About
A business letter is a formal document often sent from one company to another or from a company to its clients, employees, and stakeholders, for example. Business letters are used for professional correspondence between individuals, as well. Writing a business letter in its proper format tells the reader a great deal about the writer. Letters written in a proper format suggest that the writer is sophisticated and polished. A letter written in an improper manner, however, suggests the writer is sloppy and careless.
Writing Tips: Business Letters
Include the facts.
- Who
- What
- Where
- When
- Why
- Who is involved?
- What is it about?
- Where will the necessary activities take place?
- When will these activities take place?
- Why is it necessary?
Write clearly and professionally.
Stay focused on your message.
- Include only details that are relevant to the message you want to get across.
- Be positive and confident.
Pace yourself.
Although every business letter reflects some type of “sale,” pace yourself with respect to cultivating a relationship with someone you may not know.Be brief and convincing.
Remove any excess words to improve readability.Be accurate.
- Check your facts and any information that you have provided.
- Review your letter for typographical errors.
- Make certain it is going to the parties it is intended for only.
Avoid “piercing the corporate veil” in sensitive situations.
- Do not disclose any information that you are not sure you can share.
- Be loyal, be classy, and be discreet.
- Support your company on every level.
Organize your letter into sections.
- Include the sections of a professional business letter.
- Use line spacing between sections to break up your text into manageable blocks. Double-spacing between items in the letter format, such as inside address and date, is standard.
Organize the body of your letter into paragraphs.
- Use paragraphs to group related information.
- State important information at the beginning and ends of paragraphs, where it is easily located when skimming.
Format your letter in standard business letter format.
- Follow standard business writing guidelines for formatting.
- Follow your company’s style guide.
Be respectful.
- Address the letter’s recipient properly.
- Do not assume that you are already on a first-name basis if you have not spoken before, been introduced, or exchanged previous correspondence.
- Additionally, when you are asking something of the recipient, showing respect early can be an indicator of what kind of service the recipient can expect later.
- Use language that encourages further dialogue by offering additional information or something of professional interest to the person receiving the letter.
- Example: “We have some important research here at Xenon Corporation that should help you with some of your challenges in reaching female buyers in that age group.”
Proofread
Verify that dates, figures, and other specifics are current and accurate.File and follow up.
- File copies of the letter for your records.
- Determine which people or which departments are to get a copy of the letter.
- Note the date the letter was sent.
Elements of a Business Letter
Today’s word processing software allows one to create a standard letter template, so there is no reason to ever submit a letter written in an improper manner. The format of a proper business letter consists of four components:
Header
Date
Place the date of your letter at the top of your document. If your company requires a formal review before sending official correspondence, such as editorial proofreading that will take more than one day, be sure to use the date the letter will be sent.
Specific contact information of the recipient of the letter
There are seven specific items that make up the contact information of the recipient.
- Full name. Be sure to spell the person’s name correctly.
- Title. Make sure you use the correct title of the person to whom you are writing. To save a line in the header, you can also place the person’s title after their name (ex: Erika Jones, Manager).
- Address 1. Make sure you spell the name of the street correctly.
- Address 2. Sometimes a business will use a second address line (Ex: Suite 200).
- City, State, Zip. Be sure to have the correct spelling of the city and proper zip code.
- Phone. Include the phone number of the person you are writing to. If you do not have the phone number, then it is okay to omit it. However, you may request that they respond to you via phone. If you do this, provide your phone number in the body of the letter
- E-mail. If you are sending a letter via a mail carrier service, then you also can include the person’s e-mail. If you do not have their e-mail address, then leave it blank. However, you may request that they respond to you via e-mail. If you do this, provide your e-mail address in the body of the letter.
Your specific contact information
There are eight specific items that make up your contact information.
- Full name
- Title
- Address 1
- Address 2
- City, State, Zip
- Phone Number
- Company URL
The placement of the contact information for yourself and for the recipient
There are two common ways to place contact information in a business letter (see below).
- Left-justified (click here for a close-up example)
- Contemporary/Letterhead (click here for a close-up example)
Both examples illustrate the proper format of a business letter. Find out if your company has a business letter template. If it does not, make one up so that you can save yourself time.
Salutation
A business letter should use a formal salutation. Begin with the greeting “Dear” followed by the title of address of the recipient (Ms. or Mr.), the recipient’s last name, and a comma or colon:Example: Dear Ms. Bond,
Example: Dear Ms. Bond:
Note that the title of of address for female recipients is “Ms.”, rather than the alternatives “Miss” or “Mrs.”, which should be used only when a recipient has expressed a desire to be referred to by an alternate title of address. In some cases, the first name of a recipient you do not know may not clearly indicate gender (Ex. Kim, Taylor). In such cases, use the recipient’s first name instead of title.Example: Dear Kim Bond,
Example: Dear Taylor Bond:
Body
In some ways, a business letter is quite different from e-mails. While e-mails can be as short as one or two sentences, the business letter usually includes two or more paragraphs. Properly written business letters should contain a beginning, middle, and end. The letter should focus on one topic only. Thus, when writing a business letter, one needs to explain using as much detail as possible. Whereas e-mails serve as continuous dialogue and memos serve to announce a specific piece of news, business letters often involve various tones. A good rule of thumb to remember when writing the body of a business letter is: Anticipate, Empathize, Understand.- Anticipate what questions your reader might want answered and what messages your reader might infer from your letter.
