1. Chapter 8 Business document writing
Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Communication Skills for International Students in Business, by Bretag, Crossman and Bordia

2. Learning objectives
On completion of this chapter students will know how to:
write a formal business letter using the full block format
differentiate between letters of inquiry, letters of complaint, response letters and sales letters
recognise the features and purposes of communicating via
construct a standard
use a range of practices to ensure successful business communication.
Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Communication Skills for International Students in Business, by Bretag, Crossman and Bordia

3. Business letters Business letters are written for many reasons:
to initiate action
to inform
to request
to persuade.
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4. Steps to a successful business letter
To write a successful business letter follow these steps:
Determine the purpose of your letter.
Write a plan.
Draft and redraft the letter.
Edit and proofread.
Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Communication Skills for International Students in Business, by Bretag, Crossman and Bordia

5. Qualities of a business letter
A business letter should have the following six qualities:
clarity
concreteness
completeness
conviction
conciseness
courtesy.
Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Communication Skills for International Students in Business, by Bretag, Crossman and Bordia

6. Standard components of a business letter
The letterhead (sender’s address)
The date
Receiver’s address
Salutation
Subject heading
Body of the letter
Sign off
Personal signature and name/title of sender
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7. Body of the letter
The body of the letter should relate to the subject heading.
It should provide information logically (i.e. in a sequence).
Different issues should be discussed in separate paragraphs.
Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Communication Skills for International Students in Business, by Bretag, Crossman and Bordia

8. Style of letter
Although there are several recognised styles for a business letter, the full block style is widely recognised.
When working for an organisation ensure that you are familiar with the in-house style of the organisation, which may be a variation of the full block style.
Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Communication Skills for International Students in Business, by Bretag, Crossman and Bordia

9. Types of business letter
Letter of inquiry
Response to letter of inquiry
Purchase orders
Sales letter
Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Communication Skills for International Students in Business, by Bretag, Crossman and Bordia

10. Letters of inquiry Provide a clear, specific question.
Give a reason for the inquiry.
Are polite, but not servile.
Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Communication Skills for International Students in Business, by Bretag, Crossman and Bordia

11. Response to letter of inquiry
Use standard letter layout.
Always use a subject heading.
Begin by referring to the original inquiry (be specific).
Start with ‘Thank you for your inquiry …’
Detail action you have taken in response to the inquiry.
If no action has (yet) been taken, still respond immediately to the inquiry.
Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Communication Skills for International Students in Business, by Bretag, Crossman and Bordia

12. Purchase orders Follow standard letter layout.
Provide specific and complete information.
Provide information about an acceptable alternative.
Give full instructions for delivery.
Provide payment details.
Start with ‘Please …’
Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Communication Skills for International Students in Business, by Bretag, Crossman and Bordia

13. Sales letters Sales letters are different to other business letters.
They have two purposes: information and advertising.
Letters have to be persuasive but not aggressive.
A follow-up letter may be needed after a certain period of time.
Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Communication Skills for International Students in Business, by Bretag, Crossman and Bordia

14. Persuasive writing The AIDA principle: A: Attention I: Interest
D: Desire
A: Action
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15. Attention Get the reader to pay attention.
State a problem that affects the reader.
Promise a benefit.
Use an emotional appeal.
Introduce your primary appeal.
Ask a question (that can’t be answered yes or no).
Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Communication Skills for International Students in Business, by Bretag, Crossman and Bordia

16. Interest
Show the reader your answer to the problem you raised in the first section.
Provide a description of the reader enjoying the benefits you mentioned in the first section.
Answer the questions you raised.
Provide a clear transition from attention to desire.
Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Communication Skills for International Students in Business, by Bretag, Crossman and Bordia

17. Desire Move the reader from ‘like to have’ to ‘really want’.
Justify the reader’s desire with emotional appeals (feelings) or rational appeals (thinking ability) (e.g. clothes sold on the basis of durability or fashion).
Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Communication Skills for International Students in Business, by Bretag, Crossman and Bordia

18. Action Tell the reader what to do.
Give a reason for acting now (e.g. free set of steak knives).
Provide aids (e.g. envelopes).
Make reference to primary appeal to convince the reader they are doing the right thing.
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19. Receiver’s psychological needs
Letters cannot always provide good news and fabulous opportunities!
Sometimes letters are written to provide unwelcome news.
The following slides provide strategies for writing letters that take into account the receiver’s psychological needs.
Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Communication Skills for International Students in Business, by Bretag, Crossman and Bordia

