Business Correspondence | Types of business letters, their structure and format.

Business Correspondence/ Business Letters

Letters are generally external correspondence that you send from your company to a colleague working at another company, to a vendor, to a perspective client.

The following are the business letters:

1. Inquiry Letter 

2. Cover Letter

3. Good-News Letter

4. Bad-News Letter   

5. Complaint Letter

6. Adjustment Letter

• 100 Percent Yes Letter
• 100 Percent No Letter
• Partial adjustment

7. Sales Letter

Reasons for Writing Business Letters ( According to Gartside)

1. To provide a convenient and inexpensive means of communication without personal contact
2. To seek and give information
3. To furnish evidence of transactions entered into, and
4. To provide a record for future reference.

Functions of Business Letters

1. Widen Contacts
2. Share Information
3. Have Authoritative Proof
4. Provide Record and Reference
5. Build Goodwill
6. Give Lasting Impression

Letter Format

1. Full Block Format

1119 South Bend

Chico, CA 95926

May 5, 2020

Dr. Robert Cottrell

7806 Northway

Austin, TX 78752 

Dear Dr. Cottrell:

—————————Introduction————————————————————————————————————————————–

—————————————————————————————————————————-Discussion—————————————————————————————————————————————-

——————————–Conclusion———————————————————– —————————————————————————————

Sincerely,

Sue Timmons

ST:jw

2. Letter Format –  Modified Block Format

                                                                           1119 South Bend

                                                                            Chico, CA 95926

                                                                             November 1, 2000

Dr. Robert Conttrell

7806 Northway

Austin, TX 78752

Dear Dr. Cottrell:

                                                                                   Sincerely,

                                                                                   Sue  Timmons 

3. Simplified Format 

• This format is just like Full Block Format , but salutation and complimentary close are omitted, however, subject line is included.

935 West Hermosa

Oakland, CA 94610

September 5, 2020

Edie Kreisler

1126 Ranleigh Way

San Antoniao, TX 78213

Subject: PURCHASE OF BEACHFRONT PROPERTY  

——————————————————————————————————————–Introduction—————————————————————————————————————————————-

—————————————————————————————————————————-Discussion————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————–

—————————————————————————————————————-Conclusion——————————————————————————————————————————————

Signature

Walt McDonald

Enclosure: …