addressee unknown : which form of address in letters?

Hi,

I want to write a business letter to a big-big enterprise, hum... so... I've tried to find out the person who is the head of the department... which is responsible for my request. I found no-one in the end.

I think it's not correct to write like in an electronic mail.

Could you tell me, which forms of address are accurate in English?

Thank you,
bye,
Henry

Hello, Henry.

The traditional salutation to an unknown recipient is "To whom it may concern:". This salutation will probably be considered old-fashioned in ten to twenty years; already it is more popular with lawyers than with everyone else.

A somewhat British approach might be "For your kind attention:", which, although uncommon in the U.S., would still be understood by Americans.

A fairly common approach in the U.S. is to use the job title as if it were a proper name. "Dear Director of Operations:", for example, if your letter were addressed to the Director of Operations for XYZ Corporation.

>A fairly common approach in the U.S. is to use the job title as if it were a >proper name.

I would wholeheartedly recommend that practice. I am a native AE speaker and I find it completely unexceptional.

Thanks a lot for all your answers to my question!

I'm a native German speaker. In German you can use something like "Welcome Ladies and Gentlemen" in the beginning of a business letter too. There's a difference of meaning... but I think, it's very often used here.

Bye,
Henry

I have used "Dear Sir/Madam", and I have also seen "Dear Sirs" being used ("Sirs" being a generic title, not a sexist assumption that all top managers are male...). I think that the use of the former adress also comes in handy if the adressee's name is not clear (such may be the case with many Asian or African names).

"Gentlemen" is a common salutation when one doesn't know the exact identity of the appropriate person to contact. "Sirs" is equivalent but a bit more formal.

Henry, if you want something from that person, DISCOVER HER OR HIS NAME! AND SPELL IT CORRECTLY!

If this is a long-distance matter and you are in no hurry, send an e-mail to someone in a different department explaining that you feel uncomfortable sending a form letter and would prefer to address people by name. The person probably won't object to providing you with a name. In fact, send an e-mail to a couple of different people, in case one of them doesn't respond promptly.

Alternative: send an e-mail to someone else at the company, asking, "Are you the person with whom I should communicate regarding... If not, would you please provide me with the correct name and title of the person with whom I should correspond?"

Alternative: if the person is PR, for example, then google the company name along with "head of public relations," and an article may reveal the name that you need. Check the date of the source so you'll not use the name of a predecessor!