BUSINESS WRITING PRINCIPLES

1. CHARACTERISTICS OF BUSINESS WRITING

Business writing involves both art and science. In other words, it should have
an aerthetic value like an art and should precise, logical and analytical like
science. In order to obtain both those skills it is essential to follow the
principles of business writing.
What are the Principles of the Effective Correspondence?
Every business letter must conform to certain widely accepted principles of
effective writing. In order to make your letter an effective medium of
communication, you must be equipped with certain requirements. You must
have a command over the language and be capable of using appropriate words
and phrases. You should be familiar with die technical terms and phraseology
that are generally used in business correspondence. You must also possess all
facts and details of the subject-matter of the correspondence. You should be
methodical in your approach to the task of writing letters.
Suitable Style-It is utterly foolish to believe that 'Commercial English'
has a style of its own. Strictly speaking, it is only in the nature of contents and
construction that "Commercial Correspondence" differs from 'Ordinary
correspondence'. However, a suitable style plays a predominant part in all
correspondence including commercial correspondence. Every business letter
should conform to the important essentials of effective correspondence viz.,
Completeness Correctness
Conciseness Comprehensiveness
Courtesy Consideration
Concreteness Clearness
These are regarded as-
" Essential qualities of a good business letter"
"The English C's of commercial correspondence"
"The C-Qualities of a good letter plan". The Characteristics of good
commercial writing are analysed in Chapter 2 under Part I, the essential
qualities of effective business letters are explained here from the standpoint of
commercial correspondence.

1. Completeness—Every business letter must deal with its subject in full.

It
should present all essential ideas. I must not leave out facts or informatioi
relevant to the subject-matter.
To make your letters complete without the omission of important details-
(i) Visualize the person to whom you are about to write,
(ii) Collect, examine and compare the facts and figures which should
find a place in your letter.
(iii) Review the material so collected, group it into related units.
(iv) Ensure that nothing has been left out of
consideration, (v) Start writing or dictating.
2. Correctness - Correctness is to a business letter what good manners are
to a gentleman. The information given in the letter must be accurate and not
false or misleading. This is necessary in order to safeguard the reputation of the
business house and to be free from the danger of an expensive action of law.
3. Conciseness-Every business letter must be as concise as possible
making use of as few words as possible, without sacrificing clarity,
correctness or completeness or grammatical accuracy so that it saves the time
of the writer and the reader and receives his prompt attention. To achieve this,
you must strictly avoid verbosity and padding-i.e., unnecessary sophictication
in words. You can achieve conciseness by-
(i) eliminating all stock phrases and unnecessary sentences; (ii)
avoiding any sentence that may insult the reader; (iii) revising
each sentence to make it simple and brief. The following
examples will guide you:

Avoid the following Better use the

following
hackneyed expressions concise versions
1. We beg to acknowledge the receipt Thank you for your letter of
of your favour of
2. If any when Use either i/or when
3. Safe and secure Safe or Secure
4. Your valued instructions Your instructions
5. Sole monopoly Monopoly
6. Avail yourself of this opportunity Take this opportunity
7. Acute crisis crisis
8. In the city of Kolkata In Kolkata
9. At a price of Rs. At Rs. (or for Rs.)
10 Due to the fact that because
11 Unless and until unless
.12 Through an oversight on our part through an oversight
.13 Must and should must or should
14 We hand you herewith our invoice we enclose our invoice
.15 Exceedingly glad very glad
.

4. Courtesy-Courtesy or politeness costs nothing. A shrewd businessman will

certainly find time to be courteous in all his dealings. A courteous business man
says "Please", when he wants a favour, "Thank you", when he receives a favour, "I
am sorry", when he feels that he has hurt someone's feelings without intention or
when he is unable to do a favour and observes the rules of courtesy while drafting
business letters.
Every business letter must be based on a courteous style whatever might be
the occasion. Even a final document or a warning notice for payment of amounts
overdue can be written in such a courteous manner as to get an early payment of

the amount. Likewise a courteously worded complaint relating to shortage or non

delivery is more likely to receive immediate attention than the one which accuse; the
sender of wilful or gross negligence.
Courtesy, however, does not mean servility. A business letter should never be
written in a flattering tone because excessive servility will definitely lower the writer and
his enterprise in the estimation of the reader and will defeat the verv purpose of the
letter.
 Examples:
AVOID the BETTER USE the
following impolite expressions following courteous expressions
1. We request you please send...
2. We are sorry if you were inconvenienced
3. You claim that you have not yet received the cheque we sent you last Tuesday
4. You must have been ignorant of