- Empathize with your reader as they may be having a bad day or simply can’t understand what you are trying to communicate. Ask yourself, “If I were the person receiving this letter, would I clearly understand it the first time I read it?”
- Understand that if you send your letter via e-mail, not everyone will be able to respond immediately. Additionally, if you send your letter via traditional mail, also realize that it could be weeks before someone responds.
Closing and Signature
At the end of a business letter, show courtesy to your recipient with a respectful closing. Two lines below the body of the letter, enter a closing word or phrase. “Sincerely” and “Respectfully”–followed by a comma–are common formal closings. For less formal letters, such as those to existing customers who know you well, “Best regards” and topic-related closings (Ex. Happy Holidays!) are acceptable. After the closing line, skip 4 more lines and insert your full name or your name and contact information, whichever is appropriate for the formatting style you’ve chosen (see examples above).See a Model: Business Letter
The following examples provide correct and incorrect versions of business letters. Each correct version follows one or more of the basic rules of business writing. The letters written in an incorrect manner, however, violate one or more of the basic rules of writing.
Letter #1 Scenario:
This is an example of a change in company policy letter. For several consecutive years your company has provided gifts to customers. Due to a tremendous amount of growth, however, the company has changed its policy. This letter explains the change in policy and the reasons for it.Incorrect version of letter #1 (company letterhead)
(Item 1)
[Recipient Name]
[Company Name]
[Address]
[City, State, Zip]
(Item 2)
You will not be receiving a Christmas Fruit Basket this year. (Item 3) We decided that since we have so many new customers we cannot afford to send everyone a basket. (Item 4) So instead of all of our customers “crying a river of tears,” one of our female account reps suggested that we make a donation to a charity on our customer’s behalf. (Item 5) That way, we are still doing some good.
(Item 6)
[Your Name]
What’s wrong with letter #1?
Item 1. No date. It is important to date all business letters as a point of reference in the future.
Item 2. No salutation. Since this letter is going out to all of the company’s customers, the company should have all of their names in a database. Not personalizing the letter suggests that the company was lazy and spent little time preparing such an important correspondence.
Item 3. This is a crude way to open such a sensitive letter. A writer builds goodwill by using a tone that is polite and sincere.
Item 4. This sentence stresses the negative instead of the positive. Writing in a positive tone should form the backbone of the majority of your business letter writing.
Item 5. Using a folksy saying and a reference to gender is completely unacceptable.
Item 6. There are no wishes for a happy holiday season (a closing). Additionally, the letter is written in one paragraph, which makes it difficult to understand. The writer needs to divide the letter into separate paragraphs to make it easier to read.
Correct version of letter #1 (company letterhead)
[Date]
[Recipient Name]
[Company Name]
[Address]
[City, State, Zip]
Dear [Title of Address] [Last Name],
We would like to take this time to thank all our valued customers for their business, and we look forward to continuing to do business with you in the future.
It has been our policy to send out Christmas Fruit Baskets to our customers, and while we would like to continue to recognize each of you individually, our growth has made that, quite simply, impossible.
Beginning with the [year] holiday season, we will donate to a charitable organization on behalf of our customers. Each year, a team of employees will meet and select an organization, and we will include the name of the organization in our Company Christmas Card.
We know that you agree with us that the spirit of the season should be considered, and we hope you will find our new policy one that demonstrates not only our appreciation for you, but also our desire to help those less fortunate.
Happy Holidays!
[Your Name]
Letter #2 Scenario:
This is an example of a customer service letter. A customer has returned a product that failed to work properly. This letter addresses the customer’s concern and explains the company’s policy.Incorrect version letter #2 (company letterhead)
[Date]
[Recipient Name]
[Company Name]
[Address]
[City, State, Zip]
(Item 1)
I’m not sure why you are having a problem with our product, no one ever does. (Item 2)
Just take it back to where you got it from and let the dealer handle it. (Item 3)
If the dealer says it is broken, we will only replace the product if it is within 30 days of purchase. The two guys running the mail room here are off until next week so you will have to wait for us to mail it. (Item 4)
(Item 5)
Sincerely,
[Name]
What’s wrong with letter #2?
Item 1. There is no greeting or salutation. This is extremely unprofessional since the customer has contacted the company with a complaint and provided their full name and contact information to the company.
