Topic: Forms & Styles of a Business Letter

Presented To: Mr. Rashid Saeed

Presented By:

FAWAD SARWAR MB-09-06SAIMAH ABDUL MAJEED MB-09-13AZHAR AYUB MB-09-37MUHAMMAD IMRAN HAIDER MB-09-33

Course: MBA 2nd Semester (2009-12)

BAHAUDDIN ZAKRIYA UNIVERSITYMULTAN

BAHADUR SUB CAMPUS, LAYYAH

Dated: 5/05/10

Table of Contents

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Preface ……………………………………………………………………4

Acknowledgement ………………………………………………………..5

Abstract ………………………………………………………………….. 6

Introduction ……………………………………………………………… 7

Forms of a Business Letter ………………………………………………..8

The Essential Parts of a Business Letter ……………………… …….….. 8i) Heading ………………………………………………...…8ii) Date ………………………………………………….……9iii) Inside Address ……………………………………….…...9iv) Salutation ………………………………………………....9v) Body …………………………………………………..…..9vi) Complementary Close …………………………………...11vii) Signature ……………………………………….….……..12

The Non-Essential Parts of Business Letter ……………………………..12i) Reference Line …………………………………………..13ii) Attention Line ……………………………………………13iii) Subject Line ………………………………………….…..13iv) Identification Line …………………………………….…14v) Enclosure ………………………………………………...15vi) Carbon Copies ……………………………………….…..15

A Sample Business Letter …………………………………….…. …..…16

Types of Styles of A Business Letter ………………………………….…18i) Modified Style ………………………….……….………..18ii) Block Style …………………………………………...…..18iii) Semi-block Style ……………………………………..…..18

A Sample Style of A Business Letter……………………………….……19

Types of Business Letter………………………………………………....21

Different Samples Letteri. Letter for increase the Sale………………………………..22

ii. Letter for Complain……………………………………….23iii. Letter for Recognition Letter……………………………...24iv. Cover Letter……………………………………………….26

Findings ……………………………………………………………....…..27

References …………………………………………………………….…..28

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PREFACE

MBA program at Bahadur Sub-Campus Layyah Bahauddin Zakariya

University Multan enables the student not only to achieve the theoretical

knowledge, but it also provides them the opportunity to apply this

knowledge practically in the field to fulfill the practical requirement of this

program, we successfully completed our term report on “Forms & Styles

of a Business Letter”. It was great opportunity for us to apply our

theoretical knowledge and get practical exposure.

In the completion of our report, we have worked very hard and tried our level best to get maximum practical knowledge by availing this opportunity

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ACKNOWLEDGMENT

Above all we are indebted to almighty Allah, lord of our life and of everything in the universe and his HOLY PROPHET MUHAMMAD (peace be upon him) whose blessings enabled us to perceive and pursuit higher ideas of life.

“THE PROFOUND EFFECT OF A TEACHER UPON THE STUDENTS CAN BE DESCRIBED BY THE LIVES OF HIS STUDENTS”(PRINYA NATALYA)We deem it with an honor and privilege to record sense of gratitude to the respected resource person MR. RASHID SAEED for his constructive style of teaching and maintaining very open and competitive atmosphere within the class.

We would like to thank our respected teacher Mr. Rashid Saeed who has given us this opportunity to explore our skills and made a report on “Forms & Styles of a Business Letter”. He has given us thorough knowledge and provides deep understanding about “Business Economics” because of that we are able to complete this report. We would also like to thank respectable Mr. Amir Nadeem (MBA-Marketing) from UMT Lahore who has given us all required information and he is been very kind to us all the time when ever we call him we found it open to help us in completing this report.

ABSTRACT

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A business letter is a formal letter, which acts a medium of correspondence between two business entities. It can be a letter written by one organization to another or a letter written by an organization to its clients or customers

The essential of a business letter are heading, date, inside address, salutation, body complimentary close, and signature. Heading is your name and address. The date is very important, since it can be useful in determining priorities and for filing. The inside address is the recipient's address. A letter salutation is a greeting, most often used in formal letters, used to begin the letter. The body is where you explain why you’re writing. The complimentary close includes the final words to your reader. The signature is the last part of the letter.

