UNIT 3: Introduction to Business Letters

Introduction to Business Letters: Positive and Negative Messages

An introductory business letter is supposed to make a good impression with a potential customer (called a prospect). Writing a letter to introduce your business to someone involves shifting the focus to your correspondent, engaging his or her interest, and launching a conversation, rather than a lecture:

• Start with a bang. Open with a sentence that grabs interest and establishes a reason to keep reading.
• Introduce yourself in terms that matter to the person to whom you’re writing. If you can, refer to a previous meeting or mutual acquaintance.
• Tell the prospect what you can do for him or her. Explain your offering by conveying benefits that the prospect can count on, rather than simply reciting a list of the features involved.
• Keep your letter short. Keep sentences short. Keep paragraphs short. And limit the length to a single page.
• Make a clear point. Maybe you just want to say thanks. Maybe you want to tell the person that you’ll be calling next week. Maybe you want to set an appointment. Or maybe you want to announce a good deal.
• Edit and proofread. Delete as many I’s as you can. Then read the letter for accuracy, double checking that you’ve spelled the recipient’s name and address perfectly.
• Sign your letter. Amidst all the junk mail, a personally worded letter with an original signature on good stationery can make a great impression.

Positive Letters

Delivering Good or Neutral News

Hopefully, most of the communication you will do in the workplace will involve giving neutral or good news. Usually, a direct approach is best. Consider the context in which most people receive workplace communication. Some studies have found that the average worker receives 90 emails per day and sends 40 emails per day. Now, imagine that every time the worker receives an email, they need to spend 1 minute re-reading it because the point of the email was not immediately obvious. That would be 1.5 hours of wasted time! If you factor in lost productivity due to miscommunication, the cost is even higher.

When it comes to neutral or positive messages, usually the best strategy is to get to the point. Make it clear:

• Why you’re writing.
• What supporting details the reader needs to know.
• If the reader needs to do anything.

It’s this last point that business communicators often stumble on. They give the information, but forget to tell the audience what to do with the information. The reader is left wondering whether they’re just supposed to be aware that the information exists, or if they’re supposed to act on it in some way.

One helpful tip is to end the communication by looking towards the future. Tell the reader what you want them to do. If they merely need to be aware of the information, you could use a phrase like “If you have any questions, let me know.” If they need to do something, state it clearly. For example, you might say, “Please send your changes to this document to me by Thursday at 10 am so that I can get them into the final draft.”

You might find this format helpful:

• Be direct: start with the good news to put the reader in a positive frame of mind.
• Give supporting details, explanation and commentary.These should be clearly organized. If you have a large amount of information, you may choose to use bullet points, headings or links/attachments.
• If there are any drawbacks, state them clearly but positively. (“Please mail the defective phone back so that we can issue you a new model).
• End with a note of thanks or congratulations.

Negative

A bad news message (or negative news message) delivers news that the audience does not want to hear, read, or receive. Delivering negative news is never easy. Whether you are informing someone they are being laid off or providing constructive criticism on their job performance, how you choose to deliver the message can influence its response.

Some people prefer their bad news to be direct and concise. Others may prefer a less direct approach. How you break bad news will also depend on your culture, your family and norms of your industry. For example, people in India might be very direct with their family and close friends, but use an indirect approach in a workplace setting.

Regardless of whether you determine a direct or indirect approach is warranted, your job is to deliver news that you anticipate will be unwelcome, unwanted, and possibly dismissed.

There are seven goals to keep in mind when delivering negative news, in person or in written form:

1.     Be clear and concise to minimize the chances of confusion or back-and-forth communication.

2.     Help the receiver understand and accept the news.

3.     Maintain trust and respect for the business or organization and for the receiver.

4.     Avoid legal liability or erroneous admission of guilt or culpability.

5.     Maintain the relationship, even if a formal association is being terminated. (Note: this only applies to situations where you want the relationship to continue. When dealing with an abusive client, for example, your goal might be to clearly sever the relationship).

