Dear Sir... or is it Madam? 1

[Dimandja]

When writing to a person whose gender or whose marital status you don't know, how do you address the message?

Dear Person won't do

 

[sleipnir214]

To Whom It May Concern" is one possibility.

You could also use a saluation similar to "Dear Business Manager", I suppose.


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[Jameson55]

It depends on the person to whom you are addressing and the content of the message. If it is a "blind" letter to business contacts, it is acceptable to use either "Dear Sir or Madam" or "To Whom It May Concern" (this is used most often). If possible, you might want to address the letter "Dear Fellow Programmer", "To All Interested Parties" or something along those lines to make it a bit more friendly. Hope this helps Jamie

 

[Dimandja]

"To Whom It May Concern" is soo cold, I prefer not having to use it. It's also impersonal and somewhat accusatory in tone.

When writing to a client or a prospective client, this is not a good choice. I will gladly use it to address a 'hit and run' perp though.

 

[rosieb]

<wandering slightly off topic> If you're writing to clients or potential clients,and there aren't to many of them, it's probably worth ringing the company and getting the correct name, business title and salutation.

I'd avoid "Dear Sir or Madam" or "To Whom it May Concern", to me, it screams mass mailing, and goes straight in the bin. "Dear Felllow Professional" or the like are only slightly better. </wandering slightly off topic>

Rosie
"Never express yourself more clearly than you think" (Niels Bohr)

 

[gizmo1973]

I agree with Rosie, I work in Marketing and we mass mail all the time to clients and prospective.
We try to cleanse the data i.e. a team will ring all the numbers and confirm the contact name, title, position, address etc.
For those we can’t cleanse we will use a relevant capture all i.e. Solicitors = Dear Practice Manager etc


Phil

"Then I’d say what’s the point of having rank if you can’t pull it?"

(DCI Jack Meadows)

 

[Thadeus]

I personally like the phrase "To Whom It Concerns"

over "To Whom It May Concern"

I always use the former when writing a blind cover letter

~Thadeus

 

[keenkeen]

I agree with rosieb it is a good idea to call first. There is also an advantage in calling first, I find that I could always make the correspondence solicited by referring to the phone conversation at the beginning of my letter.

"Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them?" Abraham Lincoln

 

[SQLSister]

There is a school of thought which omits the salutation altogether for just this reason. This is generally what I prefer to use.

Questions about posting. See faq183-874

 

[craigsboyd]

Why not just use their name? I mean just because you don't have their gender or marital status (i.e. Chris Donnerly or Pat Schmizak) doesn't mean that you couldn't just say:

Dear Chris,
..or...
Dear Pat Schmizak,

...if you don't know their gender, marital status, or name then it is best to use their position such as sleipnir214 suggested...

Dear Secretary of Defense,

...if you don't know their position either then it begs the question, why would you be writing them?

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