Letters

Course Instructor: Engr. Sana Ziafat

What Letters Are????

Used for external correspondence Write effectively. Must fit in your corporate ID Helpful for impression making

What are we going to Discuss????

Inquiry letters Cover letters Good news letters Bad news letters Complaint Adjustment Sales..

LETTER COMPONENTS

Letter Components Essential Optional

Essential Components
1) Writers Address: 2) Date: 3) Inside Address: 4) Salutation: 5) Letter Body 6) Complementary Close 7) Signed Name 8) Typed Name

 Type your letter on a standard paper (8.5 * 11), unlined paper. Leave 1 to 1.5 margins at the top & on both sides.

Essential Components Revisited

1) Writers Address
Either

Your Personal Address Your Companys Address


A) Your address includes Street address, the city, state, zip code. Note: Don't abbreviate the words: street, road, avenue, drive. A state can have two letter abbreviation. e.g. Albama as AL Do not include your name.


B) Companys Address It includes companys name, street address, city, zip code, state. Note: The rules for the street address ,city, state and zip code are same as for personal address.

2) Date
It includes date, month and year of letter writing. Two formats are followed: i) Month date, year (May 31,2000) ii) Date month year(31 May 2000)

3) Inside Address
This is the address of a person to whom you are writing. It contains the following:

Readers Name: If you don't know the name of the person, begin the readers address with a job title or name of the department. Your Readers Title: It is optional if you have included the name.

The company name The companys street address The companys city, state & zip code Christy Pieburn Readers name Corporate Comms,Inc(Incorporated) 1245 Grant..Street Chicago, IL,60611

Company s Name

City

state

Zip code

4) Salutation
Dear Last Name of the reader : You can include first name if you are on the first name basis with the reader. If you dont know the marital status of a woman then write: Ms i.e. Dear Ms Jones Place this two spaces beneath the inside address.


If you are writing to someone who has a nongender specific name then don't use Mr., Mrs., Ms or Miss. But Dear Pat Palmer


If you dont know about the reader then write title Dear Vice President

What to Avoid
Avoid Dear Sir /Dear Madam(shows biasing) Avoid good morning "you don't know which time of the day he will receive the correspondence). Avoid To whom it may concern (Imprecise)

5) Letter Body
Two spaces below the salutation It includes introduction, discussion and conclusion. There should be a single space between two lines There should be double spacing when you start a new paragraph.

6) Complementary Close
Two spaces below the concluding paragraph.
Yours Truly, Sincerely yours, Sincerely (suggested)

7) Signed Name
It includes your signatures

8) Typed Name
Four spaces below the complimentary close Sincerely,

Henry Pieburn

Typed Name

Optional Letter Components

1) Subject Line
Two spaces above the salutation. Subject line helps to avoid flawed situations (To whom it may concern, Dear Sir/Madam, ladies & gentlemen). In the simplified letter both the salutation & complementary close are omitted & only a subject line is included.

2) New Page Notations

It is used when your letter is longer than one page. It is used after page #01. Cite your name Page# Date Formats i) Left Margin, Subsequent Page Notation ii) Across Top of Subsequent Pages


i) Left Margin, Subsequent Page Notation Your Name Page 2 May 31,2000 ii) Across Top of Subsequent Pages Your Name 2 May 31, 2000

3) Writers Initial & Typists Initials

Are separated by colon. Sincerely, W.T.Winnery WTW:mm(typists initials in small letters)
Writers initials in caps

4) Enclosure Notation
If you are attaching something then mention it. After initials, type Enclosure notation Two notations are used: i) Enc name of the document (Enc Resume) ii) Enclosure Name/ Enclosure (# of documents attached) (Enclosure (2))

5) Copy Notation
Whenever it is desired to send a copy to a person other than the concerned person. We can use the following notations: cc (carbon copy) pc (photo copy) Two spaces below enclosure notation. ABC is at higher rank cc:ABC as compared to the rank of XYZ. So the XYZ priority is set according
to the seniority level.

Letter Format

Different Types Of Letters

Letters of Inquiry Cover Letters Good-News Letters Bad-News Letters Complaint Letters Sales Letters Adjustment Letters(100% yes letter, 100% no letter , partial adjustment)

CRITERIA FOR DIFFERENT TYPES OF LETTERS

Letters of inquiry
You want information You may request data You may need information about degree of interest to you, equipment cost, performance records or any other matter. Be specific & precise. Dont say please send me any information you have on.


