Basic principles in Business Correspondence

Basic Priciples in Business Corespondence
Ms. Cindy E. Amarillo

What is CORRESPONDENCE?
Identify some of the synonyms
of the word “correspondence”
by guessing the word formed
out of the following set of
pictures.
Follow the guidelines of the
Android games “Fun Ways to
Think” and “4Pics 1word” Basic Priciples in Business Corespondence

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M L O P T I
N U E A R GBasic Priciples in Business Corespondence

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M T S H A E
N E R S S G

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C E M I U C I
N O O M T N ABasic Priciples in Business Corespondence

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T N E U E R
T R M L N ABasic Priciples in Business Corespondence

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V P I U G Y
O A T S N IBasic Priciples in Business Corespondence

E-mail
Messages
Communication
Letters
Post Basic Priciples in Business Corespondence

The STYLE in Business
Correspondence
FORMAT
GRAMMAR
STYLISTICS
WORD USAGE

Format
 A letter writer should remember
that appearance creates the first
impression.
 careful planning of a letter format
contributes much to improved
communication.

Threegenerally accepted formats of a business letter

Letterhead
Date Line
Inside Address
Salutation
Body of the Letter
Complimentary Close
Signature Line
NotationsBasic Priciples in Business Corespondence

Letterhead
found at the uppermost part
of the letter.
found ONLY at the first page
of a letter consisting of several
pages.

Letterhead
Republic of the Philippines
UNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN PHILIPPINES
College of Business Administration and Accountancy
Heritage City of Vigan
Example:

Letterhead
Elements of a Letterhead:
1. Logo
2. Full, legal NAME of the company,
corporation, institution, or association
3. Full-stressed address
4. (optional) city, state, and ZIP code; area
code and telephone numbers

Date Line
typed two or four spaces below the
letterhead.
2 standard ways of writing the date:
AMERICAN WAY (September 2, 2014)
BRITISH WAY ( 2 September 2014)
**do not abbreviate the name of the
month! Basic Priciples in Business Corespondence

Date Line
Example:
Republic of the Philippines
UNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN PHILIPPINES
September 2, 2014

Inside Address
typed four to eight spaces below the
date line.
DR. GILBERT R. ARCE
President
University of Northern Philippines
Tamag, Vigan City

Inside Address
1. Address an individual the way
he usually signs his name.
2. Avoid abbreviating Christian
names, corporations,
company, and official positions
or ranks (Sergeant, Treasurer,
Secretary, Sales Manager,
Director, etc.)Basic Priciples in Business Corespondence

Inside Address
4. Include the article “The”
before the company name, if
it is naturally a part of the
name, like – “The Dean’s
Café” or “The Rabbi”
5. Use the titles BEFORE full
names, not before last name.
 Professor Mariano F. AvilaBasic Priciples in Business Corespondence

Salutation
written on the left margin
the degree of formality of the letter
tells you which greeting to use
MOST FORMAL: Sir or Madam
MORE Formal: Dear Sir or Dear Madam
Informal: My dear John, Dear Jean, etc.
followed by a colon ( : )

Salutation
Gentlemen – salutation for company, club,
committee, and other organizations
composed of MALES or BOTH males and
females.
Ladies – exclusively for FEMALES
If there’s a particular person whom you
want to read the letter addressed to a
company, this person’s name may be
written in the ATTENTION LINEBasic Priciples in Business Corespondence

Example: Attention Line
CBAA BIZNEWS
Gentlemen: Miss Novie Ada B. Urbis
CBAA BIZNEWS
Attention: Miss Novie Ada B. Urbis
Gentlemen: Basic Priciples in Business Corespondence

Salutation
Another secondary part of a letter found
in the are of salutation is the SUBJECT
LINE placed two spaces below the
Salutation/Greeting.
SUBJECT LINE – states the purpose or
topic of the letter in a short sentence.

Example: Subject Line
CBAA BIZNEWS
Attention: Miss Novie Ada B. Urbis
Gentlemen:
Subject: The delivery of college publication magazines.
The delivery CBAA Biznews magazines will be
delayed due to machine malfunction.

Body of the Letter
The part where the writer will convey all
the messages he wants to tell the
reader.
Apply the 5Cs of an effective
business letter.1. Clarity
2. Completeness
3. Conciseness
4. Consistency
5. Courtesy

A. CLARITY
1. RIGHT WORDS
2. CLEAR AND ACCURATE
SENTENCES
3. AVOID GRAMMATICAL ERRORS
4. OBSERVE UNITY, COHERENCE
AND EMPHASIS

B. COMPLETENESS
1. COMPLETE DATA/EXPLANATIONS
2. ATTACH NECESSARY ENCLOSURES
C. CONCISENESS
1. USE SHORT AND SIMPLE WORDS
2. AVOID HACKNEYED AND TRITE
EXPRESSIONS

D. CONSISTENCY
1. CONSISTENT IN THE FORM AND
STYLE OF PRESENTING THE
MESSAGE TO THE READER
2. CONSISTENT IN OBSERVING NEATNESS
AND ATTRACTIVENESS OF THE LETTER
E. COURTESY
1. POLITE/COURTEOUS IN WORDS
2. POSITIVE TONE
3. EMPHASIZE THE “YOU-ATTITUDE”

