How to write business letters

The art of the winning business letter

Types of Business Letters
Fan
Compliment
Suggestion
Information
Problem – solution
Request
Complaint

Six Parts
Return Address
Inside Address
Greeting
Body
Complimentary Close
Signature Line

Heading – return address
Inside Address
Greeting
Body
Complimentary Close
Signature line

Style:Block

Style: ModifiedBlock

Style: Semi-Block

Heading
Benicia High School
1101 Military West
Benicia, CA 94510
¶
January X, 20XX
¶
No Name;
Skip line before date

Inside Address
Christopher Nolan
Film Director
c/o Cheshire Agency
231 Movieland Drive
Hollywood, CA, 94510
¶
Always begin with name & title
Then give the address.
Use c/o when sending to a
second party

Greeting
Dear Mr. Nolan:
¶
Greet starts with Dear, includes
Gender title and last name,
ends with a colon :
Omit gender if unsure
And use first name.
(i.e. Leslie)

Body
I am a high school student who has seen Dark Knight four times, and bought it for my collection. I wanted to write and tell you how much I enjoy your work. I have seen all your movies. My favorites are Dark Knight, Batman Begins, and Memento. I like how you make surreal situations look real and believable. Batman seems like a real person. Memento is very twisted and fun to watch. I hope you make another strange, entertaining movie soon, and I hope Batman returns once again with you in charge.
¶
If you have a poster or pictures of yourself that you send out to fans, I would be honored to hang it in my bedroom and keep it forever.
¶
Concrete, specific details; 100+ words

Complimentary Close
Sincerely,
¶
¶
¶
¶
“Sincerely,” is good enough.
You may use “Yours truly”
Or other, but don’t be witty

Signature Line
[Your Name]
[Title]
Usually your name is
enough. Only use title if
writing in that
Capacity.

[Street Address] ¶
[City, ST ZIP Code] ¶
[Date] ¶
¶
[Recipient Name] ¶
[Title] ¶
[Company Name] ¶
[Street Address] ¶
[City, ST ZIP Code] ¶
¶
Dear [Recipient Name]: ¶
¶
Introduce yourself and summarize why you are writing. New ¶
Go into detail (100+ words) about why you are writing - compliment? suggestion? request? complaint? ¶
Close with clear solution, follow-up expectations, or simply a fond farewell. ¶
¶
Sincerely, ¶
¶
¶
¶
¶
[Your Name]
[Title]

1101 Military West
Benicia, CA 94510
January X, 20XX
Christopher Nolan
Film Director
c/o Cheshire Agency
231 Movieland Drive
Hollywood, CA, 94510

Dear Mr. Nolan:
I am a high school student who has seen Dark Knight four times, and bought it for my collection. I wanted to write and tell you how much I enjoy your work. I have seen all your movies. My favorites are Dark Knight, Batman Begins, and Memento. I like how you make surreal situations look real and believable. Batman seems like a real person. Memento is very twisted and fun to watch. I hope you make another strange, entertaining movie soon, and I hope Batman returns once again with you in charge.
If you have a poster or pictures of yourself that you send out to fans, I would be honored to hang it in my bedroom and keep it forever.
Sincerely,

[Your Name]
[Title]

1101 Military West
Benicia, CA 94510
January X, 20XX

Dean Chambers, CEO
Chambers Choice Chili
999 Hot Tongue Blvd
Slagway, Alaska, 94510

Dear Mr. Chambers:
I just ate a can of your great chili and liked it so much I am taking the time to write you a letter of compliment. I hate it when my mother buys canned chili because it always tastes nasty. I like chili, but I only like it homemade. My mother makes great chili and so does my Uncle Bobby Watson. He’s won two 1st Place Prizes in the Elko, Nevada, Annual Chili Cook-Off Competition.
I must admit, when I found your can of chili in our kitchen last Saturday, I almost skipped over it, but I was starving and there was nothing else to eat. From the first bite, I knew I would be eating your chili for the rest of my life – if you’re around that long. It tasted delicious. I couldn’t believe how many ingredients were in it. You had three kinds of beans, and big chunks of tomato. It was just hot enough, not too hot. I ended up eating two cans of it. I am going to ask my parents to buy more cans of Chambers Choice Chili.
I am only writing to thank you for making your excellent chili. Of course, if you have coupons or discounts or information on your other products that you send to devoted fans, I promise to use them wisely. However, I only wrote to say “Great chili!” Keep up the good work.
Sincerely,

[Your Name]
[Title]

Design & Spacing Rules
Letter should be positioned just above the center of your paper.

Too
High

Too
Low

Steps
Decide who you are writing to and find the address
Write the body without formatting until you get the language perfect
Handwrite the letter
Once approved, type the letter
Fold properly
Address envelope

Body Details
You must have a real, sincere, concrete reason for writing the letter.
The letter must give precise details at every step.
If a compliment, it cannot be just general adulation.
If a problem, offer a detailed solution.
If a complaint, extra effort must be taken to give every piece of pertinent information.

Complaint letters
Tone must always be courteous and professional – no anger or insults
Must, of course, be real and not exaggerated
Must give story line of exactly when, where product was purchased
Must tell exactly what the defect is and how it was discovered or how it occurred
Must tell all steps taken to remedy problem – did you go back to the store? When? Why didn’t that resolve the problem?

When requesting something
Don’t be blatant or greedy or needy.
Don’t ask for too much or for something big.
Ask sincerely, humbly, and only as an after-thought.
If you write a good letter and ask politely for a token of thanks, you are far more likely to get something in return. You have to make the reader WANT to reward you by being a sincere, devoted, polite customer or fan.

Extras
If you enclose something else in the envelope, then below your signature line you type:
Enclosure: (1) receipt
If you send your letter to two people, then below your signature line you type:
cc. Other Name

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How to write business letters

by gibb0 on Feb 03, 2010

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How to write business letters — Presentation Transcript