LETTER

Letter writing is indispensable & important part of business communication. Business letter are
written for mainly four reasons:

• To provide convenient & inexpensive means of communication without personal contact.

• To seek or give information
• To furnish evidence of transactions entered into
• To provide a record for future reference.

IMPORTANT FEATURES OF AN EFFECTIVE BUSINESS LETTER:

1. Study of Reader’s Mind: the writer must take the reader into confidence. Reader should
be assured that his interest and views are taken into an account and are safeguarded.
2. The “YOU” Attitude: it is used to make a direct personal appeal to the reader. Write a
letter constantly keeping before you the reader’s point of view. Avoid I’s and WE’s &
include as many as YOU’s as possible.

* “YOU attitude is a style of writing that look at things from the reader’s point of view.
* Repeats the reader’s interest / intelligence.
* protect the reader’s ego
* Emphasis what the reader wants to know

YOU attitude is a concrete way of showing empathy for the reader.

3. Clarity: it is an important essential of business letter regarding the subject matter of

letter. Style of business letter should be direct with plain conversational language.
4. Accuracy: a business letter is a representative of a firm/industry/business concerned, so
it must contain genuine information.
5. Brevity: subject matter should be brief as lengthy message often mar the beauty of
business correspondence.
6. Courtesy: A writer must be courteous in his approach.
7. Polite language: politeness is a keyword in business. Letter should be written
courteously written with the use of expressions like Thank you, please etc and avoid
unpleasant and rude expressions.
8. Reader’s Oriented: letter should be written keeping in view the type of reader of the
letter i.e. nature, post and mental level of reader should be taken into account.

CLASSIFICATION OF LETTERS:

Letters are classified as Personal and Non-Personal.

Personal letters are informal and are written to exchange news or to seek favours. These includes
letters written to friends, relatives etc.
Non-Personal letters includes business letters. These letters includes:

A. *Enquiries and Replies *Orders and their execution *Credit and Status enquiries
*Complain letters
B. *Circular letters *Sales letters
C. *Bank Correspondence * Insurance Correspondence *Import – Export Correspondence
*Agency Correspondence
D. *Application Letters *Interview letters *References * Testimonials *Letter of
Appointment * Letter of Confirmation * Letter of Promotion * Letter of Resignation
E. The Correspondence with Company Secretary * Correspondence with State and Central
government
F. Letters to Press

Business letters can also be classified as:

Official letters, Demi- Official letters, internal letters, forms letters etc.

A. Official letters: Letters written to government or semi-government bodies.

B. Demi-Official Letters: These letters are official in purpose but are addressed to person
by name. It is written if a person requires personal attention, of confidential nature or
matter is urgent and requires immediate disposal.
C. Internal letters (Memorandum): These are used both in government offices and
business organization for internal communication.
D. Form letters: these are correspondence of recurring/ routine nature and are used for
acknowledgement, reminders, interviews, notices, appointment etc. They have standard
format..