20. Make neutral comments
Indicate some form of agreement that is very general and will not alienate the reader.
Let the reader know the subject of the letter to add meaning to later information.
Don’t imply ‘yes’ or ‘no’.
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21. Provide explanation
Give your reasons for the decision (note that reasons precede denial).
Increase the chance of the reader understanding and accepting your reasons.
If possible, emphasise reasons that might benefit the reader.
Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Communication Skills for International Students in Business, by Bretag, Crossman and Bordia

22. Explain refusal Give clear and apparent reasons for refusal.
Write refusal after a neutral statement (e.g. ‘Thank you for your application. I regret to inform you that your application was not successful at this instance due to …’).
Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Communication Skills for International Students in Business, by Bretag, Crossman and Bordia

23. End positively End on an upbeat note. Try to regain good feeling.
Can you suggest an alternative?
Show the reader you remain interested.
Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Communication Skills for International Students in Business, by Bretag, Crossman and Bordia

24. What to avoid Avoid the following:
implying that the request will be granted
being overly apologetic
falling back on company policy
talking down to the reader
being so general that the reason does not relate to the refusal
emphasising the refusal more than is necessary
making a direct negative statement of refusal
using active voice (e.g. poor—‘I deny your application for credit’, better—‘Credit was denied’)
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25. Letter of complaint
A letter of complaint should be rational rather than emotional.
Give specific information about the issue (e.g. the product, the particular fault).
Be specific about how you want your complaint dealt with (e.g. ask directly for a refund or exchange).
Be succinct.
Avoid being rude or abusive.
Stick to the facts.
Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Communication Skills for International Students in Business, by Bretag, Crossman and Bordia

26. Responses to letters of complaint
Responses to letters of complaints should be polite but also firm if need be.
Acknowledge the error (if there is one).
Be courteous.
Provide background information about how the error occurred (if appropriate).
Offer to investigate the matter further.
Provide specific information about how you will rectify the problem.
If the customer has made a mistake, courteously provide the correct information (right at the start).
Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Communication Skills for International Students in Business, by Bretag, Crossman and Bordia

27. Cultural sensitivity and business letters
Businesses today are increasingly working across cultural boundaries.
The issue of cultural sensitivity has therefore become significant.
Awareness of cultural norms in business writing in other cultures will assist in writing appropriate documents.
Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Communication Skills for International Students in Business, by Bretag, Crossman and Bordia

28. Email communication Email is a new form of business communication.
Communicating in a computer-mediated environment requires different skills to traditional document writing.
is now the key communication medium in contemporary workplaces.
It is a ‘hybrid medium’, uniting elements of both spoken and written communication (Wood & Smith 2001, p. 9).
Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Communication Skills for International Students in Business, by Bretag, Crossman and Bordia

29. Email communication (cont.)
Communicators are less inhibited and show less differentiation between people of different status (cited in Wood & Smith 2001, p. 72).
The Internet is liberating because users can play with various roles and disclose or not disclose certain information (Wood & Smith 2001; Turkle 1995).
has the potential to provide a new type of communication.
Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Communication Skills for International Students in Business, by Bretag, Crossman and Bordia

30. Email communication (cont.)
Benefits of include:
speed
the sense of identity afforded to the communicators
bridging the psychological gap between communicators in ways which other channels of communication do not allow (Sunderland 2002, pp. 245–246).
Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Communication Skills for International Students in Business, by Bretag, Crossman and Bordia

31. Activity 1
Working with another student, consider the following questions:
On average, how many s do you receive every day?
How often do you write a letter and send it using the traditional mail service?
How is your experience with business documents different to your parents’ and grandparents’ experiences when they were studying or first started working?
Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Communication Skills for International Students in Business, by Bretag, Crossman and Bordia

32. Email: new communication
Many hard-copy business documents have been superseded by the fast, efficient use of .
There is still a need for formality in all professional communication.
A more formal style is needed when:
the receiver holds a more senior position in the organisational hierarchy than you
the receiver is outside your organisation
the receiver is unlikely to be familiar with the jargon or terminology used in your area of expertise
there is a possibility that the will be referred to by others or archived for future use.
Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Communication Skills for International Students in Business, by Bretag, Crossman and Bordia

33. Activity 2 Complete activity 8 on pp 186–188 of your textbook.
Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Communication Skills for International Students in Business, by Bretag, Crossman and Bordia

