Business Letter 3

Main body

4. Greeting (Salutation)
The greeting should be in the form 'Dear Mr' and then the recipient's surname name followed by a coma.

• Spell the recipient's name correctly. Ring the organisation for the spelling and personal title if you are unsure.

• Don’t use just their first name (Dear Jim) unless you know the recipient well

• Use the recipient full name without the personal title (e.g. Dear Vivian Cross) if you are unsure of the recipient's gender

• Try not to use a non-specific greeting such as 'To whom it may concern' it might indicate that you have not bothered to find out whom a suitable recipient might be and as a result, your letter may not receive sufficient attention

5. References
Your reference specifies the purpose of the letter and is normally written in bold in the format shown opposite.

If a recipient’s reference is being quoted from previous correspondence, place this immediately under the recipient's address.

< Previous page > | < Next page >