6.     Reduce the anxiety associated with the negative news to increase comprehension.

7.     Achieve the designated business outcome.

Writing Routine and Persuasive Letters

Routine Letters

“A business letter is a letter written in formal language, usually used when writingfrom one business organization to another, or for correspondence between such organizations and their customers, clients and other external parties. Types of Routine Business Letters”: Persuasive Letters

Persuasive Letter is a letter written to persuade an organisation/s or individual/s towards accepting the writer’s (sender’s) issue, interest or perspective. It can be written to any type of organisation i.e. school, bank, college, NGO, municipality etc. The individuals can be a director, CEO, government official etc. The motive of the persuasion letter is to ‘Get your work done’ in layman terms.

The persuasion can be related to any matter, it can be:

• A complaint
• A sale
• A petition
• A request or any other matter which requires convincing

Taking that into note, persuasion letter is a broad term inclusive of Cover Letter, Complaint Letter, Petition Letter, Request Letter, and Sales Letter. This is because in all of the above mentioned there is moderate to maximum amount of persuasion on part of the sender. 

Depending upon the region where you live a Complaint Letter or a Sales Letter may be an interchangeable name for a Persuasive letter. Persuasion letter comes under formal letter type and follows certain formats like Full Block Style, Semi-Block Style, Modified Block Style and Modified Semi-Block Style. As mentioned earlier about the formal nature of letters of persuasion, you can include certain informal elements depending upon the need. While a persuasive letter may or may not be successful in its objective, it does raise awareness about the matter addressed. And it can act as a source of inspiration for others when you are addressing certain important social issues.

Writing Memos

A memo (also known as a memorandum, or “reminder”) is used for internal communications regarding procedures or official business within an organization.

Unlike an email, a memo is a message you send to a large group of employees, like your entire department or everyone at the company. You might need to write a memo to inform staff of upcoming events, or broadcast internal changes.

Report Writing Purpose

A report is a written account of something that one has observed, heard, done, or investigated. It is a systematic and well organized presentation of facts and findings of an event that has already taken place somewhere. Reports are used as a form of written assessment to find out what you have learned from your reading, research or experience and to give you experience of an important skill that is widely used in the work place.

Reports communicate information which has been compiled as a result of research and analysis of data and of issues. Reports can cover a wide range of topics, but usually focus on transmitting information with a clear purpose, to a specific audience. Good reports are documents that are accurate, objective and complete. They should also be well-written, clearly structured and expressed in a way that holds the reader’s attention and meets their expectations. The true value of the research may be assessed through a report since the written report may be the “only tangible product of hundreds of hours of work. Rightly or wrongly, the quality and worth of that work are judged by the quality of the written report – its clarity, organization and content” (Blake & Bly, 1993: 119). Often reports are structured in a way that reflects the information finding process and the writing up of the findings: that is, summary of the contents, introduction or background, methods, results, discussion, conclusion and/or recommendations. The inclusion of recommendations is one reason why reports are a common form of writing in industry, as the informed recommendations are useful for decision making.

The scope and style of reports varies widely. It depends on three key factors: the report’s intended audience, the report’s purpose and the type of information to be communicated; for example, technical reports communicate technical information, so the degree of technicality in the report will depend on the reader’s familiarity and understanding of technical concepts.

At university, you may be required to write several different types of reports.

• Technical and Business disciplines with an applied focus such as Engineering, Information Technology, Commerce, Accounting and Finance, will set report writing assignments that simulate the process of report writing in industry. Assignments are set in the form of a problem or a case study. The students research the problem, and present the results of the research in a report format to an imaginary client.
• Field reports are common in disciplines such as Law, Industrial Relations, Psychology, Nursing, History and Education. These types of reports require the student to analyse his or her observations of phenomena or events in the real world in light of theories studied in the course. Examples of field reports are a Court observation report, an observation report of a child or a patient for Developmental psychology or Nursing, a History site report, and a teaching observation report for Education.
• Scientific reports (also called laboratory reports) are another kind of report. They are common in all the Sciences and Social Sciences. These reports use a standard scientific report format describing methods, results and conclusions to report upon an empirical investigation. A more detailed and extensive type of this report is the research project report for fourth year honours students or research students involved in postgraduate studies.

