oxford commercial correspondence _ viết thư giao dịch thương mại quốc tế

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
t2
13
L4
15
lntroduction pdqe5
Letters,faxes,andemails 7
Contentandstyle 2s
Enquiries 38
Repliesandquotations 47
Orders 6r
Payment'
76
Complaintsandadjustments gs
Credit n7
Banking 87
Agentsandagencies 168
Transportationhndshipping 18s
Insurance 221
Miscellaneouscorrespondence 241
Memosandreports 2so
Personnelappointments 266
Answerkey
Glossary
Index
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288
297
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Lililumeryomtdcnce,whether it is by letter, fax, or
Lrurumtrntr|lsabyaspect of the world of commerce
umniillhmmmess-It reflectson the competenceand
;gtchrotuumalismof the personwho haswritten
druuffi' " - companyhe or sheworks for. Clear,
,rffiffiuurecorrespondenceis an important part
M'muummmogan effcient business,andcan
pmumwuftegmdrelations. Unclearor confusing
ummpoumdencecancausemany problems,
iluoudlrmrrnllllpedlo misunderstandings,delays,
iluutrhumfurcss,and poorrelationsbetween
uudlmilffiaals,departments,and companies..
lUMe,writing skills- whaf iswritten and
tummff mqpressed- shouldbeasmuch apart
rMiahrumlmesseducationasaccountancyor
ilMro[lnmm[xcs.
'ffi,rw@ord Handbookof Commercial
'rlmrw4mldezceis intended for peoplewho
lmdifrmwrite commercialcorrespondencein
ltnrm$rllmhaspart of their work, andfor students
unrhrouwlessand commercewho planto make a
itmmmrmthebusinessworld.It aimsto provide
| .*dfjjiirnlhslp inwriting commercial
itmmspondenceof all kinds,including letters,
iem@s,ffi...........![ails,reports, memos, social
fl@mqpordence,and application letters and
cwm,Iffieglains how to write clearly and
tffimmely,and demonstrateshowit is possible
tltu"hmpftite without seemingtimid, directyet
mmifmurde-conciserather than abrupt,andfirm
futr'mumlfiinflexible.
Ltrsmsof earlier editions of this bookwill
mthrse$,at,while it retainsthe coreelements
m"prewfimrseditions,this third edition hasbeen
,wsmnsedandupdatedto reflectchangesand
roumenolnrnentsin commercialcorrespondence,
mpmmhcularthe wider useof email in the
mmrmmessworld.
]trheirookdealswith the structure,
Mwtrlhtion, content,and styleof all kinds of
mmespondence.Itcoversvarioustypes of
fimmmctioninduding enquiries,quotations,
nn'rdrftryi'$,paJrynents,credit,complaints,and
&drurorsfurxents,and providesbackground
rdfnumilEtionand examplesof commercial
immesErondencefrom the main types of
umrmmmercialorganization,for examplebanks,
fllsru]m-d$rcecompanies,agencies,and
companiesinvolvedin transportation,
including shipping.
Forthe purposesofthis book,we have
chosenthe blockedstyleof correspondence
with no punctuation andhave usedsome
representativestylesof presentation and
layout.Youmayfind otherwaysof doing
things which areperfectly acceptable,and
individual companiesmay havetheir own
preferredstylefor correspondence.Themost
important thing is to beclearand consistentin
whateveryouchooseto do.
Unit r introducesthe three main kinds of
commercialcorrespondence- Ietters,faxes,
and emails.Thecharacteristicfeaturesof each
areillustrated with examples,and guidanceis
givenonwhen eachkind shouldbeused.Unit z,
againfully illustrated with examples,deals
with the important areasof content and style.
Eachunit thereafterfollows the samepattern:
- An introduction to the topicscoveredin the
unit, and an explanation of key terminology
andthe functions of the organizationslikely
to beinvolved.
- An analysisof the objectivesto aimforwhen
you arewriting, with, where appropriate,
Iistsof alternativephrases,sentences,or
paragraphswhich you cansubstitute in
different situations.
- Examplecorrespondenceandtransactions,
togetherwith comprehensionquestions
focusingon content,vocabularystyle,and
the rolesofthe correspondents.
- At the end of the unit, asummary of key
informationin'Pointsto remember'to
refreshyour memory.
At the backof the bookyou wiII flnd:
- An answerkeyto the comprehension
questions.
- A new glossaryof usefulbusinessand
commercialvocabularyto help you
consolidateandbuild your knowledge.
- A revisedandextendedindexto helpyou
accessinformationthroughoutthe book
quickly and easily.
TheaccompanyingWorkbookprovides
supplementary practicematerial.
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Thecorrespondenceand documentsused
reflect authentic transactions and supply
information abolrt commercial practice in the
UK.TheHandbook alsohelps you to gain a
better understanding of the sometimes
confusing roles of different commercial
organizations, e.g.merchant banks and
commercial banks,Lloyd'sand other insurance
companies,TheBalticExchangeandthe
Shipping Conference.
TheOxfordHandbookof Commercial
Correspondencehasbeendesignedto provide
a comprehensiveguide and referenceto the
essentialwriting skills neededinthe
commercial world. Above all, we hope that this
bookwill enableyouto improve yourwriting
skills sothat you canapproachany business
writing taskwith increasedconfidence.

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Ietters
8 lavour t
8 Sender'saddress
8 Date
8 lnsideaddress
ro Attentionline
1o Salutation
1r Bodyofthe letter
1r Complimentaryclose
11 Signature
12 LAYOUT 2
12 Letterhead
12 References
14 Perpro
14 Jobtitle
14 Enclosures
14 LAYour3
14 Privateandconfidential
14 Subjecttitle
14 Copies
14 ADDRESSINC ENVELOPES
Faxes
t6 tNTRoDUcloN
'16 Preparingfortransmission
t6 srYLE
-17
r8
19
Emails
20 INTRODUCTION
zo Advantages
20 Disadvantages
20 Emailandotherformsof correspondence
20 Emailaddresses
21 LAYOUT
21 Headerinformation
21 Messagetext
21 5ignature
22 STYLE
22 Emailabbreviations
23
24
25
z6
27
Pointsto remembet
z8 Letters
z8 Faxes
z8 Emails

