A business letter is a professional, formal letter that is sent by one company to another. These letters can be used for professional correspondence between business clients, employees, stakeholders as well as individuals.

Essential Qualities of Business Letter

A person should always maintain the quality of the business letter. The qualities of a business letter make it presentable. It becomes easy for a person or an organization to imprint an impression onto the others.

I. Inner Quality

It refers to the quality of language used and the presentation of a business letter. They are:

1. Clear

The language used in the business letter must be clear. It helps the receiver to understand the message immediately, easily, and clearly. Any ambiguity will lead to the misinterpretation of the message stated.

2. Simple

The language used in the business letter must be simple and easy. One must not write a business letter in difficult and fancy words.

3. Concise

The message written in the letter must be concise and to the point.

4. Concrete

The message is written must be concrete and specific. By using concrete language, a reader will have a clear picture of the message.

5. Accuracy

One must always check for the accuracy of the business letter. Accuracy generally means no error in grammar, spelling, punctuations etc. Correct personnel should be targeted for communication.

6. Coherent

The language used in the business letter must be coherent. The message must be in a logical way for the clear understanding of the message. The flow of the message must be consistent.

7. Complete

One must write a complete message. It helps the reader to know about the issue and the solution to be taken. It should provide all the necessary information. One must also keep in mind that the message should be concise and short along with the complete details.

8. Relevance

The letter should only contain important information. Irrelevant information should not be included and avoided in any business communication.

9. Courteous

The language used in the business letter must be courteous. A writer must always use open, friendly, and honest wording in his letter. It does not mean that one must use slang and abusive words. One must always add the words like please, thank you etc.

10. Neatness

A business letter must be neatly typed or handwritten. Proper spacing, indention, and use of paragraph should be used.

II. Outer Quality

The outer quality of a business letter means the quality of its outer appearance. The outer look of the letter must be catchy and impressive. Some of the outer qualities are

1. Size of the Paper

The standard size of paper should be used. An A4 paper is the most used paper for writing a business letter.

2. Quality of the Paper

The quality of the paper used must be good. It is not always possible for a firm to use the costly paper. One must use good quality paper for original copy and ordinary copy for the duplicate copy.

3. The Color of the Paper

Sometimes it is very useful to use the different color of paper for different types of letter. The receiver can clearly understand the intention and the purpose of the letter by its color.

4. Folding of Letter

One must fold the letter properly and uniformly. The folding must be done to fit the letter in the envelope. It is noticeable that one must not over fold the letter. It will have a bad impression on the reader’s mind.

5. Envelope

The envelope used must be of good quality. Special attention must be given to the size of the envelope for fitting the letter.

Letter Writing

A letter is a written message that can be handwritten or printed on paper. It is usually sent to the recipient via mail or post in an envelope, although this is not a requirement as such. Any such message that is transferred via post is a letter, a written conversation between two parties.

Now that E-mails (Advantages and disadvantages) and texts and other such forms have become the norm for communication, the art of letter writing has taken a backseat. However, even today a lot of our communication, especially the formal kind, is done via letters. Whether it is a cover letter for a job, or the bank sending you a reminder or a college acceptance letter, letters are still an important mode of communication. This is why it is important that we know the intricacies of letter writing.