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.