34. Five parts to an email Subject line
s can be divided into five main parts:
Subject line
Use a verb phrase to briefly summarise the content of the message.
Too wordy: ‘We will have our monthly meeting on Wednesday to discuss the new occupational, health and safety policy.’
Too brief: ‘Meeting’
Appropriate: ‘Meeting on Wednesday to discuss OH&S policy’
Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Communication Skills for International Students in Business, by Bretag, Crossman and Bordia

35. Five parts to an email (cont.)
Salutation
Simple salutations are still important, even when you know the recipient well (e.g. Dear Kim, Hi John).
Once an ‘conversation’ has started, you may omit the salutation.
Salutations in s still require some acknowledgment of status (e.g. use titles such as Dr).
Salutations assist the reader to find the beginning of messages in long threads.
Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Communication Skills for International Students in Business, by Bretag, Crossman and Bordia

36. Five parts to an email (cont.)
Opening
State the main idea immediately in the first line.
This is known as ‘frontloading’, where the key information is given immediately after the salutation.
Also referred to as a ‘direct opening’.
Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Communication Skills for International Students in Business, by Bretag, Crossman and Bordia

37. Five parts to an email (cont.)
Body
Provide any necessary background information and logically explain the main idea.
Use short paragraphs, dot points and headings.
For complicated or very formal information, provide an attachment.
Sales letters are usually incorporated into the body of the .
Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Communication Skills for International Students in Business, by Bretag, Crossman and Bordia

38. Five parts to an email (cont.)
Close
Summarise key points..
Request action or provide a closing thought.
Include a ‘goodwill message’.
See the annotated examples of s provided in Chapter 6: Writing genres.
Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Communication Skills for International Students in Business, by Bretag, Crossman and Bordia

39. Activity 3 Complete activity 9 on pp 188–190 of your textbook.
Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Communication Skills for International Students in Business, by Bretag, Crossman and Bordia

40. Common errors
Hasty responses that have not been carefully thought out.
Responses that do not take into account the computer knowledge of the receiver.
A discourteous or overly familiar tone.
Traditional routine letter openings that sound insincere.
Obscure, unfamiliar words or jargon.
Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Communication Skills for International Students in Business, by Bretag, Crossman and Bordia

41. Common email errors (cont.)
Lengthy sentences, or text with no paragraph breaks.
Negative, pessimistic content.
A closing that does not reiterate the key purpose of the .
An assumption that the receiver checks their inbox as often as the sender does.
A sender who does not give a name and can only be identified by a meaningless address (e.g.
Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Communication Skills for International Students in Business, by Bretag, Crossman and Bordia

42. guidelines
Make the subject line short and meaningful (never leave it empty).
Always include a salutation.
Make your message inviting (use short line lengths and paragraphs; edit typographical errors).
Be brief. Use only one screen.
Place key information first.
For business s do not use emoticons, initials or SMS abbreviations (e.g. ; FYI, R U ok?). Use attachments carefully.
Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Communication Skills for International Students in Business, by Bretag, Crossman and Bordia

43. Email guidelines (cont.)
Hold your temper. Avoid using capitals for emphasis, as this is like SHOUTING.
Do not use as a way of avoiding contact.
Resist using humour.
Assume that all business s are monitored.
Proofread carefully, as in all business communication.
Choose ‘reply’ or ‘reply all’ carefully.
Use identifying labels such as ‘urgent’ or ‘action’ with caution.
Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Communication Skills for International Students in Business, by Bretag, Crossman and Bordia

44. Email guidelines (cont.)
Set the context for your .
Respect confidentiality.
Never send spam.
threads encourage brief responses.
Always close your appropriately.
Create a standard signature block for all s. Include your full name and contact details.
Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Communication Skills for International Students in Business, by Bretag, Crossman and Bordia

45. Activities 4 and 5
Complete activities 10 and 11 on pp 190–191 of your textbook.
Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Communication Skills for International Students in Business, by Bretag, Crossman and Bordia

46. Summary
Formal business letters remain an important medium for business communication.
Most businesses prefer the full block style of letter, which incorporates easy to remember standard features.
All business communication documents need clarity, concreteness, completeness, conviction, conciseness and courtesy.
Business writers need to consider the psychological needs of the receiver.
Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Communication Skills for International Students in Business, by Bretag, Crossman and Bordia

47. Summary (cont.)
The AIDA (Attention, Interest, Desire, Action) model is useful for persuasive letter writing.
Cultural sensitivity is important for all business communication.
has replaced many traditional business documents but still needs to follow basic principles of effective communication, including following a standard format.
Always consider the advantages and disadvantages of before using it over traditional business documents.
Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Communication Skills for International Students in Business, by Bretag, Crossman and Bordia