BUSINESS CORRESPONDENCE

1
BUSINESS CORRESPONDENCE

• Based on
• A. Littlejohn Company to Company, Fourth
  Edition, Cambridge University Press, 2005

2
LETTER LAYOUT (extra sheet Letter of
Application, T.Trappe New Insights
intoBusiness)

• CHECKLIST
•   Sender's address (letterhead?)
•   Recipient's (addressees) name and address
• Date
•   Salutation e.g. Dear ...
•   Subject line (heading)
•   Opening e.g. I am writing to ..., Thank you
  for your letter of 13 November...
•   Main part (Body of the letter/e-mail)
•   Close e.g. I look forward to ...
•   Ending e.g. Yours sincerely / Yours
  faithfully, ...
•   Signature
•   Name in printed letters John Smith
•   Job title (position) IT Department Manager

3
Date?

• 07/12/2013

4
DATE CC ex. 4.3 (p.39)

• CRO 07. 12. 2013., 7. prosinca, 2013.
• UK  7 December 2013
• US  July 12, 2013
• Say the sixth of December two thousand and
  thirteen /twenty-thirteen
• December the seventh two thousand and
  thirteen/twenty-thirteen
• Prepositions
• With reference to your letter ......... 7
  December 2013
• The order was received
• a) ...........7 Dec 2013 b) ........ December
  c) ....... 2013
• d) .... .the first week of December

5
DATE - prepositions

• Prepositions
• With reference to your letter of 7 December 2013
• The order was received
• ... on 7 Dec 2013 ...in December in 2013 in
  the first week of December
• Ex C to C p.39 (4.3)

6
SALUTATION Dear...?

• to a company
• to a man if you do not know his name
• to a woman if you do not know her name
• to a married or unmarried man
• to a married or unmarried woman
• to a married woman
• to an unmarried woman
• to a friend or someone you know well

7
Salutation

• Dear Sir or Madam
• Dear Sir
• Dear Madam
• Dear Mr Smith
• Dear Ms Smith
• Dear Mrs Smith
• Dear Miss Smith
• Dear John
• US Dear Ms Smith
• UK Dear Ms Smith

• to a company
• to a man if you do not know his name
• to a woman if you do not know her name
• to a married or unmarried man
• to a married or unmarried woman
• to a married woman
• to an unmarried woman
• to a friend or someone you know well
• NO! Dear Mr John

8
Salutation and closing

• Dear Sir or Madam /Yours faithfully
• Dear Ms Jackson /Yours sincerely
• Dear Mark/Best wishes (Best regards)
• Dear Ms Gonzalez, Dear David, Dear Mrs Wilson,
  Dear Sir or Madam
• CC ex. 1.3 (p.9)

9
SUBJECT HEADING CC ex.1.4, p.9-10, ex.3.2,
p.28

• key word(s)
• e-mail vs. traditional letters
• Dear Mr Kane Dear Mr Kane
• Order ref.no.2345 Re Late Delivery
• I am writing to enquire about ... I am
  writing to
• complain about ...

10
E-MAIL CCex. a-c, p.22-23

• expressions cc, bcc, attach, forward,...
• attachments Please find attached the report. (I
  attach the report.)
• Open and close your e-mails
• Do not write in capital letters
• Do not send the original message back to the
  sender (sometimes ok?)
• Use paragraphs - easy to read! (RBp.71)
• Formal contacts formal style!

11
STYLE CC ex.1.5,1.6, 1.7, (p.10-11)

• LANGUAGE
• polite, clear, accurate, concise, formal but
  natural)
• avoid contracted forms (Im ? I am)
• BLOCK STYLE
• beginning/ending punctuation?
• no indentation
• paragraphing and line spacing (RBp.70)

12
PARAGRAPHING EX. Source Courtesy of Stephen
Hindlaugh)

• I am writing to complain about a management
  motivation training course organised by your
  company that I attended on March 30th of this
  year. The main reason that I was not satisfied
  with the course is that the presenter was totally
  unprofessional. In the first place, he was
  fifteen minutes late and didnt even apologise.
  Secondly, he was obviously unprepared and was
  unable to organise his graphics. On top of
  everything, he finished half an hour early and
  didnt take any questions. I had spent a
  significant amount of money on this course and
  expected to gain some useful insight and tips on
  motivating my team. The only thing that I learned
  was how not to give a presentation. As a minimum,
  I expect a refund from your company to compensate
  me for the money and time I have wasted. If this
  is not forthcoming, I will take the matter up
  with the Professional Management Seminars
  Organisation. Source courtesy of Mr Stephen
  Hindlaugh

