by Courtney Kelly

Created on: September 29, 2008   Last Updated: October 08, 2008

Writing an effective business letter is not as difficult as it may first appear. First, remember who you are writing for and base everything against that. Everything from style, word usage, and even fonts can be determined by whom you are writing for in order to earn and maintain their attention. Deciding your audience can be easy, such as a direct business to customer letter, or as difficult as a multi-tiered corporation.

With a large corporation, you will often have to get through the gatekeeper. These people are the secretaries and receptionists for the person you ultimately want to get your letter received. In order to get past these gatekeepers, who often open and screen all business mail, write a letter directly to them as well. Use their name, which is easy to find out through company listings or just by calling. In this letter, introduce the letter you are sending to their boss. Offer a contact number that they can reach you at if they have any questions or concerns before presenting the letter. Being a known person within this circle will help your business letters get to your final audience, the decision makers.

It is very important to remember that personalization will earn attention from your audience rather than mass production. With the large amounts of junk mail coming through, it is easy to ignore yet another letter trying to sell something. Surprise your audience by using their name, not just in the title, but throughout the letter as well. This will show them that you took the time to write the letter rather than using a cookie-cutter template. If your audience is a previous customer of yours, mention their last business transaction with you, and if you haven't already: ask for feedback. Opening the door to a discussion about a previous transaction allows you yet another opportunity to build a relationship with your customer.

After audience, objective is the second most important aspect of any business letter. What do you hope to achieve by writing this letter? Are you maintaining or building a relationship with your customer, or are you trying to entice them into a sale? Once you have decided on your audience and your objective, you can get started on actually writing.

Finally, we reach wording and formatting for your business letter. Word usage is highly important, and is dependant on your audience first, and objective second. If your audience is knowledgeable about the subject you are writing about, then it would be appropriate to be technical and specific. However, writing in a more explanatory tone would be preferred for a customer who has little to no knowledge about the subject.

With formatting and font, remember to keep it simple. Use fonts that are easy to read, and use appropriate white space on the page that separates paragraphs well. Try to keep your business letter to the point and as short as possible. Always offer additional ways for the audience to gather more information about your subject, through websites or contact information.

To perfect your business letter, get feedback from your audience directly. Call them for a follow-up and if they aren't interested, ask them why. This will help you distinguish whether or not it was the letter that was the problem, or perhaps give you an opportunity to fine-tune your offer.

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