Item 2. This is a terrible introductory sentence. The writer is clearly not sympathetic to the customer’s plight. Moreover, the tone is rude and unprofessional.
Item 3. This paragraph should have explained the company’s policy more clearly.
Item 4. This sentence contains an unnecessary reference to gender. It also tells the reader that they will have to wait for their product. This paragraph should be confident, professional, and positive in tone.
Item 5. The end of the letter lacks any type of apology or acknowledgment that the customer has been inconvenienced.
Correct version letter #2 (company letterhead)
[Date]
[Recipient Name]
[Company Name]
[Address]
[City, State, Zip]
Dear [Title of Address] [Last Name],
Thank you for your letter dated [date]. We are sorry to hear that you have been experiencing problems with your [product].
Normally, we ask that customers contact their dealer in the event of a problem, but we understand that is not possible in this situation. Therefore, please carefully pack the unit in its original carton and send it to us. Our Quality Assurance Team will put it through a thorough examination to determine the source of the problem.
If it turns out to be a minor adjustment, we‘ll repair it and return the (product) to you within thirty days. If our determination is that the unit is defective, we will send you a replacement immediately.
Again, I am sorry that you experienced this difficulty and wish to thank you for your patience and for purchasing our (product).
Sincerely,
[Name]
Letter #3 Scenario
This is an example of a business to business (B2B) letter. The author of the letter is confirming an order and also outlining next steps in the business arrangement.
Incorrect version of letter #3
[Date]
[Recipient Name]
[Company Name]
[Address]
[City, State, Zip]
Hey John we got your order. (Item 1) We have noticed that people your age might need helping figuring this out so we have set up a phone line for you to use. (Item 2) Our girls are standing by to answer any questions you may have. If you want to ‘kill two birds with one stone’ you can also place your next order with our girls. (Item 3) Our servicemen will collect the money from you before we do any work. (Item 4) That’s company policy. They should be at your site next week. (Item 5)
(Item 6)
(Item 7)
What’s wrong with letter #3?
Item 1. No date acknowledging the order. This is also written in a friendly manner which is inappropriate. Friendly business writing is only appropriate between two long-term colleagues or friends.
Item 2. The reference to age is completely unnecessary. Proper business writing demands that the writer avoid using any reference to gender, age, or other specific group identification. Also the tone is insulting to the reader.
Item 3. The use of the term ‘girls’ and the folksy saying are both unprofessional. In formal business letter writing, folksy sayings are inappropriate and should be replaced with more appropriate language.
Item 4. The use of the word ‘servicemen’ violates basic business writing. ‘Service personnel’ should be used to avoid any reference to gender.
Item 5. There is no exact date. When informing a customer about a service or delivery date, be as specific as possible. Doing so will enable you to write clearly and persuasively.
Item 6. The letter is not divided into concise paragraphs. There is also no concluding sentence or signature. Always sign the letter and thank the customer for their business.
Item 7. The letter contains grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors. This gives the reader an impression of the writer as unprofessional. Before sending any correspondence, proofread the document to find and correct these kinds of errors.
Correct version letter #3 (company letterhead)
[Date]
[Recipient Name]
[Company Name]
[Address]
[City, State, Zip]
Dear [Mr. or Mrs. or Ms. + Last Name],
This letter is to confirm your telephone order placed January 10, 2007. A copy of our order confirmation containing the stated terms is attached. Please check the order carefully to assure that services listed are what you requested.
Our service team will be at your site on [date] as long as we get this confirmation letter and a deposit check for ½ the amount due by [date].
Thank you for your continued patronage.
Sincerely,
[Name]
[Title if applicable]
Writer's Checklist: Business Letter
Focus/Purpose
Does your letter make it clear to recipients why you are contacting them?
- State the reason you are contacting recipients early and briefly in your letter.
Development/Elaboration
Does your letter include the proper content?
- Include the proper data, references, or other source material your letter requires.
- If you are including an attachment to your letter, be sure to refer to it in your letter.
Does your letter inform the reader how they can respond?
- Be sure to inform the reader how they can respond to you. (Ex: ‘Feel free to respond to this letter by emailing me at yourname@email.com. You can also call me at 123.456.7890.’)
Does your letter contain the proper contact information for you and the recipients?
- Make sure you include all of the contact information of the person you are writing to.
- Make sure you include your full name and contact information as well as your e-mail and company’s URL so the recipient can respond.
Organization
Which of the two formats have you selected?
- Left-justified
- Company letterhead
Have you presented information into logically sequenced paragraphs?
- Present your information in paragraphs that have a beginning, middle, and end.
Language/Style
Does your letter have a professional tone and use professional language?
- Be friendly but mindful that this document is a business document and, therefore, requires some degree of formality to remain professional in tone.
- Choose words that the audience understands.
- Avoid using words with condescending or negative connotations.