Business letter greetings also called the salutations are the openings or beginning of the letter. They are always formal and usually begin with ?Dear?, follwed by the person?s name for example, ?Dear James? or ?Dear Mr, Brown? (if the addressee is known to you or you have a formal relationship with him or her). However, if you are not familiar with the recipient and you are not sure of his or
. her gender, use the full name for example, ?Dear Leslie Brown?. In the case where you don?t have the person?s name or gender use a generic greeting such as Dear Sir or Madam or Dear Recruiter. If f you have to write a formal business letter using the e-mail, use the same rules as with a hardcopy letter. However, less formal greetings such as ?Hello James? or ?Good Evening Linda? can also be used. For more information on business etiquette for using greetings in business letters visit the Business Wiritng website of Lynn Gaertner-Johnston at http://www.businesswritingblog.com/business_writing/2006/01/greetings_and_s.html.
