic Principles of Effective Business

Letter Writing
1.

Place the Reader first

For all writers the most important people are their

readers.

If you keep the readers in mind when you write,

It will help you use the right tone, appropriate
language and include the right amount of details.

Readers want relevant information, presented in a

clear and easy to understand style.

2. Keep to the point:

In business letter try not to waist to readers time.
Make a list of topics you want to cover.
Under each topics list keywords, examples,

arguments, and facts.

Cut the anything that is not relevant to audience.

3.Set the Right tone:

It is important to use a tone that is friendly and

efficient.
Always try to present information in a clear and

easy to understand style.

4.Write effective opening:

It is most important principle of effective writing to put

the most important information first.

Include most important information in the first

paragraph.

Try to direct and use your words positively so that the

reader has a good impression from the beginning of
your letter.

Components of Business Letter

1. Heading:
The heading of a business letter contains the

Writers name, address, and date of the business

letter.

2. Inside Address:

The inside address shows the name and address of

the recipients of the business letter.

3.Salutation:
In business letter the saluation the Dear Sir of the

letter is usually followed by comma( , ).

The salutations such as Dear Sir or Madam , Dear

Ladies and Gentleman , Dear Friends or Dear

People.

4.Subject or Reference line:

The subject line replaces the salutation or is included

with it.
It announce the main bussiness of the letter.

5.Body of the letter:

The actual message is contained in the body of the letter.
The paragraphs between the salutation and

complimentary close.

6.Complimentary close:
The Sincerely yours element of business letter is called

complimentary close.
Other common ones are Thanking You , Respectfully
yours .

7.Enclosures:
To make sure that the recipient knows that items

accompany the letter in the same envelope.

Use such indications as Enclosure , Encl. etc.
8. Copies:
If you send copies of a letter to others, indicate this
fact among the notations also, It is CC .

Kinds Of Business Letters

1.

2.
3.
4.

5.

Routine Letter
Covering Letter for job application
Recommendation Letter
Inquiry Letters
Persuasive Letters

1.Routine Letters:
Any routine business letter planned in three stepsopening , middle , and closing paragraphs.
Opening paragraph;
Most routine business letter begin by referring to a
previous letters.
The letter begins with references to specific
communication ,
For eg. In reply to your letter date 8 August..

 Middle Paragraph:
In the middle paragraph complete information needs to be

given to the reader.

Giving all necessary details.

Closing paragraph:
Letter should be closed with a note of goodwill to avoid

sounding abrupt.
When we walk away from someone we tend to say something
like Look after your self , See you soon.
In the same way, in a letter it is good to end the
communication in a way that enable the reader to think well
of the company.

2.Covering letter for job application:

A covering letter is the first step in selection process.
It has to be meticulously written since it creates the

first impression,
And many a time it is here where half the battle is
won or lost.
It is normally accompanied by a detailed resume.

3.Recommendation Letter:
A recommendation letter is a written reference.
That inform about your character, work, history, and

academic history.
Recommendation letter can help you find a job or get
into college.

4.Inquiry Letters:
An inquiry letters is useful when you need

information, advice, names or directions.

Be careful however not to ask for too much
information that you could easily obtain in some
other way.
For eg. By a quick trip to the library.

5.Persuasive Letters:
Persuasive letters are an attempt to convince someone to

do something.
These are request to a reader.
Persuasive letter may have two consequences; either a
request will be granted or declined.
The purpose of persuasive letter are threefold:
Letter wants the reader to act.
Build good image of writer and organization.
Create good relationship between the reader and writer

Memos
Memos: Its a document typically used for

communication within organization.

To give information to someone.

To issue an instruction.
To request for help.
To give suggestions.

 Writing effective Memos:

The key to writing effective memo is to keep the goal

of all business communications in mind.

Understanding how memo reports are written is very

important aspect of business correspondence.

Memos ones organized can help us accomplish

organizational goals effectively.

 Memo report format:

Like all business documents, memos also requires a

specific format.
A memo reports is carefully designed so that reader

acts upon it correctly the first time it is read.

It has an introduction , main body and conclusion.

1.Introduction:
An introduction to a memo report (a) Build goodwill and
(b) Answer the question a busy executive asks every time
What is this?, And Why me?
It has following characteristics:
The topic tells a busy executive the memo is about. It

answer, what is this.

The reason for sending why that reader is getting the
memo, answering why me?

 The language is conversational and plain and avoids

unfriendly per you request

The length is short and writing concise so reader

understand message quick.

2.Body /Discussion :
The body is the main and largest part of a memo
reports.
Its function is to repot complete, correct and current
information.
It includes following points:
The heading help the reader follow all the ideas

within the text.

 There are first, second and third levels of heading,

A memo has level headings to help your eye make sense

of the content before you actually read it.

Conversational and plain language reaches the reader

,who might not have the education, vocabulary, or

experience that you have.

Short sentences and paragraphs are much easier to

understand.

 Good document design- spacing and headers- makes

memo look professional.

Visual aids are used if they help the reader

understand the message better.

3.Conclusion:
The conclusion of memo summarizes it and ties up any
loose ends.
It includes the following points:
It restates the topics of a memo in one- two
sentences.
A polite closure offers the best way to contact the

writer to ask question, look at samples.

 It is friendly, uses conversational, plain language,

and avoids wordy and vague sentences.

An effective conclusion also build goodwill.