5. You failed to send us the goods before Pongal Festival

6. We have received your cheque

7. We cannot supply the goods unless we receive the advance ofRs. 1000/-
8. You are of course quite prompt in despatching the goods
9. We regret to inform you that it is impossible for us to....
10. Be prompt in writing to us the receipt of....
11. Look into the matter at once, without any further delay
12. The mistake you have committed is a serious error
13. I have to state that the request made by you is unreasonable and cannot be
complied with
14. Thanking you in anticipation
15. Advise
16. You have our permission
17. We hope that you would furnish us
Please send us
sorry for the inconvenience
caused.
We are sorry to learn that
you have not yet received the
cheque sent last Tuesday
Perhaps, you are not aware of the
fact that
We did not received the
goods before Pongal Festival (as
expected by us)
Thank you for your cheque
We shall be pleased to supply
the goods as soon as we
receive the advance of Rs. 1000/-
We appreciate your
promptness in sending the goods
we are sorry that we arc not
able to....
please inform us when
exactly you received ....
Could you (will you) please
look into the matter at your earliest''
Please note that you have by
mistake, omitted to
We regret to inform you thai
we are unable to meet your
request because ....
Thank you
Say or tell
You may
Please send us

You must strictly avoid the following insulting or bitter words or words that may
antagonise:
(i) Your failure to pay
(ii) A small buyer like you
(iii) A petty businessman of your calibre
(iv) The debt due by you
(better use outstanding bill or payment overdue)
(v) Thanking you in advance or in anticipation.
5. Consideration. The consideration of the interests, wants and desires of the reader
(called the "YOU ATTITUDE" in America) is regarded as an essential principle of very
business letter, as it really pays in the long run. A businessman should try his best to
dispense with the "I and WE ATTITUDE". The style of the business letter should be
such that the reader should feel that the letter contains an appeal to his interest, and is
meant only for promoting his benefit. The writer should never impose his points or view
or ideas upon the reader, but should try to convince the reader in an appealing and factful
way.

Examples:
AVOID the following BETTER USE
expressions carrying I or the following expressions
WE attitude carrying You attitude
1. We have decided to follow this You will benefit by this policy
because because
2. I am extremely glad to announce You will be pleased to hear that
that I will shortly open a branch our company will shortly open a
office in your town new branch office in your town to
serve our You will be pleased to
3. We are pleased to announce know wholesalers like you
4. We sold 10,000 sewing machines bought 10.000 sewing machines
last year last year

6. Concreteness - A business letter should be completely free from

vague and indefinite statements. The writer must always make use of
concrete, vivid and interesting words in place of abstract and laborious
once. He should always use words that can effectively (i) create concrete
pictures in the reader's mind: (ii) make him visualise what is written, and
(iii) stimulate him to action. This quality is very necessary in sales letters.
But it is very difficult to acquire mastery over the use of such words
quickly. Study of words-verbs, adjectives, nouns-is essential, and the
development of the art of powerful writing and descriptive power is very
essential in this regard.
7. Clearness- Once you have decided about what to say-say it as
clearly as possible. In the words of Lord Chesterfield. 'Every paragraph
should be so clear and unambiguous that the dullest fellow in the world
will not be able to mistake it, nor be obliged to read it twice in order to
understand it". You should avoid I (i) vague and meaningless words like "we
beg to acknowledge the receipt..." I: will be our earnest endeavour...", "It will
be my earnest endeavour....", "It will be my earnest bid", "In the event," "due to
the fact that" etc. (ii) outmoded, worn- [ out, business jagrans and pets (favourite
words); (iii) pedantic (bookish) words should be avoided.
In fact, they overlap. They are complementary to each other. It is for the
convenience of the reader that this classification is made.
An effective business correspondence contains the following qualities:
1. Simplicity - A simple language is appealing in nature.
2. Conversational style - All modern executives like to use a friendly,
conversational language instead of stilled, dull, stiff tone of commercial letters.
3. Clarity of goal - Clarity, both in thought and expression.
4. Public Relations - Letters are filed and preserved for future reference
which enhance the company's image.
5. You attitude - Most effective letters are those that reflect writer's interest
in the receiver. That's thinking from other's point of view.
6. Courtesy - Avoiding cold, outdated style and adopting polite style.
7. Persuasion - Well drafted letters in persuasive tone have a greater pulling
effect eg. a persuasive tone of sales letters.
8. Sincerity • It refers to the readers believing what you say. If you are not
sincere in what you say, the readers will not be convinced.
9. Positive language - Our choice of words is very important in business.
Even a W can be used in a positive style eg. instead of saying 'we do not have
stock' we can say, "we are unable to execute you order for a week or so due to
labour unrest.' etc.
10. Due emphasis - It is highlighting all important points.
11. Coherence - It refers to logical order in writing.
12. Care for culture - In case of international correspondence one should
avoid culturally derived words, slang, colloquialism.
13. Tactful approach • An effective letter is tactfully planned. Generally
good news is conveyed directly while bad/unpleasant one is preceded by a buffer
statement.
14. Ethical standard - The letter should reflect the genuineness of our
feelings. Our concern for the receiver, our image of our organisation and
legitimacy of our goal besides persuasion and tact.
Avoid all Business Jargons and Rubber-stamp Phrases
If you want your letters to be effective you must scrupulously avoid all rubber-
stamp phrases and pseudo-legal phraseology. You should write as you would talk
or phone to your customers. In other words, you must use of the conversational
 style.
Ten Common Errors
According to Mr. Herbet Casson,* the following are the commonest and worst
errors to be found in business letters, viz.,
1. Still and formal
2. Incomplete and obscure

