Business Letter Writing Tips

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Before reading this post, please read our basics of letter writing here

Business letters are formal letters. In business or formal letters, one has to be quite particular about both format and the body. A business letter may contain some or all of the following elements.

Letter Head

Usually  printed on the top center portion of the page containing the address of the Business house. In the absence of the letter head, write your address on top of the date line.

Address

1. Your Address : The return address should be written in the top right-hand corner of the letter.
2. The Address of the person you are writing to : The inside address should be written on the left, starting below your address.

Date .............

Different people put the date on different sides of the page. You can write this on the right or the left on the line after the address you are writing to. Write the month as a word.

Subject.....................

To indicate the 'sujbect' of the letter, write 'subject' between the inside address and salutation, or in the middle of the page. Subject line is useful in business letters as it indicates the main purpose of the letter.

Reference...............

Used when referring to an earlier communication; should be placed below the subject

 Salutation or Greeting

1.  Dear Sir or Madam :  If you don't know the name of the person you are writing to, use this. It is always advisable to try to find out a name.
2. Dear Miss Sharma : If you know the name, use the title (Mr, Mrs, Miss or Ms, Dr etc.) and the surname only. If you are writing to a woman and do not know if she uses Mrs. or Miss, you can use Ms, which is for married and single women.

Leave one or two spaces between the inside address and salutation.

Body 

Indent all paragraphs. A business letter should be simple direct to the point (no need to enquire about the person's health and  the weather conditions in his home town :P), precise and yet complete in all the respects. It should contain all the necessary informatin that the recieving party needs, so that the necessity of any further clarification should not arise. No slangs or short forms should be (hi dude, how r u bro etc). The language should be formal, but avoid all hackneyed phrases.

First Paragraphs

The first paragraph shoudl be short and state the purpose of the letter - to make an enquiry, complain, requrest something etc.

The paragraph or paragraphs in the middle of the letter should contain the relevant information behind the writing of the letter. Most letters in English are not very long. So keep the information to the essentials and concentrate on organizing it in a clear and logical manner rather than expanding too much.

Last Paragraph

The last paragraph of a formal letter should state what action you expect the recipient to take - to refund, send you information etc.

Closing

Closing should be one line below the text followed by signatures and then the name written below, along with designation, if necessary.

1. Yours faithfully : If you do not know the name of the person, end the letter this way
2. Yours sincerely : If you know the name of the person, end the letter this way
• Note : Your's Faithfully and Your's Sincerely are wrong expressions. 
3. Your Signature : Its not advisable to write your name and details in competitive exams. In the letter itself they clearly mention NOT TO USE YOUR NAME and OTHER DETAILS. Even if they don't ask, its better not to use your details. Just put xxxxxxxxxxx instead of your details.

Thats all for now friends. In our next post we shall discuss some examples of business letters.