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Letters
TAYOUT1>
Theletter oppositeisfrom aprivate individual
in Denmarkto acompanyinthe UK.It shows
the basicfeaturesof a simplebusinessletter.
Sender'saddress
In correspondencethat doesnot havea
rErrERHEAD,thesender'saddressisplacedin
the top right-handcornerofthe page.It is also
acceptable,butlesscommon,toplaceit inthe
top left-hand corner.Punctuation is rarely used
in addressesthesedays.
ThesLocrrp srylr isthe mostwidely
used,i.e.eachline startsdirectlybelowthe one
above.
In contrastwith practicein someother
countries,in the UK it is not usualto write the
sender'sname beforehis or her address.
Date
Thedateiswritten directly below the sender's
address,separatedfrom it by aspace.In the
caseof correspondencewith aIetterhead
>seepagerz,it is usually written on the right-
handsideofthe page.
Themonth in the dateshouldnot bewritten
in figures asthis canbeconfusing;for example
r.j.03 meansn Marchzoo3in BritishEnglish,
where the sequenceis day-month-year, but
3Novemberzoo3in American English,where
the sequenceis month-day-year.
It is acceptableto write the datewith or
without the abbreviations-th and-nd,e.g.
z4thOctoberorz4October,andto transpose
the dateandthe month,e.g.Odoberz4or
z4October.Thesearemattersof personal
preference,but whatever you chooseyou
shouldbeconsistentthroughout your
correspondence.
Insideaddress
TherwsrpnADDREssiswrittenbelowthe
sender'saddressand on the left-hand sideof
the page.
Surnameknown
If you knowthe name of the personyou
arewriting to,write it asthe first line of the
address.Includeeitherthe person'sinitial/s or
his or herfirst givenname,e.g.Mr LE.Smithor
Mr lohn Smith,Nor Mr Smith.
Counrr sy rrrrE s usedin addressesareas
follows:
- Mr (pronounced/rmrsta/)isthe usual
courtesytitle for aman.Theunabbreviated
form Mister shouldnot beused.
- Mrs (pronounced/rmrsrz/,no unabbreviated
form) isusedforamarriedwoman.
- Miss(pronounced/lmrs/,not an
abbreviation)is usedfor an unmarried
woman.
- Ms (pronounced/mrzl or /mas/,no
unabbreviatedform) is usedfor both
marriedandunmarriedwomen.It is
advisableto usethis form of addresswhen
you areunsurewhetherthe woman you are
vwiting to is married or not, or donot know
which title sheprefers.
- Messrs(pronouncedltmesaz/, abbreviation
for French'Messfeurs',which is neverused)is
usedoccasionallyfor two or more men,e.g.
MessrsP.lonesandB.LParker,but more
commonly forms part of the name of a
company,e.g.MessrsCollier,Clark& Co.ltis
rather old-fashioned.
Other courtesytitles indude aca'demicor
medicaltitles, e.g.Doctor(Dr),Professor(Prof.);
military title s,e.g.Captain(Capt.),Major (Maj.),
Colonel(CoI.),General(Gen);andaristocratic
titles,e.g.Sir,Dame,Lord,Lady.Sirmeansthat
the addresseeis aknight, and is always
followedby afirst name,e.g.SirlohnBrown,
neverSirl.Brownor SirBrown.It shouldnot be
confusedwith the saruran roN Dear Sir.
Esq.,abbreviationfor Esquire,is seldomused
now.It canonly beusedinstead of Mr, and is
placedafterthe name.Donot useEsq.andMr
atthe sametlme,e.g.BruceHillEsq.,NorMr
BruceHIIEsq.
All thesecourtesytitles,exceptEsq.,arealso
usedin salutations>seepage10.

!tffiaddrcss
Its
alEdrcss @ Compuvisionltd
WarwickHouse
WarwickStreet
ForestHiIl
IondonSE23lIF
.UK
line @ FortheattentionoftheSalesManager
lruirn @ DearSirorMadam
fffdthe letter @ PleasewouldyousendmedetailsofyourDVDvideosystems.
I amparticular$interestedin theOmegarange.
,Uclose
@ Yoursfaithfully
Itrrue @ B.Ka"a,eW
(Ms)B.Kaasen
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@ 6May2o- II
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Notethat afull stopis often usedat the end
ofthe abbreviation ifit takesthe form ofthe
first few letters of the word,e.g.Prof.(Professor),
but is not necessaryif it takesthe form ofthe
first and last letter of the word, e.g.Dr (Doctor).
However,somepeoplepreferto write,e.g.Mr.,
Mrs.,with afull stop.Again,whatever you
chooseto do,you shouldbeconsistent
throughoutyour correspondence.
Jobtitleknown
If you donot know the name of the personyou
arewriting to,but know their job title, you can
usethat,e.g.TheSalesManager,TheFinance
Diredor, in the inside address.
Departmentknown
Alternatively,you canaddressyour letter to a
particular department of the company,e.g.Ihe
SaIesDepartment,TheAccountsDepartment.
>seeletteron page43.
Companyknown
Finally,if youknow nothing aboutthe
company and do not knowwhich personor
department your letter should goto,you can
simply addressthe letter to the companyitself,
e.g.CompuvisionLtd,MessrsCoIIier,Clark& Co.
Orderof insideaddress
Afterthe nameof the personand/ or company
receivingthe letter,the recommendedorder
and styleof addressesin the UKis asfollows:
- Nameof houseor building
- Number of building and name of street,
road,avenue,etc.
- Name of torr'r-nor city and postcode
- Name of country
IndustrialHouse
34-4t CraigRoad
Bolton
at4 8rr
UK
In other Europeancountries,the number of the
building may beplacedafter the name of the
street.It is alsocommonto substitutethe name
of the country with an initial beforethe district
codenumber.Thesetwo examplesarefrom
Italy and Germany('Deufschland')respectively.
Facoltddi Medicina
ViaGentile$z
t-7otoo Bari
Lehrschulefilr Bodenkunde
Amalienstrasse
p-8oooo Mdnchen4o
It is simplestto follow the aboveorderand
style,though variations arepossible:for
examplethe name of the county,e.g.
Lancashire,may,if known, beincluded onthe
line below the name of the town or city;the
postcodemay bewritten on a separateline;the
name of the tovun,aswell asthe country,tnay
bein capitalletters>seealsopage14.
Attentionline
An alternative to including the recipient's
name orjob title in the addressisto usean
ArrENTroNLrNx >seeletteronpage9.
Salutation
Dear Siropensaletter written to aman whose
name you donot know.
Dear Sirsis usedto addressa company.(In
American Englishaletter to a companyusually
openswith Gentlemen.)
DearMadam is usedto addressawoman,
whether singleor married,who;e name you do
notknow.
DearSirorMadam (orDearSir/ Madaml is
usedto addressapersonwhen you donot
know their nameor sex.Noticethat MsKaasen
in the letteron page9 usesthis form,i.e.she
doesnot assumethat the salesmanagerof
CompuvisionLtdis aman > seealsopage36.
Whenyou knowthe nameof the personyou
arewritingto,but donot knowthemwell, the
salutation takesthe form of Dearfollowedby a
courtesytitle andthe person'ssurname.Initials
or first namesarenot usedwith courtesytitles,
e.g.DearMr Smith,xor DearMr I.Smithor
DearMr lohn Smith.Businessassociateswho
youknowwell canbeaddressedusingjust
their first name,e.g.Dearlohn.

A comma afterthe salutation is optional,i.e.
DearMr Smith,orDearMr Smifh.(lnAmerican
Englishacolonis usually usedafter the
salutation,e.g.DearMr Smith:,Gentlemen:).
Bodyof the letter
Theblockedstyleisthe onemost often usedfor
the body ofthe letter.It is usual to leavealine
spacebetweenparagraphs.
Complimentaryclose
If the letterbeginsDearSir,DearSirs,
DearMadam,orDearSirorMadam,lhe
coMplrMENTARycLosEshouldbe Yours
faithfully.
If the letter beginswith apersonalname,
e.g.DearMr lames,DearMrsRobinson,or
DearMsJasmin,it shouldbe Yourssincerely.
Aletterto someoneyouknowwell may
closewiththe more informalBest wishes.
Notethat Americanstend to closeevenformal
letters with Yourstruly orTrulyyours,which
isunusualinthe UKin commercial
correspondence.
Avoid closingwith old-fashionedphrases,
e.g.Weremainyoursfaithfully, Respectfully
yours.
A commaafterthe complimentarycloseis
optional,i.e.Yoursfaithfully, or Yoursfaithfuny.
Thecomplimentarycloseisusuallyplaced
on the left, aligned under the restof the letter.
5ignature
Alwaystype yolu narneand,if relevant,your
job title, below your handwritten signature.
Thisisknown asthe srcwarunr srocx. Even
though you may think your handwriting is
easytoread,letterssuchasa,e,o,r,andv can
easilybeconfused.
It is,to someextent,amatter of choice
whether you signwith your initial/s,
e.g.D.Jenkins,or your full givenname,
e.g.Davidlenkins,andwhetheryou include
your courtesytitle in your signatureblock as
in the letter on page9.But if you include
neither your givenname nor your title, your
correspondentwill not be ableto identify your
sexand may giveyou the wrongtitle when he
or shereplies.
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TITLE STATUS COMPIIMENTARY CLOSE
Mr marriedor umarriedmale Yourssincerelv
Mrs married female Yourssincerely
Miss unmarriedfemale Yourssincerely
Ms married or unmarried female Yourssincerely
Sir
medical/academic/military
e.g.DrlProfessor/General
male - name not known Yoursfaithtully
female-name not knornm Yoursfaithfully
when unsurewhetheryou
areaddressingmaleorfemale
Yoursfaithfully
thesetitles donot changewhether Yourssincerely
addressingamale or female
Madam
Sir/Madam

