How to Address a Professional Letter (+10 Mistakes to Avoid)

Despite the obvious advantage of e-mails and SMS (short messaging services) in today’s world, sending a letter, moreover, writing and adressing a letter is one of the essentials in the business world.

That’s why we want to take you through explanations, suggestions, and tips on how to address a professional letter and how to avoid some common mistakes. 

Don’t waste any of your time and start reading the following lines.

Pro tip: Read our ultimate guide on how to write a professional email first if you want to ensure your emails leave good impression.

Addressing a formal envelope

Contact information

Some of you may use preprinted envelopes with already printed contact information.

If you, however, are among those who don’t use preprinted envelopes, then you write the following  information in the upper left corner:

 

First line: Full name

Second line: Company’s name

Third line: Street address

The fourth line: Town or city, state name, and zip code. If sending a letter to another country, then put the name of the country in this line.

 

In the middle of the envelope, a few lines from your address put the following information about the recipient:

First line: Recipient’s name

Second line: Title

If you don’t have the information about the person’s title, then write down the department.

Third line: Company’s name

The fourth line: Street address

Make sure and double-check if the street address is exact. It should be placed in one line.

 

Here are some examples of a properly addressed envelope:

 

 

Addressing an envelope is very important for obvious reasons. 

If you don’t write exact contact information, then perhaps the recipient will not receive it. 

If you aren’t sure whether you’ve learned properly, we suggest getting some help from online tutors who are true professionals in their field of work. 

 

Book your English tutor

 

Addressing a formal letter

 

An official correspondence is the first primary step to writing a formal letter.

Formal letters are still in use in today’s world, especially in business correspondences and job applications.

Our step-by-step guide may help you improve and master the art of formal letters.

 

Contact information

At the top of the page, preferably on the left, write down your, that is, a sender’s contact information.

 

Sender’s Contact Information:

Sender’s Name

Sender’s Company Name

Sender’s Street Address

Sender’s Town/City, Province/State, Zip/ Postal Code

Sender’s phone number and/or e-mail address

 

Note: Double-check if you’ve put a phone number or e-mail address so that a recipient can contact you. 

This information is vital, especially in job applications. 

You don’t want to lose the job of your dreams, so pay attention to this.

 

Date

Write down the date on which you are sending the letter. 

Months should be written with letters, days, and years in numbers. 

For example, March 31, 2020, February 2, 2010, etc.

Align the date to the margin, too.

Note: Pay attention to the calendar and double-check that you’ve written the correct date.

 

Recipient’s Contact Information:

This contact information should be placed a little bit below the date. 

Please see the examples below.

Recipient’s Name

Recipient’s Company Name

Recipient’s Street Address

Recipient’s Town/City, Province/State, Zip/ Postal Code

Recipient’s phone number and/or e-mail address

 

Subject

Name your letter. When the recipient reads it, he will know what the letter is about.

If you are applying for a job for example, then write ‘Job application.’

 

Salutation- Dear Name

Always put a salutation under the subject but skip one line. 

Whether many consider this form of greeting old-fashioned and too formal, it is still the most used salutation. 

You can use ‘Hello; or ‘Hi’ if you are among those kinds of people who would avoid this old form.

If you decided to use the ‘Dear’ salutation, it should follow a person’s title as Mr. Mrs., Sir, etc.

If you know a person’s name, then feel free to use it. In this case, use it without a title.

In a situation when you write a letter to a woman, but you don’t know whether she is married, then use the title ‘Ms.’

 

One more possible situation: if you don’t know the name of the person, you can use the ‘To whom it may concern’ ’ 

Although some consider it too old-fashioned and try to avoid them, it’s up to you whether you want to use them or perhaps do a little research. 

Call the company and ask for a person’s name. 

Don’t worry; you won’t sound weird. It can only give you extra points.

 

There is one more way to find out the recipient’s name. 

Try searching on the internet. 

Start from the website of the company in ‘About us’ or ‘Management’ section. 

If there is no such kind of help, try searching through the LinkedIn profile of the company.

 

Introduction

In this part, you write the purpose of your letter, explain why you are writing to them, and what you want to achieve by sending the letter.

 

Middle Section

In this part of the letter, you have to explain the first paragraph thoroughly . 

Provide more details, emphasize all the positive parts so that a person can see the point from the introduction’s section.

