1     Salutation

Begin with the salutation.  Replace the placeholder “Xxxxx” in the salutation with the name of your main/technical contact in whatever way you are referring to him/her — for example:

• Dear Mr. Smith (the formal default)
  – OR –     Dear Richard (if now on a first-name basis)
  – OR –     Dear Rich (if he also goes by a shared “nickname”)
  – NOT–     Dear Mr. Richard Smith (awkward, form-letterish)
• Dear Ms. Jones (the formal default)
  – OR –     Dear Susan (if now on a first-name basis)
  – OR –     Dear Sue (if she also goes by a shared “nickname”)
  – NOT–     Dear Ms. Susan Jones (awkward, form-letterish)

In other words, if you are not on a first-name basis and, thus, refer to him/her with Mr. or Ms. or Dr., etc. being a title of respect, then just use their last name, not first and last.  Note that professionally, Ms. is often used over Mrs. or Miss and eliminates the risk of inaccurately identifying her as married or unmarried, respectively.  Of course, Dr. is the appropriate professional title for someone, male or female, with a doctorate degree (Ph.D., D.Ed., M.D., D.O, D.D.S, etc.) and there are other more specific ones like Prof., Dean, Judge, Senator, … that may be appropriate.

2     Content

Your customer cover letter should briefly describe what documents are accompanying it, following the opening phrase “Enclosed please find” that is included in the template.  Note that this document (the FRD) is not a “technical memo,” rather it is a “final report.”  Include in a logical place/ordering in this short paragraph (1) the title of your project for the reader’s reference and (2) the most important achievement (e.g., a design that met all the requirements, a design that lowers cost, a design that…).

The cover letter should continue in a second paragraph (replacing “START SECOND PARAGRAPH HERE”) thanking your customer for the opportunity to work on the project with them, any other things you appreciate from their involvement, and any well wishes for them moving forward.

The entire letter (including the cc directives on the bottom) must fit on one page without change of formatting (single-line spacing).