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LAYOUT2 >
Oppositeis the company'sreply to the letter
from the prospectivecustomer in Denmark.
It shows somemore features of atypical
businessletter.
Letterhead
Theprinted letterhead of acompany givesa
great dealof information about it.
Typeof company
Theabbreviationltd after a company'sname
indicatesthat it hasr,rrurrr p r,rasrrrry. This
meansthat the individuals who own the
company,or part of it, i.e.the shareholders,are
only responsiblefor their holding (i.e.the
capital they havecontributed) if the company
goesbankrupt. In other words,it indicates to
peoplegiving the company credit that in
bankruptrythey canonly bepaidback from
what the company owns,and not from the
personalfundsof its shareholders.
Theabbreviationprc (nuat tc LIMrrED
cotte.a.Nv)is usedto showthat a company's
sharescanbe bought and soldby the public,
unlike the sharesof private limitedliability
companies.In the USAthe term r.nrc.
(tNconeonarro) isused.
CompuvisionLtd
SPWholesalersplc
Hartley-Mason Inc.
Theabbreviationaar.a (*) co.indicates that
a company is apartnership between two or
more people.(Andis usually vwitten asan
ampersand(&)in Englishcompanynames.)If
the company is afamily concern,Son/s,Bros
(Brothers),orDaughter/s may be added.
Partnershipsmayhave limited liability or
unlimited liability.
F.Lynch& Co.Ltd
R.Hughes&Son
Ifneitherltd nor & Co.appearafter a
company'sname,then it may bea sorr
TRADxR,i.e.apersonwho owns andruns a
businesson their own.
Boardof Directors
Thename of the chairman (inthe USA,the
president),whoruns the concern,may be given,
aswell asthe names of the directors,who
decidethe overall policy of the company.
Themanaging director (inthe USA,and
increasingly in the UK,termed the chiel
executiveoficer or cto),who takes an active
role inthe day-to-day running of the company,
may be mentioned if he or sheis not the same
personasthe chairman.In the UK,the
chairman runs the Boardof Directorswhile the
ChiefExecutiveOfficerruns the company.
Address
In addition to the addressof the officefrom
which the letter is being sent,the letterhead
may alsogivethe addressof the headofficeor
registeredoffice,if different,andthe addressesof
anybranchesor otherofficesthe companyornms.
Telephoneand fax numbers will alsobe
included and,if relevant,email andwebsite
addresseg.A cable(telegram)addressmay also
be included.It is important to remember that
although the majority of companiesare
connectedto the Internet, there aremany
countries where fax and cablearestill
important ways of transmitting information
or,where banks areconcerned,money.
Registerednumber
Thisusually appearsin small print, sometimes
with the country or city in which the company
is registered.
IntheUK,thevar (varur aooro rax)
number may alsobegiven >see,for example,
the letteron page56.
References
Rrrrnrrvcrsareoftenquotedtoindicate
what the letter refersto (Yourref.)and the cor-
respondenceto referto when replying (Ourref.).
Referencesmay either appearin figures,e.g.
66t/t7,where 66t may ref.erto the number of
the letter andrTto the number of the
department,or in letters,e.g.oslu.n,asinthe
letter on pager3,whereos standsfor Donald
Sampson,the writer, andrrarfor his assistant,
MaryRalmor.

oComp$visionLtd WarwickHouse
WarwickStreet
ForestHill
London
sE23lJF
Telephone+44(o)zo8566r86r
Facsimile+44(o)zo8566r385
EmaiI staff@comvis.co.uk
www.comvis.co.uk
Yourref. 6May 20-
@ Yourref. DS/MR
Date llMay2O-
Ms B.Kaasen
Bredgade51
DK1260
CopenhagenK
DENMARK
DearMsKaasen,
Thank you for your enquiry.
I encloseour catdogue and price-list for DVDvideo equipment .Youwill
findfull detailsof the Omegarangeonpages31-35.
Pleasecontactusif you haveanyfudher questionsor would like to place
an order.
Welookforward to hearing from you.
Yourssincerely,
M*/ Ra/rwr
p.p.Donald Sampson
SalesManager
Enc.
Chairman JohnFranksoee.
Dircctors 5.B.Allenlr.sc. N.lgnot R.LichensB.A
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Note that the YourRef.in the letter on
page13is a date,asMs Kaasendid not give
any referencein her original letter.
Perpro
Theabbreviationp.p.sometimesappearsin
signatureblocks.Itmeansnzaeno,i.e.forand
onbehalfof,andisusedbyadministratorsor
personalassistantswhensigningletterson
behalfoftheirmanagers.
Jobtitle
Whensendingaletteroremailonbehalfof
yourcompany,it isagoodideato includeyour
jobtitle in thesignatureblock,especiallyif
yourrecipienthasnot dealtwith youbefore.
Enclosures
Ifthereareanydocumentsenclosedwith a
letter,althoughthesemaybementionedin the
bodyoftheletter,it isalsocommontowrite
Enc.orEncI.belowthesignatureblock.If there
areanumberofdocuments,thesecanbe
listed,e.g.:
Enc.
B|IIoflading$ copies)
Insurancecertificate(tcopy)
CertificateoforiginAropy)
B|IIofexchange(tcopy)
LAYOUT3 >
Thefinalletterin thissectionshowssome
furtherfeaturesofabusinessletter.
Privateand confidential
Thisphrasemaybewritten attheheadof a
Ietterand,moreimportant,ontheenvelope,in
caseswheretheletterisintendedto beread
oniybytheaddressee.
Therearemanyvariationsofthisphrase,
e.g.Confidential,Strictlyconfi.dential,butlittle
differencein meaning.
5ubjeet title
A suslrcr rrrr,r atthebeginningofaletter,
directlyafterthe salutation,providesafurther
reference,savesintroducingthesubjectin the
first paragraph,immediatelydrawsattention
to thetopicoftheletter,andallowsthewriter
to referto it throughout.
It isnotnecessaryto beginthesubjecttitle
with Re.(with regard to),e.g.Re.:Applicationfo r
thepostofwebdesigner.Whensendingemail
messagesthismayevenbeconfusingas.n.Eis
shortforreply>seepage48.
eopie:
When copiesare sentto peopleother than the
named recipient,c.c. (carao.rrrcoev) is added,
usually at the end of a letter,beforethe name/s
ofthe recipienti softhe copres.
Sometimes you will not want the named
recipient to know that other peoplehave
receivedcopies.In thls case,B.c.c. (nt tNo
:ARBoNcopv),andthe name/sof the
recipient/s,are addedon the copiesthemselves,
though not,of course,onthe top copy.
Theseabbreviationsareusedin email,and
mean exactlythe samething >seepage21.
ADDRESSING ENVETOPES
Envelopeaddressesarewritten in a similar
wayto inside addresses>seepages8-ro. But in
the caseof letterswithin or for the UK,the
name of the town and the country arewritten
in capital letters,and the postcodeis usually
written on a Iine by itself.
Mr G.Penter
49MemorialRoad
ORPING?ON
Kent
an69ua
MessrsWBrownlow& Co.
6ooGrandStreet
LONDON
wtN guz
UK
14