Complimentary Close
Very respectfully yours,
Respectfully yours,
Very truly yours,
Truly yours,
Sincerely yours,
Cordially yours,
Best wishes,
Kindest regards,Basic Priciples in Business Corespondence

Signature Line
2 signatures are needed:
PRINTED and PENNED
Respectfully yours,
Juan de la Cruz
JUAN DE LA CRUZ

Notations
1 • Identification Initials
2 • Enclosure
3 • Carbon Copy
4 • Blind Copy
5 • Postscript

Notations
1
• Identification Initials
These are initials of the writer or
dictator and the typist or
transcriber.
A colon or slash mark is used to
separate the two kinds of initials.
Respectfully yours,
Juan de la Cruz
JUAN DE LA CRUZ
JCDA/CEA Basic Priciples in Business Corespondence

Notations
2 •Enclosure
Important document or papers
attached to the letter.
The enclosure of these
documents are made known to the
reader by the explicit statement in
the body of the letter.
Respectfully yours,
Juan de la Cruz
JUAN DE LA CRUZ
JCDA/CEA
Enc.
Resume Basic Priciples in Business Corespondence

Notations
3 •Carbon Copy
Let the reader know that a
copy of the letter is sent to
another person whose name is
mentioned in the address
symbol: CC
Respectfully yours,
Juan de la Cruz
JUAN DE LA CRUZ
Manager, Vigan Printing Press
CC. Miss April N. SalvdorBasic Priciples in Business Corespondence

Notations
4 •Blind Copy
If the writer decides to give a copy of
the letter to a person not referred to in
the address he may note this as BCC on
the COPY of the “secret recipient”
This BCC is not reflected on the
original letter.Basic Priciples in Business Corespondence

Notations
5 •Postscript
This may be added after the last
notation.
Serves as a device for emphasis.
symbol: PSBasic Priciples in Business Corespondence

1.Formal Invitations
2.Letter of Inquiry
3.Claim letter
4.Letters of
transmittal
5.Letter of
Reservation
6.Letter of
appreciation
7.Credit letter
8.Collection letter
9.Adjustment letter
10.Application letter
11.Resignation letter

1. Formal Invitation
Notices of seminars, conferences,
commencement exercises and other speaking
engagements.
It should bear the ff:
• Occasion
• Purpose
• Audience and participants
• Theme
• Time, data, and venue of the activity

2. Letter of Inquiry
It is a letter asking for information. It must observe the ff:
1. Ask specific and thorough questions so that the
recipient understands exactly what you need to
know.
2. List and number your questions, if there are several.
3. If you need the certain information by a certain date,
mention the date in the letter. Allow the recipient a
reasonable amount of time to answer.
4. Express your appreciation in the letter by stating the
immediate need for reply.

3. Claim Letters
CLAIM LETTER
• sometimes called “COMPLAINT” letter
• It should be specific, concise, and
courteous in stating facts.

4. Letters of Transmittal
- sometimes called a letter of
report

5. Letter of Reservation
- It should be brief and definite.
- The writer of the letter should
specify the number of
reservations wanted, the
location or position preferred,
and the date of the reservation

6. Letter of Appreciation
- should be written from the heart
- Brevity adds strength and conviction to
the message
- Like the letters of sympathy and
congratulation, the letter of appreciation
is easiest to write and is most
enthusiastically received when it is
written promptly.Basic Priciples in Business Corespondence

7. Credit Letter
Its purpose is to carry out those rules
and regulations of the house which
will establish reasonably safe and
mutually profitable relationship
with the customers.

8. Collection Letter
Its purpose is to secure payment of
debt as quickly as possible.

9. Adjustment Letter
It is written to give a solution or
remedy to the customer’s
complaints on the products
delivered, services rendered, errors
in the policy and procedure.
It contains the following elements:

9. Adjustment Letter
1. Thanking the customer for calling the seller’s
attention to the error.
2. Expression of feeling of regret about the
customer’s inconvenience, dissatisfaction to show
courtesy.
3. Brief and polite explanation of the cause or error or
damage to the product, to mitigate the customer’s
satisfaction.
4. Willingness to stop further recurrence of
dissatisfaction.

10. Application Letter
An application letter is a typical
example of sales letter since you
are selling your services or
qualifications to the employer. It
is a letter written seeking for a
job.

TWO KINDS OF APPLICATION
APPLICATION LETTER
1. Solicitedapplicationletter
-is made in responseto an advertisement
2. UnsolicitedApplicationletter
- is preparedeven if there was no
advertisement made.

I have the honorto fillup the position which
you advertise in the Classifieds Ad of the Manila
Bulletins.
Imaginethe reaction of a personnel officerto thisopening of an
application letter:
Ifyou are lookingfor a secretary who works
witha dedication and commitmentand whogoes
theextra milein her work, perhaps I am theperson
you are looking for.

THREE IMPORTANT ITEMS
A. Your reason for leaving
b.Effectivity of your resignation
c.An expressionof appreciationfor having
workedin the company
Resignation Letter

Basic principles in Business Correspondence

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