How To Address A Business Letter – Sample & Example

Address a Business Letter: The way you address somebody reflects the amount of respect endowed on them. Usually, we are in the habit of addressing everybody casually by beginning the letters with ‘dear’. But once you enter the professional arena, it takes no time to realize that not everybody is dear to us. A certain amount of formality has to be maintained while addressing colleagues or while dealing with other companies in the corporate world. Here, the dilemma arises on how to address the business letters which turn out to be the easiest way of communicating.

Tips for Addressing a Business Letter

Salutations intend to confuse the writer. At times, in a formal letter, it becomes really difficult to decide how to address the recipient. Here are some of the tips which if followed carefully will never let you be in a state of confusion ever again:

  • If you have no idea about the contact details of the person being addressed, write, ‘to whom it may concern’. For instance, when you are not referring particularly to one person and the letter is meant for all who are part of the organization, it is wiser to use this term. Remember putting a colon after writing it.
  • If the letter is being addressed to a female, write Ms, irrespective of her marital status. Don’t get confused in choosing Ms or Mrs, and Ms works for all whether married or not.
  • If the letter is for a male candidate, mention Mr.
  • If the gender of the recipient is not clear, skip the title and directly write the name. For instance, dear Ujjawal Smith.
  • In cases, where no information is available about the recipient, make use of the salutations Sir or Ma’am. Example – Dear Sir/ Ma’am.
  • When you are aware of the job title, but not so clear about the name of the person, avoid confusion by writing the position of the person in the company. For example-  Dear Consultant or Dear Recruiter.

These tips will surely fit at any of the situations. If you are still stuck, a little googling will be your savior.

To make things clearer, let’s understand through a few samples.

1. Consider that you read about a vacant post for sales manager in a multinational company about whose name you are not aware of.

From,
Lillith Daniel
546-6565 Neque. St.
Centennial Delaware 48432
lillithdaniel87@gmail.com
13 April 2019
To,
Noelle Adams
6351 Fringilla Avenue
Gardena Colorado 37547

Dear Noelle Adams,
This is concerning the advertisement number – XXXX dated 05-April-2019 which appeared in The Times of India for the vacant post of a sales manager.
I have enclosed my resume and photocopy of mark sheets for your perusal and favorable consideration. Kindly find the same.

Sincerely,

(Signature)
Lillith Daniel

2. Consider Writing a Letter to Initiate a Business Partnership

Mark Wilson
Global enterprises
Garden Liberty Rd. Texas
+1065465666
globalenterprises@yahoo.co.in
13 April 2019
Ms. Alice Lowe
The managing director
Authoritarian publishers
Nebraska, US

Dear Alice,
I am writing this with the hope of establishing a new business relationship between our organizations to grab the prime opportunities in the publishing industry. Global enterprises have performed well in the market in the last decade by publishing works of more than 100 writers, and thousands of copies have been sold.
As the editor-in-chief of Global enterprises, I owe the responsibility of making this institution a game player in the global market. I have thoroughly researched the success history of Authoritarian Publishers and request you to do the same for our company. With this new alliance, we will be able to establish a new network of clients and publish new inspiring works of upcoming authors.
Looking forward to a meeting with you to discuss further details. Please call at 97XXXXXX98 or drop a mail at globalenterprises@yahoo.co.in.

Sincerely,
(Signature)
Mark Wilson
Global enterprises
globalenterprises@yahoo.co.in

Conclusion

Properly addressing the recipient is a skill you will gradually acquire in your professional career as you indulge with more and more people. Mentioning correct salutation for the person addressed is very important while writing a business letter since people admire the way they are being addressed by their colleagues or other players in the market.

Address a Business Letter in PDF and Word (Doc.) Format

how to address a business letter

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