TYPES OF CORRESPONDENCE

1. Employment letters - Reference and Recommendation letters - Job offer letter - Rejection letter - Resignation letter - Termination letter

2. Request and Response letter Making a request Responding to request 3. Letters of complaint 4. Claims and Adjustment letters 5. Social business letters 6. Formal invitations and Announcements

7. Thank you letter 8. Letter’s of Congratulation 9. Letter’s of Reference 10. Letter’s of Introduction 11. Letter’s of Condolence 12. Ways to successful letters 13. Cards 14. Electronic Communication

POINT OF VIEW

• This is one of the most obvious inconsistencies in writing. When you begin to write, you adopt a point of view- first person (‘ I’ , ‘me’, ‘my’, ‘mine’, ‘we’, ‘us’, ‘our’, ‘ours’,); second person (‘you’, ‘your’, ‘yours’); or third person (‘he’,’she’, ‘it’, ‘him’, ‘her’, ‘his’, ‘hers’, ‘its’, ‘they’, ‘them’, ‘their’, ‘theirs’ ). Your job is to select a point of view and stick with it. Readers find it hard to follow any piece of writing that shifts from one perspective to another.

PHRASES AVOIDED IN GOOD SOCIETY

• LOVELY FOOD• ELEGANT HOME• ATTENDED• I TRUST I AM NOT

TRESPASSING• WILL YOU ACCORD ME

PERMISSION• PERMIT ME TO ASSIST

YOU• BRAINY• I PRESUME• CONVERSE• A SONG ENTITLED

• GOOD FOOD• BEAUTIFUL HOUSE• WENT TO • I HOPE I AM NOT IN THE

WAY• WILL YOU LET ME ? OR

MAY I ?• LET ME HELP YOU

• BRILLIANT OR CLEVER• I SUPPOSE • TALK• CALLED

• I WILL ASCERTAIN• TOOK LIQUID

REFRESHMENT• TENDERED HIM A • BANQUET • CHARMED / PLEASED TO

MEET YOU

• I WILL FIND OUT • HAD SOMETHING TO

DRINK• GAVE HIM A• DINNER• HOW DO YOU DO ?

WRETCHED EXCESSES

WINDBAG STYLEANY AND ALLAS TO HOWDUE TO THE FACT THATIN CONNECTION WITHPREVIOUS TO/PRIOR TOSUBSEQUENT TO WISE ATTACHED TOANY WORD

SIMPLE STYLEALLHOWBECAUSEABOUTBEFOREAFTERABOUT OR CONCERNING

OTHER WRETCHED EXCESS• FINAL CONCLUSION

• MIX TO GETHER

• BASIC FUNDAMENTALS

• MEET TOGETHER

• CONSENSUS OF OPINION

• ADVANCE WARNING

Grammar AlertHE , SHE , OR THEY

Noun-pronoun conflict is a minefield for the careful writer.Personal pronouns and the nouns they refer to must agree in Number (singular or plural) and gender (masculine / he ; fem-inine / she ;or neuter/it ). Singular pronouns always refer to singular nouns, plural pronouns to plural nouns.But the advent of gender-neutral language has complicated otherdecisions. Jack still writes his report, and Jane still tracks her expense account. But what happens when every employeedoes something?

EVERY EMPLOYEE RECEIVES HIS PAY ENVELOPEON FRIDAYS. ( old style )

EVERY EMPLOYEE RECEIVES HIS OR HER PAYENVELOPE ON FRIDAYS. (awkward & irritating )

EVERY EMPLOYEE RECEIVES THEIR PAY ENVELOPEON FRIDAYS. (popular but ungrammatical )

ALL EMPLOYEES RECEIVE THEIR PAY CHECKSON FRIDAYS. (In this case, switching to a plural nounpreserves correct grammatical construction without the riskof offending ).

BUSINESS LETTERS

• STRUCTURE AND PRESENTATION

LAYOUT 1

Bredgade 51. DK 1260 Sender’s address Copenhagen K, DENMARKDate 6TH MAY

Soundsonic Ltd, Warwick House,

Warwick Street, Inside address Forest Hill,

(Receiver’s address) London SE23 1JF UNITED KINGDOM

Attention line For the attention of the Sales Manager

Salutation Dear Sir or Madam, Please would you send me details of your quadrophonic

sound systems which were advertised in the April edition of Body of the letter Sound Monthly?

I am particularly interested in the Omega range of equipment that you specialize in.

Complementry close Yours faithfully

Signature B.Kaasen

SOUNDSONIC Ltd. Warwick House, Warwick Street, Forest Hill, London SE23 1JF 1.2 Chairman John Franks O.B.E. Directors S.B.Allen MSc.,N. Ignot, R. Lichens B.A.

Telephone(081)566 1861 Fax: (081)566 1385 Telex:819713 Layout 2 Your ref: 6 May 19

Our ref: DS/MR Here is the firm’s reply to the letter from the prospective customer in Denmark. It Date: 11th May 19 shows some further features of a normal

business letter , and uses the kind of layout (blocked ,open punctuation, etc.)

