Chapter 1. BUSINESS CORRESPONDENCE

I. Objectives:
- to develop writing skills (letters)
- to deveop reading skills (reading comprehension)
- to acquire and practice the specialized vocabulary required for the discussion of marketing-related topics.

II. Specific competencies acquired by the student.
After completing this chapter the student should be able to:

1. identify the main parts of a business letter
2. write various types of business letters
3. understand and discuss marketing-related texts

III. Key words: business letter, letter format, salutation, complimentary closing, marketing, the marketing mix.

IV. Structure:

1. Letter format
2. Parts of business letters
3. Marketing vocabulary

V. Summary:
This chapter presents some basic elements of  business letter writing, i.e. the main parts of such letters and various formats. It also introduces marketing-related vocabulary.

VI. Content:

1.1. Business letters: format and parts

The three business letter formats most commonly used in the international business world are:
1. Block-style format. There are no indentations in this letter. All lines are typed against the left-hand margin. The block-style letter is very popular, because it is simple and reflects efficiency.
2. Modified block-style format. The difference between the modified block-style letter format and the block-style format is the fact that the dateline and the complimentary closing are typed slightly to the right of the page center. There are no indentations.
3. Semiblock-style format. In the semiblock-style or indented letter format, the paragraphs are indented five spaces from the left of the margin. The dateline and the complimentary closing are typed to the right of the page center.

(Block-style business letter)
	ABC COMPANY
letterhead	00 Wilson Street
	New York, NY 00000
	Tel. (000) 000-0000
	Fax: (000)000-0000
Date	July 12, 2009
attention line	CONFIDENTIAL
	Mrs. Diane Warner
	President
Inside address	XYZ Company, Inc.
	000 West 59th Street
	Chicago, IL 00000
Subject line	Subiect: Block-style Letter
salutation	Dear Mrs. Warner:
Body of letter	This is an example of a full block-style letter, one of the most frequently used forms for writing business letters in the international business world. As you can see, there are no indentations. All lines are typed against the left-hand margin. The block-style letter is very popular, because it is not only simple to use but also reflects efficiency. If you have any additional questions about the layout of a block-style business letter, please do not hesitate to call me at (000) 000-0000.
complimentary   close	Sincerely yours,
signature line	John A. Hickman Executive Vice President
ref. initials	JAH:gws
enclosure(s)	Enclosure: 1 brochure
Copy to	cc: Mary Davis

 

(Modified block-style business letter) MIRKOVICH COMPANY 00 Levitt Boulevard Rutherford, NJ 00000 Tel. (000) 000-0000 Fax: (000) 000-0000 August 17, 2009 Mr. Matthew Ridgewood Director of Human Resources ABC  Company 00 Berkshire Square, Suite 1288 Arlington, VA 00000 Dear Mr. Ridgewood: Re: Modified Block-style Letter This is an example of a modified block-style letter. As you can see, there are no indentations. All lines are typed against the left-hand margin with the exception of the dateline and compli­mentary closing, which are typed slightly to the right of the page center. If you have any additional questions about the modified block-style business letter, please do not hesitate to contact me immediately. Cordially, Sharon B. Tate Vice President SBT:pr Ends. 2 brochures cc: Alexander Haigh, Marcia Klein

(Semiblock-style business letter)
XYZ INTERNATIONAL 0000 East Park Street Riverside, CA 00000 Tel. (000) 000-0000 Fax: (000) 000-0000
October 4, 2009
Mr. Steve Fleming Sales Manager ABC Corporation 000 Jefferson Avenue Miami, FL 00000
Dear Mr. Fleming:
This is an example of an indented or semiblock-style business letter, which many companies use. The semiblock-style gives business letters a more balanced appearance.
As you can see, the paragraphs are indented: usually five spaces from the left of the margin. However, the dateline and the complimentary closing are typed slightly to the right of the page center.
If you have any additional questions about the layout of the semiblock-style business letter, do not hesitate to call me as soon as possible.
Sincerely,
William Klass
Sales Director
WK:bls
Enclosure: quarterly sales report
cc: Maria Moralez

Business letters are written on the company's letterhead stationery, which includes the organization's full name, full address and telephone, fax, or telex numbers, and (if available) the e-mail address. The parts of a business letter are:

- Date
- Attention line
- Inside address
- Subject line
- Salutation
- Body of the letter
- Complimentary closing
- Signature
- Reference initials
- Enclosure notation
- Copy notation

Not all of the above components are always used. The "Attention line," "Subject line," and "Enclosure" notations are used only as they apply to a particular letter.

 

DATE

The dateline in a letter is typed three or four lines below the last line of the letterhead. The standard dateline in the United States and various other countries is the full name of the month (no abbreviations), followed by the day and the year. A comma separates the day of the month from the year. No period follows the date (example: August 18, 2009). However, in Europe and many other countries the most widely used format to write a date is: day, followed by the month and the year (example: 5 November 2009).
In order to avoid confusion in international correspondence, do not use numerals to indicate a month, but always type out the full name of the month. Thus, do not write 05-09-2009 if you want to indicate the date of 5 September, because an American businessman would assume that you mean May 9 instead of September 5.

