Styles and Classification of Business Letters

Posted on Aug 18, 2024 in Law & Jurisprudence

Styles of Business Letters

There are several forms of business letter style:

  • Modern
  • Modern Modified
  • Professional
  • Evolved

A. Modern

Starts on the left side of the paper and does not use any indentation.

B. Modern Modified

Similar to modern style, except for the farewell, signatory formula, and signature, which are written from the center of the page to the right margin.

If the type of window is on the right, the recipient’s address will be on that side.

C. Professional Style

The professional style uses indentation for the greeting and the beginning of each paragraph. This indentation is usually 1.5 to 2.5 cm or 7 to 10 spaces on the space bar.

The recipient’s address appears on the right. The farewell, signatory formula, and signature may appear in different ways: either from the center to the right, aligned to the right margin, or even centered.

D. Evolved Style

Aims to simplify the content of business letters through direct engagement with the issue. To achieve this objective, it ignores the greeting and farewell formulas, opting for the rest of the distribution with any of the three types discussed above.

Classification of Business Letters

  • Report Cards
  • Letters of Request
  • Letters of Complaint

Report Cards

  • Business Reports: These are letters addressed to other people in the same sector, the same activity, credit institutions, etc., in which information is collected about current and future customers and/or suppliers, relating to aspects such as their economic situation, their seriousness, or projection.
  • Personal Reports: These letters are addressed to companies in which information is requested on the people who know them for providing services.

Letters of Request

  • Request for Information: These letters are addressed to potential suppliers, requesting regular information about their products to place an order.
  • Charter Firm Order: Once the client company receives the information sent by the supplier, the order is made in writing and signed. It must include a detailed description of the order, which generally contains information on the following elements: type of item, part number, unit price, total amount, payment, discount (if any), delivery, and reception venue.
  • Letters of Acceptance of Order: This is the kind of letter that the seller or supplier sends to their customer, communicating the approval or acceptance of the request made. It is not necessary to repeat the terms or conditions of the order unless there has been any change or difference in their conditions. This possible modification that alters the order must be communicated immediately to the customer. If it is the denial of the request, it must be reported politely so as not to offend the client and affect future relations.
  • Order Collection Letter: These are sent by the supplier with the document or documents giving rise to the sale, i.e., the commercial invoice. Most of the time, it sends only the invoice or invoices. However, it can also accompany a letter as a notice or reminder to specify the method of payment.

Letters of Complaint

  • Order Letter of Complaint: This is a letter sent by the client to the provider that presents issues and the impact or damage observed in the goods received.

These abnormalities may relate to different reasons, such as quantity, an error in the class of items received, broken or defective merchandise, etc.

Be courteous to the seller, but maintain a certain tone of seriousness and firmness in the claim made.

If the customer is right in their claims, the seller will be asked to apologize for what happened and bring solutions to the damage caused.

  • Letter of Unpaid Claim: This type of document is drawn up when the client has not complied with the conditions of payment under the order.

The writing has to be brief and must convey firmness by the claimant in collecting the proper amount. However, observe a degree of cooperation from the creditor to reach a solution.

Short Communications and Internal System

Within this section, we include those letters or writings that are concise and short.

The main brief communications are:

  • Circular Letter
  • Saluda
  • Internal Communication

A. Circular Letter

This is the kind of business letter that companies use to communicate an event to other people or companies, such as changes in address, name, branch or agency openings, launch of new products, etc. They are also used within the company to communicate matters of general interest, such as schedule changes, distribution of holiday shifts, work procedures, etc. In this case, the quality of paper and printing are lower.

A large number of copies are made of such letters, using appropriate means of reproduction. The copies must have an original look to get a personalized approach.

The wording of the circular is similar to the rest of the business letters but should prevent the text or content from being too long and ensure that the paragraphs are short.

Regarding distribution, or parts of that knowledge, it is very similar to the business letter in general.

B. Saluda

This is the type of communication typically used by business leaders, public bodies, and authorities for the following reasons:

  • A form of thanks
  • Invitation to events
  • Takeovers
  • Change of registered office
  • Other similar situations

The parts consisting of one greeting are:

  • Beginning
  • Content
  • Final

In the beginning, include the office or position of the person who greets and the name of the company or agency. Then, the word “hello” shall appear.

This part of the greeting will already be printed on the model and focus on margins, which are approximately 4cm.

In the content part, the text will always be preceded by the vowel “a” to indicate the name and surname of the addressee in block letters. If these data are unknown, they will be replaced by the person to whom the greeting goes, replacing the letter with the word “the” or “the,” as appropriate, and then move on to explain the reason for the compliments.

