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