 

Kinds and Objectives of Report writing

Kinds of Report writing

Long Report and Short Reports:

These kinds of reports are quite clear, as the name suggests. A two-page report or sometimes referred to as a memorandum is short, and a thirty-page report is absolutely long. But what makes a clear division of short reports or long reports? Well, usually, notice that longer reports are generally written in a formal manner.

Internal and External Reports:

As the name suggests, an internal report stays within a certain organization or group of people. In the case of office settings, internal reports are for within the organization.

We prepare external reports, such as a news report in the newspaper about an incident or the annual reports of companies for distribution outside the organization. We call these as public reports.

Vertical and Lateral Reports:

This is about the hierarchy of the reports’ ultimate target. If the report is for your management or for your mentees, it’s a vertical report. Wherever a direction of upwards or downwards comes into motion, we call it a vertical report.

Lateral reports, on the other hand, assist in coordination in the organization.  A report traveling between units of the same organization level (for example, a report among the administration and finance departments) is lateral.

Periodic Reports:

Periodic reports are sent out on regularly pre-scheduled dates. In most cases, their direction is upward and serves as management control. Some, like annual reports, is not vertical but is a Government mandate to be periodic in nature.

That is why we have annual or quarterly or half-yearly reports. If they are this frequent, it only makes sense to pre-set the structure of these reports and just fill in the data every period. That’s exactly what happens in most cases too.

Formal and Informal Reports:

Formal reports are meticulously structured. They focus on objectivity and organization, contain deeper detail, and the writer must write them in a style that eliminates factors like personal pronouns.

Informal reports are usually short messages with free-flowing, casual use of language. We generally describe the internal report/memorandum as an informal report. For example, a report among your peers, or a report for your small group or team, etc.

Informational and Analytical Reports:

Informational reports (attendance reports, annual budget reports, monthly financial reports, and such) carry objective information from one area of an organization to maybe a larger system.

Analytical reports (scientific research, feasibility reports, and employee appraisals) show attempts to solve actual problems. These analytical reports usually require suggestions at the end.

Proposal Reports:

These kinds of reports are like an extension to the analytical/problem-solving reports. A proposal is a document one prepares to describe how one organization can provide a solution to a problem they are facing.

There’s usually always a need to prepare a report in a business set-up. The end goal is usually very solution-oriented. We call such kinds of reports as proposal reports.

Functional Reports:

These kinds of reports include marketing reports, financial reports, accounting reports, and a spectrum of other reports that provide a function specifically. By and large, we can include almost all reports in most of these categories. Furthermore, we can include a single report in several kinds of reports.

Objectives of Report writing

1.    Decision Making Tool: Today’s complex business organizations require thousands of information. A  Reports provide the required information a large number of important decisions in business or any other area are taken on the basis of information presented in the reports. This is one of the great importance of report.

2.    Investigation: Whenever there is any problem, a committee or commission or study group investigates the problem to find out the reason behind the problem and present the findings with or without the recommendation in the form of a report. It is another importance of report.

3.    Evaluation: Large scale organizations are engaged in multidimensional activities. It is not possible for a single top executive to keep personal watch on what others are doing. So, the executive depends on reports to evaluate the performance of various departments or units.

4.    Quick Location: There is no denying the fact that business executives need information for quick decision-making. As top executives are found to be busy for various purposes), they need vital sources of information. Such sources can be business reports.

5.    Development of skill: Report writing skill develops the power of designing, organization coordination, judgment and communication.

6.    Neutral presentation of facts: Facts are required to be presented in a neutral way; such presentation is ensured through a report as it investigates, explains and evaluates any fact independently.

7.    Professional Advancement: Report also plays a major role in professional achievement. For promotion to the rank and file position, satisfactory job performance is enough to help a person. But for promotion to high level position, intellectual ability is highly required. Such ability can be expressed through the report submitted to higher authority.

8.    Proper Control: Whether activities are happening according to plan or not is expressed through a report. So, controlling activities are implemented based on the information of a report.

9.    A managerial Tool: Various reports make activities easy for the managers. For planning, organizing, coordinating, motivating and controlling, manager needs help from a report which acts as a source of information.

10.                      Encountering Advance and Complex Situation: In a large business organization, there is always some sort of labor problems which may bring complex situations. To tackle that situation, managers take the help of a report.

