Business letters are
generally written in a typical manner. Information is located at fixed places
in the letter. The parts of a business letter can be divided into two parts- The Obligatory/Compulsory/Basic Parts and
the Optional Parts. Any formal
letter is incomplete without the obligatory parts. The optional parts are
included in a letter depending on the relevance and contents of the letter.
The
Obligatory/Compulsory/Basic Parts:
1)Letter
Head/ Head Address/ Sender’s Address- Letter head contains
the name and postal address of the organisation, e-mail, web-site, telephone
number, fax number, logo of the business. It is centrally positioned and
printed at the top of the page.
If plain paper is used,
sender’s address will form the heading. It will contain full address with pin
code of the sender. It is written at the right hand corner (as in semi-block
form).
2)Dateline-
The
date is written in the right hand corner below the letter head or sender’s
address (as in semi-block from). The date line has the day, month and year. The
date line is necessary for future reference and legal validity, also for filing
and sorting the letters. Date is written
in various ways: American way- August 30, 2017 OR August 30th, 2017;
British way- 30 August 2017 OR 30th August 2017; Indian way-
30.08.2017 OR 30-08-2017 OR 30/08/2017. Indian way of date should not be used
as it may create confusion about day and month.
3)Inside
Address/ Receiver’s Address- The inside address is
written on the left hand side in all forms. Inside address includes the name,
designation and full postal address of the person or the company to whom the
letter is to be sent. The prefix ‘To’
is not used as the placement of the inside address itself indicates that it is
the receiver’s address. Lines of the inside address should not go beyond the
middle of the page.
4)Salutation-
Salutation
is the greeting or address to the receiver. It is placed below the inside
address or attention line (if there). The nature of the salutation is
determined by the inter-personal relationship of the sender and the receiver
and it ranges from very formal to informal. Very formal- Sir/Madam, Formal-
Dear Sir/Dear Madam/Gentlemen/Dear Mr Patil/Dear Ms Patil/Dear Customer, Informal- Dear Raj/Dear Rani. Respected
Sir/Respected Madam is hardly used in correspondence today.
5)Body
of the Letter- The most important part of the letter is
the body of the letter or the contents. The idea must be clear, language
simple, facts and figures correct, the tone courteous and contents logically
arranged. The message should make the right impact on the receiver so that the
expected response is got. It has generally three paragraphs- i)Introductory/Opening para introduces
the topic or refer to the previous correspondence, ii)Middle/Main para consists of the subject matter or main message of
the letter, and iii)Concluding/Closing
para ends the letter by talking about action expected or future contacts
etc.
6)Complimentary
Close/ Subscription- Complimentary close or subscription is a
polite way to end or say good bye. It is located at the left hand corner below
the body of the letter in full block form and at the right hand corner in all
other forms. The salutation and complimentary close should match.
Salutation
|
Complimentary
Close
|
Sir/Madam,
Dear Sir/Dear Madam, Gentlemen, , Dear Customer, Respected Sir/Respected
Madam
|
Yours
faithfully/ Yours truly
|
Dear
Mr Patil/Dear Ms Patil, Dear Raj/Dear
Rani
|
Yours
sincerely/ Yours cordially
|
7)Signature-
Signature
comes just below the complimentary close. A letter without signature has no
legal value. So, every letter must have the signature of the sender, full name
and designation. However, in electronically generated letters signature are not
required or an electronic or a digital signature is used.
In
business letters three types of signature blocks are used:
I)Simple Signature
Block: This block is the most commonly used for routine
letters.
a)
Sd/-_____________
Mr Mukesh P. Patil
NSS PO
Pragati College
This
is used when the letter is written in the first person, using the pronoun ‘I’.
b)
Pragati College
Sd/-____________
Mr Mukesh P. Patil
NSS PO
II)Per-Pro or PP (Per
Procurationem) Signature Block: If a person is signing
on behalf of the firm as he/she is holding special power or power of attorney;
per pro or pp (per procurationem) which means on behalf of is used.
