Parts Of A Business Letter

Writing a proper business letter is an art. Unfortunately, few people are aware of the effort that is required to produce a good business letter.

Applications to senior positions in the corporate world are witnesses to grave mistakes in the format of the business letter. A business letter format forms the bedrock of a good business letter.

A proper business letter format gives the right cues to the client and builds trust between you and your client. A naive jotting down of services provided and details of available prices would never ever bring sales, let alone profits. Often, people equate cold behavior with professionalism. It is vital to remember lack of warmth in business deals can never yield success. A business letter proper format includes primarily the following: the Heading, the Date, the Inside Address, the Salutation, the Body of the Letter, the Complimentary Close, and the Signature.

Date : The date line indicates the date the letter was written. However, if your letter is completed over a number of days, it is best to use the date it was finished. The month, day and year should be written two inches from the top of the paper. As per your letter format, justify or center align it.

Sender's Address : Including the sender's address is optional. If you include it, it should come one line below the date. The sender's name and title need not be men tioned here. This is because they will be mentioned at the close of the letter. You can also add the sender's address immmediately after you close the letter. The other important thing about the sender's address is you should write to one individual in a company. If you are unaware of the name of the person in charge, call up the firm to enquire and/or ask the employees. Your homework will pay off. The inside address should begin an inch below the date. It should be justified, no matter which format you are using.

Inside Address : The inside address is technically the first step of your formal approach to the adressee. Be formal yet warm when you address the person concerned. The first impression is the last impression in business deals. Address a woman by a Miss, Mrs or Ms. If you are unsure of her preference of being addressed, safely use Ms. If the person is a doctor or holds any other title, address him or her by that title. It is most appreciated. Also, people don't really mind if a person is addressed by a higher designation than what he or she actually holds.

Salutation : The salutation should be the same as the inside address. If you know the person personally, you can use the firstname. In other cases, you may use the title and full name of the person followed by a colon. If you don't know the gender of the reader, simply write "To whom it may concern". Leave one line blank before you begin the body of the letter.

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Body : The body of the business letter is the core of the deal. It involves intelligent and concise use of language. Don't write too little or too much. Both may prove costly. Your sequence of thoughts will also throw light on your sincerity and clarity of purpose. Leave a blank line between each paragraph. The first paragraph may open in a friendly manner leading to a statement of the main point. The following paragraph should begin where you left off - justifying the importance of the main point. The next few paragraphs should bear justification with background information and supporting details. The closing paragraph should restate the purpose of the letter and may request some type of action.

Close : The closing of the business letter should be concise and formal. Only the first word is capitalized. If the salutation has a colon, the closing should have a comma. Otherwise, punctuation is unnecessary after the closing.

If your letter is typed by someone else, the typist and your initials will be mentioned at the end of the letter. Your initials will be in upper case while the typist's in lower case. If you have typed your own letter, initials are not required. If you have documents with the letter, mention them under Enclosures, which should come one line after the closing. If there is more than one document, it's a good idea to list them. If not, mentioning Enclosures is good enough.

Format : The typical format of any business letter is known as the block format. In this format, the entire letter is justified with single space between the lines, except between two paragraphs where you use double spaces. In the modified block format, the entire body is justified with single-spaced lines. However, the date and the closing are aligned centrally to the page. The last and the least used format, the semi-block, is very similar to the modified block format, except all the paragraphs are indented instead of being left justified.

Font : The standard font used in all business letters is Times New Roman, size 12. You may also use Arial. If the business letter is for a conservative company, use Times New Roman. For a more liberal company, you may try Arial and other fonts.

I found this article on the following website : www.1-killer-sales-business-letters.com/. The author was kind enough to allow me to publish this article that I found really informative and helpful.

The author, Ms Myriam Burton is an expert on business letters and sales letters. She is the owner of www.1-killer-sales-business-letters.com/.

This article can be re-printed and/or published online or offline for free, provided the website, www.1-killer-sales-business-letters.com, is posted along with it. The article must remain intact without any alteration.

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