The non essential parts of letter are reference line, attention line, subject line, identification line, enclosure and carbon copies. The reference is typed on one or two lines, immediately below the date. Attention line is put when the person you write is unavailable. A subject line is not really necessary. The identification line beneath your closure and signature should contain your typed name, and title. Enclosure line tells the reader to look in the envelope for more documents. Carbon Copies stand for courtesy copies (formerly carbon copies). The style of business letter is modified, block and semi block.

INTRODUCTION

A business letter is a formal letter, which acts a medium of correspondence between two business entities. It can be a letter written by one organization to another or a letter written by an organization to its clients or customers. Business letters are further divided into several types, ranging from a letter of inquiry to a letter of agreement.

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A business letter is a formal written communication. It is ideally concise and direct. There are proper ways of writing a business letter. Business letters should be brief, direct and clear as possible. It presupposes that the recipient does not have enough time to read your letter. Three or four paragraphs are enough to complete everything you need to say. There are different types of business letter like sales letter, request letter, goodwill letter, demand letter, inquiry letter etc.

FORMS OF A BUSINESS LETTER

THE ESSENTIAL PARTS OF A BUSINESS LETTER:

Normally following parts are used in a business letter.

1. HEADING2. THE DATE3. THE INSIDE ADDRESS4. THE SALUTATION5. THE MAIN BODY6. THE COMPLIMENTARY CLOSING7. THE SIGNATURE

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8. CARBON COPY

1. THE HEADING: This is your name and address. You can use your fancy letterhead or just type up your business name and address. The letterhead address can be positioned anywhere on the top of the page: centered, left side or right side. However, if you're typing the business address, it should be located in the top right-hand corner. Some rules should be kept in mind: The heading is also the return address to which the recipient will refer when sending a response.

The writer's name is not included in the heading, as it is appears in the complimentary close at the end of the letter. It should include only the street, city, state and zip code of the letter writer. Identifying words such as Avenue, Circle, Court, Drive, and Street should be spelled out rather than abbreviated. Doing so reduces the chances of a response being sent to an incorrect address.

The state name can be either spelled out or abbreviated in upper case letters according to U.S. Postal Service guidelines.

The date a letter is written should be placed below the writer's return address information. It is the final component in the heading of a business letter.

The heading of a business letter should contain the return address (usually two or three lines) followed by a line with the date.

Sometimes a line after the address and before the date may include a phone number, a fax number, an E-mail address, or the like.

Particularly if the address uses three or more lines, it is good to skip a line before the date. When using the block style, always skip a line before the date.

Example:

Acme Explosives, Inc.  …… …. Name 100-B Dry Gulch Alley  ………. AddressLonesome Coyote AZ 85789 (602) 555-5555 ………. Fax No.

July 14, 1997 ……….. Date

2. THE DATE:

The date is very important, since it can be useful in determining priorities, for filing and it also can have legal ramifications. In a typed address letter, the date goes immediately under your address. The method of writing the date shown here is the easiest and least likely

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to lead to confusion. It looks neat and is clear and concise. Always write the name of the month; if you are dealing with overseas clients or markets, or even with people who were born overseas, you can run into all sorts of problems if you only use numbers:

11-3-09 could be

11 March 2009

OR Nov 3, 2009 depending on where you come from!

3. THE INSIDE ADDRESS:

The inside address is the recipient's address. Type the name and address of the person and/or company to whom you're sending the letter, three to eight lines below the last component you typed. Four lines are standard. Do the same on the envelope. It is always best to write to a specific individual at the firm to which you are writing. Include a personal title such as Ms., Mrs., Mr., or Dr. Follow a woman's preference in being addressed as Miss, Mrs., or Ms. If you are unsure of a woman's preference in being addressed, use Ms. If there is a possibility that the person to whom you are writing is a Dr. or has some other title, use that title. Usually, people will not mind being addressed by a higher title than they actually possess. For international addresses, type the name of the country in all-capital letters on the last line. The inside address begins one line below the sender's address or one inch below the date. It should be left justified, no matter which format you are using.