Ex-
pp/ per pro Pragati College
Sd/-____________
Mr Mukesh P. Patil
NSS PO
III)For
(Proxy) Signature Block: This is a temporary arrangement for
routine letters. A person, if signs in the absence of a senior authority on his
behalf, then ‘for’ is used before the designation or the name of the company.
Ex-
For the Principal/ Pragati College
Sd/-____________
Mr
Mukesh P. Patil
NSS PO
The Optional Parts:
1)Reference Number- Reference
indicates letter number and the department from where the letter is being sent
and the year. It helps in future reference. The details vary from company to
company. It is written on the left hand corner after the heading. Ex.
‘PCD/290/17-18’ (PCD- Pragati College Dombivli, 290- Letter Number, and 17-18-
Academic year 2017-2018).
2)Confidential/Personal(Private)
Notation- When the contents of the letter are confidential
and meant only for the person to whom the letter is addressed, this special
notation is either written on the envelope or just below the reference number
and above the inside address. It is always written in capital letters with
underline. If the content of letter is about business, the notation CONFIDENTIAL
is written. If the content of the letter is not about business, but personal,
the notation PRIVATE or PERSONAL is written. Some envelopes or
letters carry the notation PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL which is wrong.
3)Attention Line- Attention
line is used when the letter is addressed to a firm under a general salutation-
Dear Sir. If the letter writer wishes to draw a particular individual’s
attention to it, he writes the attention line. It is written in the centre of
the page below the inside address and above the subject line in all forms
except the full block form. The word ‘Attention’ or the phrase ‘Attention of’
is followed by a : (colon). It is followed by the name of the individual. Ex- Attention: Mr Sharad Parab or Attention of: Mr Sharad Parab
The
letter reaches the concerned person and does not get misplaced. In case the
named person is absent, a delay results as no one else looks into the letter.
4)Subject/ Caption Line- Subject line helps to sort out the letters and
the receiver may come to know the purpose of the letter. It is written above or
below the salutation. It may or may not have the word ‘Subject’ or ‘Sub’ before
it. If there is not the word ‘Subject’, better to underline the subject line or
highlight it by printing it in bold.
5)Reference Line- Reference
line is written below the subject line. It refers to previous correspondence or
any written document. In application letter it is written in response to the advertisement/reference.
6)Enclosure- Any
document if sent with the letter has to be mentioned under the title enclosure
which is written as ‘Encl.:’. It is better to mention the documents
accompanying the letter rather than just the numbers. Enclosure is written
below the signature block in the left side.
7)Post Script (P. S.)- Post script is located at the end of the
letter. Post script begins with the prefix P. S. or N. B. (Nota Bene- Note
Carefully or Please Note) and then the matter follows. Post script is written
when the sender forgets something. However, today it is considered bad manners
and shows carelessness on the part of the sender.
However,
Sales Letters and Collection Letters may have this notation for attention or as
a reminder. Ex- Sales Letter may have--- P.
S. Remember 25% available only till 15th September 2017.
Collection Letter may have--- P. S.
If the cheque has already been sent, kindly ignore this letter.
8)Copy Notation- Copy
notation is located just below the enclosure. There are three variations in
this notation:
I)
C.C. Notation/ Carbon Copy Notation which indicates that
carbon copies of the letter have been sent to several people whose names and
addresses are listed alongside the notation. A similar notation P. C./ Photo Copy is used when
photocopied matter is sent.
II)
Copy to notation is used when, instead of carbon copy, fresh
copy of the letter is sent to others.
III) B. C./ Blind(Blank) Copy is
used when, without informing the original receiver of the letter, a fresh copy
is sent to other party. The B. C. notation appears on the office copy for
record but not on the original letter.
9)Identification Line- When
the letter is dictated by one person and typed by another, then this notation
is used. Their initials are typed in the end of the letter in the left margin
(at the bottom of the page). The writer/dictator’s initials first in capital
letters and then the typist’s initials in small letters and they are separated
by a stroke (/) or a colon (:). Ex- MP/bb or MP:bb. If the third person checks
the letter, then his initials are placed in the middle. Ex- MP/pg/bb or
MP:pg:bb. It is important to pinpoint responsibility for the letter sent in
corporate houses in case of future investigation or legal matters.
