English for Business Communication

Contents Module 1 Written

communication------ an overview

Module 2 Establishment of Business Relations

Module 3 Inquiries and replies

Module 4 Making Quotations & Offers

Module 5 Counteroffers & Declining Orders

Module 6 Acceptance & Orders

ContentsContents

Module 7 Terms of Payment

Module 8 Letter of Credit

Module 9 Packing & Shipment

Module 10 Insurance

Module 11 Complaints & Claim

Learning Objectives Be able to grasp the basic principles of

business letter writing Be able to grasp the layout of business

letters Be able to grasp the envelope addressing Be able to grasp e-mail writing

Preface

1.Definition English business correspondence refers to the

letters , cables, telexes, faxes and e-mails dealing in international business, as well as in domestic trade, of course.

2. Aim

The purpose of this course is to help you learn how to write good business letters by using up-to-date expressions in the simplest possible language.

1. It has its unique language style and jargons 2. It is full of business terminations and abbreviations3. There is a close relations between EBC and

international trade

3. Features

We are in the market for silk blouses and should be pleased if you could kindly quote us your keenest prices CFRLondon for the goods below

Offer quotation order counteroffer letter of credit CIF FOB

YL11/11RVD S/C123 L/CUNRCV PLSRUSH

Examples:

Task 1 Warming-up Discussion Suppose you work for China National Garmen

ts Imp. & Exp. Corporation. Counsellor's Office of the British Embassy in Beijing, from which you note that they are in the market for silk blouses. Now, you are requested to write a letter to the buyer. Can you list the layout of your business letter?

Specimen Letters Study

1 J &J Plaza New Brunswick, NJ 089333 U.S.A. Tel: 732-524-0400 Fax: 732-525-0622

E-mail: carrie@jnj.com Date: 22nd July, 20-- Soft Health Care Product Corp. Room 2301 Yili BLD, 35 Nanjing Road, Shanghai, China Attention: Mr. Wang , Import Dept.

Dear Sir, Re: SHAMPOO We’ve received your letter of July 10th enquiring about our JOHNSON'S® Baby Shampoo With Natural Lavender, but unfortunately, the stock of this product is running low due to the heavy demand. But we will inform you as soon as the new supplies come up. We sell a wide variety of Baby’s Shampoo. All of them are made of the NO MORE TEARS formula. For your reference, we enclose an illustrated catalogue of our shampoos and we hope you will find it interesting. We hope that we can close business to our mutual advantage in the future. Yours faithfully, Johnson & Johnson

Doris Fergoson Doris Fergoson (Manager)

The Layout of business letters

A. The standard parts

B. The optional parts

Layout of Business Letters

A. The standard parts

(1)the letterhead

(2)the inside address

(3)the date

(4)the salutation

(5)the body of the letter

(6)the complimentary close

(7)the signature

Layout of Business Letters

B. The optional parts

(1)the references

(2)the special markings

(3)the subject line

(4)the enclosure

(5)the carbon copy notation

Form of a business letter

1.The fully blocked style

This layout reduces typing time as all typing lines begin at the left margin there are no indentations for new paragraphs or the closing section.

1 J &J Plaza New Brunswick,

NJ 089333 U.S.A. Tel: 732-524-0400 Fax: 732-525-0622

E-mail: carrie@jnj.com Date: 22nd July, 20-- Soft Health Care Product Corp. Room 2301 Yili BLD, 35 Nanjing Road, Shanghai, China Attention: Mr. Wang , Import Dept.

Dear Sir, Re: SHAMPOO We’ve received your letter of July 10th enquiring about our JOHNSON'S® Baby Shampoo With Natural Lavender, but unfortunately, the stock of this product is running low due to the heavy demand. But we will inform you as soon as the new supplies come up. We sell a wide variety of Baby’s Shampoo. All of them are made of the NO MORE TEARS formula. For your reference, we enclose an illustrated catalogue of our shampoos and we hope you will find it interesting. We hope that we can close business to our mutual advantage in the future. Yours faithfully, Johnson & Johnson

Doris Fergoson Doris Fergoson (Manager)

齐头式示例

除信头外全部左对齐

2. Indented style

Indented style refers to each paragraph (body of the letter) taking in the first line of each paragraph in the body of the letter, five spaces for type, and other parts are the same as a fully-blocked style.

