Chapter 8 Business document writing

1. Chapter 8Business document writing

2. Learning objectives On completion of this chapter students will know how to: • write a formal business letter using the full block format • differentiate between letters of inquiry, letters of complaint, response letters and sales letters • recognise the features and purposes of communicating via email • construct a standard email • use a range of practices to ensure successful business email communication.

3. Business letters Business letters are written for many reasons: • to initiate action • to inform • to request • to persuade.

4. Steps to a successful business letter • To write a successful business letter follow these steps: • Determine the purpose of your letter. • Write a plan. • Draft and redraft the letter. • Edit and proofread.

5. Qualities of abusiness letter • A business letter should have the following six qualities: • clarity • concreteness • completeness • conviction • conciseness • courtesy.

6. Standard components of a business letter • The letterhead (sender’s address) • The date • Receiver’s address • Salutation • Subject heading • Body of the letter • Sign off • Personal signature and name/title of sender

7. Body of the letter • The body of the letter should relate to the subject heading. • It should provide information logically(i.e. in a sequence). • Different issues should be discussed in separate paragraphs.

8. Style of letter • Although there are several recognised styles for a business letter, the full block style is widely recognised. • When working for an organisation ensure that you are familiar with the in-house style of the organisation, which may be a variation of the full block style.

9. Types of business letter • Letter of inquiry • Response to letter of inquiry • Purchase orders • Sales letter

10. Letters of inquiry • Provide a clear, specific question. • Give a reason for the inquiry. • Are polite, but not servile.

11. Response to letter of inquiry • Use standard letter layout. • Always use a subject heading. • Begin by referring to the original inquiry(be specific). • Start with ‘Thank you for your inquiry …’ • Detail action you have taken in response to the inquiry. • If no action has (yet) been taken, still respond immediately to the inquiry.

12. Purchase orders • Follow standard letter layout. • Provide specific and complete information. • Provide information about an acceptable alternative. • Give full instructions for delivery. • Provide payment details. • Start with ‘Please …’

13. Sales letters • Sales letters are different to other business letters. • They have two purposes: information and advertising. • Letters have to be persuasive but not aggressive. • A follow-up letter may be needed after a certain period of time.

14. Persuasive writing • The AIDA principle: A: Attention I: Interest D: Desire A: Action

15. Attention • Get the reader to pay attention. • State a problem that affects the reader. • Promise a benefit. • Use an emotional appeal. • Introduce your primary appeal. • Ask a question (that can’t be answered yes or no).

16. Interest • Show the reader your answer to the problem you raised in the first section. • Provide a description of the reader enjoying the benefits you mentioned in the first section. • Answer the questions you raised. • Provide a clear transition from attention to desire.

17. Desire • Move the reader from ‘like to have’ to ‘really want’. • Justify the reader’s desire with emotional appeals (feelings) or rational appeals (thinking ability) (e.g. clothes sold on the basis of durability or fashion).

18. Action • Tell the reader what to do. • Give a reason for acting now (e.g. free set of steak knives). • Provide aids (e.g. envelopes). • Make reference to primary appeal to convince the reader they are doing the right thing.

19. Receiver’s psychological needs • Letters cannot always provide good news and fabulous opportunities! • Sometimes letters are written to provide unwelcome news. • The following slides provide strategies for writing letters that take into account the receiver’s psychological needs.

20. Make neutral comments • Indicate some form of agreement that is very general and will not alienate the reader. • Let the reader know the subject of the letter to add meaning to later information. • Don’t imply ‘yes’ or ‘no’.

21. Provide explanation • Give your reasons for the decision (note that reasons precede denial). • Increase the chance of the reader understanding and accepting your reasons. • If possible, emphasise reasons that might benefit the reader.

22. Explain refusal • Give clear and apparent reasons for refusal. • Write refusal after a neutral statement(e.g. ‘Thank you for your application. I regret to inform you that your application was not successful at this instance due to …’).

23. End positively • End on an upbeat note. • Try to regain good feeling. • Can you suggest an alternative? • Show the reader you remain interested.

24. What to avoid • Avoid the following: • implying that the request will be granted • being overly apologetic • falling back on company policy • talking down to the reader • being so general that the reason does not relate to the refusal • emphasising the refusal more than is necessary • making a direct negative statement of refusal • using active voice (e.g. poor—‘I deny your application for credit’, better—‘Credit was denied’)

25. Letter of complaint • A letter of complaint should be rational rather than emotional. • Give specific information about the issue (e.g. the product, the particular fault). • Be specific about how you want your complaint dealt with (e.g. ask directly for a refund or exchange). • Be succinct. • Avoid being rude or abusive. • Stick to the facts.

26. Responses to letters of complaint • Responses to letters of complaints should be polite but also firm if need be. • Acknowledge the error (if there is one). • Be courteous. • Provide background information about how the error occurred (if appropriate). • Offer to investigate the matter further. • Provide specific information about how you will rectify the problem. • If the customer has made a mistake, courteously provide the correct information (right at the start).

27. Cultural sensitivity and business letters • Businesses today are increasingly working across cultural boundaries. • The issue of cultural sensitivity has therefore become significant. • Awareness of cultural norms in business writing in other cultures will assist in writing appropriate documents.

