Sure, cranking out formal letters may no longer be the required skill they were many years go.
Regardless, business letters remain an important aspect of professional communication - one, in particular, that you can realize great benefits from.
A properly-structured, well-organized letter does so many things for those receiving them.
They make it easy to figure out who you are, why you're writing and what you're trying to communicate.
Contrast this to letters that just look like piles of printed text - you'll probably send them to the trash before even reading a single word.
Truth is, it's just as easy to produce a well-organized letter as it is to make poorly-structured one, especially with the help of a good business writing software.
So why not go with the former while you're at it? The following are the key elements of a properly-organized letter: 1.
Your personal details (company name, address, telephone, fax, email) should be at the top, either in the center or at the right side.
2.
Date should be in the accepted format of the locale your recipients are.
Don't use American format (mm/dd/yy) when writing Europe-based prospects (dd/mm/yy), for instance.
3.
Recipient's name and address (along with pertinent details) should be on the left hand side.
4.
References (such as Your Ref: Project 120001) should come before the actual letter body.
5.
Keep salutations simple.
Starting out with Dear...
is almost always a safe bet.
6.
Put the subject (if you have one) at a conspicuous spot (right after the salutation) so the recipient can clearly see it.
7.
For the body, use well-structured paragraphs with limited number of sentences each and plenty of white space.
8.
End with a proper closing, such as "Yours sincerely.
" 9.
Use your full name (with a signature over it).
10.
Make sure to note any enclosures in the bottom, writing it as "Enc: 1″ if you inserted a one-page document, for instance.
Regardless, business letters remain an important aspect of professional communication - one, in particular, that you can realize great benefits from.
A properly-structured, well-organized letter does so many things for those receiving them.
They make it easy to figure out who you are, why you're writing and what you're trying to communicate.
Contrast this to letters that just look like piles of printed text - you'll probably send them to the trash before even reading a single word.
Truth is, it's just as easy to produce a well-organized letter as it is to make poorly-structured one, especially with the help of a good business writing software.
So why not go with the former while you're at it? The following are the key elements of a properly-organized letter: 1.
Your personal details (company name, address, telephone, fax, email) should be at the top, either in the center or at the right side.
2.
Date should be in the accepted format of the locale your recipients are.
Don't use American format (mm/dd/yy) when writing Europe-based prospects (dd/mm/yy), for instance.
3.
Recipient's name and address (along with pertinent details) should be on the left hand side.
4.
References (such as Your Ref: Project 120001) should come before the actual letter body.
5.
Keep salutations simple.
Starting out with Dear...
is almost always a safe bet.
6.
Put the subject (if you have one) at a conspicuous spot (right after the salutation) so the recipient can clearly see it.
7.
For the body, use well-structured paragraphs with limited number of sentences each and plenty of white space.
8.
End with a proper closing, such as "Yours sincerely.
" 9.
Use your full name (with a signature over it).
10.
Make sure to note any enclosures in the bottom, writing it as "Enc: 1″ if you inserted a one-page document, for instance.
Source...