PARTS OF A BUSINESS LETTER

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 30^th, 2017; British way- 30 August 2017 OR 30^th 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 15^th 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.