Business Correspondence lesson

1. Business Correspondence
 A written of exchange of information used
for business purposes.
 the correspondence is generally a widely
accepted formats that are followed
universally - business letters are the most
formal method of communication following
specific formats, addressed to a particular
person or organization..

2. Aims of Business Letters
• Essentially speaking, all business letters are
classified as sales letters because no matter
what the purpose is, you still sell something
to the reader. This can be service or an idea.
Selling here as implied by the word business
does not only involve monetary
considerations but also other factors such as
explanations, friendship goodwill, apologies,
acceptance, refusal, suggestion, comments,
complain, invitation, proposal and others.

3. Effective Business Letters
• A business letter is not effective if it is
impersonal, longwinded and difficult to
understand; when the writer utilizes
overused, trite phrases and expressions and
an over-formal approach; when one or more
of the following elements considered
essential for standard business letters are
missing: heading, inside address, salutation,
body (text), complimentary closing, and
signature; and finally, when the layout , that
is, its visual appeal and balance does not
follow the standard one.

4. Purposes of Business
Correspondence
• Maintain a proper relationship
• Serves as evidence
• Create and maintain goodwill
• Inexpensive and convenient form of
business communication
• Formal communication
• Helps in the expansion of business

5. Types of Correspondence
• Internal Correspondence
A written communication between the
employees, units, departments, and
branches of the same organization.

6. External Correspondence
Takes place between different organizations,
or between an organization and their
individual clients.
• Promotes image of the organization
• Clarifies its policies
• Keeps its legal entities intact
• Keeps its operation going

7. • External Correspondence
Takes place between different organizations,
or between an organization and their
individual clients.
Commonly made to vendors, creditors,
suppliers, existing customers, perspective
clients, donors, prospective clients, donors,
etc.

8. Why do we have external
correspondence?
• Promotes image of the organization
• Clarifies its policies
• Keeps its legal entities intact
• Keeps its operation going

9. Forms of Business Correspondence
• Letters
• E-mails
• Text Messages
• Memo
• Voice mails
• Fax

10. Things to Consider
1. Destination
2. Audience
3. Purpose
4. Tone
5. Format and Style- Calibri and Arial

11. Essentials of Business Writing
• They allow the writer to have time to think
about the message he/ she wants to
convey thoroughly.
• They are more accessible and can be
retrieved by the reader at any time
convenient to him/her.
• They present the message in details.
• They can be documented and filed.

12. • Business correspondence is an essential
tool for the day-to-day operations of a
company. It helps people within an
organization communicate with each other
efficiently. It also helps an organization
transact and maintain a good professional
relationship with their business partners,
customers, and other organizations.

13. Business correspondence is an essential tool for the
day-to-day operations of a company. It helps people
within an organization communicate with each other
efficiently. It also helps an organization transact and
maintain a good professional relationship with their
business partners, customers, and other
organizations.
It is important that we know how to communicate in
writing effectively, both in actual and via email.
Maintaining professionalism, choosing the right words,
and staying courteous and sincere when
communicating will make a big impact on your
business image.

14. Essential Qualities of a Good Business Letter -
We may classify the qualities of a good
business letter as:
a. Inner qualities, and
b. Outer qualities

15. • The inner qualities of a business letter refer to the
quality of language, its presentation, etc.
• The various inner qualities of a good business
letter:
• Simplicity – simple and easy language should be
used letters.
• Clarity – the language should be clear so that the
recipient will understand the message.
• Accuracy – accuracy demands that there are no
errors in usage of language, grammar, spellings,
punctuation, etc.
• Completeness – a complete letter is the one that
provides all necessary information for the user.
• Relevance – the letter should contain only
essential and relevant information.

16. • Courtesy – courtesy wins the heart of the reader,
in business letter, courtesy can be
shown/expressed by using words like please,
thank you, etc.
• Neatness – a neat letter is always impressive, a
letter either handwritten or typed should be neat
and attractive in appearance.
• The Outer qualities of a good business letter refer
to the appearance of the letter which includes:

17. • Quality of the paper
• Color of the paper
• Size of the paper
• Folding the paper
• Envelope

18. Writing Materials
• Writing Materials to Be Used Business
letters are always written on a 8 ½ “x 11”
stationery or bond paper. The paper must be
white, clean, unrolled, uncrumpled, unfolded
and of sufficient weight and thickness. Its
surface must not be glossy to avoid running
or blurring ink. It should be also free from
fingerprints and other marks. As a rule, the
writing material should not show cheapness
or extravagance.

19. Fonts Style
• For encoded letters, the widely accepted
font is Times New Roman, size 12.
However, other fonts such as Arial and
sizes such as 13 or 14 may be used
depending upon the kind of reader/s you
have and the length of the body.

20. Format
• According to Dumont and Lannon(1985),
format is the mechanical arrangement of
words on the page : indention, margins,
spacing, typeface, headings, page
numbering, and division of letter sections.
It contributes to the readability and general
appearance of the letter which attract the
reader to pay attention to it.

21. There are actually four known
formats for business letter
writing.
• 1. Full Block Style – all parts of the entire
letter are left justified. This is considered
the most popular and easiest of all the
styles because the encoder or the typist is
no longer concerned with indentions, thus
saving time and effort.

23. 2. Modified Block Style
• the body of the letter is left justified,
however, the date and complimentary
close begin near the center going to the
right margin. This gives balance to the
look to the letter

25. 3. Semi-block Style
• Much like the modified except that each
paragraph is indented instead of left justified.
It is the most the most balanced of all styles.

27. 4. Simplified Letter Style
• Popularized by the National Office
Management Association (NOMA) omits
the salutation and the complimentary
close; however, it has a subject line written
in capital letters. All lines are flushed at the
left margin. But when there is listing in the
body, this is indented five spaces from the
margin except when the items are
numbered or lettered.