Advantages and Disadvantages of Business Letter

The advantages of business letter are given below:

1. Exchange business related information: Letter is the best media of exchanging

information. Businessmen can easily exchange information related to business activity.
2. Convey information: The basic purpose of any business letter is to convey information
regarding business activities. Information can be transmitted through business letter to
customers, suppliers, debtors, government authorities, financial institutions, bank and
insurance companies and to any other parties related with the business.
3. Find the new sources of product: A b letter can help to find the sources of a new product
in home and abroad.
4. Expand markets: By means of a business letter a producer can easily create market of his
product. Through goodwill messages and through circular letters existing market can be
expanded.
5. Establish business relationship: Another important purpose of business letter is, it helps
to establish mutual relationship with the customers, suppliers and with the other interested
parties.
6. Low cost: As a media of communication writing a letter is very cheap than those of others.
The other forms of communication are too expensive for a small firm to bear.
7. Building goodwill and image: An excellent business letter increases the good will of the
business organization. In this electronic era messages can be sent within few seconds
through electronic media but a well decorated business letter has its own importance in
creation positive image of the company.
8. Maintaining records and references: Business letters are also used to maintain
documentary evidence. A business letter acts as a proof document which is completely
absent in other means of communication. Letters can be preserved for future reference.
9. Maintaining the secrecy: A business letter maintains the secrecy of both the buyers and
the sellers on business affairs.
10. Save time: A business letter saves the valuable time of both seller or sender and buyer or
receiver.
11. Easiest: Business letter is the easiest, sagest and the most convenient means to transmit
at any place.
 12. Credit business: It is quite impossible to contract credit business without business letter.
A business letter plays a vital role in credit trade which is a common figure in business world.
13. Creation of demand: Business letters especially circular letters used to create demand for
new products. Circular letters can communicate many people in the same time.
14. Placing order: It is a very common purpose for using business letter. Both trading and
manufacturing concerns need to place orders for finished goods or raw-materials to run the
business.
15. Conclude transaction: This is one of the specific purposes of business letter. To conclude
in completed transactions business letters are frequently used.
16. Others: Preventing misinterpretation, Reducing the probability of distortion, Preventing
tendency of non-acceptance, Giving instruction, Decision making, Overcome
misunderstanding etc.

Disadvantages of business letter

We can see a few limitations of letters as a written document. They are as follows:

1. Formal structure: Some rules must be followed in drafting a letter. To follow the rules is a
limitation of the business letter, because experience is necessary of the letter, as experience
is necessary to write it.
2. Old media: Business letter is an old written means of communication. But there are many
modern forms of written communication.
3. Complex language: Sometimes business letter is written in complex language for lacking
of sense. If it occurs, business letter becomes meaningless.
4. Missing: Business letters may be missed. But it is impossible for E-mail, fax, telephone etc.
5. Taking time: In this modern era of communication letter is considered as slow moving tool
of communication. It takes more time than any other form of communication. But the modern
devices take no time to send written document such as e-mail, fax etc.
6. Secrecy: Sometimes business letter fails to maintain business secrecy.
7. Costly: In comparison to other form of communication business letter is costly.
8. No immediate response: There is no immediate feedback in business letter.
9. Others: Red-tap-ism, lack of flexibility etc.