Ms B. Kaasen which this book regards as standards. Bredgade 51 DK 1260 Letterhead Copenhagen k DENMARK References

Dear Ms Kaasen, Thank you very much for your enquiry which we received today. I am enclosing our catalogue and price-list for the equipment you said you were interested in. I would like to draw your attention to page 31- 35 in the catalogue where you will find full details of the Omega range.

We would welcome any further enquiries you have, and look forward to hearing from you. Yours sincerely,

p.p.D. Sampson Per pro

Sales manager Company position

Enc. Enclosure

SOUNDSONIC Ltd.1.3 Warkwick House, Warkwick Street , Forest Hill, LondonSE23 1JF

Layout 3 Chairman John Franks O.B.E. Directors S.b.Allen m.Sc , n. ignot , R. lichens B.A.

The final letter in this section shows Telephone(081)566 1385 Fax(081)5661385 Telex: 819713

Some further features of a business Your ref:

Letter Our ref : DS/MRDate: 21july 19-

Ms B . Kaasen Bregade 51 DK 1260 Copenhagen K DENMARK

Private and Private and confidentialConfidential

Dear Ms Kaasen,

Subject Non-pay ment of invoice 322/17

I m sorry to see that , despite several reminders , you have not yet paid the above –mentioned invoice. Unless , therefore ,the account is cleared within 14 days of the above date, I shall have no alternative

but to place the matter in the hands of our solicitors

Yours sincerely,

p.p. D. Sampson Sales manager

Copies c.c. Messrs. Poole & Jackson Ltd., Solicitors

WRITING MEMORANDA

• The format for memo’s differs from business letters in address , salutation , content and close.

• Example of a memo TO : The Creative and Copy Departments FROM : Madhu Sudan DATE : June 12 th 2002 SUBJECT : Annual Ad Campaigns It’s here again folks. The time has come to plan our Ad campaign for 2003 and this year our people are making it exciting for us………………….

WRITING REPORTS

• Reports can be informal or formal and written as memos, in letter style , or in short or formal report format.

• The format for short reports generally comprises of the following :

Title page Summary page Letter of authorization for the project Statement of purpose or assignment Findings and conclusions Recommendations

FORMAL REPORTMembers who have questions to ask in connection with thestatement of accounts are requested to send them in writingto the secretary by 2 PM on Saturday 27 July, 2002. CONTENTS Notice 2 Report of the General Committee 4 Auditor’s Report 6 Balance Sheet 9 Income & Expenditure Account 10 Schedule 1.Reserves & Surplus 11 2.Fixed Assets 12 3.Investments 13

4.Inventories 13 5.Sundry Debtors 14 6.Cash & Bank Balances 14 7.Other Current Assets 14 8.Loans & Advances 15 9.Current Liabilities 15 10.Provisions 15 11.Deferred Revenue 15

Expenditure 12.Surplus on 16

Departmental Sales 13.Other Receipts 17 Balance Sheet Abstract and Company’s General Business Profile 18

REQUEST LETTERMr. Abhijeet Singh,Sales and Marketing Director,Hotel Raddison,Gurgoan Road, New Delhi –110011.

Dear Mr. Abhijeet Singh, Following our telephone conversation of June12th, I am writing to request further information about accommodation andmeeting spaces for the Sure Thing Companies regional sales conferenceto be held from July 18 – 20, 2002. Although I cannot confirm numbersuntil registration for the conference, I have estimated that we will require:- 40 Single rooms- 25 Double rooms

Note : This letter demonstrates how to write succinctly but graciously. This request for information is sufficiently specific yet appropriately noncommittal.

- 2 Guest rooms- 19th July’s Evening use of Presidential Ballroom including Audio-Visual equipment.My goal is to finalize our site within the next two weeks. If we selectHotel Raddison, I look forward to work with you and your meetingplanner on the specifics of food service and transport. Thank you very much for your assistance and interest.

Yours Sincerely,

(Monica Williams)- Vice President, Sales

Ms.Monica Williams RESPONSE - LETTERVice President Sales,Sure Thing Company,56th Easy Street, New Delhi – 110002.

Dear Ms. Williams, I am delighted that Hotel Raddison is under consideration for your regional sales conference.We are very proud of ourcorporate services and facilities and I know we meet all expectations.The Presidential ballroom is available for the dates of your conference butbecause they are always in demand I hope we can reserve them for you as soon as possible. The Raddison hotel has 250 guest rooms and luxury suites. For a group of your size we offer excellent corporate rates. I amenclosing a sheet that fully explains corporate pricing and cancellationpolicies. I am including customized meeting and events planning packagewhich includes information that may help your decision. The package

includes details about dimensions, seating capacities, equipment, food andtransportation capabilities. I also want to invite you and members of your staff for a red carpet tour of Hotel Raddison. Please call me with a timethat is convenient for you and if there is any other information that you need, my direct number is 011-6893456. All of us at Hotel Raddisonlook forward to welcoming you and Sure Thing Company to our hotel.

