MBA - MANAGERIAL COMMUNICATION (MC)
WRITTEN BUSINESS COMMUNICATION
INTRODUCTION
Letters are the most important means of written communication. They were always very important for any organization or individual for the purpose of giving or seeking information. Modern technological developments have not diminished their importance. As an executive goes up the ladder of his career he has to spend more and more of his time in handling correspondence. It is needless to say that the success or failure of an organization depends to a large extent on its correspondence. It is, therefore, obligatory for an executive to learn the art of writing effective letters. Let us have a look at the salient features of effective correspondence.
1. Simplicity
It must be kept in mind that the writer of a letter is a person communicating with another person. It is, therefore, the polite, personal touch that proves to be more effective than the stiff, detached style generally associated with business correspondence. To highlight this point some typical expressions used in the business correspondence are given below along with reasons for objection and suggested alternatives:
2. Clarity of Goal:
Both in thought and expression, we have to be clear in our correspondence. Every letter is a reflection of the writer's mind. He should therefore be clear about what information he is seeking or wishing to give. This is the primary goal, and he must have all the facts and figures about that information ready at hand. All the facts and figures must be stated in simple and clear language.
Layout / Format of Business Letter
As a significant form of written communication, a business letter is supposed to have a layout that impresses. Its physical appearance, that includes the quality of the paper, the arrangement of the typed/ printed matter, the way it is folded and kept in the envelope, the envelope itself with the addressee's name and address, stamping-everything communicates and passes through the receiver's mental filter. It, therefore, cannot be taken casually. As has been well said, a letter's appearance is a part of its message. That is why most reputed companies choose the best quality stationery and send out carefully written letters.
Many companies choose their own layout. But the differences in the layout are not as many as their similarities. The following points are common to all designs or layouts. Their differences occur due to the typing/ printing conventions, indenting, spacing etc. Before we discuss each of the points/parts of a business letter let us have a look at the two most commonly followed layout conventions as shown in the next two pages. (Before we have a close look at the following layouts it is worthwhile to mention their respective advantages. The first-indented form follows the old, established British conventions of writing letters and paragraph construction. The greatest advantage of this layout is that everything seems to be in its proper place, of course in the conventional sense. Each paragraph can be easily identified because there is some space left in the beginning. This is also the way most of us are taught to write paragraphs in the earliest stages of our learning. The second-block form- is of recent origin, primarily because of the American practice of paragraph writing. Now, of course, it is being followed all over the world. No doubt it looks more presentable and is easier to handle.)
Structure of the Letter
1. Heading: Most organisations have printed letter-heads incorporating company's name, logo, address, telephone numbers, fax, e-mail, and so on. The placement and design of logo, its colours, and the like, are generally decided once and for all and is a subject of corporate identity. Continuation sheets are used to cover the left out material of the main letter head sheet. The continuation sheets generally incorporate only the company name and its logo.
2. Date: Date can be written in two forms:
(a) 10 September, 1998
or
(b) September 10, 1998
It is better to use the first option as it indicates the orderly sequence of day, month and year.
3. Reference: Mention of reference in a letter helps to quickly identify the subject on receipt of a reply. It's all the more significant when a number of letters are going to be exchanged on the topic.
4. Inside address: This is the address, where the letter has to reach. The name, building and its number, street, city, state, country should be correctly written and as indicated in the source. Writing of full address is important particularly while using indoor envelopes.
• While addressing a firm, Messrs is used, for example, M/s Kanhaiya Lal and Sons.
• It is better to avoid the term Messrs, when it is being written to a Limited or Pvt. Ltd Company.
• When a letter is addressed by a name, Mr./Mrs/Ms/Dr/Prof, and so on, is put before the name depending to whom you are writing.
5. Attention line: This is to attract prompt attention of the concerned person in case you have not mentioned him in the inside address. You can either mention the name or the designation, For example, Attention: Ms Pooja Bhatia or Attention: The Banquet Manager.
6. Subject: The purpose of the subject line is to let the reader know immediately what the letter is about. Its placement is either after the inside address or after the salutation/attention line.
7. Salutation: Salutation is like greeting a person when you meet. What should be the salutation depends on how the addressee is mentioned in the inside address or attention line and also on the personal relationship you hold with the person.
Following is the procedure:
(a) If you are addressing a firm/club/society use: “Respected Sirs"
(b) If the body contains only females, write: “Respected Madams"
(c) If you are writing to an executive by name, use: Respected Mr. Srivastava/Respected Mrs Khandelia or
Respected Arpita/Respected Anupam
You don't use Mr/Mrs when you are using first name and we use this form of address when we are friendly/close to the person.
(a) "Sir" is used when you are writing to a very high dignitary or you want to be very formal.
(b) Since sales letters are written to a large chunk of the population, you sometimes avoid names: Dear Customer/Dear Reader/Dear Members.
(c) "Dearest/Darling" never used in formal letters.
8. Body: The main purpose of a letter is to convey a message and in turn generate a response. This is achieved through the body of the letter. Paragraph distribution is an important thing in the body of the letter. The following pattern should be followed.
1st Para: Here reference to any correspondence received from the sender should be mentioned. If you are initiating the correspondence for the first time, then no reference is made.
2nd Para: The main message should be stated as here, for example, "We are pleased to inform you that based on your entrance test and subsequent interview held with us, you have been shortlisted for enrollment in the first batch of our institution.
9. Follow-up paras: Any further details/points related to the subject are elaborated in the follow-up paragraphs, for example, While joining the Institute, you are also requested to bring with you the graduation mark sheet and admission fees. Paragraphs are not given headings unless the letters are very lengthy and deal with several points. Participle endings are avoided as for example, you should not write “Hoping to hear from you at the earliest."
10. Complimentary close: It depends upon how you have addressed the person in the salutation.
(a) If you have addressed the person by name, then write— "Yours sincerely"
(b) If you have not addressed by name, then use_“Yours faithfully” or “yours truly"
(c) "Your respectfully" may be written when the person holds a very high status in the society or you are writing to your Professor/Principal/CEO of the Company, etc.
11. Signature:
The signature is the signed name of the writer. Following is the procedure:
(a) For a partnership firm, any partner may sign after typing the name of the firm, for example, Govind Lal & Sons
(Shyam Sunder)
(b) In the case of registered companies, the company's responsibility line can be added: For Reliance Industries Ltd.
(A.K. Singh)
General Manager-Production
SALES LETTERS
Interestingly, sales letters and application letters for jobs are in many ways similar. Both have the same objectives. Sales letters sell a product or service. An application letter sells a person's ability to work in a particular position. Like application letters, sales letters abound. No organization can afford to survive without writing different kinds of letters, depending on the nature of the business or service it provides. For example, a sales can sell an idea, reasoning, a noble cause or tangible and intangible products a letter and services.
How to Write
A sales letter should be designed around AIDAS principle of marketing. These are-
Attention, Interest, Desire, Action, Satisfaction.
To clarify, a sales letter must:
• Attract Attention
• Arouse Interest
• Create Desire
• Inspire Action
• Provide Satisfaction
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