Business communications are becoming more and more informal as electronic media and the Internet penetrate every level of business contacts. It is no more unusual to receive a business message from someone you have never met calling you by your first name. Nevertheless, first contacts in the business world are still ordinarily by letter, which is a far more formal medium. It is therefore of value to know the basic rules for business letter writing.

The tone of the letter hinges on how you address your correspondent.

While it is better to err on the side of formality if you have never had any relations with the individual in question, French speakers should be careful to avoid beginning a letter with simply Sir or Madam unless they wish to be extremely cold or to give voice to a complaint of some sort. The common form of address is either Dear Sir, Dear Mr Smith or Dear Jim – never: Dear Mr Jim Smith.

Unlike in French, the addressee's job title is not mentioned in either the opening of the letter or its closing remarks. Although you can address the Chairman of a company as Dear Chairman, no other business title can be used in this way. It is therefore of import to include the addressee's job title under his/her name in the company's address.

Starting the letter:

Dear Sirs,
If you are addressing the company rather than a person within the company.

Dear Sir or Madam,
If you do not know the name of the person who will receive the letter.

Dear Sir, Dear Madam,
If you know the name of the person but wish to remain extremely formal.

Dear Mr, Mrs, Ms, or Miss Smith
If you know the name of the person or have a formal relationship with him/her. Use Ms if you are writing to a woman and do not know her married status. Although Ms is used more and more when writing to a woman whether or not you know her married status, not all women like to be addressed as Ms.

Dear Jim,
If the person is a close business contact, with whom you are already on first name terms, or friend.

Sir, Madam,
Used only for legal communications, formal complaints, letters to the editor, to convey anger, etc.

Reference:

With reference to
your advertisement,
your letter of 20th June,
your phone call,
your enquiry,
etc.

Thank you for your
letter of 5th May,
enquiry,
proposal,
etc.

Reason for writing:
I am writing to
enquire about,
confirm,
apologise for,
etc.

Making a request:
I would be grateful if you could......
Giving bad news, formulating a refusal:
Unfortunately,
I'm afraid that,
I regret

Enclosing documents:
I enclose ...,
Please find enclosed

Closing remarks:
Thanking you in advance,
Thank you for your help,
Please contact us again if
we can help in any way,
you have any questions,
you require additional information,
etc.

Reference to future contacts:
I look forward to
hearing from you soon,
meeting you next Tuesday,
etc.

Ending the letter:
- For letters beginning Dear Sir, Dear Sir or Madam
Yours faithfully,
- For letters beginning Dear Mr, Mrs, Miss or Ms.
Your sincerely,
- For letters beginning Dear Jim,
Best wishes,
Kind regards,
Warmest regards

If the letter is written on headed notepaper, the lay out should be as shown in the illustration below:

Date
Our ref: ps/320/SM
Your ref: bd/va
Mr. Birt Davis,
Account Executive,
Smith & Sons,
21 Mapple Ave,
London WC4 3SN.

Dear Mr Davis,
Text

Yours sincerely,
Peter Scott
Sales Manager

In the event of a personal business letter, the sender's address should appear above the date.

J. McCorquodale is a linguist with more than 20 years experience in translating particularly in the area of law and finances. Find out how quality corporate communication, legal and financial documents or website translation services between English, French and other languages can help you build trust and rapport with your foreign customers or clients internationally. http://www.101businesstranslation.com/