Good news letters and Bad news letters

Letters can also be classified based on their content or message. Letters that contain good news or a good message or favourable information are good-news letters. Letters that contain a bad news or a bad message or an unfavourable information are bad-news letters. Not only personal letters but also an official letters can be classified on this basis. A letter sanctioning a loan to a customer or an over-draft facility to a concern, a letter of appointment or promotion or a letter acceding to the request of a client are good-news letters.

Unfortunately, in business, one has to undertake the unenviable job of communicating bad news as well. It may be the rejection of a loan application, the denial of a due promotion or rejection of a client’s request.

Business organizations have also got to write letters that contain neither good or bad news from the stand point of the receiver. It may be the announcement of a change of office hours or premises, or an announcement of a new product, such letters contain neutral messages and can be called “neutral – news letters”.

A good news letter is easy to write because of its content. A bad news letter has to be written unoffendingly. Neutral letters usually are unsolicited letters. The receiver may treat it as junk mail. So care should be taken to write them well so that customers / recipient’s interest is aroused and he responds to them as desired by the sender.

These classifications of letters as official/and personal, formal or informal as good news letters, bad-news letters and neutral message letters are classifications based on general criteria and are broad classifications based on content. Business letters can be classified on the basis of the nature of business they transact or take care of. Of course, all business letters take care some area of the business.