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BUSINESS CORRESPONDENCE  Essential parts  Content  Language  Types of business letters 2

BUSINESS CORRESPONDENCE  Are the main means of establishing business relations with the outside world  Vital to convey a good impression  Must be: Professionally displayed Grammatically correct and error-free 3

BUSINESS CORRESPONDENCE Purpose:  Requesting information  Ordering supplies  Making & answering enquiries  Making & responding to complaints  Promoting product / service 4

ESSENTIAL PARTS (LETTER)  Writer’s name & address / Letter head  Date  Recipient’s name and company address  Salutation  Subject  Body of the letter  Complimentary close  Writer’s signature, name and job title  Encl 5

FORMAT  Fully-blocked layout:  All lines start at the left margin  Open punctuation is used 6

ESSENTIAL PARTS ( ) Differs from letters:  Company address  Company letterhead  Date  Recipient’s name and address  Writer’s ‘signature’  Writer’s job title 7

CONTENT Introduction  State purpose of writing  Refer to previous letter or contact Details  Give instructions  Ask for information  Provide relevant details Response  State action reader / you will take Close  Relevant closing sentence 8

MIND YOUR LANGUAGE  Be reader-centred  Be concise  Use appropriate tone / Be positive  Use active voice  Avoid discriminatory language 9

BE READER-CENTRED Adopt the ‘you’ approach 1.I hope the completed report will reach us by next week as your late submission can cause a lot of unnecessary inconvenience to us. We would appreciate receiving your report by next week as a late submission may delay the review of your report. 10

BE READER-CENTRED 2.I’m applying for this position because it would give me great business experience Based on my qualifications and experience, I trust that I can contribute meaningfully to your organisation. 11

BE CONCISE  Be brief but clear and complete 1.For your information, we are attaching hereto a copy of the letter to Mr Kelvin Koh under date of April 4. Attached, please find a copy of the letter to Mr Kelvin Koh dated 4 April. 2.In the event that you can attend the meeting, it would be greatly appreciated if you could proffer some suggestions on how to improve business both costwise and profitwise. If you can attend the meeting, we would appreciate your comments on how to improve our cost and profit. 12

USE APPROPRIATE TONE  Be reader-centred  Be positive  State what can be done  Be friendly 1.This is a smoke-free campus. No smoking allowed. 2. We cannot deliver your desk until next Friday. We can deliver your desk on Friday. 13

USE ACTIVE VOICE  Communicate directly  Let’s reader know who is doing the action Active Voice  My assistant will compute your order. Passive Voice  Your order will be computed (by my assistant). 14

WHEN TO USE PASSIVE VOICE 1.When you don’t want to offend/ accuse others: You lost the form. The form was lost. 2.When you don’t want to appear to take credit: I have made a thorough analysis of the problem. A thorough analysis of the problem has been made. 15

BUSINESS LETTERS  Letter of inquiry  Reply to inquiry  Letter of complaint  Reply to complaint 16

LETTER OF INQUIRY Para 1: Introduction  State where & how you have heard of the company  State purpose of enquiry  Refer to the products and services you are interested in  Introduce your company and scope of business Para 2: Details  Give details of your request  Give reasons for the request 17

LETTER OF INQUIRY Para 3: Response  Ask for a quotation  Ask about terms of trade, discounts, delivery  State what you need from them  State when you need their response by Para 4: Close  Conclude cordially 18