WarWickHouse
WarwickStreet
ForestHill
London
sE231JF
Telephone+44(o)zo8566r86r
Facsimile+44(o)zo8566r385
Emailslaff@comvis.co.uk
www.comvis.co.uk
Yourref.
Yourref. DS/MR
Date 21September20-
Ms B.Kaasen
Bredgade51
DK1260
CopenhagenK
DENMARK
Privateand confidential
DearMsKaasen
Non-palrment of inv oice322|L7
It appearsfrom our recordsthat, despiteseveralreminders,the above
invoiceremains unpaid. Unlessthe accountis clearedwithin 14daysfrom
the dateof this letter,we shalltake legalaction.
Yourssincerely
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DonaldSampson
SalesManager
@ c.c.MessrsPoole& JacksonLtd,Solicitors
Chairman John Franksoer
Directots S B Allen M-sc- N.lgnot R.LichensB.A
Comp*rvis{wmLtd
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Faxes
INTRODUCTION
Theword/ax comesfromlfacsimile,which
meansan exactcopyor reproduction.Iike
email,thewordfax canbeusedasanoun,
e.g.IsentaJaxor asaverb,e.g.Wewillfax
you when wehavetheinJormation.
A fax messageisusefuiwhen speedis
important andthe recipientdoesnot have
email.It is especiallyusefulfordocuments
containingdiagramsor drawings.Likeemail,
afax canbe sentquickly to many different
recipientsat the sametime.However,again
like email,fax isan opensystem,i.e.
correspondencecaneasilybeaccessedby
outsiders,soit shouldnot beusedfor
confidential information.
When sendinghandwritten fax messages,
usea darkcolourandmakeyour writing large
andclear.
Asfaxesarecopiesof documents,they
cannotbeusedwhen the originalsare
required.Forexample,anoriginalrrrr or
LADTNGgivesrrrlr to goods(i.e.youwould
own the goodsif you hadthe bill in your
possession),andwould not bevalid if it were a
faxedcopy.
Faxeshavebeen'courttested',andthey tend
to beacceptedin legalcases,alongwith letters,
asevidencein certainareasof international
trade.However,an emailcontainingsimilar
information might not beconsideredvalid
under certaincircumstances.
Difierent fax machinesoffer awide range
of facilities,including repeatdialling if the
receiver'sfax machineis engaged;a
transmissionreportwhich givesdetailsof the
time,date,sender,receiver,number of pages,
duration, and result;averification mark at the
foot ofthe pageto confirmthe fax was sent;
andanumbermemoryfor frequentlyused
numbers.Checkthe manual of your fax
machine to find out what functions it can
perform.
It is alsopossibleto sendafax from a
computer.
Preparingfortransmission
Checkthat you havethe correctfax number.
Checkthat the paperonwhich your messageis
printed orwritten is suitable.If it istoo big,too
small,or in poorcondition,photocopythe
messageonpaperthat canbeacceptedby the
fax machine.Beforeusingthe machine,check
that you know how to dial,cancel,clearapaper
jam, andsend.
Whenyou sendafax it is a goodideato usea
fax transmissioncoverform.Thiswill helpto
ensurethat the fax reachesits i.ntended
recipientsafely.Most companiesusetheir own
headedfax transmissionform,but you can
easilycreateonefor yourself,e.g.:
BRrrrsHcnvsrtt Ltd.
GlazierHouse
GreenLane
Derby
DE1 7RT
FAX MESSAGE
To:
From:
Faxno.:
Subject:
Date:
Page/s:
STYTE
Generally,faxesaresimilarto lettersin style,
Ievelof formality,andthe useof conventions.
However,afax may beshorterandthe
Ianguagemoredirect,likean email,asthere
is atime elementin the costof sendingthem.
Aswith emailmessages,bewareof usingtoo
informal atonewith customersor suppliers
you donot know well.
r6

F. Lynch & Eo. Ltd
Fnx messuqe
To D.Causio,SatexS.p.A.
From L.Crane
Faxno. (06)481,5473
Subject Replacementof damagedorderno.7UI8
Date 19October20-
Pagels 1
Thisis an urgent requestfor aconsignmentto replacethe aboveorder,
which was damaged during delivery. Weinformed you about this in our
letter of 15September.
Pleaseairfreight the following items:
Cat.No. O_uantrty
R30 50
R20 70
N26 100
Thedamagedconsignmentwill beretumed when we receivethe
replacement.
?eh/ Aa*t"o
PeterCrane
ChiefBuyer
HeadOffce
NessonHouse
NewellStreet
Birmingham
833EL
Telephone:+44@lzt46 657r
Fax:+44(o)21458592
Email:pcrane@lynch.co.uk
www.lynch.com
Adviceof damaged
consignment
ThisfaxisfromLynch
& Cqwhoreceiveda
damagedcoHsrcNMENT
andweretoldbytheir
supplier,5atex5.p.A.,to
returnit >seepagero6.
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frrponr to
lmportr/r cnqulry
Thisisafaxfrom
BritishCrystalto their
rc errs,5.A.lmporters,
inSaudiArabia>see
correspondenceon
pagesrT4-176.
Thisfaxisquite
formalinstyleasthe
companieshavejust
startedtheirbusiness
relationship.Notice
howMrOliver'sells'
theproducttothe
importers.rSeealso
BdtishCrystal'sfaxed
enquirytoUniversal
Airwaysandthe letter
replyonpagesD4-r95.
CTAZIER HOUSE.GREEN tANE .DERBY DEl lRT
TETEPHoNE:+44 @)133z45790.FAcsrMrLE:+44 (o)r3325r977
Email:oliverh@crystal.com.www.britishcrystal.com
FAX MESSAGE
To S.A.Importers
Faxno. (966)134981
Date 16August 2G-
From H.Oliver,MarketingManajer
SubjectFrenchEmpiredesigns
Page/s 5,includingthisone
Thank you for your enquiry about our FrenchEmpirerangeof drinking
glasses.Thereis arevival ofinterest in this period,sowe arenot surprised
that theseproductshavebecomepopular with your customers.
I am sendingwiththisfaxpp.l-4 of our cataloguewith CIFRiyadhprices,
asyou saidyouwould lil<ean immediate previewof this range.Iwou-ld
appreciateyour comments on the designswith regardto yow market.
I look forward to hearing from you.
H. Olin?l
H.Oliver(Mr)
Marketing Manager
r8

