Parts of business letter. Draw the sketch of a standard business letter.
Describe the various parts of business letter. Draw the sketch of a standard business letter.
Answer: Parts of Business Letter: A business letter consists of following parts:
1. Heading: It is a sort of advertisement and that is why they are set up in a very attractive manner. It should be compact and well arranged. It should consist of printed names and address of individual firms, company or corporation sending the letter. The telephone number, telegraphic address, codes used, date and reference number are also given with the letter head.
2. Inside Address: It is the name and address of the party which is being addressed. It should be exactly the same as the outside address on the envelope. The name of the person or the firm used is an inside address must have proper courtesy titles. The common prefix for a man is Mr. if a person hold a degree or a title it must be added to his name such as Dr. Khan, if a person holds a university degree, it will precedes his designation as Mr. Khan M.Com, M.A.
3. Salutation: This is the compliment or greeting preceding the body of the letter. It would always be in harmony with the personal relations of the writer except in care of official letters which invariable have Sir for salutation. The most common forms of salutation in a commercial letter are Dear Sir when addressing one gentleman, Dear Sirs for a firm or company.
4. Subject Line: According to the modern principles of business correspondence, sometimes immediate after salutation the subject matter of the letter is written in one or two lines just below the salutation. Subject line helps the reader of the letter in connecting himself with the past (if there is any) matter. Moreover, he can pass the letter to the concerned clerk understanding but without going through the full text of the letter. Prior to writing the subject line, the letters “Sub” or “Ref” are written and the subject line is underlined so that it could be given a prominent and important position.
5. The Body of the Letter: The entire letter is to be divided into suitable paragraphs which is not only the question of appearance but giving the reader breathing times. Each paragraph should contain one topic. The correspondent should commence a new paragraph whenever he switches on a new topic. The introductory paragraph should be very carefully written. In subsequent paragraphs the discussion should continue dealing with the main subject matter of the letter. The last paragraph should be written in good spirit.
6. Complementary Close: Complementary close refers to the words or the phrases which are written immediate after finishing of the letter. It consists of words like “Your faithfully”, “yours sincerely”, etc. It should be noted that these closing words or phrases should be written in the light of the post, position, and title and social/business status of the reader of the letter. These closing words are written on left hand side just below the text. Complementary close should also be in synchronization of the salutation. 7. Signature: The writer of the letter has to put down his signature in ink just below the complementary close. A letter without is unauthentic.
8. Typist’s Initial: These initials are usually placed in the lower left hand corner of the letter. These are put down with a view to hold the person responsible. Such as MA: NA. Here MA refers to Muhammad Ali and NA means Naseem Ahmad.
9. Post Script (PS): If due to some after thoughts the writer wants to add something after the completion of the letter he puts down PS and after that writes down whatever he wants. PS should also be signed by the writer.
10. Enclosure: If the letter is sent along with the documents, it should be indicated by writing about the enclosure on the left hand at the bottom corner of the letter paper.
Sketch of a Business Letter:
Heading
ABC Corporation Tariq Road Karachi Fax: Phone:
28 - February – 2012 Ref: 27/SE/84
Inside Address
Director Personnel XYZ Corporation Karachi
Subject Line Sub:______________________________
Salutation Dear Sir:
Body / Text
----------------------------First Paragraph------------------------------------ ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------. ----------------------------Second Paragraph-------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------. ----------------------------Third Paragraph---------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------.
Complimentary Close
Yours Sincerely
Khalid Raza
Director Personnel
Typist Initial AW : PK
Post Script
PS. ______________________________ ______________________________