How to Write Business Letters for Customers

When you own a business, you will often have to write letters to your customers. You can write letters to announce new events or promotions, or respond to customer complaints on behalf of the company. For whatever purpose and reason, you need to write your letter professionally.

Table of Contents

Business correspondence format

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Use a professional letterhead. Business correspondence is the representative of your company. Therefore, this type of letter needs to be of high quality and distinctive. Business correspondence must also include the company’s logo and brand. ^{[1] X Research Source}

You can create letterheads using pre-designed color letterhead templates from Microsoft. Just make sure to put your current logo and branding in this section.

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Open a word processing program. All business correspondence should be typed on a computer.

Open a new document and set the margins to about 1 inch (2.5 cm). ^{[2] X Research Source}
Use a serif font like Times New Roman, Georgia, or Ariel. Make sure to set the font size to be no larger than 12 points (points), and no less than 10. Choosing the wrong font and size can make your letter difficult to read.
Make sure the document is set to single line spacing.

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Block form settings. The block format is the most common format used in business correspondence. It is also the simplest format to install and follow. Each heading must be left-aligned and have a space between each heading. Starting from the top to the bottom of the document, your letter should include the following headings: ^{[3] X Research Source}

The date the letter was written, or the date it was sent. The date section is important because it can be used for your records and that of the recipient. At the same time, it can be used legally. So you have to make sure that the date is recorded correctly.
Sender’s address. This is your address, formatted in standard addressing. If the header already has this entry, you can skip it.
Inside address. This is the name and address of the mail recipient. Depending on the recipient’s gender and marital status, use a proper title, such as Mr/Mrs. For example, if you are writing to Nina Brown and are unsure of her marital status, you may not need to use the title Mrs/Miss before the name Nina Brown.
Greeting. You can use a greeting like “Dear Mrs. Brown” or “Dear Nina Brown”. If you’re not sure who the reader is, use “Dear Sir, or Dear Madam.” ^{[4] X Research Source} You can also use the phrase “Dear Sir”, but this is only a last resort if you have absolutely no idea who your reader is.
The body of the letter. We will detail this part in the next section of the article.
End the message with a signature. You can use a closing greeting like “Sincerely” or “Sincerely”.

Write business correspondence

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Identify the recipient of the letter.. The letter must show professionalism no matter who your target audience is. But you can adjust the language or word choice based on the audience you want to send the message to. If you’re writing to the human resources department of another business, you may need to use more formal language. But if you’re writing to a specific client, you can use less formal or more informal language. ^{[5] X Research Sources}

Identifying your audience will also help you avoid confusing the recipient of the message. Avoid using terms that the reader does not understand. For example, clients may not know the acronyms used in your company’s space exploration project, so don’t use them in your letter.
The first rule of business letter writing is to be clear, concise, and polite.

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Identify the purpose of the letter on the first line. Consider the purpose of the letter. Is the purpose of the letter to inform the client of the company’s new location somewhere in the city? Or do you want to remind customers of outstanding invoices or balances? Or respond to customer complaints? Always keep your purpose in mind, mention it in the first line so that the reader knows immediately what the letter is about. Don’t be vague about the purpose of the letter. Don’t talk around.

Start with “I” if you want to state your opinion as a business owner. Or use “We” if you are representing an entire company or organization. ^{[6] X Trusted Source University of North Carpina Writing Center Go to Source}
Focus on direct statements like: “We wrote to notify you” or “We wrote a request”. You can also use the word “I” if you are writing as a business owner. For example: “I am writing to you because of” or “I recently heard about … and would like to know more about…”
For example, you (the business owner) write to Nina Brown about an unpaid bill from last month. You can start your message with: “I’m sending this because you have an outstanding balance on your account from March 2015.”
Or if you are a company employee and write to respond to a customer complaint about the company’s Mars space exploration project. Start the letter with: “We have received your complaint about the Mars space exploration project”.
You can write a letter to announce that a client has won a contest, or received a place in a graduate program. You can start with a phrase like: “I’m happy to announce you…” Or “We’re excited to announce you…”.
If you provide bad news, start with a phrase like: “We regret to inform you…”. Or, “After careful consideration, I have decided not to…”. ^{[7] X Research Sources}

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Use the active form instead of the passive. For general speeches, we often use the passive voice. But for business correspondence, the passive voice can make your writing seem vague or confusing. Using active speech is much more effective because it shows more assertiveness. ^{[8] X Trusted Source University of North Carpina Writing Center Go to Source}

An example of a passive voice is: “What specific complaints can I make for you?” The subject of this sentence, the customer (“you”), appears at the end of the sentence, not the beginning.
An example of a proactive way of speaking is: “What can I do to resolve your complaint?” This way of saying will create a positive feeling, clear and much easier to understand for the reader.
Using the passive voice can be a great way to get your message across without drawing attention to an error or a flaw, but you should only use the passive voice in the this case. In general, the proactive form is more effective in business newsletters. ^{[9] X Trusted Source University of North Carpina Writing Center Go to source}

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Emphasize previous events or previous information to the reader, if applicable. Maybe you contacted Nina Brown last month about her unpaid bill reminder. Or perhaps customers expressed their frustration with the space exploration project at a conference last month. If you have been in contact with the person to whom the letter was sent, show this. It will help remind the reader of your previous communication and make your business letter more important and urgent. ^{[10] X Research Source}

Use phrases like: “Following my previous letter regarding your outstanding bill…” or “Thank you for paying in March”. Or “It’s helpful to get your thoughts on the exploratory project at the conference in May.”

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Make a request or offer for help. Create a positive impression with the reader by making a polite request or offering help in the form of a business relationship. ^{[11] X Research Source}

Show that you’re a business owner and are trying to remind customers to pay their bills. Use phrases like: “I would appreciate your immediate attention regarding my outstanding bill issue.”
Indicates that you are writing on behalf of your company. Use phrases like: “We would like to arrange a face-to-face meeting with you and our Human Resources director.”
You should also offer to answer any questions or concerns the reader may have. Use phrases like: “I’d be happy to answer any questions or concerns you may have about your bill” Or “Would you like us to provide more details about the program?”

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End of message. Add a call to action, either on your part, or on the reader’s side. It could be asking for payment by a certain date, or noting about arranging a formal meeting with the reader. ^{[12] X Research Source}

At the end of the letter add a sentence about further communication with future recipients. “I look forward to seeing you at next week’s budget meeting.” Or “I look forward to discussing further with you during our visit to our headquarters.” ^{[13] X Research Source}
Take notes on any documents that accompany the letter. Add a phrase like “Look for your unpaid bill in the attachment” or “You’ll find a copy of the space exploration project attached.”
End the letter with a greeting. Use “Sincerely” or “Sincerely” to customers or partners.
Use the “Sincerely” greeting for formal letters addressed to individuals you don’t even know who they are.
Only use “Sincerely” or “All the best” if you know the person you’re writing to or have a work-based relationship.

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Read the letter again. Careful formatting and spelling is meaningless if the letter is full of typos! ^{[14] X Research Source}

Find the sentence written in the passive form and try to make it active.
Notice any sentences that are too long or unclear and direct. In business correspondence, as often as possible, be as concise as possible, so you should reduce the length of your sentences where possible.

Advice

When printing your letter, you should use 8 x 11 borderless paper. And when sending, fold the letter into three parts and put it in an envelope. ^{[15] X Research Source}

Steps

Business correspondence format

Write business correspondence

Advice

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