To JohnMalcovitch,ChiefEngineer
From TosinOmosade,UnitedDrilling Inc.ManagingDirector
Fax 273-890-0740
Topic Drilling Heads
No.ofpages1-5
Fax
BlockD.5urulerelndustrialRoad
Ogba.lkeja.Lagos
&&$Ewm&mrru
ffixpXm**ffi&Awx3
ffimxvnpffiryruW
Telephone(+44) t 4836o829/4/5
Facsimile(44) t 4837oot
Faxaccompanying
anorder
With thisfax,an
importerissending
anofficialorderand
specificationsfor the
drillsherequires.He
saysthatacoNFrRMED
LETTERoF cneorr will
beopenedoncehehas
the supplier's
COMMERCIAL INVOICE.
Noticethat the fax is
copiedto hiscompany's
accountant,andalsothe
chiefengineer.
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Vidal Lamont(ChiefEngineer)
Pages2-4 ofthis fax arespecificationsfor the exploration drilling heads
that we discussedonyour visit herein October.Couldyoupleasesupply
,
theseheadsassoonaspossible?
I am alsosendingourofficialOrderNo NI f2O-1046.Ishallmake
arrangementsto openaconfirmed letter of creditwith the Nigerian
International Bankassoonasyou havesentme your invoiceanddetailsof
shipment.
I lookforward to hearing from you.
Tosin0runsa"dp
TosinOmosade(Mr)
ManagingDirector
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Emails
INTRODUCTION
Email(shortf.oreleetronicmcil) is ameansof
sendingmessagesbetweencomputers.
Tosendandreceiveemailyou needaccessto
the Internet. An Internet ServiceProvider(rsn)
will provide you with connection software,
which is often free.Thiswill giveyou Internet
access,storagefor incoming mail, and the
capqbilityto readyour messages.Finally,you
needemail software,generally already
installedin modern computers,sothat you can
write, send,receive,andreadmessages.
Adva ntager
Therearenumerousadvantagesto email.It is
personalandeasyto use.It canbeusedboth
within and between companies,and is an
effectivewayto communicate quickly and
easilywith peopleall overthe world. It is
especiallyusefulfor shortmessagesandfor
everydaycorrespondence,e.g.settingup a
meeting, passingon information, and making
or replyingto arequest.
Youcanpickupyour emailmessages,
evenwhen you aretravelling, via alaptop or
palmtop.With compatiblesystems,youcan
accesstext and graphicdocuments,and
spreadsheets.And whateveryou sendor
receivecanbequickly and easilyfiled.
Disadvantages
Thedisadvantagesof email include technical
problemswhich may resultinthe unexpected
non-deliveryof messages,or attachments
arriving in unreadableform. A non-technical
disadvantageis that, paradoxically,the ease
with which messagescanbesentresultsin
Iargeamountsof 'junk' andunnecessary
communication, which waste time.
Aswith faxes,a major drawbackisthe lack
of privacy and security.Do not useemail to
communicate confidential information. It is
sometimessaidthat an email messageislike
apostcard- anyonecanreadwhat you have
written. However,digital signing and
encryption (codingdata,sothat it canonly be
readby authorizedusers),which both work
alongsimilar lines,makeemailmore secure.
Emailand other formr of
correrpondence
Thereareseveralareasofbusiness
communication where more traditional forms
of correspondencearestill the most suitable.
Forexample,personaland sensitive
correspondencesuchasmessagesof
congratulation, condolence,or complaint are
usually bestdoneby letter. Confirmation of
contracts,memos which areconfldential and
must besignedto acknowledgereceipt,and
any correspondencewhich may beneededfor
legalor insurancepurposesshouldnot
normally be sentby email.Youmight find ajob
on the Internet,but most companieswould
still expectyour applicationto consistof a
completedform with a coveringletter.
Emailaddreres
Typicalemail addressesIooklike this:
dfranks@intchem.co.no
corneyg@kingsway.ac.uk
Thefirst part of the email addressisusuallythe
surname and initial of the personyou are
contacting,or the name if itjs a department, or
a shortenedversionofit. Thesecondpart,
which appearsimmediately after the @(at),is
the nameof the rsn or organization,or again
an abbreviation of it. Usually,the last part of
the addressincludesthe domain name suffixes
referringto the type of organization(e.g.'.co'
for'company','.ac'('academic')for auniversity)
and to the country from which the message
was sent(e.g.'.no'forNorway,'.uk'forthe
UnitedKingdom).
Other examplesof domain name suffixes
referringto typesof organizationinclude:
.biz business
.gov governmentofice
.org non-profit-makingorganization
(e.9.a charity)
.pro profession(e.g.medicine,Iaw)

If the nameof acountryin its main language
differssignificantlyfrom its namein English,
this isreflectedin its domainnamesuffx, e.g:
.de Deutschland(Germany)
.es Espafia(Spain)
.za ZuidAfrika (SouthAfrica)
LAYOUT '
Belowis atypical emailmessage.
i1'.,tLlIt I lr)llll lllIll
Theheadergivesessentialinformation about
the message.Inadditionto the basicdetails
shownin the sampie,it may include:
c.c.
Thisstandsfor carboncopies,which means
muchthe sameasit doeson aletter
r.seepage14.Hereyou insertthe email
addressesof anyoneyouwant to sendcopies
ofthe messageto.
b.c.c.
Thisstandsfor blind carboncopies,which,as
in aletter,you shoulduseif you donot want
the main recipientto know who hasreceived
copres>seePage14.
Attachments
Iconsof anyarrAcHMENrs will appearhere.
Theamount of headerinformation, andthe
orderin which it appears,will vary according
to the software being used,sodonot worry if
the messagesyou sendandreceivedonot look
exactlylikethe onein the example.
1' ',' rr','1,1't
Thepresentationof the text in an emailis
usuallylessformal than in aletter.In this
exampleMs Kaasenhasusedthe formal
DearSir/ Madam,but shecouldsimplyhave
headedher m essageFortheattentionof the
SalesManager.Ratherthan endingwith
Yoursfaithfully,sheusesthe lessformal
I lookforwardto hearingJromyou.
,'rr-rt11i,
Thisislikethe signatureblockin aletter,
althoughit usuallyincludesmoredetails,e.g.
the sender'scompanyor privateaddress,and
telephoneandfax numbers.Youcanprogram
your emailsoftwareto addyour signature
automaticaliyto the endof outgoing
messages.
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',I Messagetext
Subject:
f) DearSir/ Madam
Pleasewouldyousendmedetailsof yourquadsoundsystems,advertisedinthe
Aprileditionof 'SoundMonthly'?
I am particularlyinterestedintheOmegarange.
I lookfonvardto hearingfromyou.
O BeatrixKaasen(Ms)
Bredgade51
DK 1260
CopenhagenK
Tel/ Fax:(+45)741583
Email:kaasenb@intertel.net,dk
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STYtE
Email is a relatively recent development,and
becauseit is perceivedasa quick and informal
meansof communication, peopleareoften
unclear about the style and conventionsthey
shouldusein businesssituations.
As a generalrule, although email
correspondencemay tend towards informality,
it shouldfollowthe sameprinciplesasany
otherform of businesscorrespondence.
Herearesomebasictips aboutstyle:
- In general,emailmessagesfollow the style
andconventionsusedin lettersor faxes.For
example,youcanusesalutationssuchas
DearMr PintoorDearTom,and
complimentary closessuchasYourssincerely
or Bestwishes.However,if you knowthe
recipient well, or if you areexchanging a
seriesof messageswith oneperson,you may
dispensewith the salutation and
complimentaryclose.
- Donot confusepersonalmessageswith
businessmessages.Ina businessmessage,
the samerules of writing apply asfor a
Ietter:write clearly,carefuIly,and
courteously;consideraudience,purpose,
clarity,consistency,conciseness,andtone.
- Usecorrectgrammar,spelling,
capitalization, and punctuation, asyou
would in any other form of correspondence.
- Do not write words in capital letters in an
email message.Thiscanbeseenasthe
equivalent ofshouting andtherefore havea
negative effect.If you want to stressaword,
put asteriskson eachsideof 1t,e.g.*urgent*.
- Keepyour emailmessagesshort andto the
point. Peopleoften receiveaIot of emails at
work,soconcisenessis especiallyimportant.
- In general,limit yourselfto onetopic per
message.Thishelpsto keepthe message
brief and makesit easierfor the recipient
to answer,f,le,and retrieve it later.
- Checkyour email messagefor mistakes
beforeyou sendit,just asyouwould check
a letter or afax message.
Errr.ri| .rbbrcvr.rtiorrr
TLAs(three-letteracronyms)
In orderto keepemailmessagesshort,people
sometimesuseabbreviationsfor common
expressions,just asthey doin text messaging.
Theseareknown asTLAs(three-letter
acronyms),although someof them aremore
than threeletterslong.Hereis alist of some
of the most commonlyusedTLAs:
AFAIK asfaraslknow
BFN byefornow
Brw bytheway
coB closeofbusiness
FYr for your information
row inotherwords
NRN no replynecessary
oroH ontheotherhand
UseTLAswith greatcare,andonlywhen
you have estabiishedafriendly, informal
relationshipwith your correspondent.They
shouldnot bebeusedin lettersandfaxes.
Emoticons
Emoticons(acombinationof the words
emotion andicon),alsoknow assmileys,are
often usedin informal email correspondence.
They expressemotions which may not be
evidentfrom the wordsalone,e.g.:
-)
a smile
-(
afrown
;) awink
Onthe whole.it is betternot to usethem in
businessmessages,asthey may beconsidered
unprofessional,especiallyifyou donot know
the recipient weII or arenot surethat he or she
will understandthem.

