Business letter

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A business letter is a letter written in formal language, usually used when writing from one business organization to another, or for correspondence between such organizations and their customers, clients and other external parties. The overall style of letter will depend on the relationship between the parties concerned.

Types of Letter

Letter of Inquiry

A letter of inquiry is a general term used for a number of different kinds of business letters addressed to a company. For example, applicants usually send a letter of inquiry, with an enclosed résumé (CV), to an employer for whom they would like to work. Companies send a letter of inquiry to their business partner when they need information about the goods they'd like to order. A letter of inquiry is usually short and to the point, containing only the request and a short introduction with an address, phone number or e-mail address from the sender's side.

General Format

Elements

Business letters (in the United States) usually contain the following elements, in order:

• Sender's address & contact information
• Date of writing
• Subject
• Recipient's name, title, company, & address
• Salutation/greeting
• Message (body of the letter)
• Valediction/closing
• Sender's signature
• Sender's name, title, company

In some situations, a business letter may also include the following optional information:

• Enclosures (Encl.: or Enc.:)
• Carbon Copy Recipients (cc:)
• Reference Initials (of the typist, if different from original author of letter)

Line Spacing

In general, each element or paragraph of the letter is followed by a single blank line, except:

• the date, followed by three or four blank lines;
• the final content paragraph, followed by two blank lines;
• the valediction/closing, followed by three or four blank lines (enough for the sender to sign the letter); and
• the sender's title, followed by two blank lines.

Font Formatting

No special character or font formatting is used, except for the subject line, which is usually underlined.

Punctuation

The salutation/greeting is generally followed by a comma, although in the United States a colon is often preferred. The valediction/closing is followed by a comma.

Example Template

[SENDER'S NAME]
[SENDER'S ADDRESS]
[SENDER'S PHONE]
[SENDER'S E-MAIL]

[DATE]


[RECIPIENT W/O PREFIX]
[RECIPIENT'S TITLE]
[RECIPIENT'S COMPANY]
[RECIPIENT'S ADDRESS]

(Optional) Attention [DEPARTMENT/PERSON],

Dear [RECIPIENT W/ PREFIX],

Re: [SUBJECT]

[CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT
CONTENT CONTENT. CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT
CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT. CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT
CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT.]

[CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT
CONTENT CONTENT. CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT
CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT. CONTENT CONENT CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT
CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT.]


[VALEDICTION (Sincerely, Respectfully, Regards, etc.)],




[SENDER]
[SENDER'S TITLE]


Enclosures ([NUMBER OF ENCLOSURES])

cc: [CC RECIPIENT], [CC RECIPIENT TITLE]
[CC RECIPIENT], [CC RECIPIENT TITLE]

Indentation Formats

Business letters generally conform to one of four indentation formats: Block, Semi-Block, Modified Block, and Modified Semi-Block. Put simply, "Semi-" means that the first lines of paragraphs are indented; "Modified" means that the sender's address, date, and closing are significantly indented.

Block

In a Block format letter, (1) all text is aligned to the left margin, (2) paragraphs are not indented.

Semi-Block

In a Semi-Block format letter, (1) all text is aligned to the left margin, (2) paragraphs are indented.

Modified Block

In a Modified Block format letter, (1) all text is aligned to the left margin, except for the author's address, date, and closing; and (2) paragraphs are not indented. The author's address, date, and closing are usually indented three inches from the left margin, but can be set anywhere to the right of the middle of the page, as long as all three elements are indented to the same position.

Modified Semi-Block

In a Modified Semi-Block format letter, (1) all text is aligned to the left margin, except for the author's address, date, and closing; and (2) paragraphs are indented. The author's address, date, and closing are usually indented three inches from the left margin, but can be set anywhere to the right of the middle of the page, as long as all three elements are indented to the same position.