COMA 103
Instructor: Norelline Gabas
Business Letters
NATURE AND USES OF BUSINESS LETTERS:
Business letter is a written message used to transact business which cannot be conveniently conducted
orally. Its tone and style should be formal and business like.
AIMS OF BUSINESS LETTERS
Essentially speaking, all business letters are classified as sales letters because no matter what the
purpose is, you still sell something to the reader. This can be a service or idea. Hence, selling here as
implied by the word business does not only involve monetary considerations but also other factors such
as explanations, friendship, goodwill, apologies, acceptance, refusal, suggestion, comments, complaint,
invitation, proposal, and others. More than these, they serve as a part of the country’s permanent
records, written documents, and written contracts.
You will be writing letters to different firms and companies, customers, employees, suppliers, credit
agencies, associate organizations, government offices, etc. Writing such letters are termed as business
letters. The purpose of such letters is to achieve a specific goal, such as selling products or goods, seeking
information or advice, making an inquiry, appeasing the upset feelings of a client, establishing rapport
with a customer, creating goodwill, etc. It is, therefore, very important to know the nature and function
of writing business letters if you want to reach your goal in your professional life.
The main purpose of writing a business letter is to arouse the reader's interest and stimulate in him good
mood and to achieve this goal, your letter needs to have the necessary built-in attraction. The aim of
your writing is to open the mind of the reader to the message.
There is one sure way of doing it:
 Place yourself in the position of your correspondent and anticipate his feelings and reactions.
 A good letter writer, after having written a letter, asks himself, 'How would I react to this letter
after reading it?';
 What would my mental condition and/or feelings be if I received such a letter?' Such a test helps
him to consider his letter from the reader's point of view and make the necessary changes.
EFFECTIVE BUSINESS LETTERS
A business letter is not effective if it is impersonal, longwinded, and difficult to understand; when the
writer utilizes overused, trite phrases and expressions, and an over-formal approach; when one or more
of the following elements considered essential for standard business letters are missing: heading, inside
address, salutation, body (text), complementary closing, and signature; and finally, when the layout,
that is, its visual appeal and balance does not follow the standard one.
TYPEWRITTEN LETTERS VS HANDWRITTEN LETTERS
Generally speaking, all business letters should be typewritten or encoded because they are easier to
read and they give the letter an official and formal look. However, there are some companies and
institutions which prefer handwritten letters specifically application letters because they can reveal an
aspect of the personality of the writer.