Please send me information about the basic operation and applications of the following filters: High pass filters Low pass filters

 Introduction Clarify your intent ( Why and what are you writing about ) Discussion Specify your needs (Ask reporter's questions) You may quantify things Vague: Machinery specifications Specific: Specifications for 12R403B

 Conclusion
Avoid as soon as possible but provide dated action. Quantify things

please send me the above mentioned information by August 15,2008 so that I can

Cover Letters
You are often required to send information to the client, vendor, colleagueOr you may send information at your own. You provide data with the cover letter. It helps to access data easily. Cover letter is a friendly gesture towards assistance. It tells your readers what youve enclosed and the value of the enclosed material.


Goals of Cover letter Help your readers to focus on the key points within the enclosure

Tells your readers upfront what they receive

 Introduction - tell your reader why you are writing and what you are writing: To help you prepare for the next weeks audit, we have enclosed the following necessary forms:

 Discussion: - Exactly what you have enclosed - what of value is within the enclosures Conclusion: - what you want to happen next (clarifies your intention) - when you want this to happen(date) - why the data are important

Good-News Letters
You might a letter promoting an employee. You may offer a job to an individual. You might write to commend a colleague for a job well done. You may write to a customer that his request for a refund is justified Congratulations! We re proud to offer you early promotion, John

Bad-News Letters
These letters might reject a job applicant, deny an employee a raise, tell a vendor that his companys proposal has not been accepted, or reject a customers request for a refund.
May be you write a report to a corporation that its manufacturing is not meeting your companys specifications.

 Introduction: bufferlanguage the reader can accept Discussion: preface your assertions with quantifiable proof Conclusion: positive note; include contact info

Complaint Letters
With the help of complaint letter you can improve your relations with the company and receive the service you want. Introduction Politely state the problem. Suppress your anger. Best approach is diplomacy Include supporting documents such as Invoice numbers, check numbers e.t.c


Discussion Explain in detail the problems experienced. It may include contact names, information about shipping or itemized listing of defects. Be specific. Conclusion End your letter positively. It ensures corporation with the vendor. Include your phone number and the time you can best be reached.

Adjustment Letters
These are responses to letters of complaint

Adjustment letters Adjustment letters

100% yes 100% yes

100% no

Partial adjustment


100 percent yes letter--you agree 100% with the writer of the complaint letter.
Thank you for calling our attention to your problem. We will be happy to replace all your defective oscilloscopes.

100 percent no letterYou disagree 100% with the writer of the complaint letter.
After researching the matter thoroughly, we found that the problem was created by the carriers and was not due to our negligence, therefore we cannot replace the o-scopes.


Partial Adjustment---You could agree with some part of the writers complaint but disagree with the other aspects of the complaint.
Thank you for your letter regarding the XYZ oscopes. I was sorry to hear about the malfunctions your customers are experiencing. I am happy to replace the ten defective o-scopes.

Sales Letters
You need to market your inventions (manufactured a new product or created a new service) Connect with your end users, but how? A time-efficient and cost-effective way to market your product is to write a sales letter. Write it once and mass mail it. You need to accomplish the following objectives while you are writing a sales letter:


Arouse Reader Interest (Introduction) Try the following lead-ins.
An anecdote, a question,a quotation and data (Researched information).

Develop your Assertions (Discussion)

Provide data to document your assertions Give testimony from satisfied customers. Document your credentialsyears in business.


Make your readers Act (Conclusion)
Do something to make the reader act. Give directions to your business location. Give a self-addressed, stamped envelope for customer response. Offer a discount.

Style
It should be appealing. Use verbs, achieve audience recognition and involvement, show ease of use (use words easy/simple), imply urgency (use the words now, dont delay)

Process
How do I write the letter? You should do the following:
Prewrite (gather data & to determine your objectives). Writing (organize & format your text). Rewrite (Revise to make your correspondence as perfect as possible.)

Envelope
Your Address, same as used in letter stamp

Recipient's Address

Size: 91/2 to 43/16 inches.

Types of Letters: Adjustment

100% Yes I: state that you agree and will honor the request B: explain what happened, why, and how the problem will be avoided in the future C: resell, upbeat; include contact info 100% No I: buffer; positive B: explain what happened with facts and figures; deliver bad news C: upbeat with alternatives; include contact info Partial I: good news first B: what happened, then bad news C: resell; include contact info

Now you should be ready for your quiz on The Letter

Be sure to read about the letter in your text book.