No matter how trivial its content may be, the business letter is always of great importance. It often represents the first contact that a client will have with you, so it has to represent you well. In this section, we deal with the different formats and conventions which you may wish to use when preparing letters for a variety of purposes.

A standard business letter is a simple document to produce, and you should aim to produce all your letters to the same format, even where your individual style may differ from other people’s.

Your company header (usually your logo and a short slogan or description of what you do; this will be discussed in lesson eight) should appear at the top of your letter, usually in the center. At the very bottom of your letter, ideally in a smaller typeface, you should include your company information (ie: name, any applicable company number, registered office, telephone number etc.) Some companies like to include an e-mail address and/or website URL in this position, but this may not be well suited to companies aiming to present a traditional image.

All pages should be clearly numbered. Ideally, you should number your pages as ‘page 1 of 2′, etc., so that readers can be sure they are not missing any parts of a longer letter.

The main body of text in a letter should be written in a plain, clear font (like Times New Roman or Century Gothic) in an easily legible size (twelve point is most popular). Most businesses prefer to align text to the left margin, as when writing by hand or using a typewriter, but some, especially those working in design or aiming for a modern image, choose to justify text. When text is justified, a word processor adjusts the spacing between letters so that all lines appear to be of the same length and the left and right margins are both even.

At the top of a letter, at the right hand side, you should write your name, your company name (if relevant), and the address where you can be contacted (this may differ from your registered office address). You may also wish to include a telephone number so that it is prominent and easy for the reader to find.

Beneath this information, you should leave a blank line, and then you should write the date on which the letter is being written. Some businesses prefer to write this out in full, to give a more elegant impression. If you are writing the date in numeric format (eg: ’01/09/03′), you should be aware that Americans using this format write the month first and then the day, whereas British people write the day first and then the month. Thus, to an American, ’01/09/03′ would refer to the ninth of January, whilst to a British person it would refer to the first of September. For this reason, it’s sometimes wise to write the date out in full in order to avoid confusion.

Underneath the date, you should leave a blank line, and beneath that you should write the name and address of the person to whom your letter is addressed. Where possible, you should always address your letter to a person rather than directly to an organization. If you can’t find out the name of the appropriate person, you can address your letter by business title, eg: ‘The Managing Director’ or ‘The Editor’.

Underneath all this information, you should leave a blank line and then begin your letter. At the end of your letter, you should close (on a new line) with ‘yours sincerely’ (for formal situations) or ‘yours faithfully’ (for slightly less formal situations); there are other variations on this, and it’s possible to be creative, but these are the only two you really need for business writing. You should leave a few blank lines underneath this (practice will tell you how many you need) and then type your name. When you have printed the letter, you can sign your name by hand in the blank space.

Some business people who have to sign a lot of letters prefer to print their signatures (usually as images) or fill them in with a stamp. You can do this if you wish, but it may affect the legal standing of your letter, since it would be possible for someone else to forge your signature by this means. A hand-written ink signature conveys a better impression. It shows that you have gone to the trouble to be personally involved with the letter (even if an assistant has actually written it).

Where more than one signature is required at the end of a letter (eg: where it is from all the directors of a company), blank spaces should be left for each in turn, with their names printed beneath. The most senior should sign first.

© Jennie Kermode

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