Messrs. MAC & Co.,22, Sant Nagar,Lahore.

4. THE SALUTATION:

A letter salutation is a greeting, most often used in formal letters, used to begin the letter. While choosing the salutations for writing business letters, one has to take into consideration the seniority of the person being addressed and the relationship they share. The salutation is a greeting. Its placement belongs two spaces below the inside addresses and always justified to the left margin of the letter. It should include the title and full name of the recipient, followed by a colon. Some business or formal letters drop the word "Dear" altogether in the salutation and start off with only the recipient's name. It may be followed by a comma, a semi-colon or even a dash. The point of the salutation is to ensure the proper recipient receives the message and to set the letter's overall tone. Some modern letter writers may leave out the salutation entirely, especially when using electronic communications with limited capacity, i.e. Twitter.

Type the recipient's name here. Type Mr. or Ms. [Last Name] to show respect, but don't guess spelling or gender. Some common salutations are Ladies:

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Gentlemen: Dear Sir: Dear Sir or Madam: Dear [Full Name]: To Whom it May Concern:

If you know the person's name:

Dear Ms / Miss / Mrs / Mr / Dr

Dear Mr Miller

You can also write the person's full name. In this case, leave out the title (Mr/Mrs). This

way of writing the salutation is very handy if you don't know the gender of the person.

Dear Chris Miller

If you don't know the person's name:

There are several possibilities to address people that you don't know by name:

SALUTATION WHEN TO USE

Dear Sir / Dear Sirs male addressee (esp. in British English)

Gentlemen male addressee (esp. in American English)

Dear Madam female addressee (esp. in British English)

Ladies female addressee (esp. in American English)

Dear Sir or Madam gender unknown (esp. in British English)

Ladies and Gentlemen gender unknown (esp. in American English)

Business partners often call each other by their first names. In this case, write the salutation

Dear Azhar

PUNCTUATION:

In British English, don't use any punctuation mark or use a comma.

Dear Mr Azhar or Dear Mr Azhar,

In American English, use a colon:

Dear Mr. Fawad:

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5. THE MAIN BODY:

The body is where you explain why you’re writing. It’s the main part of the business letter. This is where you would explain what you are requesting or what the problem is. Most people in businesses are really busy, so try to keep this part pretty short.

Use the body of your letter to explain the situation and to make your request or response. Make sure it is done in a straightforward and concise manner.The body is where you write the content of the letter; the paragraphs should be single spaced with a skipped line between each paragraph. Skip a line between the end of the body and the closing.

For block and modified block formats, single space and left justify each paragraph within the body of the letter. Leave a blank line between each paragraph. When writing a business letter, be careful to remember that conciseness is very important. In the first paragraph, consider a friendly opening and then a statement of the main point. The next paragraph should begin justifying the importance of the main point. In the next few paragraphs, continue justification with background information and supporting details. The closing paragraph should restate the purpose of the letter and, in some cases, request some type of action.

This is like the message in your memo and it follows the same rules in that it should be:

Clear Concise Courteous.

CONTENT:

First paragraph: introduction and reason for writing

Following paragraphs: explain your reasons for writing in more detail, provide background information etc.

last paragraph: summarize your reason for writing again and make clear what you want the recipient to do

Note: Your text should be positive and well structured.

6. THE COMPLIMENTARY CLOSING:

This includes the final words to your reader - the bit that tells him or her action will follow or thanks him or her for any help given. It also includes the name of the writer. Your closing signature can be placed on the left-hand side of the letter (which makes it easier on the typist) or on the right-hand side - in line with the address (if the address has been typed in the right-hand corner and / or with the date (if it has been placed in the right-hand corner). 

