Business Letter Writing Skills for Professionals

How to Properly Format a Letter for Professional Communication

Nov 13, 2009 Carol Rzadkiewicz

Improving communication skills within a business can lead to not only increased profitability but also enhanced customer relations.

A business letter conveys an impression not only about the person who writes it but also about the company whose name appears on the letterhead; and this impression can be either positive or negative, which is why most businesspeople realize the importance of developing this valuable communication skill.

Business Letters and First Impressions

Whenever one person meets another person for the first time, each makes an impression upon the other; and this impression is largely based upon appearance. Granted, the impression may be erroneous, yet it is more often than not long lasting, if not permanent. The same is true for business communications: first impressions have a lasting impact.

So how can professionals ensure that their correspondence makes a positive first impression? They can do so by learning the proper way to format a business letter.

How to Format a Business Letter

Although some parts of a letter are optional, depending upon its purpose, other parts are mandatory and should never be omitted.

The various components of a business letter (in the order in which they are arranged) include the following:

Letterhead
Date
Recipient’s address
Attention line
Salutation
Subject line
Body of the letter
Closing
Company signature
Writer’s identification
Reference initials
Enclosure reminder
Transmittal notation
Copy notations
Postscript

Purpose of The Business Letterhead

The term “letterhead” refers to the company stationary, which should include the following information at the top of the page:

Company’s name
Company’s full address
Company’s telephone number
Company’s fax number (if applicable)
Company’s e-mail address
Company's website address

Introductory Components of a Business Letter

When used for professional correspondence, letters begin with the following components:

Date: This is the date the letter is written, not the date it is mailed; but if not identical, the two dates should be relatively close to one another.

Address of the Recipient: This is a repetition of the mailing information on the envelope.

Attention Line (Optional): This may either be placed immediately after the receiving company’s address or, if the letter is addressed to a specific person within the company, on the first line of the company’s address. For example:

Attention: John H. Smith
Account Representative
Harvest Home Furnishings
96 West Washington Street
Atlanta, Georgia 30208

Salutation: This phrase precedes the body of the letter and, unless the letter is to someone with whom the sender is on familiar terms, should address the person formally, for example, “Dear Mr. Smith,” followed by the proper punctuation, which is a colon. If the name and gender of recipient is unknown, though, the sender should simply say, “Dear Sir or Madam” or “To Whom It May Concern,” followed by a colon.

Subject Line (Optional): This identifies the letter’s topic. For example:

Subject: Annual Furniture Expo in Boston

Formatting the Body of the Business Letter

The body of the letter naturally conveys the message from the sender to the recipient; and although letters should be single-spaced, with double-spacing between paragraphs, the sender can opt for several formatting styles:

Block Format: All parts are aligned left, with no indention for the first line of each paragraph.
Modified Block Format: While all other parts are aligned left, the date, closing, and writer’s name are aligned right or centered.
Modified Block with Indented Paragraphs: All parts are aligned left, but the first lines of each paragraph are indented five spaces.

The Concluding Components of a Business Letter

The final parts of a business letter include the following:

Complimentary Closing: This is the “good-bye” and should sound courteous and professional. For example:

Sincerely yours
Respectfully yours
Cordially yours
Sincerely
Respectfully
Cordially

Company’s Signature (Optional): If used, the company signature is simply the full name of the company, for example, “Greater Northwest Furniture Wholesale, Inc.”

Sender’s Name and Title. This identifies the sender of the letter and his or her position within the company.

Reference Initials: These are the initials of the person who typed the letter but they are included only if the typist was someone other than the sender, for example, a secretary.

Additional Optional Business Letter Components

The following items are all optional and, therefore, may or may not be included in the letter:

Enclosure Reminder: This is included only if additional materials are being sent along with the letter and in the same envelope.
Transmittal Reminder: If the letter or enclosures are being sent via means other than first class mail, for example, by fax or Express Mail, the writer might indicate this to the sender. For example: Enclosure by fax.
Copy Notifications: If a copy of the letter is being sent to another person or persons, the writer might indicate this, for example: c.c. Sue Davis, Accounting Department.
Postscript: This indicates a last-minute addition to the letter, which may or may not be intentional, for example: PS: Please also send a copy of the requested information to Matt Sterling at the corporate office.

In summary, business correspondence speaks volumes about not only the people who write the letters but also the companies those people represent. This is why it’s important for professionals to know the proper way to format a business letter.

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Reference:

Zimmer, Kenneth; Camp, Sue (1990) College English and Communication. New York: McGraw-Hill.

The copyright of the article Business Letter Writing Skills for Professionals in Business Management is owned by Carol Rzadkiewicz. Permission to republish Business Letter Writing Skills for Professionals in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.