Not sure how to address two people in a business letter properly?
Believe it or not, it’s actually simple.
You simply write “Dear Mr./Mrs./Ms.” and follow with the addressee’s last name. However, when you need to address several people in the same business letter, there are certain rules that are good to follow.
Keep in mind you might need to completely drop the names for expediting purposes, but business etiquette may require you to list certain people before others. In the end, you will need to use your discretion based on the culture of your workplace and your familiarity with the letter’s recipients.
Address multiple recipients of a business letter as individuals or as an entity
If your letter is directed to a company as a specific or whole department within that corporation, write “Dear Investor Relations” or “Dear Abacus Investments,” for example. If space permits and you are writing to two or three people, you can choose to spell out each person’s individual name.
For example, if you are on first-name terms, you can write “Dear Carl, Diana and John.” If you are not all that familiar with each person, simply write “Dear Mr. Murphy, Ms. Berner and Mr. Trout.”
Otherwise, in the case of larger groups, refer to each addressee as part of a whole, such as “Dear Members of the Board.”
Make sure you specify the names of couples who have the same address when you compose your business letter. You will need to gauge how familiar you are with each person and address your business letter accordingly.
In informal cases, write “Dear Diana and John” or vice versa. For more formal circumstances, use “Mr. Carl Murphy and Ms. Diana Berner” on the envelope.
If you know for a fact that the woman uses her middle name, you can instead say, “Mr. Carl Murphy and Ms. Diana Keener.” In formal cases, write “Dear Mr. Murphy and Ms. Keener.”
It is important to use a variety of forms when addressing your business letter via email, a method that gives you greater latitude for greetings than regular letters.
If you are unsure whom to address directly, you can simply write “Good morning” or “Greetings.” If it is appropriate in your company, you can use the casual “Hello, everyone” or just write “Hi.”
Avoid using gender-specific salutations like “Hi, guys,” or”Dear Gentlemen,” unless you are absolutely certain that the recipients are men.