RULES: The complimentary close is placed two spaces below the last line of a letter's body. Customary expressions used to close a formal business letter include Thank you,

Sincerely, Sincerely yours, and Yours truly. Less formal expressions such as Regards,

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Best regards, and Best wishes should be used only when the writer is addressing a business associate that is also a friend.

When the expression contains two words, such as Thank you, only the first word receives an initial upper case letter

A comma follows all forms of a complimentary close. Allow four spaces between the complimentary close and the typed version of the

writer's full name. The space between is reserved for a handwritten signature. The writer's job position or title should appear directly below his or her name.

The writer's signature should be identical to the printed version except in those situations where the recipient is also a friend, in which case a first name only is fine.

Common Complimentary Closes for Business Letters:

1) Sincerely,2) Best wishes,3) Best regards,4) Respectfully,5) Yours truly,

7. THE SIGNATURE:

The signature is the last part of the letter. You should sign your first and last names. The left edge of the close and signature line in the semi block and modified block begin in the center, at the same column as the heading. The close and signature of the block letter begins at the left margin. Skip from one to three spaces (two on a typewriter), and type in the signature line, the printed name of the person signing the letter. Sign the name in the space between the close and the signature line, starting at the left edge of the signature line. The signature should start directly above the first letter of the signature line in the space between the close and the signature line. Use blue or black ink.Example:Sincerely,

(Signature goes here)

(Mrs.) Elisabeth Jackson Director of Acquisitions

Your handwritten signature (in the case of a mailed letter) should appear between the closing and your printed name. The space where you will sign should be four lines. In an email, your handwritten signature may be included as part of your electronic signature, in which case no spaces are needed. This automatic footnote signature should include your contact information, as if it were letterhead or stationery.

8. CARBON COPIES:

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Carbon Copies stand for courtesy copies (formerly carbon copies). List the names of people to whom you distribute copies, in alphabetical order. If addresses would be useful to the recipient of the letter, include them. If you don't copy your letter to anyone, skip it.

Students often ask Dixie what 'CC' in the email stands for and Dixie tells them that 'CC' can be part of a business letter as well. When asked about 'CC' Dixie immediately pictures in her mind carbon paper that was very widely used for making copies not so long ago. Carbon paper is on the way of disappearing but it looks like 'CC' from ‘carbon copies’ will remain in business correspondence for a long time. The 'CC' is typed at the end of the letter after enclosure notations or identification initials.

CC: Manahil orcc: Sohlana

If you don’t want the addressee to know that a copy is being forwarded to a third party, use 'BCC' that can be shortened to 'BC' for blind (carbon or courtesy) copy. This notation appears on the office copy and the third-party copy only, not on the original.

THE NON ESSENTIAL PARTS OF A BUSINESS LETTER

1. REFERENCE LINE2. ATTENTION LINE3. SUBJECT LINE4. IDENTIFICATION LINE5. ENCLOSURE

1. REFERENCE LINE:

Some companies, especially big ones, Dixie says, have a system of tracking letters by chronological numbers, employee initials, department codes/numbers or whatever else they choose. This is what they put in the reference line. Or sometimes you can include the reference line in your letter to refer to the information specifically requested by the recipient, such as a job reference or invoice number. The reference is typed on one or two lines, immediately below the date. This means it is typed to the right of the center in the modified block and indented layouts.

Re: Job # 389-03Re: Your letter dated 11/15/2006

If several references are listed, each may be preceded by a number or letter identifier to facilitate ease of referral (by number or letter) within the body of the document. In documents of multiple pages, reference lines may appear under the date in the heading of all pages.