13
PARAGRAPHING EX. (CC ex.a-b, p.32.33)

• I am writing to complain about a management
  motivation training course organised by your
  company that I attended on March 30th of this
  year.
• The main reason that I was not satisfied with the
  course is that the presenter was totally
  unprofessional. In the first place, he was
  fifteen minutes late and did not even apologise.
  Secondly, he was obviously unprepared and was
  unable to organise his graphics. On top of
  everything, he finished half an hour early and
  did not take any questions.
• I had spent a significant amount of money on this
  course and expected to gain some useful insight
  and tips on motivating my team. The only thing
  that I learned was how not to give a
  presentation.
• As a minimum, I expect a refund from your company
  to compensate me for the money and time I have
  wasted. If this is not forthcoming, I will take
  the matter up with the Professional Management
  Seminars Organisation.
• Source Courtesy of Mr Stephen Hindlaugh

14
PARTS OF A LETTER

• beginning (opening)
• main message (paragraphing!)
• ending (close)

15
Beginning CC ex.2.5, p.20

• We are writing ... connection ...
• We are writing to enquire ...
• Thank you for your letter .... February 20
  concerning ()
• Further ... our telephone discussion (), we
  would like to inform you (...)
• With reference ... your enquiry

16
Beginning CC ex.2.5, p.20

• We are writing in connection with...
• We are writing to enquire about ...
• Thank you for your letter of February 20
  concerning
• Further to our telephone discussion , we would
  like to inform you that ...
• With reference to your enquiry about

17
Ending CCex. 2.7, p.21

• I look forward to ... your reply.
• I look forward to ... from you soon.
• We look forward to ... you soon.
• Please feel ... to ... us if necessary.
• Please do not ... to contact me if you have any
  ....
• CLOSE (Yours ..., Best ...)

18
Ending CCex. 2.7, p.21

• I look forward to receiving your reply.
• I look forward to hearing fom you soon.
• We look forward to seeing you soon.
• Please feel free to contact us if necessary.
• Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have
  any questions.
• CLOSE ( Yours sincerely/faithfully, Best
  regards/wishes, ...)

19

• Dear Sir or ...........
• I ................ to enquire about the
  capacity
• and the price of your water heaters.
• We are interested in buying the heaters for
• our new facilities in Kensington.
• I look forward to ............... your reply.
• ................................
• Vincent Hugo
• Purchasing Department

20

• Dear Sir or Madam
• I am writing to enquire about the capacity
• and the price of your water heaters.
• We are interested in buying the heaters for
• our new facilities in Kensington.
• I look forward to receiving your reply.
• Yours faithfully
• Vincent Hugo
• Purchasing Department

21

• Dear Mr Hugo
• ..................................................
  ...............................
• We sell three different kinds of water heaters.
  The prices
• are 1,600 (150 litres), 1,750 (200 litres) and
  1,900
• (250 litres).
• I enclose some brochures.
• ..................................................
  ..............................
• ................................
• Jan Van Oss
• Sales Department

22

• Dear Mr Hugo
• Thank you for your enquiry of April 15 asking
  about the
• prices of our water heaters.
• We sell three different kinds of water heaters.
  The prices
• 1,600 (150 litres), 1,750 (200 litres) and
  1,900 (250
• litres). I enclose some brochures.
• Please feel free to contact me if you need any
  further
• information.
• Yours sincerely
• Jan Van Oss
• Sales Department

23
TYPES OF LETTERS

• job application sample letters MK, RB
• enquiries sample letter RB
• replies to enquiries sample letter RB
• good/bad news
• requesting action
• complaints sample letter RB (slides)
• apology sample letter RB
• orders ...

24
Good news

• We are HAPPY to inform you that...
• PLEASED
• DELIGHTED
• ... you have been shortlisted for interview for
  the position of ...
• ...we ARE ABLE TO deliver ...

25
Bad news reason

• We are SORRY to inform you that ..
• We REGRET to inform you that ...
• ... we ARE UNABLE TO deliver ...
• ... we HAVE BEEN FORCED TO increase our prices.
• This is DUE TO unforeseen circumstances.
• OWING TO ...
• AS A RESULT OF ...
• BECAUSE OF ...

26
Bad news

• We ... to inform you that we ... to cancel the
  meeting scheduled for 27 May. This is .... to
  staff illness.

27
Bad news

• We regret to inform you that we have been forced
  to cancel the meeting scheduled for 27 May. This
  is due to staff illness.

28
Referring (beginning) good news (CCp.29)

• .............. your application for a post as
  secretary, ........that we would like you to
  start work as soon as possible.
• .............our telephone conversation last
  week, .................that your car is now ready
  for you to collect.

29
Good news (CCp.29)

• With reference to your application for a post as
  secretary, we are happy to inform you that we
  would like you to start work as soon as
  possible.
• With regard to our telephone conversation last
  week, we are pleased to inform you that your car
  is now ready for you to collect.

