Lesson: Business Letters

Topic: 7c’s of Business Communication; Direction of Communication;

Importance of Business Writing Skills, Business Letters and
its parts and Formats of a Business Letter

Learning Outcomes: At the end of this module, you are expected to:

1. Identify 7c’s of business communication;

2. Analyze direction of communication within an organization through the
given illustrations;
3. Illustrate the different letter styles and parts of business letter; and
4. Analyze samples of business letter

LEARNING CONTENT

Introduction:

When your communication is clear, you are able to convey your thoughts more precisely.
You will also be able to get the job done and in case of job interviews, you may also be able to
land your dream job. As for every form of learning, business communication also has some
principles which make your communication more effective.

These 7 C’s of communication must be followed by every business entity and individuals
so that the workplace communication can be effective. Communication holds a very important
role in any business. Without clear and precise communication, a business cannot stand. It is the
foundation for any business.

Lesson Proper:

7C’s of Business
Communication
1. CONCISE

Being concise means being able to convey

your messages in shortest possible words. But
this doesn’t mean that you provide the
information less but articulating in such a
possible way that you get to spread the message
across everyone and that too in fewer words.

It is a necessity for business communication as

this C does not involve the vague words and this
the message is clearly sent to everyone.
Because of conciseness, you save time as well
as you save a lot of costs.
As this C excludes the needless and excessive words it makes the main idea or the message
more understandable. For audience also this form is more convenient and appealing.

2. CLEAR

Clear or clarity is very important in business communication. Through this, you are able to
emphasize a specific message or a goal at that time. In a business communication, you
cannot achieve too much in one go. That is why you need to clear about your ideas.
Because of clarity, the understanding of ideas becomes easier. As the clarity is achieved
for ideas and thoughts, the meaning of the words is enhanced. The message becomes
more appropriate and exact.

3. CORRECT

The understanding of your audience is directly proportional to the correctness of your

ideas. Because correct communication of thoughts and ideas is also an error-free form of
communication. There are many ways to achieve this correctness in your sentences.

One is through a technical understanding of your thoughts and ideas. Further, the names
and titles that you have mentioned should be correct. Because of correctness the
confidence level of yours as well as your audience increases. It has more impact.

4. CONCRETE

Concreteness refers to the idea of being clear and particular. It avoids the basic fuzziness
and general in your ideas and thoughts. Often, concrete communication is fortified by
facts, figures, illustrations and examples – anything that can help clarify a message so
that it is not misinterpreted. It leaves nothing to chance and less to the imagination.

5. COMPLETE

A message or an idea is complete when the audience has everything that they want to be
informed. Also, this gives an authority to them to move to call of action.

The complete communication generally involves the call to action, which helps the readers
understand what you want to imply to them. It also includes all the facts and figures in the
sentences.

6. COURTEOUS

Courtesy is the respect that we show to others and in business communication also it
means the same thing. You should show respect to your reader by having courteous
communication. The individual while sending the message should be polite, sincere,
enthusiastic, and reflective.
 Being courteous means that you have taken into consideration the feeling receiver as well
as your own. It also shows that you are positive and your focus is on the audience.

7. COHERENT

The messages that you send should be logical and that is why coherent communication
is important. The message involves certain ideas and thoughts and thus when they are
coherent than only they are able to convey the main idea of the message. All the points
that you have mentioned should be relevant to the topic and connected.

DIRECTIONS OF COMMUNICATION

Communication travels within an organization in three different directions, and often the channels
of communication are prescribed by the direction in which the communication is flowing. Let’s
take a look at the three different directions and types of communication channels used.

Vertical Communication

Vertical communication can be broken down into two categories: downward communication and
upward communication.

Downward Communication

Downward communication can be defined as a transmission of information and messages

from the top-level executives to the low-level employees. This means that the
communication is initiated by the highest level of management in the corporate ladder, to
convey orders, instructions, warnings or responsibilities to the subordinates working in the
organization.

Downward communication might be used to communicate new organizational strategy,

highlight tasks that need to be completed, or they could even be a team meeting run by
the manager of that team.

(Figure 1. Downward Communication)

 Upward Communication

When the flow of information in an organization, is from lower levels of the corporate ladder
to the upper levels, is named as upward communication. Often, this type of communication
provides feedback to organizational leaders about current problems, or even progress on
goals. On the other hand, this form of communication can also help employees, to express
their views, ideas or grievances with the top management.

If properly utilized, upward communication is potentially one of the most useful managerial
practices. Upward communication keeps managers aware of how employees feel about
their jobs, co-workers and the organization in general. Managers also rely on upward
communication for ideas on how things can be improved.

