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A business letter is the exchange of information in writing by business organizations．The information is of mutual interest for both the sender and the receiver．It is non-personal and formal．It creates a written record and deals with business matters．Business letters are written to maintain contact with customers，suppliers，governments，financial institutions，transporters and others．
Although talking and discussing an issue over the phone is helpful，it has some limitations．The most important aspect is the time constraint and involvement of only two persons．On the other hand，in the form of a letter，you put some proposal or argument concrete in hand，which may be deliberated upon and given due thought in a relaxed manner．However，a letter may act in both ways；while a nicely drafted and appropriately worded letter may help achieve your objective，a poorly drafted and inappropriately worded letter may be a spoiler and make your job more difficult．It has been rightly remarked that，“a letter reveals something about your personality that a machine cannot do．Your style of writing，choice of paper and words all say something about you as an individual．” In fact，office letters are silent ambassadors of a business enterprise．The correspondence is the most important channel through which various business enquiries，negotiations，purchase orders，debt recovery，complaints，etc．are made．In view of this，it is utmostly important that a business letter is drafted carefully in such a manner that it conveys your feelings and purpose in a concrete and precise manner，but at the same time，it should not offend the feelings of the recipient and encroach on his precious time unnecessarily．
Business letters play a vital role in business negotiation and there are certain principles of letter writing．Good writers should follow these principles while writing a business letter．In this unit，you will be acquainted with the roles and basic principles of business letters．