Nine Modern Ways to Say Dear Sir or Madam
A salutation is the opening line of an email or letter. There are numerous options you can use, but one that should be avoided at all costs is Dear Sir or Madam. That may sound harsh, and no, we don’t have a personal vendetta against this choice; it’s just that it’s an anachronism. Sure, it was an appropriate greeting in the past, but today, it’s clearly dated.
Below, we’ll elaborate on why Dear Sir or Madam is problematic and provide better and more professional alternatives you can use instead.
Let’s begin!
There are better salutations you can use, even when you don’t know the name of the recipient.
Dear Sir or Madam Alternatives
One of the major reasons you should avoid using Dear Sir or Madam is because it accentuates the fact that you don’t know the recipient’s name. This can inadvertently make you seem careless. You should do your best to find out who will be on the receiving end of your communication. In this digital world, all it takes is a few clicks to find that information.
However, if you’ve completed a thorough online search and are still unsure of the recipient’s name, it’s better to use a job title, position, or department name.
1. Dear [Job Title/Position],
2. Dear [Department Name],
3. Dear [Company Name] Representative,
How To Start a Letter Without “Dear”
If you’d like to start a letter or email without Dear, consider using the following greetings:
4. Good day, [Company name] Team,
5. Greetings, [Department Name],
6. Good morning/afternoon/evening, [Company name] Team,
Lastly, if you find yourself writing a professional email that requires a more friendly and informal tone, the following salutations don’t require using a name or job title.
7. Hello,
8. Hi,
9. Hey there,
How to Avoid Using Informal Phrases in Professional Emails
When communicating with friends and family, we tend to express ourselves with casual word choices. But with bosses and colleagues, we typically use more advanced and formal vocabulary. As impressive as this linguistic switching can be, it’s not always foolproof.
LanguageTool can help you avoid accidentally using informal language in a professional email by suggesting more suitable phrases and expressions. This means all you have to worry about is writing the message, and LanguageTool will do all the fine-tuning.
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