2. ATTENTION LINE:

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Dixie thinks that you can have different reasons for including an attention line in your letter. One of them could want the organization to respond even if the person you write to is unavailable. In this instance, Dixie suggests you put the name of the organization or department on the first line of the inside address and the attention line immediately afterwards:

Attention: Human Resources Manager orAttn: Public Relations Manager orFor the attention of Senior Administrative Officer

Attention line can also include the name of the person. For example

Attention: Baby

3. SUBJECT LINE:

A subject line is not really necessary. You may want to use one, however, so that

the reader immediately knows what your letter is about. There are three common methods

to distinguish the subject line from the body of the letter:

Use "Subject:" or "Re:"

Type the subject in bold letters.

Type the subject in capital letters

British English

The subject line is usually placed between the salutation and the body of the

letter (with a blank line in between).

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American English

In American English, the subject line can be placed between the recipient's

address and the salutation (with a blank line in between).

4. IDENTIFICATION LINE:

The identification line beneath your closure and signature should contain your typed name, and title. If someone typed the letter for you, he or she would typically include three of your initials in all uppercase characters, then two of his or hers in all lowercase characters. If you typed it, just skip it since your name is already in the Signature Block. Common style is given below.

SAA/FS

In above example, SAA means Sheikh Azhar Ayub is a person who dictates the letter or provides the material for a letter and Fawad Sarwar is a person who typed it.

Dixie says that in the old days the abbreviation 'p.p.' was used in the signature of the business letter. It stands for 'per pro' and means 'by one acting as an agent'. When you see them it just means that the letter was not typed by the person who signed it, but rather by his/her assistant whose name follows 'p.p.' like this:

Sincerely,

Howard Lindham,Director p.p. M. Raynor

5. ENCLOSURE:

This line tells the reader to look in the envelope for more documents. Type the singular for only one enclosure, plural for more. If you don't enclose anything, skip it. Enclosures with business letters should be placed two vertical spaces below the identification line. Dixie touched upon enclosures in her modified block business letter example. Enclosure notations can look like this:

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EnclosureEnclosures: 3

When you have several enclosures you can include them in the letter like this:

Enc: Certificate of OriginOrder Form No. DS 5318

Format of A Business Letter

First Page

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Second Page

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STYLES OF A BUSINESS LETTER

A business letter should be in a good style. The style or layout means the way of various parts of a letter have been arranged on the paper.

There are three types of styles of business letter.

1. MODIFIED BLOCK STYLE2. BLOCK STYLE3. SEMI-BLOCK STYLE

1. MODIFIED BLOCK STYLE:

Heading, close and signature are right margin in the modified block style letter. The modified block style has all lines of the body to the left margin.

2. THE BLOCK STYLE:

Every part of the letter begins at the left margin.

3. SEMI-BLOCK STYLE:

The heading, close and signature are right margin and paragraphs within the body of the letter are indented.

A SAMPLE STYLE OF A BUSINESS LETTER

 1. MODIFIED BLOCK STYLE    2. BLOCK STYLE

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3. SEMI-BLOCK STYLE

MODIFIED BLOCK LETTER

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Types of Business Letter

Let's take look at the most common types of business letters:

1. Acknowledgement Letter:

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This type of letter is written when you want to acknowledge some one for his help or support when you were in trouble. The letter can be used to just say thanks for something you have received from some one, which is of great help to you.

2. Apology Letter:

An apology letter is written for a failure in delivering the desired results. If the person has taken up a task and he fails to meet the target then he apologizes and asks for an opportunity to improve in this type of letter.

3. Appreciation Letter:

An appreciation letter is written to appreciate some one's work in the organization. This type of letter is written by a superior to his junior. An organization can also write an appreciation letter to other organization, thanking the client for doing business with them.

4. Complaint Letter:

A complaint letter is written to show one that an error has occurred and that needs to be corrected as soon as possible. The letter can be used as a document that was used for warning the reader.

5. Inquiry Letter :

The letter of inquiry is written to inquire about a product or service. If you have ordered a product and yet not received it then you can write a letter to inquire when you will be receiving it.

6. Order Letter:

This letter is as the name suggests is used for ordering products. This letter can be used as a legal document to show the transaction between the customer and vendor.

