How to Write a Business Letter

A business letter is a formal letter that is intended for official communication. It can be categorized into various forms like persuasive, promotional, informational and motivational. A business letter usually contains simple, concise and to the point message. The format of a business letter is quite different from an informal letter. Some useful steps are discussed below that will help you to understand how to write a good business letter.

•    Mention Sender’s Address: In business letters, it is important to include the sender’s address. If you are using letterhead, then make sure it contains the address of the sender at the top of the page. In case you are not using letterhead, then write the sender’s address at the top, left hand side of the page.

•    Date: The date line is used to identify the exact date the letter was written. If you are writing a letter to a US based company, then you can use American date format. For examples, October 10, 2015.

•    Recipient Address: The next line begins with the recipient address that should be written one line below the sender’s address and one inch below the date. The recipient address should be mentioned at the right hand side. It is essential to use the title of the person to whom you are writing a letter.

•    Subject: After the recipient address, start a line with a subject. In the subject section, mention the purpose of writing in few words. Make sure that the subject line should be written in capital letters.

•    Salutation: The next line should be salutation part, which should come just below the subject line. If you know the person, address them by their first name. If you don’t know the person, then address them with ‘Dear Sir’ or ‘Dear Madam’.

•    Body: The body is the main section of the letter. In this section, a sender needs to explain the purpose of writing. Since it is a business letter, you need to be very careful while writing. Mention the main purpose in a few lines and make sure that your message should be conveyed to the concerned person in a clear and concise manner. If required, you can enclose necessary documents along with the letter.

•    Closing: The closing line begins with suggested actions or promises. It is written one line after the last body paragraph. The line ends with ‘Thanking you’ in which the first letter should be capitalized. In addition to this, the final line should be the sender’s name, which is generally mentioned above the words ‘Yours Faithfully’ or ‘With Regards’.