Professionalizing Your Business Letters With Formatting Business Letters
A business letter is usually a formal letter from one business to another, either between those companies and their clients, customers, or other third parties. The format of business letter normally depends on the relation between the parties involved. Normally, there are always a sender and a receiver in every business transaction. In business transactions, there are three important parties: the sender, the receiver, and the business.
The first party involved is the sender. He is usually a company or an individual, who writes to inform another person about something. In business letter format, the first line should be the name of the sender. Following that, there should be some identification of him and his company, such as the address, the phone number, email address or any other contact details, if there is any. If there are any distinguishing marks, such as the signature of an author or the trademark of a product, it is included as well.
The second part is the recipient. It is also called the “other person,” or his “friend.” The third person is the “organization.” In business letters, this is the last line. This is the area where business letters end, usually with the phrase “please accept” or “sincerely.” However, in informal business letters, it may appear as “so and so,” or just “to whom it may concern.”
When sending out invoices, most companies use the standard business letter format, which starts with the address, then the name or the designation of the recipient, the date, then the invoice number itself, followed by the colon, then the date, then the word “Dear Sir,” followed by the person’s name or designation (usually Mr., Ms., etc.). Sometimes, though, the terms “Dear Sir” or “To Whom it May Concern” are used. Then it is followed by the body of the letter, which consists of the signature of the sender, the date, and the bottom line, which is usually the phrase “sincerely.” In cases where the billing cycle is from one month to the next, the names of the bills, the amount, and the dates will be followed by the term “sincerely” or “yours faithfully.”
In business letter format, the recipient’s name is also put into the block formats. These block formats are very simple to understand. They consist of just a name, then the word “To”, followed by another block that contains the person’s designation (first name, last name, company, etc.) followed finally by a colon. The colon can be followed by another name, and sometimes it is followed by a comma.
To make your small business letter format professional, you should practice writing in a way that the reader will easily understand. Use larger fonts than normal so that they are easily readable. Don’t use small fonts or difficult styles. Also, have an idea of what the formatting business letters should look like before you begin to write one. Practice the cover letter format as many times as possible until it looks good and flows well. The idea is to convey a professional impression of your company.
