Components of a business letter

Business letters are usually written on printed company forms (letter-paper). They comprise the following components:

1. The letterhead. It includes the name of a company, its post address, telephone, telex number, e-mail address as well as some other information, name of directors, the particular official to whom all correspondence to be addressed, spaces for letter indexes (references).

2. Address. In correspondence that does not have a printed letterhead, the sender’s address is written on the top right-hand side of the page:

                                    British                                USA

№ of the house, name of the street        10 Spring Garden          145 Chinaville Rd

City, state (county), post/zip code,        London SW1A 2BN      Lake Forest, IL 60045

Country                                                  United Kingdom           USA

3. Date. The date is written below the sender’s address, sometimes separated from it by a space. It is also usually written on the right-hand side of the page.

                                                British                                 USA

                                                   7^th April 2010                            April 7^th, 2010

                                                   7 April 2010 (7 Apr. 2010)       April 7, 2010

4. Inside address. This is written on the opposite side of the page. The inside address is your reader’s address. This includes the reader’s: name; position; organization (as the company calls itself); complete mailing address.

If the surname of the person is known, it should be preceded by a courtesy title and either the person’s initial(s) or his/her first name (e.g.: Mr P. E. Brown or Mr Peter Brown, not Mr Brown).

Courtesy titles used in addresses are as follows: Mr is the usual courtesy title for a man. Mrs is used for a married woman. Miss is used for an unmarried woman. Ms is used for both married and unmarried women. Many women now prefer to be addressed by this title, and it is a useful form of address when you are not sure whether the women you are written married or not. Messrs are used occasionally for two or more men (Messrs P.E.Brown and B.L.Parker) but more commonly forms part of the name of a firm (Messrs Collier & Clerke & Co.).If your reader has special titles, such as Professor (Prof.), Doctor (Dr.), Capitan (Capt.) then use it.

5. Attention line. When you cannot address a business letter to a particular person, use an attention line (for the attention of): e.g. Attention: Product Manager.

6. The references. References are noted to indicate what a piece of correspondence refers to (“Your ref.”) and the correspondence to refer to when replying (“Our ref.”). References are written below the heading at the left margin of the letter.

7. Salutation. A business letter should always include a salutation. This is to whom the letter is addressed. Salutations add a person touch to your letter (e.g. Dear Mr/Mrs/Miss/Ms Brown). “Dear Sir/Madam” opens a letter written to a man/woman whose name is not known. “Dear Sirs” is used to address a company. In the USA a letter to a company may open with “Gentlemen”, followed by a colon.

If you have no attention line, put the salutation two lines below the inside address.

8. The subject title. “Re:” is an abbreviation of the Latin “in re” which means “the subject title” and is used after salutation. This provides a further reference, saves introducing the subject in the first paragraph, and allows the writer to refer to it throughout the letter.

9. The body of the letter. The body of a business letter has three paragraphs: introductory paragraph; one or more main paragraphs; concluding paragraph. It is usual to leave a line space between paragraphs.

First paragraph. The first sentence or paragraph of a letter is an important one since it sets the tone of the letter and gives your reader his impression of you and your company. Generally speaking, in the first paragraph you will thank your correspondent for his letter (if replying to an enquiry), introduce yourself and your company if necessary, state the subject of the letter, and set out the purpose of the letter. For example: 

Middle paragraph. This is the main part of your letter and will concern the points that need to be made, answers you wish to give, or questions you want to ask. As this can vary widely with the type of letter that you are writing, it will be dealt with in the relevant units. It is in the middle paragraph of a letter that planning is more important, to make sure that your points are made clearly, fully and in a logical sequence.

Final paragraph.  When closing the letter, you should thank the person for writing, if your letter is a reply and if you have not done so at the beginning. Encourage further enquiries or correspondence, and mention that you look forward to hearing from your correspondent soon. You may also wish to restate, very briefly, one or two of the most important of the points you have made in the main part of your letter.

10. Complimentary close. Complimentary close depends on the form of salutation:

- “Yours sincerely” is used if the letter begins with “Dear Mr/Mrs/Miss/Ms”;

- “Yours faithfully” if the letter begins with “Dear Sir/Madam”;

- “Yours truly” or “Very truly yours” if the letter begins with “Gentlemen” and follow all phases with a comma.

The position of the complimentary close – on the left, right or in the center of the page – is matter of choice. It depends on the style of the letter (blocked letters tend to put the close on the left, indented letters tend to put them in the center) and on your firm’s preference.

11. Signature. Always type your name after your handwritten signature and your position in the firm after your typed signature. This is known as signature block.

Even though you may think your signature is easy to read, letters such as ‘a’, ‘e’, ‘o’, ‘r’, ‘v’ can easily be confused. It is, to some extent, a matter of choice whether you sign with your initial(s) (D. Jenkins) or your given name (David Jenkins), and whether you include a courtesy title (Mr, Mrs, Miss, Ms) in your signature block. But if you give neither your given name nor your title, your correspondent will not be able to identify your sex and may give you the wrong title when he/she replies.  

If the sender signs the letter on behalf of a company or another person, per pro/ p/pro/p.p. (from the Lat. – per procurationem) means “for and behalf of” is used before the name. It means that letter is “by warrant”. The person signs letters and other documents.   

12. The enclosure. If there are enclosures, e.g. leaflets, brochures, etc. with the letter they are mentioned at the bottom. “c.c.” originally meant “carbon copy”; today it tells who else received a copy of a letter.