rnd _l 10
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Askingforan
estimate
Hereisanexampleof
anemailaskingforan
EsrtMATEto refita
store.Therearethree
attachments.Notice
that the email isquite
short.lt isacceptable,
ashere,to omit the
salutationandthe
complimentaryclose
whenthe senderand
recipienthavebeenin
touchwith eachother
previously.
ro... I-I
Planof oremises list Architect'sdrawinos
r,Vithreferenceto ourphoneconversationthismorning,Iwouldlikeoneof your
representativesto visitourstoreat 443HaltonRoad,London,SE43TN,to giveanestimate
fora completerefit.Pleasecouldyoucontactmeto arrangean appointment?
As I mentionedonthephone,it isessentialthatworkiscompletedbeforetheendof
February20-, andthiswouldbestatedinthe contract.
Iattachtheplansandspecifications.
JeanLandmpn(Ms)
Assistantto K.Bellon,ManagingDirector
SuperbuysLtd,SuperbuyHouse
WolvertonRoad,LondonSW167DN
Tel.:020 83271651
Fax:020 8327 1935
j.landman@superbuys.com
Actions
PeterLane
Refitof HaltonRoadstore
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tulakf,ng
arrangementsfor
anestimate
PeterLanerepliesto
JeanLandman,copying
the messageto the
surveyor,JohnPelham.
Noticethat this message
fulf lsthe requirements
for correspondence
dealingwith anenquiry,
i.e.the replyissentas
soonaspossibleand
coversthe points
mentionedinthe
enquiry.Thestyleis
quiteinformalbut still
politeandbusinesslike.
ThelettersRE:appear
beforethe subjecttitle
inthe header
information.This
indicatesthat PeterLane
hasselectedthe'reply'
option.Theoriginal
messageappearsbelow
hisreply.
DearMs Landman
Oursurveyor,JohnPelham,is availableto inspectthe premisesanddiscussyourexact
requirements.CouldyoupleasecontactJohnonjpelham@wemshop.com,or on hismobile
(7129289541),to arrangea convenienttimefor himto visitthe store?
Fromyourattachedspecifications,I estimatetheworkcouldbe completedwithinthetime
yougive,andwe wouldbewillingto signa contractto thiseffect.
PeterLane
Director,WembleyShopfittersLtd
WycombeRoad,Wembley,MiddlesexHAg6DA
Teleohone:02089032323
Fax:020 89032349
Email:plane@wemshop.com
- Originalmessage-
From: JeanLandman
To: PeterLane
Subject: Refitof HaltonRoadstore
Dr:al L4t N-;irre
Viih relerence [u c)Lnplrorre conve;tsertiotrtfns rr]i)r rri!t, lwrrrrir.l lihe one oi t,o,rr
rrirrcsdr-ltdlves[DVrsrtouIsturc;rt 214-il-lalilrr ]-iii:iii t..,rrrjotr i,.L-4ii il!,Lc,giv*arI
i:sIirilailu tr,rrai cOiltplete relit Pteerse ctiLrlt.iylrLri.r,rrtlltcliTtc io alr[i]il1{Jrl(ir-r.r1;p0iillritcrtt'?
,/!r.;I rirLiiLi.;led orr iire 6.rlronc.ii r:; esserrli;tl llr.rt woiilr js ir()lrillc.ted beiore iire erLl trl
I ri.ll Lt.lt,,,,4 -. at rclLiliS;l,VOftlClltt.:r,t:.atlrldlrt til,.j (l{.}lil/trr-'L
I erltacfr llrerpllrrrs :rnr.ispecificaLronl;
Je.an Lail(ii'ir:1ii (l/s)
A..i.r.rrri l..r l{ llollrrn iri'-rr.,lrr.r lrrr:nlnr 1
Refitof HaltonRoadstore
24

rArial
RE:Satolnc
DearMrRubain
> Pleasefindanswersto yourqueriesbelow.
Howlonghasthecompanybeenin business?
> Thecompanyhastradedfor24yearsunderitscurrentname.
Howmanyshowroomsdoesit have?
> lt hasa chainof 30showroomsthroughoutthecountry.
Whatis itsturnovereveryyear?
> ltsregisteredturnoverthisyearwas$410million.
Willitsproductscompetewithmine?
> ltspecializesinforeigncars- yourswillbe uniquetoyourcountry.
HowisitregardedinJapan?
> lt hasanexcellentreputation.
I hooethisinformationisuseful.
KyokoMamura(Ms)
Assistantto TradelnformationOfficer
SakuragiBldg,MinamiAoyama,Minato-ku,Tokyo109
Tel:(+61;3 45076851
Fax:(+31;3 45078890
Email:mamurak@tcha.com.jp
llll:lii
Askingfor
informatIon
A companyhasemailed
theirlocalcHAMBERoF
coM MERcEto askfor
someinformationabout
their prospective
DrsrRrBUToRs,SatoInc.
Inthis reply,theanswers
givenbythechamberof
commercehavebeen
insertedat the relevant
pointsinthe original
message.Theyare
precededbythe'>'
symbol.
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Mr CliffofHomemakers
isafurniture
manufacturerand
suppliesMr Hughes's
shopwith awide range
of goods.Inthis
example,Mr Hughes
wantstwo newproducts
ON APPROVAT.
WhydoesMr Hughes
want the goodson
approval?
What doesMr
Hughesthink might
berequiredto get
goodson approval?
Actions Hetp
OrderNo81463
DearMrCliff
A lotof customershavebeenaskingaboutyourbookcaseandcoffeetableassemblykits
(abovecat.nos).Wewouldliketo testthe marketandhave6 setsof eachkiton approval
beforeplacinga firmorder.Icansupplytradereferencesif necessary.
I attacha provisionalorder(No.81463)inanticipationof youragreement.Thereis nohurry,
soyoucansendthesewithyournextdeliveryto Swansea.
Manythanks
RobertHughes
R.Hughes& SonLtd
Tel:0179258441
Fax:0179259472
Email:r.hughes@huson.com
What sortof order ,r lsthisan urgent
hasbeensent,and request?
how hasit beensent?
Cat.NosKT3andKT14onapproval
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Replyto request
forgoodson
approval
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DearMr Hughes
Thankyouforyourenquiryaboutourassemblykits.We'dbepleasedto sendyou6 of each
onapproval.Theyshouldbewithyoubynoonon Monday.
There'snoneedto supplyreferences.Theprovisionalorder(81463)yousentissufficient,
butpleasereturnanyunsoldkitsintwo months.
Letusknowif we canbeof anyfurtherhelp.
RichardCliff
Director,HomemakersLtd
54-59Riverside.CardiffCF11JW
Directline:+44(0)2920 49723
Fax'.+44 (0)2920 49937
Email: rcliff@homemakers.com
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1 DoesMrCliffagree
to sendthe goodson
approval?
2 Whatsortof
referencesare
required?
3 WhatshouldMr
Hughesdowithany
unsoldkits?
4 What phrasedoes
Mr Cliffuseto offer
morehelo?
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Pointsto remember
Letters
Many ofthesepointsapplyto faxesandemails
aswell.
1 Thelayoutandpresentationofyour letter
areimportant asthey givethe recipientthe
flrst impressionofyour company's
efficiency.
2 Writeboth the sender'sandthe recipient's
addressin asmuchdetaiiaspossibleandin
the correctorder.
3 Makesureyouusethe recipient'scorrect
title in the addressandsalutation.If in doubt
asto whetherawoman issingleor married,
useMs.
4 Donot write the month of the datein
f.gures.
5 Choosethe correctsalutationand
complimentaryclose:
DearSir/ Madam with Yoursfaithfully
DearMr / MsSmith with Yourssincerely
6 Makesureyourreferencesarecorrect.
7 Makesureyour signatureblocktellsyour
readerwhat heor sheneedsto know about
you.
Faxes
1 Faxis an opensystem,soit shouldnot be
usedfor confldentialcorrespondence.
2 Write clearlywhensendinghandwritten
messages,
3 Faxesarecopies,andcannotbeusedwhen
originaldocumentsarerequired.
4 Prepareyourtransmissioncarefullybefore
you sendit.
5 In general,the languageof faxesismuchlike
that of letters,althoughfaxescanbebriefer
andmoredirect,likeemailmessages.
Emails
1 Emailisvery fast and effective,but there are
areaswhereit ispreferableto useletters,e.g.
personal,confldential,or legal
rortcqnnnr]cnnp
2 Emailaddressesusuallygivethe nameof the
personor department,then the @(at)
symbol,followedbythe nameofthe
companyor institution, andflnally the
domainnames,which indicatethe type of
organizationandthe countryfrom which
the messagewassent.
3 Thelanguageof emailscanbequite
informal, but if you donot know the
recipientwell,it isbetterto keepto the usual
writing conventions.Youcanbecomemore
informal asyou establishaworking
relationship.
4 It ispossibleto usespecialabbreviations,e.g.
tres andemoticons,but donot confuseyour
recipientby usingabbreviationsheor she
maynot know or understand.
z8