Form of a business letter

Nippon International Trading Co.Ltd. 3 Mihonbashi, Honcho 3 Chome Chuo-ku Tokyo 104 Japan The Wilson Company 1377 Main Stree Dallas, Texas 7522 U.S.A. Attn.:Shipping Dept.Shipping AdviceDear Sirs,We are pleased to advise you that your Order for 5,000 pcs of men’s shirts have been forwarded onto S/SPeace this morning.Enclosed please find a full set of copy shipping documents as required in your L/C No.332.We are very glad to have been able to executed your order as stipulated and assure you of our closecooperation with you in all your future dealings.Yours faithfully,Nippon International Trading Co.LtdSales Manager: YOKOYAMA

Enc. As Stated.

缩行式示例

3. Modified Blocked-Style with Indented Paragraphs

Placement of the letterhead, the date, the complimentary close and the signature on the right side of the paper. Paragraphs have indentation with five spaces from the left margin in the letter. And this form is current used.

Form of a business letter

SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS

310 Taepyung-ro 2-ga, Chung-gu Seoul, 100-102, Korea

Tel: 82-2-3706-1114 Our Reference No. ODL-11 E-mail: qsl@samsungcorp.com Your Reference No. Date: 23rd December, 20-- Shandong Science & Technology Co. Ltd. 21/F Bright Plaza 138 Jinni Road, Jinan Shandong, China Attention: Mr. Zhou Jun, Import Dept. Dear Sir,

Re: Our Offer for PDA Type III-H

Thank you for your interest in our latest Personal Digital Assistant Type III-H.

As requested, we offer you 500 sets of PDA at USD140 per set FOB Inchon for shipment in

February, 20--. We require payment by L/C.

Because there is an increasing demand for this product, our price is non-negotiable. We look

forward to your reply.

Yours truly,

Samsung Electronics Lavis Kim Lavis Kim (Manager)

改良齐头式示例

参考编号和日期靠右

签名偏右

Envelopes addressing

accuracy clearness appearance

The principles of addressing envelopes:

Name and address of the receiver should be typed above half way down the envelope, leaving enough space for the postmark or stamps.

the return address should be printed in the upper left corner of the envelope.

Post notations such as ‘Registered’, ‘Certified’ or ‘Confidential’ should be placed in the bottom left-hand corner.

Envelopes addressing

Envelopes addressing When a letter is mailed to a third person who is bound

to pass it onto the addressee, write the third person's name down below the addressee’s, write the words ‘care of’ in front of it.

齐头式举例

CHINA NATIONAL CEREALS, OILS AND FOODSTUFFS IMP & EXP CORP.

11th Floor, Jingxin Bldg. 2A Dong San Huan Beilu stamp

Beijing, People’s Republic of China

EL MAR PACKING COMPANY

12 MAIN STREET, FRESNO

CALIFORNia, USA

Confidential

Par Avion

写信人名称地址

收信人名称地址：左端对齐

缩格式举例MESSRS WILLIAM & SONS

76 Lancaster House stamp

Manchester,

England

Mr. Wang Kai-ming

CHINA NATIONAL TRANSPORT CO.

120 Nanjing Road

Shanghai, China

Registered

收信人名称地址：逐行右缩

写信人名称地址

捎交Mr. Charles Wood

Kindness of Mr. J. W. Smith

由Mr. J. W. Smith 捎交给Mr. Charles Wood

转交

Mr. Part Davis

c/o Mr. Harold Bean

32 Bright Street

Rangoon, Burma

Mr. Brian Tories

c/o Overseas Trading Co.

153 Market Street

London

最终收信人

转交人转交人地址

Layout of E-mails

电子邮件格式

外发的邮件收件人

被抄送人

被暗抄人事由

主体部分

添加附件处

接收的邮件

主体部分

发件人

收件人

被抄送人

事由

日期

附件

Language and tone       Choose the method of communication carefully.

       Create the document thoughtfully.

       Present the document so that it looks good and gives an impression of efficiency and reliability.

       Use a format that is neat, easy to read and structures logically.

       Use appropriate tone, considering the circumstances, the situation and the recipient.

       Ensure your message is accurate in terms of grammar, spelling and punctuation.

