Note: communications are becoming much less formal these days but if the person you are writing to is unknown to you, its best to err on the side of caution and be more formal.
Standard openings – Formal
Dear Sir/Madam (if you have no contact names)
To Whom It May Concern (if you have no contact names) – used rarely as it is quite old fashioned.
Possibly better to use FAO (For the Attention Of) sales/reception/complaints department, usually to a generic company email address such as sales@, info@ or complaints@.
You are more likely to use …
Dear Mr Smith/Dear John
Dear Mrs Jones/Dear Jane
Standard openings – Informal
Hi John/Jane
Hey there! (American)
Starting the email
My name is … and I am contacting you because…
If you have spoken to the person on the phone and you are following up by email…
Further to our conversation, …
Thanks for your time this afternoon/this morning, …
As discussed, please find attached my quotation/CV for your consideration.
When applying for a job (Be formal!)
I wish to apply for the position (reference …) as advertised on jobsite/reed/monster/etc etc.
I am the ideal candidate for the role because…
[List what you can bring to the role]
I have attached my CV for your consideration, if you have any questions please do not hesitate to get in touch.
Signing off
Kind regards – this is the most common sign off that you will see, in fact most business people have this as part of their automated email signature. It covers both formal and informal.
You may also see Best regards although this is uncommon.
These are extremely formal:
Yours Sincerely/Faithfully – you use Sincerely if you have begun the message with Dear Mr FamilyName/Mrs FamilyName. You only use Faithfully if you have begun Dear Sir/Madam (or TWIMC) ie you don’t know their name.
I hope this comes in useful but if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to send me a message!
