1. Planning Business Letter

Letter writing is unavoidable in business communication. A business letter is not a place for chit-chat. Unlike business conversations where a certain amount of small talk is used to break the ice, a business letter should be clear and concise. By taking time to plan your letter, you will save time in the writing and proofreading stages. There are certainly differences among different kinds of letter in business settings, for example in terms of their degree of formality, whether they are for internal or external consumption, and so on. Nevertheless, our most pressing concern is delivering our message clearly and appropriately. Whatever kind of letter you write (and in fact, whatever form of business communication you engage in), it is by now clear to you that a message has to be sent, and it has to be sent clearly and appropriately in order to persuade your reader to accept your message or do something about it.

Use appropriate tone and style (4Ps). They must be:

 Polite

 Positive

 Personal

 Professional

7. Format and/or package the letter properly.

10 Requirements:

Business letter can cause you to react either favorably or unfavorably. One of the main objectives of all business letters is to prompt the recipient to react favorably. You cannot predict exactly how your words will affect another person. But there are certain qualities that will call forth successful results of business letter.

If each of your letters meets the following 10 requirements, the chances ara that you will be a successful letter writer. A good letter does the following:

1. Creates a favourable 1^st impression;

2. Appeals to the reader’s point of view;

3. Is correct in every detail;

4. Is courteous, friendly and sincere;

5. Promotes goodwill;

6. Is clear and complete;

7. Is concise;

8. Flows smoothly;

9. Is well paragraphed;

10. Avoids jargons.

1)Your first impression is often influenced by the appearance of the letter, and this impression stays with you as you read the message. The factors that help to create a favorable impression include the quality of stationary, the attractiveness of the letterhead, the neatness of the typing, and the format or setup of the letter placement.

3)Be correct. It shouldn’t be any typographical errors (strikeovers, errors in spacing, wrong letters), messy corrections (holes in paper, smudges), misspelled words and names, errors in dates, errors in capitalization and punctuation.

4)The tone of your letter tells many things about you – your attitude, your sense of fair play, your desire to be of service. Such expressions as the following help to give your letter a desirable tone: ‘you were very kind to…’, we are very happy to know…’, ‘we value your…’ Friendliness is an important quality of the good letter.

5)Goodwill promotes from: good products or services, ethnical conduct, superior conduct to customers, prompt attention to detail.

6)Clarity. First you must have a clear idea in your own mind of what you want to say.

7)Conciseness means saying all that needs to be said and no more.

8)Logical sequence of thought is the most important factor in achieving cohesiveness. In making the transition from one sentence to another or from one paragraph to another, you will be helped by using connecting or linking words or expressions, such as following: however, therefore, of course, in the first place, nevertheless, on the other hand, for example.

9)Good paragraphing is an essential part of effective business letters. 3 principle: convey only one principle idea in a paragraph, should be not more than 6 or 8 typewritten lines, don’t over paragraph (3 or 4 paragraphs).

10)On the job, jargon may help you to communicate with co-workers and save the time. But when writing letters, put yourself in the receiver’s place and avoid jargons: the reader may not understand it.