E-mails are the modern-day tool for business-oriented communication. Earlier, people used to write letters manually. Digital advancements have transformed the style of professional interaction. Thus, as a working professional, you must know the proper business letter format to convey your thoughts and ideas in the most impressive way possible.
It is important to realize that business letters represent your employer. Hence, you cannot be casual while composing them. You must take care of the typos and grammatical errors. Besides, you need to understand the right way to organize the information and the total number of paragraphs in your letter. Today, we will be sharing some exclusive and highly useful tips that will help you quickly formulate an impressive business letter.
Contents
What Is A Business Letter Format?
A business letter is a formal or professional letter written by an organization or a person to another individual or business. Such letters should follow a professional business letter format. This legal document is mostly used for corresponding with the clients, managers, agencies, employees, stakeholders, suppliers, other businesses, etc. Further, the information should be genuine and legitimate.
Knowing the proper format for a business letter could help you in drafting a well-written letter and stand out while writing to potential clients, collaborations, and persuading people to participate in an event.
Prepare A Proper Business Letter Format
Your business letter has to be appropriately structured; from the beginning till the end. This makes your letter powerful and compels the reader to take it more seriously. So, by now you know what business letter format is. Now, it’s time to look at the crucial elements of a professional business letter.
Major Parts Of A Business Letter
Here is an overview of all the essential elements of business letter writing:
- Sender’s contact details or address
- Date
- Contact details of the recipient
- Salutation
- Letter’s body
- Closing comments
- Signature
Sender’s Address
The first component of a standard business letter format is your own address. This rule applies while using a letterhead. However, if you are not using letterhead, then mention the sender’s address at the top.
Then, write the date right below it. Leave your name for the closing. The only details you should include are street address, zip code, and city.
Date
Specify the date when the letter was written. If you started writing the letter a few days back, mention the date when you finished writing it. Always use the American date format while writing to a company in the United States. The date needs to be written in the following order: month, date, and then the year
For example “December 1st, 2022″
Always keep a margin of two inches between the top of the page and the date. However, some formats may require you to tab towards the center to write the date. In that case, it would be best to specify the sender’s address on the letterhead itself.
Recipient’s Contact Information
A formal business letter format always includes the recipient’s name, title, company, and address. Make sure to address the recipient properly using personal titles such as Mrs., Mr., Ms., Dr., etc. You may need to do some research and look up this information online.
This is one of the major parts of a business letter that starts right below the date line. The details are always aligned on the left end of the page. The name of the country comes last in capital letters.
Salutation
The salutation should seem professional. It includes the same name as that in the recipient’s address. Do not forget to mention the personal title here as well. You can skip the recipient’s last name if you are familiar with them. For instance, “Dear Susan”.
However, otherwise, you must use the personal title as well as the last name followed by a colon. Besides, leave a blank line post salutation.
In case you are uncertain about the recipient’s gender, then you can stick with the non-sexist salutation options. For instance, mention the job title followed by the recipient’s name. Or, you can simply write their full name.
Never use casual greetings such as “Hello”, or “Hi”. Further, you can frame the opening salutation with “to whom it may concern”.
Letter Body
The ideal business letter format requires you to separate the different paragraphs using a blank line. Further, left-justify the paragraphs within the body.
In the first paragraph, write a friendly greeting. Besides, introduce your basic motive behind writing the letter. As you move further, the following paragraphs should justify the value of the key points. Moreover, they should provide insights into the letter’s purpose and other major information.
Then, the last and final paragraph also called a closing paragraph, should restate the letter’s purpose clearly. Also, summarize the letter’s essence and thank the reader for reviewing it. You can also include a call to action if necessary.
Closing
While closing your letter, keep it short and sweet. The ideal length would be two sentences. Here, capitalize the first word and then leave at least four lines between it and the sender’s title. For less formal communication, you may use “sincerely” or “respectfully yours”. In case of formal correspondence, use “regards” or “yours”.
Those who use a colon post salutation can use a comma after the closing. Else, you can completely skip the punctuation after the closing salutation.
Signature
As per the format of a business letter, your signature comes right beneath the closing salutation. In case of a hard copy, leave some space for the manual signature. Right below it, write your full name, title, email address, phone number, and additional contact details. Maintain four single spaces between the signature details and the closing.
Also, read how to make a proper essay format.
A Note On Business Letter Format And Font
Business letters should be in appropriate formats and the fonts that you use must be chosen carefully. Let’s discuss it in detail.
Formats
- Block Format
People mostly prefer block letter format while composing business letters. As per the block format, the paragraphs should be double-spaced, and the lines should be separated with a single space. Further, left-justify the text in the paragraph.
- Modified Block
The modified block format includes the date and closing placed right in the center. Keep the body, recipient’s address, and the sender’s address on the left side. Make sure to maintain single-space. Though, this format is not that commonly used.
- Semi-Block
The semi-block format for a business letter is the least used format among all. It is quite similar to the modified block. However, the paragraphs are intended, instead of left-justified. Every company works with a personalized template and letterhead.
Fonts
You need to ensure that your business letter is readable. Hence, it is essential to stick to a font that’s decent and easy to read. Further, it should appeal to the reader’s eyes. So, choose an impressive font and meet the recipient’s expectations.
Some of the widely used formats are Times New Roman and Arial in size 12. However, nowadays companies have become somewhat liberal in their choice of fonts.
