Business Letters

Quick reference

• 00:04 Let's start our business correspondence basics with business letters, which form the basis of professional communications in business.
• 00:13 In the professional environment everything is connected by the way the messages of
• 00:19 executives and the company reach out. And there's an art in crafting a business letter
• 00:25 as it reaches different audiences for different purposes
• 00:29 and the whole company is represented by what is printed on the paper. It needs to be done right and done well because it can land on many
• 00:37 desks. It stands out from email too. Now the purpose of a business letter
• 00:43 might be to make an inquiry or request, for example ask for a donation even from customers.
• 00:50 Business letters often offer thanks for recognition,
• 00:54 maybe announce an annual award that will be given.
• 00:58 Apologies and explanations
• 01:01 are typically handled in a formal business letter even to answer a complaint your company receives
• 01:08 and sales or prospecting mail is often done in letter form too, because there may be an
• 01:15 enclosure that must be included in the envelope such as a company brochure.
• 01:22 Constructing a business letter
• 01:24 begins with a set of standardized rules that you can use the format the letter on company letterhead.
• 01:31 We will cover the main structure here but it's good to know you can find templates in software
• 01:38 programs or online. This one is on the Microsoft Office web site and it's called the level design
• 01:46 You want to begin 2 inches from the top of the page and put the date there,
• 01:53 then hit enter four times
• 01:56 so you can begin with the recipients name title and address.
• 02:03 Start your letter with a greeting, use dear. And don't worry that is the standard
• 02:11 align the letter left side along the margin and use single spacing and then double space
• 02:17 between paragraphs. Use a plane font like Ariel, Times New Roman or Calibri.
• 02:24 Often your company might have chosen a preferred font for you so be sure to check.
• 02:31 The tone of a business letter is factual. It doesn't have to be very dry, in fact it's often pleasant, but sometimes it is firm. We have an example of
• 02:41 that here in the last sentence in the paragraph shown at the top of the example.
• 02:47 when you call please have it on hand so that we can expedite your request.
• 02:54 Be sure to keep impoortant information or any specific actions suggested are required for the recipient
• 03:01 prominent in the body of the letter you can put it at the end for emphasis.
• 03:08 Letters contained to one page are ideal whenever possible. If you're only a little bit over definitely try to cut.
• 03:17 Space twice before closing. Signing off with Sincerely or Best Regards works well.
• 03:25 Space up to six times to allow for the signature and it depends on the handwriting - you want to leave room.
• 03:33 Place the name of the sender under the signature and the title below that
• 03:38 and finally notes regarding the carbon copies
• 03:43 and the name or if there's an enclosure it should appear four spaces below that
• 03:49 or
• 03:51 here we show that note about an enclosure and that's just fine - same rule.
• 03:57 So that is the basic structure, format and tone and all the uses for a business letter which as you can see
• 04:07 does form of very far reaching form of communication. You can rely on it as the basis
• 04:17 for all the traditional professional communications.

Lesson notes are only available for subscribers.