13 Major Structure or Parts of a Business Letter

A business letter is one of the vital ways of communication in business organizations. To make a business letter effective we should give attention to the structure/different Parts of a business letter. An effective/good business letter should have the following parts:

Parts of a Business Letter

1. Letter Heading

Here the following information is highlighted:

1. The full name of the firm or individual sending the letter
2. Address of the sender
3. Reference No:
4. Date of drafting the letter
5. Telephone, telex, Fax, and E-mail address of the sender.

For example:

Commerce Publications
37, Banglabazar, Dhaka-1100
Phone: 02-7170495; Cell: 0176-190865, Web: WWW. com.Pub

Ref. 110 Dx
15th, November 2021.

The image given above will more clear the topic structure/parts of a business letter. Click on the image to view a large image.

2. Inside Address

The address of the receiver is given here as would appear on an envelope. It helps the outward clerk to write the same address on the cover. It also has a record on the copy which serves to identify the letter for filling a purpose. It any type as mentioned below:

Block Form: Here all lines maintain the same margin and no punctuation is used at the end of any line.

Example:

BANI BITAN LIBRARY
40, SadarRoad
Barisal

Indented Form: Here the subsequent lines start two spaces away from the beginning of the previous line. After each line, there is a coma and a full stop is put at the end of the last line. Example:

RANI BITAN LIBRARY
40, Sadar Road,
Barisal

3. Attention Line

The person who can take prompt action for the letter, his name, and department are stated here,

For example-

Mr. Mahabub, Sales Manager

4. Subject Heading

The main theme of the letter is highlighted here Example?

Sub: Confirmation of order for 100 GT televisions.

5. Salutation

It is the complimentary greetings with which the writer opens his letter. It should be written below the inside address. The salutation is made according to the status of the receiver.

For example:

• If the name is unknown: Dear Sir or Madam
• If the name is known: Dear Mr. Hossain
• If close friend: My Dear Tasir
• If large people: Dear Customers or Dear Subscribers or Dear Members.

6. Body

It is that part of the letter which contains the message or the information to be communicated and therefore the most important part. It must be natural, and simple with a logical sequence. It should be stated considering “You Attitude.”

7. Complimentary close

The complimentary close is a polite way of ending a letter. There are various styles to write a complimentary close, which are given below:

• Yours faithfully
• Yours truly
• Yours very truly
• Yours respectfully
• Yours Sincerely”
• Sincerely Yours

and so on.

8. Signature

It is the assent of the writer to the subject matter of the letter and is a practical necessity. It is usually handwritten and given below the complimentary close

9. Sender’s Name and Address

The person who is sending the letter, his name, and address should be given for proper identification. Such identification is placed just after the signature.

Example:

Ma Jasii Hossain

Deputy Manager, Sales & Distribution

10. Enclosure

Sometimes other papers such as price list, catalog, prospectus, order, invoice, railway or lorry receipt, cash memo, check, draft, bill, etc. are enclosed with the letter. In such a case, a mention should be made of these enclosures in the letter.

Example:

Enclosure:

• Performa Invoice
• Bill of Exchange
• Bill of Lading.

11. Carbon Copy

Sometimes copies of a letter have to be sent to people other than the addressee also. In such a case, the names of those persons should be mentioned.

Example:

Copy:1. Mr. Hasan
General Manager, Administration.
2. Mr. Salam
Deputy Manager, Sales.

12. Identification Mark

The person taking dictation of the letter and the person typing or composing the letter should be identified by their initials at the end of the letter, e.g. t, & A, etc.

13. Postscripts

Postscript (PS) is something written after the letter is closed, writing a PS indicates that the writer had forgotten to include something important in the body of the letter. It is a bad practice to write a PS and it should preferably be avoided.

Parts of a business letter which are mentioned above to create a good business letter. This is another most important parts of a business letter.

Business letter drafting a sample

This table will describe all essential structures/parts of a business letter at a glance.

1	Letterhead,	Commerce Zone LTD. A Manufacturer of Quality Stationery Park Avenue, Baridhara, Dhaka.
2	Date:	May 6, 2022
3	Inside Address:	Purchase ManagerDEE Publication Ltd.Bangla Bazar, Dhaka.
4	Subject:	Sub: Confirmation of order for 2000 GX Ballpen
5	Salutation	Dear Sir,
6	Introduction	We are glad to receive your order for a 2000 Gx Ball pen dated April 25, 2022
7	Body	We have forwarded your Consignment and will reach out on 8th July 2022. All the Business documents have been sent through Standard Chartered Bank as per your instruction and a duplicate is attached herewith for your favor
8	Complimentary close	We believe that you would settle our dues in time and improve our business Close relations
9	Signature Block	Yours faithfully (Tahsin Hossain) Sales Manager
10	Enclosure	Duplicate Business documents
11	Distribution	Copy: A. B. SiddiqueGeneral Manager, AdminTime Publications Ltd.

Hope you clearly understand all the parts of a business letter otherwise you may comment below.

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