7. Letter of Recommendation:

This type of letter is written to recommend a person for a job position. The letter states the positive aspects of the applicant's personality and how he/she would be an asset for the organization. Letter of recommendation is even used for promoting a person in the organization.

Samples Letter:

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1. Letter to Reward the existing customer for increase the sale

1234, Main StreetBoston, MA 02123

09 April, 2005

<Recipient Address Goes Here>

Hello,

We value our <customers> and hope you feel the same about us. There is no greater compliment than to receive a referral from satisfied <customers> and we would like to thank you.

Our <referral program> was designed to reward our <customers> for passing on the names of acquaintances who might <manner of use>. For each referral which turns into a sale, we will <reward>. <Optional additional terms.>

We hope to hear from you soon. Thanks!

Regards,

Jim Karter

encl: <List of enclosed items goes here>

2. A letter informs a company that you need a replacement for a defective product rather than a refund.

1234, Main Street

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Boston, MA 02123

03/17/05

<Recipient Address Goes Here>

Hello.

<time you purchased the product> I purchased <product purchased> from your company. Since that time I have found that it <description>. The <product purchased> is necessary for my <use for product> so rather than ask for a refund, I need a replacement as soon as possible.

<statement about enclosed receipt and/or product> Please send me a new <product purchased> as soon as you can to the indicated address. Thank you for your time and attention to this matter.

Regards,

Jim Karter

encl: <List of enclosed items goes here>

3. A Sample Recognition Letter

1234, Main StreetBoston, MA 02123

04 April, 2005

<Recipient Address Goes Here>

Hello,

This is to inform you that I have accepted a position with <new company name>.

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I want to express my gratitude for a rewarding professional association during my employment with <current company name>.

This decision was not an easy one and involved many hours of thoughtful consideration, particularly with respect to my own plans for my future. I am confident, however, that this new position represents a positive move toward fulfilling my career goals.

I hope you will respect my position in this matter.

My main thoughts now are to work as hard as possible to wrap up my projects here and turn over my responsibilities as smoothly as possible. However, I would like to join <new company name> as soon as possible. Therefore, if convenient, I would like to request that you waive my termination notice.

Sincerely,

Jim Karter

encl: <List of enclosed items goes here>

4. A Sample Cover Letter

Thomas K Eden,32 S Riverview,

Ogden, Iowa 50113,(515) 555-7998.

Date:26th June, 2007.

Jack Richardson,Human Resource Manager,323 South Avon Drive,

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Milton, NY 10945,(914) 555-2909.

Dear Mr. Richardson,

I am writing this letter to apply in response to your advertisement on JobsNews.com for an entry level accountant position.

I was an assistant accounting clerk for three years. To meet business goals, I always enjoyed the work by accepting different challenges of accounting practices. To achieve the desired goal, improvement has been necessary, on person level as well as on company level. So, I always ready for new technologies and accounting related developments and to put them to work for my company/employer.

As a result, each year I became perfect and accurate in my work, recovering problems like incorrect payments, delaying payments etc.

To bringing my effort, dedication and knowledge to your organization, I am interested in entry level accountant position.

Please contact me at above telephone number to arrange an interview or mail me on EdenTK@rediffmail.com. Thanks for your consideration and time.

Sincerely,

(Signature)

Thomas K Eden.

Enclosure Resume

WEBLINKS:

http://www.ezinearticles.com/?Business-Letter-Forms&id http://www.dailywritingtips.com/ http://www.write101.com/businessletter.htm http://englishplus.com/grammar/00000151.htm http://www.writeexpress.com/business-letter-format.html http://answer.com http://www.docstoc.com/docs http://writing.lifetips.com http://www.libraryonline.com/letter_templates.html

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REFERENCES:

Imtiaz Ahmed Brar (2007). THE LEARNER’S Business Communication & Report Writing.Prof. Irfan Iqbal (2003). STUDY NOTES OF Business CommunicationGhulam Mustafa Shahid (2009). THE LEARNER’S Business & Report Writing.

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