1. Remember your ABC

Accurate Check facts carefully

Include all relevant details

Proofread thoroughly

Brief keep sentences short

Use simple expressions

Use non-technical language

Clear Use plain, simple English

Write in an easy, natural style

Avoid formality or familiarity

2. Be courteous and considerate

Reply promptly to all communications-answer on the same day if possible.

If you cannot answer immediately, write a brief note and explain why. This will create goodwill.

Understand and respect the recipient’s point of view.

Resist the temptation to reply as if your correspondent is wrong.

If you feel some comments are unfair, be tactful and try not to cause offence.

Resist the temptation to reply to an offensive letter in a similar tone. Instead, answer courteously and do not lower your dignity.

3. Use appropriate tone

If your letter is to achieve its purpose the tone must be appropriate. The tone of your letter reflects the spirit in which you put your letter across.

You alter your tone of voice to convey messages in different ways. Much of what you say is also interpreted through non-verbal clues----- eye contact, gestures, inflections of the voice, etc. This type of ‘reading between the lines’ is not possible with the written word. Therefore it is vital to choose your words carefully. You can be firm or friendly, persuasive or conciliatory—it depends on the impression you wish to convey. It is important to try to get the tone right because using the wrong tone could cause real offence to your reader.

4. Write naturally and sincerely

Try to show a genuine interest in your reader and his/her problems. Your message should sound sincere while written in your own style. Write naturally, as if you are having a conversation.

5. Remember the KISS principles

KISS stands for:

Keep

It

Short and

Simple

KISS means instead of long or complex words, use short ones.

6. Use modern terminology

Old-fashioned phrases add nothing to your meaning. Such unnecessary, long-winded phrases are likely to give a poor impression of the writer and may even lead to confusion. A good business letter will use no more words than are necessary to convey a clear and accurate message.

7. Include essential details

If the recipient of your letter must ask a question, or if something is unclear, then something has been omitted from your message. Do not leave anything to chance. Include all essential information.

8. Be consistent

Consistency is not only important in the way your massage is presented, it is important within the message itself.

The people attending will be George Bush, Bill Clinton and Denny from the Sales.

The people attending the next committee meeting will be George Bush, Bill Clinton and Denny Smith.

9. Use active not passive voice

‘Voice’ is a grammatical term that refers to whether the subject of the sentence is acting or receiving the action. Using active voice can considerably improve your writing style. Active voice makes your writing more interesting, more lively and more -- well, active!

Active voice: Tom played the violin.

Passive voice: The violin was played by Tom.

Make comparisons:

10. Compose CLEAR communications

CLEAR objectives. Your message should be:

Clear Leave no doubt in your reader’s mind. Help yourself by being specific, avoiding vague expressions, using familiar words and using simple English. Remember also to use straightforward language that your reader can understand, written in a friendly, natural, conversational style.

10. Compose CLEAR communications

CLEAR objectives. Your message should be:

Logical Structure your message logically, remembering to use the 4 point plan. Start with an introduction, develop your points logically in the central section, and come to a natural conclusion in which you state the action you need from the reader. Finish with an appropriate one-line.

Empathetic Put yourself in your reader’s place and ask yourself how the reader will feel when he /she reads your letter. If anything is unclear, or if anything is worded badly, then change it before you sent it.

Accurate Make sure all the relevant details are included------times, dates, names of commodity, facts and figures.

Right Proofread carefully (not just spell check) to make sure everything is 100% right before you sent the message.

CLEAR objectives. Your message should be:

The Seven Cs Consideration Courtesy Clarity Conciseness Concreteness Correctness Completeness

Consideration

Completeness

Concreteness Clarity

Conciseness

Correctness Courtesy

7Cs

Effective Business Writing Criteria

The motto in business letter-writing

A letter is personal contact. The exchange of information is basic to business. Letters should be easy to read and easy to understand, they must be friendly and courteous. Business letters should develop goodwill.

Structuring communications 4 POINT PLAN Introduction

(Background and Basics)

Details(Facts and Figures)

Response or Action(Conclusion)

Close(A simple one-liner)

1

2

3

4

Situational Training---1 Headings

Date

Inside address

Special markings

Salutation

Subject line

Body

Complimentary close

Signature

Enc. CC to

Situational Training---2

Sender’s name & address stamp

recipient’s name & address

Postal ways