The Importance of Different Kinds of Business Letters

Writing effective letters is an essential part of business ownership that many entrepreneurs overlook. Business letters connect companies with their clients, employees and associates and more often than not aim for one objective: the clear and precise communication of a company’s message. Whether you’re sending an email, postal letter or fax, tailoring your business letter’s formality and content to its audience is key.

The Importance of Business Letters

Business letters document positions, agreements or intentions, which is something that simply isn’t possible in verbal communication.They also create a persona of the company, reflecting its values and professionalism. As Colorado State University’s Writing Studio explains, a well-written business letter should be objective and be clearly understood by the reader.

All formal business letters should include six components, explained by the Purdue Writing Lab:

• Sender’s address
• Date
• Recipient’s address
• Salutation
• Body
• Closing

Employee Letters and Correspondence

A company’s internal communication is its correspondence between the business and its employees. Employee letters can be formal in tone or more casual – depending on the circumstances, and the preferences and style of a company’s management. These are integral in keeping all those within a company on the same page and on track to meeting their goals.

Memoranda, project proposals, termination letters, retirement and resignation letters, and recommendation letters are examples of correspondence between employees and their employers. Each provides a documented record that can be later referenced as needed and used as evidence in legal matters if needed, like an employee suing a company for wrongful dismissal.

Current and Prospective Client Letters

Businesses often aim to let their current and potential clients know about new offers, services, specials and discounts in order to keep or pique their interest. Sales letters are one option to accomplish this goal. An effective sales letter should be concise, keep a friendly tone, and entice people to want to buy or learn more about a company’s offerings. Often, it can include photos related to the product.

In the case of electronic sales letters, such as email newsletters, it may help to include video and audio. Other types of business letters to clients are the credit letter, adjustment letter and the inquiry response, which is meant to resolve questions, concerns and complaints and is a vital part of customer service.

Letters to Vendors and Suppliers

Because vendors and suppliers are an important link between a company and its customers, it’s important that a business communicate regularly with these intermediaries. However, businesses should keep that communication as succinct as possible to make sure the message is clear and to avoid wasting both the company’s and the supplier’s time.

One of the most important types of letters between businesses and suppliers is the purchase order, also known as an order letter. These letters detail what a company intends to buy, the terms of payment, expected date of arrival or shipment, and return information. Either the company or its vendor can initiate this type of correspondence.

Letters Between Companies and the Public

Members of the public occasionally send businesses correspondence inquiring about a company’s background, asking for clarification about media coverage, or to express their feelings about the company’s ethics, policies and procedures. To respond to these inquiries, companies will send an acknowledgement letter.

Acknowledgments are akin to receipts in that they inform the inquirer that the company has received his inquiry. Acknowledgments are short and formal and provide a time frame for when the inquirer can expect a response. An acknowledgement may be phrased as succinctly as: “Thank you for your inquiry. We will respond via email within the next two business days.”