Punctuation
As per the standard business letter format, avoid using punctuation post salutation and the closing. However, this practice is not applicable everywhere.
Mostly, a colon ( : ) is used after the salutation, and (, ) is used post the closing of the business letter. Always remember that you cannot replace a comma with a colon.
How To Write A Successful Business Letter?
A business letter is a highly important tool for professional communication. A proper business letter format helps you draft an impactful copy that can take up your career slope.
We have already discussed the major parts of a business letter such as a formal salutation, a detailed body with the necessary information, a quick intro, contact information, a proper closing, and the signature.
Here is the perfect step-by-step procedure to compose an impressive business letter.
- Start with a standard template. It will help you understand the right format for your business letter. Further, you would be able to properly organize the document.
- Recognize your purpose for writing the business letter. It will help you focus throughout the process.
- You need to specify the complete contact details of yourself and the recipient. Keep this information and the top end of the letter.
- Keep the salutation formal.
- Introduce yourself to the recipient with a concise and direct paragraph. Furthermore, mention the reason for writing the letter.
- Provide more information about your purpose of writing in the further paragraphs.
- Recap all the details in the closing paragraph. Do thank the recipient for taking out the time to review your letter. Besides, you can also write about your follow-up plans.
- End the business letter with a formal signature.
These points should be followed in the same order. It is the best way to arrange all the information meaningfully and draft an impressive letter.
How To Format A Business Letter?
One of the trickiest parts of writing a business letter is the choice of format. Being a formal document, your business letter should reflect professionalism. Besides, it must have a solid structure. For first-timers, it could be a bit difficult to choose the format for a business letter.
So, here we are to help you! Let us guide you with the right way for a formal business letter format.
The Font Style And Size Matter
Remember what we told you about the fonts? They are important for readability and help in maintaining a clean look. Thus, always pick a font that looks professional, decent, and offers readability. Avoid choosing something fancy.
Some of the highly preferred fonts are Times New Roman, Arial, Calibri, Avenir, Roboto, etc.
Talking about the font size, go for the smallest size which is readable. The ideal size would be 10 to 12 points.
Maintain Proper Margin And Spacing
The adequate margin and spacing can really transform your business letter into a professionally-looking one. These are crucial tips to making your letter readable, and clean.
Let’s share some important tips regarding spacing and margin in the documents.
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- At the topmost part of the letter, separate the different elements through spacing.
- Include a space right before starting the letter.
- Divide the letter of the body using a single space.
- The closing paragraph should be divided using additional space, before and after.
These professional letter format tips will help you with a wonderful-looking and clean output. Just ensure that all the information is aligned on the left side. Also, keep a one-inch margin.
Content Is Important
Since you are focusing a lot on the look and readability of the document, do not forget about the content. Always remember to include the important sections and components within your letter.
Another thing to be careful about is the beginning as well as the ending of the document. It’s best to use formal greetings like “Dear (recipient’s name)”, and “Dear Ms./Mr.”. Or, you can simply go for the general ones.
Similarly, close the letter appropriately with “Sincerely”, “Respectfully”, etc.
Business Letter Example
Let us now demonstrate the details we have just discussed with a business letter example. It will provide you with clarity about the proper way to format your letter.
Miley Sanders
Sr. Sales Manager
66 Front Street
Whitehall, W3
+1 123-456-7890
XYZ@abc.pqr
January 1st, 2022
Bill Mathew
CEO
98 Barley Street
Springfield, MI
+1 356-789-1234
Dear Bill Mathew,
I am delighted to recommend John Black for the position of Jr. Sales Manager with Zen. I am Miley Sanders, a senior sales manager at Neogen Sales & Services. I hold 7+ years of experience in the sales industry and have had the pleasure to work with many specialists throughout my professional journey. I deeply feel Mr. John is one individual who really stands out and would be the perfect choice for this role.
I have worked closely with John and he never failed to impress me with his prowess and knowledge. I am in awe of his excellent demonstration in customer acquisition, customer retention, and sales. He has been serving the organization for over 6 years and always demonstrated excellent performance. John has outdone his team in terms of achieving sales targets. His efforts were rewarded with numerous promotions, and have now led him to the role of junior sales manager.
John also scores at the top when it comes to soft skills. He hones a positive attitude and strong work ethic. His effective communication skills and charming personality are appreciated not only by the customers but also by the employees.
I am highly confident with my recommendation for John Black. He has the potential to become a valuable asset for Zen. Apart from having proven his strong ability to leverage his hard and soft skills for the benefit of Zen, he meets all the requirements and expectations mentioned in the job opening for the Jr. Sales Manager role. That’s what made me write this referral for this position.
Thank you for considering this recommendation. If you need more details, please do not hesitate to contact me via phone at +1 123-456-7890 or email at XYZ@abc.pqr. I would be glad to discuss further.
Sincerely,
Miley Sanders
Sr. Sales Manager
Wrapping Up
A business letter format helps you organize the information and make your document look presentable. You should aim at making your business letter professional and compelling. It is not a place to be sloppy or make mistakes. You cannot afford errors. Further, try your best to articulate the information clearly. Once you master the art of writing a business letter, it will facilitate your professional journey. It is a major skill that will reward you throughout your career. We hope you found this post insightful!
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