About the author
Publisher acknowledgements
Preface to the first edition by Leonard Gartside
Preface to the seventh edition by Shirley Taylor
Introduction
Part 1 Communication: An Overview
1. The importance of building relationships
2. Sentence construction matters
Part 2 Business Writing Basics
3. 21st century business language
4. Structuring messages logically
5. Presentation matters
Part 3 Electronic Communication
6. Email etiquette
7. Writing online: websites, blogs and social networking
8. Customer care online
Part 4 Routine Business Transactions
9. Enquiries and replies
10. Quotations, estimates and tenders
11. Orders and their fulfilment
12. Invoicing and settlement of accounts
13. Letters requesting payment
14. Credit and status enquiries
15. A typical business transaction (correspondence and documents)
Part 5 General Business Correspondence
16. Internal correspondence
17. Secretarial and administrative correspondence
18. Meetings documentation
19. Personnel
20. Reports and proposals
Part 6 Creative and Persuasive documents
21. Complaints and adjustments
22. Goodwill messages
23. Notices, advertisements, information sheets and handouts
24. Circulars
25. Sales letters and voluntary offers
26. Publicity material
27. Business plans
Appendix 1 Spoken and written forms of address
Appendix 2 The A-Z of alternative words
Appendix 3 How to write reports in plain English
Index