(Figure 2. Upward Communication)

Horizontal Communication

In lateral communication, the sender and receiver(s) are at the same level in the hierarchy. Formal
communications that travel laterally involve employees engaged in carrying out the same or
related tasks. This type of communication can be seen taking place between persons operating

(Figure 3. Horizontal Communication)

at the same level or working under the same executive. Functional managers operating at the
same level, in different departments, through their communication, present a good example of
lateral communication. The main use of this dimension of communication is to maintain
coordination and review activities assigned to various subordinates.

It is a sad fact of life that not everyone can write good and effective business letters. However,
the good news is that anyone can learn the tricks and trades of business letter writing as long as
the eagerness and interest to learn and improve are present as motivational forces.

In the world of professionals, one of the inevitable tasks that individuals perform is business letter
writing. Be it in the realm of business, education, commerce, industry, public management or
private sector, the writing of business letters play a major role in the communication process
among agencies and among individuals within those agencies. When you need a job, you write
an application letter. When you want to inquire, you use a letter of inquiry. If you are not satisfied
with a product or service, you write a letter of complaint. When you need a capital, you utilize a
letter of credit, and so on and so forth.

When you have developed the skills in writing, thus making yourself well-versed with the
intricacies of business letter writing, you are unconsciously making a competitive edge over
others, making yourself now an asset as you lead your life to the corporate world.

BUSINESS LETTERS

Business is an act of buying and selling. Any written report done on this commercial act
inside or outside the place of business becomes a technical written work called a Business Report.
This is so because the content of this technical reports refers mainly to a special area of
knowledge called business. It’s only its content or subject matter that makes it a technical written
work but its format and language as well. Unlike other types of writing that are open to all kinds
of expressions, business letter has its own set of special words or expressions exclusively for
buying and selling acts. (Lehman, 2005)

While any format – formal, informal, memo, E-mail, blank form, or letter format is used in
business, the letter is the most preferred format by the people in the business world. Those
engaged in the other fields of knowledge like science, engineering, architecture, computer,
medicine and so on likewise use letters in presenting knowledge and information on investigation
results, technical proposals, feasibility studies, work progress, laboratory findings and in other
technical reports. Owing to the frequent use of letters in technical writing, the principles behind
effective business letter writing must therefore be well understood and well applied by any
technical report writer. These business letter writing principles from (Davis, 2005; Brusaw, 2005)
Adler (2010) and from other reading materials on business correspondence listed on this material
are clearly explained by the succeeding paragraphs.
PARTS OF A BUSINESS LETTER

A normal business letter has eight parts. In the order of their appearance, they are: Letterhead,
Date Line, Inside Address, Salutation, Body, Closing or Complimentary Close, Signature Line,
and Notations.

The Letterhead is found at the uppermost part of the letter.

Letterhead

Del Hardware
38 Abba St. Luna, Rizal
4562899/2883091

May 2, 2010

Engr. Jose M. Ermita, Manager

83 Rayos St., Calawan Hills
Quezon City, Metro Manila

Dear Engr, Ermita:

Please, refer to your bill dated June 25, 2010 to Del’s Hardware in the amount of
P15, 500.00. Our records show our company did not deliver the questionable La
Germania Range Hood which we are supposed to make adjustment for.

I shall appreciate you documenting the bill, soon.

Respectfully yours,

Leo Del Vergara

Proprietor, Del Hardware

EB: rgh

This topmost part of the letter gives these pieces of information: full name, complete
address, contact numbers, and the nature of the company sending the letter. The secondary
information are names of one or more offices, telefax number, logo, and corporate subsidiaries.
 With the many artistic designs of the letterheads, some consider this letter part as an
information-giving portion and an ornamental feature of the letter. However, the best kind of a
letterhead is one that follows a simple design. An elaborate letterhead tends to grab the reader’s
attention from the central message of the letter.

Since the letterhead projects a corporate and somehow affects the reader’s understanding
of the message of the letter, some firms take much care and time in finalizing the appearance of
the letterhead to represent the company. In fact, some companies launch money-spending
contests on a company logo and letterhead designing.

The second part of a business letter is the Date Line, which is type two or four spaces
below the letterhead. There are two standard ways of writing the date: the American way (May 8,
2011) and the British way (May 2 2012).

More way are used by other business correspondents, but whatever style you choose, the
usual procedure calls for one punctuation mark – the comma after the day (August 8, 2011) and
for the non-abbreviation of the name of the month.