28. Email communication • Email is a new form of business communication. • Communicating in a computer-mediated environment requires different skills to traditional document writing. • Email is now the key communication medium in contemporary workplaces. • It is a ‘hybrid medium’, uniting elements of both spoken and written communication (Wood & Smith 2001, p. 9).

29. Email communication (cont.) • Communicators are less inhibited and show less differentiation between people of different status (cited in Wood & Smith 2001, p. 72). • The Internet is liberating because users can play with various roles and disclose or not disclose certain information (Wood & Smith 2001; Turkle 1995). • Email has the potential to provide a new type of communication.

30. Email communication (cont.) • Benefits of email include: • speed • the sense of identity afforded to the communicators • bridging the psychological gap between communicators in ways which other channels of communication do not allow (Sunderland 2002, pp. 245–246).

31. Activity 1 • Working with another student, consider the following questions: • On average, how many emails do you receive every day? • How often do you write a letter and send it using the traditional mail service? • How is your experience with business documents different to your parents’ and grandparents’ experiences when they were studying or first started working?

32. Email: new communication • Many hard-copy business documents have been superseded by the fast, efficient use of email. • There is still a need for formality in all professional communication. • A more formal style is needed when: • the receiver holds a more senior position in the organisational hierarchy than you • the receiver is outside your organisation • the receiver is unlikely to be familiar with the jargon or terminology used in your area of expertise • there is a possibility that the email will be referred to by others or archived for future use.

33. Activity 2 • Complete activity 8 on pp. 184–185 of your textbook.

34. Five parts to an email Emails can be divided into five main parts: Subject line • Use a verb phrase to briefly summarise the content of the email message. • Too wordy: ‘We will have our monthly meeting on Wednesday to discuss the new occupational, health and safety policy.’ • Too brief: ‘Meeting’. • Appropriate: ‘Meeting on Wednesday to discuss OH&S policy’.

35. Five parts to an email (cont.) Salutation • Simple salutations are still important, even when you know the recipient well(e.g. Dear Kim, Hi John). • Once an email ‘conversation’ has started, you may omit the salutation. • Salutations in emails still require some acknowledgment of status(e.g. use titles such as Dr). • Salutations assist the reader to find the beginning of messages in long email threads.

36. Five parts to an email (cont.) Opening • State the main idea immediately in thefirst line. • This is known as ‘frontloading’, where the key information is given immediately after the salutation. • Also referred to as a ‘direct opening’.

37. Five parts to an email (cont.) Body • Provide any necessary background information and logically explain the main idea. • Use short paragraphs, dot points and headings. • For complicated or very formal information, provide an attachment. • Sales letters are usually incorporated into the body of the email.

38. Five parts to an email (cont.) Close • Summarise key points. • Request action or provide a closing thought. • Include a ‘goodwill message’. • See the annotated examples of emails provided in Chapter 6: Writing genres.

39. Activity 3 • Complete activity 9 on p. 186 of your textbook.

40. Common email errors • Hasty responses that have not been carefully thought out. • Responses that do not take into account the computer knowledge of the receiver. • A discourteous or overly familiar tone. • Traditional routine letter openings that sound insincere. • Obscure, unfamiliar words or jargon.

41. Common email errors (cont.) • Lengthy sentences, or text with no paragraph breaks. • Negative, pessimistic content. • A closing that does not reiterate the key purpose of the email. • An assumption that the receiver checks their email inbox as often as the sender does. • A sender who does not give a name and can only be identified by a meaningless email address (e.g. xxx@hotmail.com).

42. Email guidelines • Make the subject line short and meaningful (never leave it empty). • Always include a salutation. • Make your message inviting (use short line lengths and paragraphs; edit typographical errors). • Be brief. Use only one screen. • Place key information first. • For business emails do not use emoticons, initials or SMS abbreviations (e.g. ; FYI, R U ok?). Use attachments carefully.

43. Email guidelines (cont.) • Hold your temper. Avoid using capitals for emphasis, as this is like SHOUTING. • Do not use email as a way of avoiding contact. • Resist using humour. • Assume that all business emails are monitored. • Proofread carefully, as in all business communication. • Choose ‘reply’ or ‘reply all’ carefully.

44. Email guidelines (cont.) • Use identifying labels such as ‘urgent’ or ‘action’ with caution. • Set the context for your email. • Respect confidentiality. • Never send spam. • Email threads encourage brief responses. • Always close your email appropriately. • Create a standard signature block for all emails. Include your full name and contact details.

45. Activities 4 and 5 • Complete Activities 10 and 11 on pp. 188–189 of your textbook.

46. Summary • Formal business letters remain an important medium for business communication. • Most businesses prefer the full block style of letter, which incorporates easy to remember standard features. • All business communication documents need clarity, concreteness, completeness, conviction, conciseness and courtesy. • Business writers need to consider the psychological needs of the receiver.

47. Summary (cont.) • The AIDA (Attention, Interest, Desire, Action) model is useful for persuasive letter writing. • Cultural sensitivity is important for all business communication. • Email has replaced many traditional business documents but still needs to follow basic principles of effective communication, including following a standard format. • Always consider the advantages and disadvantages of email before using it over traditional business documents.