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31
32
32
32
33
33
33
33
34
34
34
35
36
36
36
36
36
36
36
36
37
37
37
LENGTH
Toolong
Tooshort
Therightlength
oRDERAND SEqUENCE
Unclearsequence
Clearsequence
PLANNING
Firstparagraph
Middleparagraphs
Finalparagraph
STYLE AND LANCUACE
Simplicity
Courtesy
ldiomsandcolloquiallanguage
CLARITY
Abbreviationsandinitials
Numbers
Prepositions
ACC U RACY
Spelling
Titles,names,andaddresses
References
Prices,measurements,etc.
Enclosuresandattachments
Pointsto remember
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tE NGTH
All correspondenceshouldbelong enoughto
explain exactlywhat the senderneedsto say
andthe receiverneedsto know.Youmust
decidehow much information you put in the
Ietter:you may givetoo much *seethe letter
onthis page,in which caseyour letter will be
too long,or too little ' seethe letteron page3r,
in which caseit will betoo short.Yourstyleand
the kind oflanguageyou usecanalsoaffect
the length.
Thefollowing three letters arewritten by
different peoplein replyto the sameenquiry
from aMr Arrand abouttheir companv's
products.
l.)(-) liijlf.
Therearea number of things wrong with this
letter.Thoughit triesto advertisethe products,
andthe companyitself,it istoo wordy.Thereis
no needto explainthat storesarebuying in
stockfor Christmas- Mr Arrand is awareof
this.Ratherthan drawing attention to certain
items he might beinterestedin,the letter only
explainswhat he canalreadysee,that thereis
awide selectionof watchesin the catalogue
coveringthe full rangeof market prices.In
addition,the writer goeson unnecessarilyto
explainwhich countriesthe companysellsto,
to giveits history, and to quote its rather
unimpressivemotto.
DearMrArrand
Thank you very much for your enquiry of 5November which we
receivedtoday.Weoften receiveenquiriesfrom largestoresand
alwayswelcome them, particularly at this time of the yearwhen
we knowthat you will bebuying in stockfor Christmas.
Wehave enclosedour winter catalogueand aresureyou will be
extremelyimpressedby our wide rangeof watches.Youwill see
that they includerangesfor men,women, and children,with prices
that should suit all your customers,from watches costing only a
few poundsto thosein the luxury bracketpricedat several
hundredpounds.But whateverpricebracketyou areinterestedin,
we guaranteeall our productsfortwo years.
Enclosedyou wiII alsofind our pricelist giving full detailsof prices
to London(incluslveof cost,insurance,andfreight) and explaining
our discounts,which we think you will find very generousand
which we hopeyou will take full advantageof.
We are always availabieto offer you further information about
our productsand canpromiseyou personalattention whenever
you requireit. Thisserviceis givento all our customersthroughout
the world, and asyou probably know we dealwith countries from
the FarEastto EuropeandLatinAmerica,Thisfact alonebearsout
our reputation,which hasbeenestablishedfor morethan a
hundredyearsandhasmadeour motto 'Timefor everyone'-
familiarworldwide.
Onceagain,may we thank you for your enquiry and saythat we
lookforward to hearingfrom you in the nearfuture?
Yourssincerely
2
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-ac short
lhere areanumber of problemswith this
-etter:
I It shouldhavebegunDearMr Arrand and
endedfourssincerelyasthewriterknew Mr
Arrand'sname from his letter of enquiry.
2 Neitherthe datenorthe referencenumber
ofthe enquiry arequoted.
3 Ideally,a catalogueshouldbeenclosedwith
areplyto anenquiryabouta company's
productsor indicationof awebsiteif the
companyhasone.
4 When acatalogueis sent,attention shouldbe
drawn to items which might beof particular
interestto the enquirer.New productsshould
alsobepointedout.
5 A pricelist shouldbeincludedif pricesare
not givenin the catalogue.Any discounts
shouldbequotedand,if possible,delivery
dates.
The right length
Hereisamoresuitableletter.It isneithertoo
short nor too long.It providesall the relevant
information Mr Arrand might need,and draws
his attentionto somespeciflcproductswhich
maybeof interestto him.
. Seepage33for the planforthis letter.
DearSir
Thank you foryour enquiry.Wehaveawide selectionof watches
which we aresureyou will like.Wewill besending acatalogue
soon.
Yoursfaithfully
DearMr Arrand
Thankyou for your enquiry of 5November.
Weencloseour winter catalogue,and apricelist giving details of
CIFlondon prices,discounts,anddeliverydates.
Thoughyou will seewe offer awide selectionof watches,may we
drawyour attentionto pp.23-28,andpp.31-36,wherethereare
styleswe think might suit the market you describe?Onpage25you
will flnd our latest designsin pendant watches,which arealready
sellingwell.
All our productsarefully guaranteed,andbackedby our worldwide
reputation.
If you needanyfurther information, pleasecontactus.Welook
forward to hearing from you soon.
Yourssincerely
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oRDER AND SEqUENCE
Aswell ascontaining the right amount of
information,yourletter shouldalsomakeall
the necessarypointsin alogicalsequence,
with eachideaor pieceof information linking
up with the previousonein apattern that can
befollowed.Donot makea statement,switch
to othersubjects,then referbackto the point
you madeafew sentencesor paragraphs
before,asinthe example.
Ur,1411*tq's0qrJF11(g
ThisIetterisdifficultto understandbecause
thereisno clearsequenceor logicalorder.
eletr !eflut.rrcr,
Hereis abetterversionofthe sameletter.in
which the ideasand information arein a
logicalorder.
DearSir/ Madam
Weareinterestedin your security systems Wewould like to know
more about the pricesand discountsyou offer.
A businessassociateof ours,DMS(Wholesalers)Ltd,mentioned
your nameto usandshowedusacatalogue.Theywereimpressed
with the security systemyou installed for them, sowe arewriting
to you about it. Doyou giveguaranteeswith the installations ?
In your cataloguewe sawthe Secure15which looksasthough it
might suit our purposes.DMShadthe Secure18installed,but aswe
mentioned,they arewholesalers,while we area chain of stores.We
would like somethingthat canpreventrobberyandshoplifting,so
the Secure15might suit us.
How long would it taketo install a systemthat would serveall
departments?Couldyousendaninspectororadviserto seeussoon?
If you canoffer competitive pricesand guaranteeswe would put
your systemin all our outlets,but initiallywe would only install
the systemin our main branch.
Wewould like to make a decisionon this soon,sowe would
appreciatean earlyreply.
Yoursfaithfully
DearMrJarry
Weareachain of retail storesand arelooking for an efficient
securir system.Youwere recommendedto usby ow associates,
DMS(Wholesalers)Ltd,for whom you recentlyinstalled the Secure
18alarm system.
Weneeda systemwhich would giveus comprehensiveprotection
againstrobbery and shoplifting throughout all departments,and
the Secure15featuredin your currentcataloguewould appearto
suit us.However,it would behelpful if oneof your representatives
couldvisit us sothat we candiscussdetailsof the availablesystems.
Initially we would test the systemwe selectin our main branch,
and,ifit provessatisfactory install it throughout our other
branches.Our choicewould, of course,beinfluenced by a
competitive quotation andfull guaranteesfor maintenance and
serVIce.
Pleasereplyassoonaspossibleaswe would liketo makeadecision
withinthe next few months.
Yourssincerely
2
,2