Examples:
AVOID BETTER USE
the following misleading/pedantic the following simple/clear
confusing sentences and/or words direct expressions
1. Before you order, your stock Formality demands that your
records should be consulted. stock records need to be consulted.
2. The applicant is well educated. The applicant is an M.Com. with
specialisation in International Economics.
Banking and Foreign Exchange, from the
Kamataka University.
3. The customer returned the parcel The customer returned by
that he had received in error by registered mail, the parcel
registered mail. that he had received in error.
4. We have your recent letter. Thank you for your letter of 30th June.
200....
5. He has rented the house. He has let out his house.
6. Accordingly Hence
7. Bottleneck Trouble
8. Transpired Happened
9. Apprise Inform
10. Under separate cover Sent by separate post on ...
11. Your letter of even date .... Your letter of today
12. In due course ... On (mention date)... or say within
(mention time)
13. Recent date .... Of.... (mention date)
14. Our Miss Chandrika... Our agent Miss Chandrika...
15. Of the above date... Of... (mention date)
16. Do the needful Say in exact words what is to be done
17. Former; Latter Mention specific person or item Person
18. Party Person

8. Comprehensiveness - A letter should be comprehensive. It should cover

everything pertaining to the particular subject or issue discussed or answered in
the particular letter. Moreover, the various aspects should be so arranged that they
can be easily understood by the reader. To achieve this the writer should
comprehend every point that is of value in the body of the letter.
It is clear from the above analysis that there is no water-tight compartment
like division between the "Eight C's" of Effective Commercial Correspondence.
In fact, they overlap. They are complementary to each other. It is for the
 convenience of the reader that this classification is made.
An effective business correspondence contains the following qualities:
10. Simplicity - A simple language is appealing in nature.
11. Conversational style - All modern executives like to use a
friendly, conversational language instead of stilled, dull, stiff tone of commercial
letters.
12. Clarity of goal - Clarity, both in thought and expression.
13. Public Relations - Letters are filed and preserved for future
reference which enhance the company's image.
14. You attitude - Most effective letters are those that reflect writer's
interest in the receiver. That's thinking from other's point of view.
15. Courtesy - Avoiding cold, outdated style and adopting polite
style.
16. Persuasion - Well drafted letters in persuasive tone have a greater
pulling effect eg. a persuasive tone of sales letters.
17. Sincerity • It refers to the readers believing what you say. If you
are not sincere in what you say, the readers will not be convinced.
18. Positive language - Our choice of words is very important in
business. Even a W can be used in a positive style eg. instead of saying 'we do
not have stock' we can say, "we are unable to execute you order for a week or so
due to labour unrest.' etc.
15. Due emphasis - It is highlighting all important points.
16. Coherence - It refers to logical order in writing.
17. Care for culture - In case of international correspondence one should
avoid culturally derived words, slang, colloquialism.
18. Tactful approach • An effective letter is tactfully planned. Generally
good news is conveyed directly while bad/unpleasant one is preceded by a buffer
statement.
19. Ethical standard - The letter should reflect the genuineness of our
feelings. Our concern for the receiver, our image of our organisation and
legitimacy of our goal besides persuasion and tact.
Avoid all Business Jargons and Rubber-stamp Phrases
If you want your letters to be effective you must scrupulously avoid all rubber-
stamp phrases and pseudo-legal phraseology. You should write as you would talk
or phone to your customers. In other words, you must use of the conversational
style.
Ten Common Errors
According to Mr. Herbet Casson,* the following are the commonest and worst
errors to be found in business letters, viz.,
3. Still and formal
4. Incomplete and obscure