The address of the writer is found in the heading; that of the recipient, is in the Inside
Address. This third part of the letter, Inside Address, is written four or eight spaces below the
date line on the left margin. Normally, if this consists of three to four lines, the first line presents
the name of the person or company and the individual or official corporate title of the like: Miss,
Mrs., Atty., Dr., President, Manager. For example:

Mrs. Fely R. Zamora, Manager Atty. Alex B. Solis

Hope Enterprises Maxim Steel Corporation
38 Quirino Avenue, Quezon City 17 Taff Avenue, Manila

The following are some reminders on the proper way of writing titles:

1. Address an individual the way he usually signs his name.

2. Avoid abbreviating Christian names, corporation, company, and official positions
or ranks, like: Sergeant, Treasurer, Secretary, Sales Manager, director, and the
like.
3. You may abbreviate titles like Honorable, Reverend, Professor. But in formal
letters, it is preferable to write them in full.
4. Include the article “The” before the company name like – The Dean’s Café, or the
Paulinian Ladies Circle.
5. Write the titles – Honorable, Reverend in full if the article “The” precedes them like
The Reverend Jose P. Gomez, not The Rev. Jose P. Gomez.
6. Use the title Honorable, Reverend, Professor, and Superintendent before full
names, not before a last name, like – Professor Juliet J. Sales, Honorable Orly D.
Pecson, not Professor Ramos, Honorable Daza.
 7. Use small letters in writing the article “The” in “the Reverend Lino V. Paterno” or
“the Honorable Nestor G. Cortez” if the article is preceded by other words in the
sentence, such as – Everybody stood up to greet the Honorable Jose P. Laurel.

The fourth part is the Salutation or Greeting. This is written on the left margin, two or four
spaces below the Inside Address. Since its purpose is to cheer up or greet the addressee with
the use of positive words like Dear, Dearest, My dear, it is also called the Greeting. However, you
cannot just use any greeting you want. The degree of formality tells you which greeting to use.
The most formal salutations for top-ranking government officials are Sir and Madam. Lower than
these are Dear Sir or Dear Ma’am, and for friendly, intimate and informal relationships, you may
use My dear Cora, Dear Peter, and so on.

In formal business letters, the Salutation is followed by a colon; informal or friendly letters,
by a comma. These two – colon and comma – are the only punctuation marks used after the
Salutation of a business letter. Gentlemen is the salutation for letters addressed to a company,
club, committee, and other organizations composed of males or both males and females. The
salutation, Ladies, is for organizations exclusively for females. However, if there is a particular
person whom you want to read the letter addressed to the company, you can write this person’s
name in the Attention Line, a letter part considered as an extension of the Inside Address and can
be placed between the Inside Address and the Salutation or opposite the Salutation.

Examples:

• extension of the Inside Address and can be placed between the Inside Address
and the Salutation

GONZALES ENTERPRISES
23 Yulo Street
Cubao, Quezon City

Attention: Engr. Hector N. Nolasco

Gentlemen:

• opposite the Salutation

GONZALES ENTERPRISES
23 Yulo Street
Cubao, Quezon City

Gentlemen: Attention: Engr. Hector N. Nolasco

There are also Salutations, like To Our Dearest, To the PTA Members, Dear Customers, that are
situated at the upper center of the bond paper. These kinds of Salutations are good for formal
letters making an announcement to a group of people.

Another secondary part of a business letter found in the area of the salutation is the Subject Line
placed two spaces below the Greeting. In a modified block letter, it is usually centered, and in a
full block style, it is at the left margin. Serving as the title of the letter, the Subject Line states the
purpose or topic of the letter in a short sentence. Here are examples of the how the Subject Line
is written.

Engr. Nick F. Lanuza, President

APEX Home Builders
12 Taft Avenue, Manila

Dear Engr. Lanuza:

Subject: Repainting of the Del Fun House.

Please, comply with our agreement on the repainting of the DEL Fun House
before the end of Summer 2011. It is surprising that, soon, May will end, yet
none of your men is coming to see us regarding this matter.

Nova Hills Bank

28 Pawid Street
Fairview, Quezon City

Gentlemen: Subject: Repainting of the DEL Fun House

Please, comply with our agreement on the repainting of the DEL Fun House
before the end of Summer 2011. It is surprising that, soon, May will end, yet
none of your men is coming to see us regarding this matter.
 The fifth and the biggest part is the Body of the business letter. This begins two spaces
below the Salutation. The spacing is double between the paragraphs of the letter. It is in this part
where you may convey all the messages you want your reader to understand.

The Closing or Complimentary Close comes as the 6th part. It is typed two or four spaces below
the body. Unlike the Salutation that uses two punctuation marks, comma, and colon, the closing
uses only one marl, the comma. If the closing is of several words, only the initial world should be
capitalized. Choosing the kind of complimentary close also considers the degrees of formality.
Below are some of the most commonly used Closings ranging from formal to informal ways:

Very respectfully yours,

Respectfully yours,

Very truly yours,

Truly yours,

Sincerely yours

Cordially yours,

Best wishes,

Kindest regards,

The seventh part is the Signature Line. In business letter, two signatures are needed –
the printed or typewritten signature, and the penned signature. The printed signature is typed four
spaces below the Closing. It is four spaces because the other two spaces are for the penned
signature of the writer and for the fully capitalized name of the company represented by the writer.
If the name of the company is in the letterhead, you may do away with your typewritten signature.
With regard to the signature of a woman writer, consider the following assumptions:

1. It is assumed that a surname preceded by initials belong to a man.

Example:

Yours truly,

M.S. Lopez
 2. It is assumed that a name not preceded by Miss or Mrs. always means a name of
an unmarried woman. (Rosario C. David)

Respectfully yours,

Myrna S. Lopez

The eight part, which is the last part is Notations. The following are the notations that come two
spaces below the Signature Line:

1. Identification Initials. These are the initials of the writer or dictator and the typist
or transcriber. A colon, a slash mark, or a differentiation in letter size used to
separate the two kinds of initials. (e.g. KM:LY, KM/LY, KM ly)
2. Enclosure. Sometimes, there are some important documents or papers that the
writer would like to attach to the letter. This inclusion of papers in the letter would
eventually be discovered by the reader through the explicit statement of these
documents in the body of the letter and in the Enclosure. Enclosure is a notation
written two spaces below the initials of the dictator and the typist and appearing in
full word. Enclosure or in an abbreviated form, Enc.

Example:
Exam VM:CG
Enc.
Birth Certificate

3. Carbon Copy. This notation is found two spaces below the last line of the
signature. Its purpose is to let the reader know that a copy of the letter is sent to
another person or recipient whose name is not mentioned in the address. The term
Carbon Copy or the symbol CC may then be written for this kind of notation, and
the written after CC or Carbon Copy is the full name and official corporate position
of the other recipient.

Example: Sincerely yours,

Miss Loma L. Robles

Manager, Purchasing Department

CC. Atty. Jose P. Gamboa

4. Blind Copy. If the writer, in confidence, decides to give a copy of the letter to a
person not referred to in the address, he may note this as “blind carbon copy” or
“bcc” on the copy for the “secret” recipient. This “bcc” is not reflected in the original.
 5. Postscript or PS. This may be added after the last notation. It serves as a device
for emphasis. Two spaces below the Identification Initials or two spaces below the
Enclosure or CC is where you can write the symbol PS.

FORMAT OR STYLES OF A BUSINESS LETTER

Based on a certain letter format, you may position the parts of your letter in the following ways:

FULL BLOCK STYLE

LETTERHEAD

______________________ 1. Date Line

______________________
______________________ 2. Inside Address
______________________

______________________: 3. Salutation

_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
____________________________4. Body of the Letter___________________________
________________________________________________________________________________

______________________ 5. Complimentary Close

______________________ 6. Signature Line

______________________ 7. Notations
 MODIFIED BLOCK STYLE

LETTERHEAD

1. Date Line
______________________

______________________
______________________ 2. Inside Address
______________________

______________________: 3. Salutation

_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
____________________________4. Body of the Letter___________________________
________________________________________________________________________________

5. Complimentary Close
______________________

6. Signature Line
______________________

______________________ 7. Notations
 SEMI-BLOCK STYLE

LETTERHEAD

1. Date Line
______________________

______________________
______________________ 2. Inside Address
______________________

______________________: 3. Salutation

_________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
__________________________4. Body of the Letter_____________________________
________________________________________________________________________________

5. Complimentary Close
______________________

6. Signature Line
______________________

______________________ 7. Notations
 INTENDED OR TRADITIONAL STYLE

LETTERHEAD

1. Heading
_______________________
__________________
____________

2. Inside Address
______________________
________________
__________

3. Salutation
______________________:

_________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
__________________________4. Body of the Letter_____________________________
________________________________________________________________________________

5. Complimentary Close
______________________

6. Signature Line
______________________

______________________ 7. Notations
 HANGING STYLE

LETTERHEAD

1. Heading
______________________
_________________
_________________

2. Inside Address
______________________
________________
________________

______________________: 3. Salutation

_______________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
____________________4. Body of the Letter_____________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________

5. Closing
______________________

6. Signature Line
______________________

______________________ 7. Notations
 MEMORANDUM STYLE

LETTERHEAD

MEMORANDUM

DATE: ___________________

TO: ______________________

FROM: ____________________

SUBJECT: __________________

_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

Penned Signature (optional)

______________________

The first three styles – Full-block, Modified Block, and Semi-Block – are the modern forms
of business letters. Among the three, the Full-Block is the most widely used form because its
layout is easy to make. Since all its parts begin at the left margin, the typist need not worry about
the indention of parts. To a certain extent, this advantage is likewise true for the Modified and
Semi-Block forms. There is however one disadvantage of the Full-block form. This is the lopsided
or imbalanced appearance of the letter due to the concentration and beginning of all parts at the
left margin. Looking at the layouts well and depending on these criteria for evaluating letter forms:
time for typing, need for space, nature of the message, kind of occasion, and the position
of the write, you may conclude that some patterns are good or bad.

*** END of LESSON 7 and 8***