ATTENTION  LINE

The attention line is sparingly used in business letters. If used, the notation "Personal" or "Confidential" is placed two or three lines below the dateline.

INSIDE ADDRESS

The inside address, which identifies the name(s) of the person(s), and the name and address of the company or organization to whom the letter is addressed, is typed two lines below the date or the attention line.

Example:

Mr. Kenneth Maxwell Corporate Planning Department XYZ Company, Inc. 00 Highwood Avenue Midland Park, MA 00000		Mrs. Karen Southerland, Director Consumer Services Division ABC Company 000 West 12th Street Toronto, Ont. 000 000
The American Corporation Attention: Mr. Dennis Rosen Linsley Building, Suite 000 000 East 23rd Avenue Dayton, OH 00000		123 Limited Attention: Head of Accounting 00 Englewood Square London 0000 000 England
College or University Attention: Admissions Office Bergenfield, AL 00000 USA		Dr. Luigi Pirelli Via Vittor Pisani 00 00000 Milan Italy

 

SUBJECT OR REFERENCE LINE

The subject or reference line (which is often underlined) is placed below the inside address. This line is used if you want to include or refer to a file or reference number (e.g., of an order, the name of a special project or a certain date) in the letter. The word "Reference" is often abbreviated as Ref. or Re:.

Examples:

Subject: Holiday Schedule for 2009
Ref.: Your order No. 2338A
Re: Insurance Policy No. B444-AvZ-MA33-35

It should be pointed out that certain companies place the subject or reference line below the salutation of the letter.

 

SALUTATION

The salutation of a business or private letter, which greets the addressee appropriately, should use the person's name if at all possible. Always make sure that a person's name is spelled correctly. The salutation in business letters is usually followed by a colon (:). The comma (,) is seldom used in the salutation of business letters, but is instead saved for personal letters and letters of condolence and sympathy. The following are correct salutations used in letters.

Examples:

To a…	British English	American English
Company	Dear Sirs	Gentlemen
Man (unknown name)	Dear Sir	Dear Sir
Woman (name unknown)	Dear Madam	Dear Madam
Person (name and sex unknown)	Sir Dear / Madam	Dear Sir/ Madam
Man	Dear Mr. Bennett	Dear Mr. Bennett
Woman (married or widowed)	Dear Mrs. Bennett	Dear Mrs. Bennett
Woman (unmarried)	Dear Miss Bennett/ Dear Ms Bennett	Dear Miss Bennett/ Dear Ms Bennett
Woman (marital status unknown)	Dear Ms Bennett	Dear Ms Bennett
Married couple	Dear Mr and Mrs Bennett	Dear Mr and Mrs Bennett
Unmarried couple	Dear Mr Bennett and Mrs Black	Dear Mr Bennett and Mrs Black
Friend or acquaintance	Dear Peter	Dear Peter

 

Ms. is used as a courtesy title before the surname or full name of a woman or girl. Ms. is a blend of Miss and Mrs. The courtesy title Mrs. is often used for a married woman, although many married women nowadays also use Ms.
If you are writing a letter to a person with a first name that does not indicate whether the person is a man or a woman (e.g. first names such as Leslie or Terry), use the following salutation: Dear Leslie Taylor:. If you are not absolutely sure about the gender of the recipient of your letter, then do not use the words "Mr." or "Mrs." in your salutation. However, if you know the person's title (for example, "President," "Director of Operations," or "Personnel Manager"), but not whether the person is either a man or a woman, then use this gender-free title. For example, Dear President or Dear Director of Operations. Alternate salutations are: Dear Client, Dear Customer, Dear Member, Dear Valued Customer, and Ladies and Gentlemen.

BODY OF THE LETTER

The body of the letter is the main part of the business letter. It is usually single-spaced and has double spacing between paragraphs and before the complimentary closing.

COMPLIMENTARY CLOSING

The complimentary closing ends the letter. It is typed two lines below the last line of the body of the letter. Only the first letter of the first word of the closing is capitalized. A comma follows the closing. Complimentary closings vary in formality as indicated below.

 

(formal closing)		Yours truly,   Respectfully yours,
(less formal closing)		Sincerely,      Sincerely yours,        Cordially,
(personal closing)		Regards,        Personal regards,       Kindest regards,

 

SIGNATURE LINE

The name of the person who signs the letter is typed three or four lines below the complimentary closing. The handwritten signature is placed between the complimentary closing and the signature line. One line below the signature line the position or title of the person who signs the letter is typed.