Yours Sincerely, Abhijeet Singh Sales & Marketing Director

ADJUSTMENT LETTER

Mr. Ranjeet Verma,Hardware and General Store,123, Drop Down Plaza,Bangalore.

Dear Mr. Verma, We appreciate your letter regarding the billing of yourrecent order of 12 gross of international items. We completely understandyour surprise at the amount charged since you anticipated receiving the 15% volume discount advertised in our winter catalogue. The discountoffer made in international winter catalogue was however clearly limitedto orders received by March 31st, 2002. While we allow a few days grace to account for mailing delays your order was dated and received almost 3weeks after the deadline for the discount offer. In keeping with long

standing corporate policy we cannot extend the discount when so much time has passed between the cutoff date for the discount and placement of the order. I hope you will understand that our decision is a matter of policy and fairness to all our customers.

Sincerely Yours, Albert Dicosta

THANK YOU NOTES

Dear Arun, Thanks so much for the lunch today- and for introducing me to the Pot O’ Gold. I can understand why it isyour favourite restaurant. The conversation was almost asdelicious as the Grilled Fish and I really appreciated your wise counsel about the transfer order.

Yours,Anand

LETTER OF CONDELENCE

Dear Agnes, I have just read the announcement of yourmother’s death, and I send my sympathy and praise to you.Your mother was a very special friend to me, and I shallalways miss her. Sincerely, Chetan

LETTER OF CONGRATULATION

Dear Vinay Gupta, Congratulations ! I heard from your parents that you won the scholarship. All the best wishesfor a bright future filled with many great opportunities.

Sincerely, Chandershekar

LETTER OF APOLOGY

Dear Mrs. Katake, Your son has just told me that our dog got into your flower bed and did a great deal of damage. My husband will build a fence around his pen higher tonight, and he will not be able to escape again. I shall send some plants to replace those that were ruined although I am afraid that new ones cannot compensate for those you lost. I can only ask you to accept my apologies. Sincerely Yours, Manju Nath

LETTER OF REFERENCEMs. Niharika Nehlani,Director of Personal, Village Book Shop, 2 Main Street,Banglore.

Dear Ms. Nehlani, I am pleased to address you about James Black who has served as a tutor for my son over the past 2 yrs. His conscientiousness in preparing lessons & his skill in explaining difficult problems have

beencommendable.He has been prompt & extremely courteous. I understand that you are considering him for a summerjob in your store & could not recommend him more highly. Please free to call me at 6850861.

Sincerely, Diana Hyden

REJECTION LETTER

This letter illustrates how to reject an applicant withoutdestroying dignity.Thapar Legal Law firm,Tukaram Marg,New Delhi- 110010Dear Ajit, I had hoped to write a different letter but the firm has decided to offer the associates position to anotherattorney. This is real disappointment for me because I have been genuinely impressed by your qualifications, your

intelligence and your great energy. But the successful candidate has experience in the areas of intellectual copyright and East Asian law and languages that is nearly unique. Even so the competition was close, and all partners are truly grateful for all the time and effort you put in the process. I feel certain that you will have a position that suits your exceptional talents very soon. In fact, I would like to recommend you to a colleague of mine if you agree, please call me at your earliest convenience so that we can discuss his firm & the opportunities offered. Let me say how much I have enjoyed getting to know you. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Yours truly,

(Vivek Saxena) Senior Partner

RESIGNATION LETTER

Tara Deshpande, MDDirector of Medical Services, AIIMSSafdurjung Road,New Delhi- 110012.

Dear Dr. Deshpande, I am resigning my position as chief ofOrthopedic rehabilitation services effective immediately. Ihave found every day of my employment rewarding becauseof the quality of staff and their dedication. The recent vote of the Board to cut funding for rehabilitation services displays a lack of insight that makes my position intolerable.

I am convinced that the Board plans to privatize rehab services and dramatically alter its medical mission. You know my feelings about “ Practice for Profit” .I am confident that you will understand my choice to resign rather than participate in the dismantling of my department.

Sincerely Yours,

(Manishankar Iyer) Chief of Rehabilitation Services

SALES LETTER – THE TEN THINGS TO REMEMBER WHEN YOU SAY NO1. Your attitude writes the letter, so avoid anger and

indignation.2. First put yourself in the other fellow’s shoes.3. Look for logical reasons for a complaint or unusual

request even if they were not expressed.4. Agree if you can.5. Say NO with care and thoughtfulness.6. Avoid expressions that may create anger.7. Start out with something the reader will like.8. Take a lot of space and time to give your reasons for

refusal.9. Explain your rejection from the standpoint of the reader.10. End your letter with something you will do for him.