The final part will consist of the following sections:

  • Name of the person sending the greeting
  • Closing phrase, which must be short and polite
  • Place and date of compliance

The greetings must bear in mind the following rules:

  • Always be drafted in the third person
  • The line spacing should be double
  • The content will be brief
  • Do not be signed
  • Do not bear the stamp of the company
  • Do not indicate the address of the recipient

C. Statement of Internal

This document is for different departments, sections, etc., belonging to the same company to communicate with each other.

The parts that make it up are:

  • Beginning
  • Content
  • Final

The beginning part will include the following elements:

  • Name or company name (letterheads). This does not show information such as address, phone, or email, as it is inside a statement.
  • Date of preparation
  • The word “FROM” followed by the name of the department or person responsible for sending the note
  • The word “TO” and then the name of the department or person to whom it is sent
  • Summary of the subject matter of the statement

The content shall specify the reason for this kind of communication. It will be written with double spacing, and margins will be set between 4 and 6 cm for the left and between 2 and 4 cm for the right.

The writing has to be brief and concise and should be exposed in a very direct reason that causes the writing. The final part consists of the signature of the person sending the message.

Depending on the system of corporate organization, both internal circular letters or notes may carry the “Rfra.” or “No.” that usually consist of a serial number followed by the last two digits of the year, and each year it starts again with consecutive numbering. Similarly, the fact could be sure they have been read by the recipient or recipient (in this case, notes above). Therefore, for the inner circle, the “note of movement” is completed, which is a document signed by the persons concerned by the topic or area of the circular. For internal memos, the recipient’s signature on the copy that arrives and is forwarded to the issuer is sufficient. For them, it is desirable to heat the same handwriting words like “Greetings,” “Thank you,” or “a hug.”

The use of paper as the physical environment to carry out these two kinds of internal communications is in use due to the free use by software companies or email clients with their own word processing. The advantages, among others, are rapidly sent to one or more recipients, confidentiality, as well as the possibility of falsifiability of the message.

The Certificate

Both private companies and public agencies usually warrant or make written attestations to a fact or situation. This justification is called a certificate.

The reasons for their writing are usually different: long working hours, time spent in the company, payments received in a given period, course attendance, accreditation of various types, etc.

This certificate shall, whether the entity is public or private, contain the following elements:

  • Beginning
  • Content
  • Final

The contents of each of these parts vary according to whether a private or public company issued the certificate.

In a private enterprise, the beginning consists of:

  • Letterhead: If you must specify the name or business name in capital letters, the company that carries out the certification, address, zip code, population, and the phone.
  • Identification of the issuer: It always has to include the name, in capital letters, who signs the certificate or is credited to continue specifying the position within the company.

The content will begin with the words “do hereby certify that” or “CERTIFY: That” to proceed immediately to the following sections:

  • Identification of the applicant: Usually, the certificate will be issued at the request of a person and is written in block letters with the name and surname of this person. If the applicant was a company, the name of it will be written.
  • Reason for the certificate: The object or elements that are certified and which concern or interest the applicant shall be stated concisely and clearly.
  • Effects: If the certificate is issued for general common effects or not specified, write the following sentence: “And for the record at the request of the interested – or concerned – signed this certificate.” If requested for a particular purpose, it shall be recorded in the space provided in the following sentence: “And for the record and effects – this will be the effect – signing this certificate,” or similar phrases to them.

If written in the first person, you have to pay attention to grammatical agreement.

At the end of the certificate, in its footer, enter the place and date of issue, which may be in number (long format: dd. Month letter. Aaaa), and the signature of the issuer. Signatory formulas are not necessary nor signed (Signed:).

If accompanied by the seal of the company, said that he had to go to the left of the firm, never on the heading, whether it was ink or “outright” (stamps that are highlighted in the paper.)

If the issuer is the administration, the distribution shall be as set forth below, following the guidelines of the Ministry of Public Administration.

The beginning part will include the following elements:

  • Letterhead: Shall appear on behalf of the Minister issuing the certificate and organizational management, as this Directorate General, Provincial, Bureau, Unit, etc.
  • Reason: Appears the root cause of the certificate, such as attending courses, deductions, etc.

In the content part, you should specify:

  • Identification of the issuer by name and surname
  • Your position
  • Identification of the applicant by name and surname or company name
  • Object, which starts with the word “CERTIFIED” for, in a separate line, list the elements of the certificate or materialize, writing
  • First: That …
  • Second:
  • Third: That …

As many points or records as necessary.

If only there was a point to certify, not numbered.

Effects, which indicate the reason or purpose for which the application relates.

Term, if the certificate attesting to situations that may vary over time, it expressed its lifetime.

At the end of the license shall contain the place and date of issue of the document, the latter in number (long form), and the signature of the person issuing it. It is not necessary to indicate the signatory formula nor signed, and it is reflected in the content (identification of the issuer).

If you authenticate with the corresponding label, not to go over the firm.

Years of Letter

This section appears to be a list of companies and their contact information. It’s unclear how this relates to the rest of the document. It would be helpful to have more context to properly format this information.