Presentation Skills: What is a Presentation elements of presentation designing a Presentation

The Extreme Presentation method takes a marketing approach to presentation design: focusing on how to “sell” your ideas to your audience.  The method consists of the five essential elements of an effective presentation and ten practical steps to put each of those elements into practice.

The circle in the center of the Extreme Presentation method diagram, with the word “impact” in it, indicates that the entire purpose of the method is to ensure that you have impact on your audience.  Around that inner circle, the next ring contains the five essential elements of an effective presentation:

• Logic: we need to make sure that there is solid logic in our presentation and that our recommendations are robust;
• Rhetoric: we must tell an interesting story, in a compelling way.  Logic is important, but of no use to you if everyone has tuned out because they are bored;
• Graphics: to make sure that you are using the most effective visual elements and overall layout;
• Politics: to apply effective influence in order to get your audience to take action; and
• Metrics: to be clear on what the specific objective is for the presentation, and how success will be measured.

There are two steps in each of the five elements, for a total of ten steps.  These steps are:

1.    Audience: Identify the communication preferences of the different personality types

2.    Objectives: Set specific objectives for what you want your audience to think and do differently after your presentation

3.    Problem/Solution: Identify a problem your audience has that your presentation will contribute to solving

4.    Evidence: List all the information that you think you may need to include in your presentation

5.    Anecdotes: Identify brief anecdotes that highlight your most important points

6.    Sequencing: Sequence your information so that it tells a compelling story

7.    Graphics: Identify the most effective graphical elements to use in your presentation

8.    Layout: Create slides that communicate your information concisely and effectively

9.    Stakeholders: Identify any potential roadblocks to achieving your objectives, and make a plan to deal with each

10.                      Measurement: Decide how you will measure the success of your presentation

Advanced Visual Support for Business Presentation: Types of Visual Aid

Good visuals in a business presentation can range from complex videos to a simple poster. For those presenters who are not skilled in the video arts, there are several ways to present information with visuals that will help your audience remember key points long after your presentation has ended. Three effective methods include PowerPoint presentations, flip charts and posters.

PowerPoint Presentations

PowerPoint offers hundreds of font, audio and image options for its users. The first thing presenters should understand is that just because there are 350 font options does not mean you should use them. Always use either light font over a dark background or dark font over a light background. Avoid red font and green backgrounds or fonts and backgrounds that are close on the color wheel as they will be difficult to read. Follow the rule of 8. The rule of 8 states that you should be able to read your presentation while standing 8 feet away from the standard computer screen. If the font is too small to read from this distance, it will be too small to read in your presentation. Include a maximum of five points per page.

Effective Flip Charts

Flip Charts are not only inexpensive but they can also be used for ideas and brainstorming within the context of the meeting. Use dark markers to write on a flip chart and make sure you have plenty of paper on the flip chart pad. Some flip charts now have adhesive on the back of each page so the presenter when finished, can stick the page to a corresponding wall that the audience can see. This feature prevents having to flip back and forth from page to page wasting valuable time and allows for writing a free flow of ideas with ease.

Effective Posters

Posters are prepared much in advance of a presentation. The simplest posters can be made from poster board with graphics and text added with glue or tape. More advanced posters can be made using PowerPoint and then printed and laminated for a more professional look. Change the size of your PowerPoint slide to a good poster size, such as 2-by-3 feet , and decrease the view percentage on your computer screen to around 25 percent, or the smallest view that still allows you to see each element clearly. PowerPoint hints also apply to poster design. Avoid designing posters that are too busy or have too much text. A poster should have an eye-catching visual that tells the story without viewers having to read paragraphs of accompanying text.

Considerations

Simplicity is key in conveying information visually. The more complex the visual, the more likely you are to lose the message you are trying to convey. Visuals can help your audience retain information up to six times longer. Beware, however, of staying on one visual for too long. According to The Eggleston Group, studies show that audience members become bored with a visual after 7 to 10 seconds. Always rehearse with your visuals. Don’t forget to inspect the room where you will be presenting to make sure the elements required for your presentation, such as projectors, screens and outlets, are available. 

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