 

Conclusion

In this paragraph, you summarize things. 

Depending on the letter, but in this paragraph, you should call to action, so be clear and concrete.

 

Sincerely,

 

Sender’s Signature

Sender’s name

 

In the following lines, you may find an example of an adequately written formal letter.

 

Addressing a formal email

 

How to use the advantage of the postmodern world in this case? 

It is effortless. 

Instead of using a classic letter and cutting the trees for the paper, you can use e-mails.

As its name shows, an e-mail means electronic mail. 

The only difference between e-mails and letters is that emails aren’t actual paper but digital. 

So, naturally, for writing a formal email, you can follow all the steps like addressing a formal letter. 

Since there is no envelope here, actually, not in a traditional way, the only contact information you need to have is an e-mail address. 

Make sure you have the proper email address. 

If you don’t write it exactly as it is supposed to be written, then the recipient will not receive it. Simple as that.

Note: If it is essential to send a formal letter the traditional way, then don’t insist on e-mails. Sometimes it is better to have proof and ‘put it on paper.’

 

Mistakes to avoid

People used to make a lot of mistakes as they had to send letters daily. 

With the growth of the digital era, it’s easier to learn how to address a professional letter, as there are tips everywhere. 

You can find the most common mistakes wherever you search for them.

Those mistakes lessen your chances of getting an answer from the recipient. 

We’ve listed here some of the common mistakes while writing a letter so that you can learn from them.

 

Envelope

Make sure you’ve addressed the letter to the right person. Check the envelope and contact information as many times as you need to make sure that every information is well-written.

 

Contact information

While writing the letter, double-check that you’ve put your contact information. If you put only an email address, make sure it is appropriately written. If you forget only one letter or add one more by mistake, then a recipient can’t contact you.

 

One more thing you should pay attention to is the recipient’s name. 

A misspelled name of the recipient shows that you don’t pay attention not only to details but to essential things too. 

If you aren’t sure that you’ve written the name correctly, then feel free to ask someone for help. Check out from the company’s website or the company’s LinkedIn profile.

 

Subject

Don’t write too long topics. Let’s call this ‘a title of a movie’. Movie titles aren’t long, right? So, one sentence with approximately six words should be enough. After all, you have other paragraphs of the letter for details.

 

Salutation

Even if you don’t want to be too formal and want to make a perfect impression, please avoid using the ‘Hey’ greeting. 

 

Don’t use nicknames

In formal correspondence, this is pretty rude, so no matter you want to sound young, cool, or informal, avoid it.

 

Dear Sir/ Madam, should also be avoided. A long time ago, this form of salutation was considered professional. In today’s business world, this salutation shows that you aren’t interested in the recipient at all.

 

Use comma or colon

There is no difference between these two. Just don’t forget to put it.

 

Introduction

Again, not too long, but it can be a little longer than ‘Subject.’ As we said, the primary purpose of this paragraph is to introduce the recipient to the letter and briefly outline the good.

 

Middle section

Pay attention to spelling. A widespread mistake in this part is incorrect words and phrases used in a bad context. Pay attention and double-check not only words you aren’t sure you’ve written them right, but also sentences you think are okay.

Related article: 10 Ways To Say “Hope You’re Doing Well” (+PDF)

Conclusion

Don’t mix this paragraph with the previous one. Many people do this, so a recipient can’t clearly understand the reason they got the letter. As in the Introduction paragraph, be specific and clear. Take action. Be clear and write the next steps you have to take.

 

Sincerely

Don’t forget to put the comma.

 

Signature

Sign the letter and write down your name. If you forget it or don’t want to sign, the recipient may think that you haven’t tried enough to finish the letter. If other parts of the letter are well-written but without a signature, they may be thinking that you haven’t written that letter.

 

If, after several checks, you still aren’t sure if your letter is written accurately, then feel free to contact our native tutors to help you. 

Not only will you learn to write a business letter and improve writing skills but use many useful things. 

Find a native tutor here

 

Conclusion

Depending on your goal, you can write different letters, but the essential remains. 

When we talk about business letters, they are all very similar. 

And honestly, it isn’t important which style and structure you are going to use, but steps you are going to follow. 

So, don’t forget to adequately address envelopes and letters that have contact information, no spelling errors, and are clear and properly written.