30
Good/bad news reason (cause-effect)

• -We regret/are sorry/pleased/delighted to,
• -that we have been forced to..., we are unable
  to..., we are able to/intend to...,
• -This is due to (the fact that)...
• delay the delivery of the goods strike by
  airline pilots
• cut all salaries by 10 - fall in sales
• increase all salaries by 10 - rise in sales

31
Good news/bad news and giving reasons
(cause-effect)

• With regard to your order of March 25, we regret
  to inform you that we are unable to deliver the
  goods on time. This is due to a strike by airline
  pilots.
• We are sorry to inform you that we have been
  forced to cut all salaries by 10. This is as a
  result of a fall in sales of 12 in the last
  quarter.
• We regret to inform you that tomorrows meeting
  has been cancelled. This is due to the fact that
  a lot of staff have been ill
• We are delighted to inform you that we have
  decided to increase all salaries by 10. This is
  due to a rise in our sales last year.

32
Requesting action

• PLEASE COULD YOU...
• We WOULD BE GRATEFUL IF you could ...
• We WOULD APPRECIATE IT IF you could ...
• Ex. You have moved your office and you want the
  post office to forward your letters to your new
  address.

33
Requesting action CC 5.2., p.50

• Please / arrange / for ten oclock / could / an
  appointment / you
• we / send / asap / would / if you / the goods /
  be grateful / could
• appreciate / arrange / would / for ten oclock /
  could /it / an appointment / if/ you /We

34
Letters of complaint

• complain (v.) - complaint (n.)
• He complained.
• He made a complaint.
• mild complaint vs. strong complaint

35
MILD OR STRONG?

• I am writing to complain about a management
  motivation training course organised by your
  company that I attended on March 30th of this
  year.
• The main reason that I was not satisfied with the
  course is that the presenter was totally
  unprofessional. In the first place, he was
  fifteen minutes late and did not even apologise.
  Secondly, he was obviously unprepared and was
  unable to organise his graphics. On top of
  everything, he finished half an hour early and
  did not take any questions.
• I had spent a significant amount of money on this
  course and expected to gain some useful insight
  and tips on motivating my team. The only thing
  that I learned was how not to give a
  presentation.
• As a minimum, I expect a refund from your company
  to compensate me for the money and time I have
  wasted. If this is not forthcoming, I will take
  the matter up with the Professional Management
  Seminars Organisation.
• Source Courtesy of Mr Stephen Hindlaugh

36
STRONG COMPLAINT

• 1.PROBLEM
• I am writing to complain about a management
  motivation training course organised by your
  company that I attended on March 30th of this
  year.
• 2.GIVE REASONS FOR THE COMPLAINT
• The main reason that I was not satisfied with the
  course is that the presenter was totally
  unprofessional. In the first place, he was
  fifteen minutes late and did not even apologise.
  Secondly, he was obviously unprepared and was
  unable to organise his graphics. On top of
  everything, he finished half an hour early and
  did not take any questions.
• 3.MAKE A POINT (SUPPORT THE COMPLAINT)
• I had spent a significant amount of money on this
  course and expected to gain some useful insight
  and tips on motivating my team. The only thing
  that I learned was how not to give a
  presentation.
• 4.REQUEST IMMEDIATE ACTION
• As a minimum, I expect a refund from your company
  to compensate me for the money and time I have
  wasted. If this is not forthcoming, I will take
  the matter up with the Professional Management
  Seminars Organisation. (MAKE A THREAT?)
• Source Courtesy of Mr Stephen Hindlaugh

37
Mild complaints

• Complaint (pg.1)
• UNFORTUNATELY, the invoice you sent us is higher
  than we agreed.
• I AM AFRAID that the invoice you sent me
•  It SEEMS to me that
• It APPEARS that

38
Complaints

• Reminder / making a point (pg.2)
• I should like to remind you that
• I would like to draw your attention to (the fact
  that)
• I would like to point out that
•  Requesting action (pg.3)
• We would be grateful if you correct the invoiced
  amount so as to keep to our agreement.

39
Complaints

• RB77 mild or strong complaints? Differences?
• Letter correction, RBp.85
• Check the following
• a)grammar/spelling, b)style, c)layout
• d)phrases

40
APOLOGISING

• apologise (v.)  
• apology (n.sg.), apologies (n.pl.)
• We APOLOGISE FOR losing your order.
• We are EXTREMELY SORRY FOR losing  your order.
• (We are extremely sorry that we have lost your
  order.)

41
Apologies (ending)

• With apologies once again.
• Please accept our apologies once again.
• We hope that this has not caused you any
  inconvenience.