8.-Fundamentals-of-Business-Letter-Writing

FundamentalsofBusinessLetterWritingBusinesscommunicationisconcernedwiththesuccessfulexchangeofmessagesthatsupportthegoalofbuyingandsellinggoodsorotherservices.Businesscommunicationcanbeusedininquiring,ordering,negotiation,selling,marketing,complaining,etc..Ininternationaltrade,mostofthenegotiationandcontractsaresignedthroughbusinessletters.Lead-inAgoodbusinesslettercanplayanimportantroleintrade,increasefriendshipandobtaincompleteunderstandingbetweenthepartiesinvolved.Broadlyspeaking,thefunctionsofabusinesslettermaybesaidtobe①toaskforortoconveyinformation;②tomakeortoacceptanoffer;③todealwithmattersconcerningnegotiationofbusiness.Inaddition,thereareletterswithnootherpurposethantoremindtherecipientofthesender’sexistence.PrinciplesofBusinessLetterWritingTherearecertainessentialqualitiesofbusinessletters,whichcanbesummedupinthe6Cs:clarity,conciseness,courtesy,consideration,completenessandcorrectness.①ClearnessFirstofall,makesurethatyourletterissoclearthatitcannotbemisunderstood.Apointthatisambiguousinaletterwillcausetroubletobothsides,andfurtherexchangeoflettersforexplanationwillbecomeinevitable,thustimewillbelost.Next,whenyouaresureaboutwhatyouwanttosay,sayitinplain,simplewords.Good,straightforward,simpleEnglishiswhatisneededforbusinessletters.PrinciplesofBusinessLetterWriting②ConcisenessClearnessandconcisenessoftengohand-in-hand.Aconciseletterisnotnecessarilyashortone.Sometimesaletterdealingperhapswithamultiplicityofmatterscannotavoidbeinglong.Concisenessmeanscompletemessagebutbriefestexpressionwithoutsacrificingclarityorcourtesy.Ifconcisenessconflictswithcourtesy,thenmakealittlesacrificeofconciseness.Generallyspeaking,youwillgaininclearnessandconcisenessbywritingshortsentencesratherthanlongones.PrinciplesofBusinessLetterWritingAlettercanbemadeclearer,easiertoreadandmoreattractivetolookatbycarefulwording.E.g.ThisletterwillacknowledgereceiptofyourletterofMay10inwhichyoustatethatyourorderisfortwohundredtonsofgrapefruit.Modified：Thankyouforyourorderfor200tonsofgrapefruitintheletterofMay10.PrinciplesofBusinessLetterWriting③CourtesyCourtesymeanstoshowtactfullyinyourlettersthehonestfriendship,thoughtfulappreciation,sincerepoliteness,considerateunderstandingandheartfeltrespect.Answerlettersingoodtimeandwritetoexplainwhyifyoufailtodoitpromptly.Evenifyoudon’tthinktherecipientisright,youshouldstillrespondtactfullyandpolitely.Thefollowingisaletterthatcanshowcourtesy.PrinciplesofBusinessLetterWritingDearSir,Wehavereceivedwithmanythanksyourletterof20May,andwetakethepleasureofsendingyouourlatestcatalog.Wewishtodrawyourattentiontoaspecialofferwhichwehavemadeinit.Youwillbeparticularlyinterestedinaspecialofferonpage5ofthelatestcatalogenclosed,whichyourequestedinyourletter.Yoursfaithfully,PrinciplesofBusinessLetterWriting④ConsiderationTowritebusinessletter,weshouldputourselvesintheplaceofreceivers.Businesslettermustbewrittenform‘youviewpoint’insteadof‘Iorweviewpoint’.Forexample:1.IorWeattitude:Wearesurethatourviewdiscountpolicywillattractivetoyou.Youattitude:Youwillsurelyappreciatenewdiscountpolicy.PrinciplesofBusinessLetterWriting2.IorWeattitude:Iamhappytohearthatyouhaveselectedourfirm.Youattitude:Thankyouforgivingustheopportunitytoserveyou.3.IorweAttitude:Iwillgiveyou10%discount.Youattitude:Youcanget10%discount.PrinciplesofBusinessLetterWritingDiscuss:whichofthefollowingismoreconsiderate?A:Youearn2percentdiscountwhenyoupaycash.Wewillsendyouthebrochurenextmonth.B:Weallow2percentdiscountforcashpayment.Wewon'tbeabletosendyouthebrochurethismonth.PrinciplesofBusinessLetterWriting⑤CompletenessAbusinessletterissuccessfulandfunctionswellonlywhenitcontainsallthenecessaryinformation.Anoutlinehelpsforthelettertobefullandcomplete.Seetoitthatallthemattersarediscussed,andallquestionsareanswered.Incompletenessisnotonlyimpolitebutalsoleadstotherecipient'sunfavorableimpressionofyourfirm.Hemaygiveupthedealifotherfirmscanprovidehimwithalltheinformationneeded,orifhewouldnottakethetroubleinquiringonceagain.PrinciplesofBusinessLetterWriting⑥CorrectnessBusinesslettersmustbefactualinformation,accuratefiguresandexacttermsinparticular,fortheyinvolvetheright,thedutiesandtheinterestofboth.Correctnessmeansnotonlyproperexpressionswithcorrectgrammar,punctuationandspelling,butalsoappropriatetonewhichhelpstoachievethepurpose.PrinciplesofBusinessLetterWritingAlthoughformalityinbusinessletter-writingisrapidlygivingwaytoalessconventionalandfriendlierstyle,thelayoutormechanicalstructureofaletterasitiscalledstillfollowsamoreorlesssetpatterndeterminedbycustom.Choiceoflayoutisamatterofindividualtaste,butitisbettertofollowestablishedpractice,towhichthebusinessworldhasbecomeaccustomed.Agoodplantomakecorrectpracticehabitualistoadoptoneformoflayoutandtosticktoit.LayoutofBusinessLettersThemodernbusinessletterisnearlyalwaystyped.Ithaslongbeencustomarytosetitoutinthesemi-indentedstyle.Manypeopleregardthisasthemostattractiveofallletterstyles.Theblockedinsidenameandaddressislikedbecauseitiscompactandtidy.Thisstyleappealstomostreaders.Theyliketheindentedparagraphingandclaimt