Business Letter Template

When you are writing a letter to an organization or to someone for some official purpose, then you have to write a business letter. This letter is the formal means of communication either between two organizations, between a person and an organization or a client and organization. The language that is used in the letter of course has to be formal. People receive hundreds of letters nearly every single day and if your letter is going to be one of them, then you should know how to write the letter. You should know what is the standard format, such as where to put the address, what to write, what style to follow etc. Given below are the steps to write the letter and also a business letter template. It will help to write the best letter.

What to Write

This type of letter, unlike a personal letter which we write to friends and families, is a more formal matter. It is an official letter written in a more formal manner. Hence, it's important that you know the correct method of writing the letter. There is proper format, which has been discussed here.

• The first thing that you need to keep in mind is writing the name and address of the recipient and the name and address of the sender, i.e. you. First on the left hand side of the letter, write down your own name and address. Write down the address of your company if you are writing on the behalf of the company. Leaving a line, on the right hand side of the letter, write the name and address of the recipient. All this should be written clearly.
• Next you have to the write the date on which you are writing the letter. This should be written on the left hand side of the letter and you can either use the MM/DD/YYYY or DD/MM/YYYY format for the date.
• Next comes the salutation part. Now unlike an informal letter, we cannot write 'Dearest' or 'My Dear...'. In this letter we start off with 'Dear Sir or Madam or if you know who you are writing to then you can use 'Dear Mr./Miss/Mrs/Ms. While writing to a female, it's best that you address her as 'Ms' rather than as 'Miss' or 'Mrs', unless asked to do so.
• Next you have to give the reference as to what made you write the letter. It might be that you had seen their advertisement in the paper and you are writing because of that or it might also be that the company had written a letter to you and you are just replying back. Write the reference whenever writing a letter.
• Use clear and simple language. Do not use flowery language to try to impress the recipient, and also, do not use an extremely high-standard language, and try to show off your vocabulary skills. Keep the letter short and simple and neat.
• Write as to why you are writing the letter. Maybe you want to apply for a job, or you want to make a deal with the company, etc. Do not forget to write the reason for writing the letter.
• Be polite while trying to convey something. Even if you are writing a complaint, you should be polite. Use words like 'Could you possibly', 'I would be grateful if you could', 'I would be delighted to', etc.
• Mention if you are enclosing anything such as some important documents or something and if possible give a list of what all you have enclosed.
• Sign off politely using words like 'Thank you for your help' or 'If you have any questions you can call us..' etc. Then add your signature and end the letter with 'Yours faithfully' or 'Yours sincerely'.

Now let us see the correct professional letter format which you can follow. Later on you can also refer to the examples.

Format #1

Your Own Address Name of your City and Pin Code Date: MM/DD/YYYY Name of Receiver Name of Company and Address Name of City and Pin Code Dear Mr/Miss/Ms/Mrs (If you know name) or Dear Sir/Madam, Ref: Write what made you write the letter. In the first paragraph tell the reader something about yourself and also why you are writing the letter. Make sure that you sound professional enough. In the next paragraph mention the reason for writing the letter in details with facts and examples etc. End the last paragraph with a polite note saying what you expect the reader to do or how grateful you would be for their help. Yours Sincerely, (Your name and signature)

Now that we have seen the template, in order to make your work easier, I have also included an example which will make your work even easier.

Sample #2

Mc. Taylor Cotton House 45 ABC Avenue New York 1233 Phone: 78-878756 email: cottonhouse@cotton.com January 11, 2009 Johnny Bravo Production Manager Ralph Cotton Textiles FGHJ Lane Washington D.C. 453 Dear Mr. Bravo, Ref: This is in reference to your advertisement dated January 9th, 2009 (New York Times, 'HR person required') At present I am working with ________ as an HR. But I would love to work with Ralph Cotton in the future. I had seen the ad in the paper that day and i fulfill all the requirements that you are looking for in the HR. I have enclosed my resume and other documents along with this letter and I would be grateful if you could go through the documents and let me know what all I am supposed to do. Thank you so much for your help. Hope to hear from you soon. Yours sincerely, Batman

Now you have the letter template which you can use to write a formal letter to any organization or client. Just follow the above steps and you will learn how to write the best business letter.