Examples:

Sincerely,   Joseph L. Cotton Director, Marketing Services

Yours truly,   Marion Nicholson Secretary to Mr. Leaman

 

REFERENCE INITIALS, ENCLOSURE NOTATION, AND COPY NOTATION

Additional information in a business letter may be included below the last line of the signature block. For example, reference initials, enclosure notation, and copy notation.
The reference initials following the signature line usually are preceded by the writer's initials in capital letters and separated by a colon (for example: JAH); followed by the initials of the person who has typed the letter in lowercase letters (for example: gws).

Example:

        JAH:gws

The enclosure notation is typed directly below the reference initials. This indicates that something has been enclosed with the letter (for example, a resume, a brochure, a report, or a photograph). The word "enclosure" or "enclosures" is often abbreviated as Enc. or Encls.

Examples:

Enc: 1 resume

Enc: credit application

Encls.: 3 brochures

The copy notation is typed directly below the enclosure notation or the reference initials. It indicates that a copy (abbreviated as cc:) of the letter has been sent to the person who has been named.

Examples:

cc: Maria Vlady

cc: Susan Griffin, William King

 

 Language focus: Marketing

1. Read the following text

Most management and marketing writers now distinguish between selling and marketing. The ‘selling concept’ assumes that resisting consumers have to be persuaded by vigorous hard – selling techniques to buy non-essential goods or services. Products are sold rather than bought. The ‘marketing concept’ on the contrary, assumes that the producer’s task is to find wants and fill them. In other words, you don’t sell what you make, you make what will be bought. As well as satisfying existing needs, marketers can also anticipate and create new ones. The marketers for the Walkman, video recorders, videogame consoles, CD players, personal computers, the internet, mobile phones, mountain bikes, snowboards, and genetic engineering, to choose some recent examples, were largely created rather than identified.

Marketers are consequently always looking for market opportunities – profitable possibilities of filling unsatisfied needs or creating new ones in areas in which the company is likely to enjoy a differential advantage, due to its distinctive competencies (the things it does particularly well). Market opportunities are generally isolated by market segmentation. Once a target market has been identified, a company has to decide what goods or services to offer. This means that much of the work of marketing has been done before the final product or service comes into existence. It also means that the marketing concept has to be understood throughout the company, e.g. in the production department of a manufacturing company as much as in the marketing department itself. The company must also take account of the existence of competitors, who always have to be identified, monitored and defeated in the search for loyal customers.

Rather than risk launching a product or service solely on the basis of intuition or guesswork, most companies undertake market research (GB) or marketing research (US). They collect and analyse information about the size of a potential market, about consumers’ reactions to particular product or service features, and so on. Sales representatives, who also talk to customers, are another important source of information.

One the basic offer, e.g. a product concept, has been established, the company has to think about the marketing mix, i.e. all the various elements of a marketing programme, their integration, and the amount of effort that a company can expend on them in order to influence the target market. The best-known classification of these elements is the ‘Four Ps’: product, place, promotion and place. Aspects to be considered in marketing products include quality, features (standard and optional), style, brand name, size, packaging, services and guarantee. Place in a marketing mix includes such factors as distribution channels, locations of points of sale, transport, inventory size, etc. promotion groups together advertising, publicity, sales promotion, and personal selling, while prices include the basic list price, discounts, the length of the payment period, possible credit terms, and so on. It is the job of a product manager or a brand manager to look for ways to increase sales by changing the marketing mix.

It must be remembered that quite apart from consumer markets (in which people buy products for direct consumption) there exists an enormous producer or industrial or business market, consisting of all the individuals and organizations that acquire goods or services that are used in the production of other goods, or in the supply of services to others. Few consumers realize that the producer market is actually larger than the consumer market, since it contains all the raw materials, manufactured parts and components that go into consumer goods, plus capital equipment such as buildings and machines, supplies such as energy and pens and paper, and services ranging from cleaning to management consulting, all of which have to be marketed. There is consequently more industrial than consumer marketing, even though ordinary consumers are seldom exposed to it. (English for Business Studies, by Ian Mackenzie, Cambridge University Press 2004)

2. The marketing mix. Marketing is often defined in terms of:

Product: deciding what products and/or services to sell. The word ‘product’ for us can refer to a product or service, or a combination of these.

Price: setting pries that are attractive to customers and that are profitable for the company

Place: finding suitable distribution channels and outlets to reach these customers groups

Promotion: all the activities, not just advertising, used to support the product – everything from pre –sales information to after –sales service.

VII. Further reading:

1. Bond, A: 300 + Successful Business Letters for All Occasions, Barron’s, 2005
2. Brieger, N and Comfort, J: Language Reference for Business English, Prentice Hall International, 1992
3. Stanton, AJ and Wood, LR: Longman Commercial Communication, Longman, 1992, pp. 22-34
4. Sweeney, S: Test Your Professional English –  Marketing, Penguin Books, 2002, pp. 1-12