PtAN N ING
Theway to makesureyou includethe right
amount of information,andinthe right order,
isby planning.Askyourselfwhat the purpose
ofthe letter is,andwhat responseyou would
Iiketo receive.Note down everything you want
to includebeforeyou startwriting, then read
your notesto checkthat you haveincluded all
the necessaryinformation, that it is relevant,
andthat you haveput it in the right order.
Here,for example,isthe planfor the letteron
page31.
rtpara. Acknowledgeenquiry
zndpara. Enclosecatalogue,pricelist
3rdpara. Drawattentiontowatches
suitableJorArrand,andlatest
designs
4thpara. Mentionguaranteesand
reputation
5thpara. EncourageJurthercontact
Firc'tXraragna6"rh
Theopeningsentenceor paragraphis
important asit setsthe toneof the letter and
createsaflrst impression.Generallyspeaking,
you would thank your correspondentfor their
Ietter(if replyingto an enquiry),if necessary
introduceyourself andyour company,statethe
subjectofthe letter,andsetout its purpose.
Herearetwo examplesof openingparagraphs.
- Thankyouforyour enquirydated8IuIy in
whichyouaskedusaboutour rangeof
cosmetics.Asyouprobablyknowfrom our
advertising,weappealtoawide agegroup
Jrom theteenagemarketthroughto more
maturewomen,andourproductsareretailed
in leadingstoresthroughouttheworld.
- Thankyoufor your letteroftg August,whichI
receivedtoday.Wecancertainlysupplyyou
with theindustrialJloorcoveringsyou asked
about.Enclosedyou willfind a catalogue
illustratingourwide rangeofproducts
currentlyusedinfactoriesandofices
throughouttheworld
lMidd[e Baragnapefrs
Themain part of your letter will concernthe
pointsthat needto bemade,answersyouwish
to give,or questionsyou want to ask.Asthis
dependsonthe type of letterthat you are
writing, thesetopicswill bedealtwith in later
units.ln the middleparagraphs,planningis
mostimportant to makesureyour pointsare
madeclearly,fuily,andin alogicalsequence.
FfimnIparagraph
At the end of your letter,if it is areply andyou
havenot donesoat the beginning,you should
thank your correspondentfor writing. If
appropriate,encouragefurther enquiriesor
correspondence,mentioningthat youlook
forwardto hearingfrom him orher soon.You
may want to restate,briefly,oneor two of the
mostimportant pointsyou madein the main
part of your letter.Herearesomeexamplesof
final paragraphs.
- Onceagainthankyoufor writing to us,Please
contactusifyou wouldIikeanyfurther
information.Tosummarize:aIIpricesare
quotedcrcYokohama,deliverywouldbesix
weeksfrom receiptof order,andpayment
shouldbemadebybankdraft I lookforward
to hearingfromyou soon.
- IhopeI havecoveredaIIthequestionsyou
asked,butpleasecontactmeif thereareany
otherdetailsyou require.If you wouldliketo
placean order,mayI suggestthatyou doso
beforetheendof thismonthsothat it canbe
metin goodtimefor thestartof thesummer
season?I hopeto hearfromyou in thenear
future.
- Weareconfidentthatyou havemadethe
rightchoiceasthislineisa leadingseller.If
thereisanyadviceorfurther informationyou
need,wewouldbehappyto supplyit,andlook
forward to hearingfrom you.
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STYLE AND LANGUAGE
Sinnplicity
Commercialcorrespondenceoften sulTers
from anold-fashioned,pompousstyleof
Englishwhich complicatesthe messageand
givesreadersthe feeling that they arereading
something written in anunfamiliar language.
In this letter, all the writer istrying to dois
explain why he delayedpaying his account
but,becauseofthe style,it istoo long andis
difficultto understand.
Hereis asimplerversionofthe letter.Mr
Aldinewill besatisfiedwith it becauseit tells
him - simpiy and clearly- what hewants to
know.First,his customeruseshis name.
Second,hehasapologized.Third,Mr Aldine
knows his was not the only accountthat was
not paidwhen due,and knows why. Finally,he
hashis cheque
Lot/rlr''
Yourstyle shouldnot,however,be sosimple
that it becomesrude.Hereis an exampleof a
letter that istoo short and simple.
DearSir/ Madam
I begto acknowledgereceiptofyour letter ofthe 15thinst.in
connectionwith our not clearingour account,which was
outstandingasofthe endofJune.
Pleaseacceptour profuseapologies.Wewereunabieto settle
this matter dueto the suddendemiseof Mr Noel,our Accountant,
and asaresult were unaware of thoseaccountswhich were to be
cleared.Wenow,however,havemanagedto traceall our
commitments andtake pleasurein enclosingour remittance
for L2,12O,whichwe trust will rectify matters.
Wehopethat this unforeseenincidentdid not in anyway
inconvenienceyou,nor leadyouto believethat our not clearing
ourbalanceonthe duedatewasanintention on our part to delav
payment.
Weremain,yours,etc...
DearMrAldine
I am replyingto your letterof 15Julyaskingusto clearourJune
balance.
I apologizefor not settlingthe accountsooner,but dueto the
unfortunate death of Mr Noel,our Accountant,there havebeen
delaysin settling all of our outstanding balances.
Pleasefnd enclosedour chequeforL2,720,andacceptour apoiogies
for any inconvenience.
Yourssincerely
DearMrRohn
I've alreadywritten to you concerningyour debt of f 1,994.This
shouldhavebeenclearedthree months ago.Youseemunwilling to
co-operatein paying us We'll sueyou if you donot clearyour debt
within the next ten days.
Yours.etc.
2
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-i the versionof the sameletter,noticethe
s$istic devicesthat areusedto makeit more
:olite: complexsentences,joined by
:onjunctions,ratherthan shortsentences
e.g....thebalanceof [,t,t94,whichhasbeen
cutstanding...ratherthan ...yourdebtof
tt,99q.Thisshouldhavebeencleared...);the
useof full ratherthan abbreviatedforms
,eg.I shallhaveto consider...ratherthan
We'IIsue...);andthe useof passiveforms
and indirect languagethat avoidssounding
aggressive(e.g....for theaccountto besettled...
ratherthan ...ifyou donotclearyour debt...).
dionnsand colloquial language
It is important to try to getthe right 'tone'
in your letter.Thismeansthat,generally
speaking,you shouldaim for aneutraltone,
avoidingpompouslanguageonthe onehand
andlanguagewhich is too informal or
colloquial on the other.
Youmay setthewrong tonebyusing
the wrong vocabulary or idioms,or using
short forms inappropriately. Hereare afew
examples,together with apreferred
alternative.
INAPPROPRIATE PREFERRED
FORM ALTERNATIVE
you'veprobably you areprobably
guessed aware
you'll getyour theloanwillberepaid
moneyback
pricesareat rock pricesareverylow
bottom
priceshavegone priceshaveincreased
throughthe roof rapldly
Onthe whole, it is better to avoidusing
colloquial language or slang.Apart from the
dangerof beingmisunderstoodif your
correspondent'sfirst languageis not Engiish,
he or shemay think you arebeing too familiar.
DearMr Rohn
I refer to our previousletter senton 10Octoberin which you
were askedto clearthe balanceof f 1,994on your account,which
hasbeenoutstandingsinceJuly.Astherehasbeenno reply,I
shall haveto considerhanding overthe matter to our solicitors.
However,I am reluctant to dothis and am offering afurther ten
daysfor the accountto besettled.
Yourssincerelv
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CLARITY
Yourcorrespondentmust beableto
understand what you havewritten. Confusion
in correspondenceoftenarisesthrough alack
ofthought andcare,andthere areanumberof
ways in which this canhappen.
Abhreviationsandinitials
Abbreviations canbeuseful becausethey are
quickto write andeasyto read.But both
correspondentsneedto know what the
abbreviationsstandfor.
Theabbreviationscrr andros, for example,
areINcorERMswhich mean,respectively,
Cost,Insurance,andFreightandFreeOnBoard.
But canyou besurethat your correspondent
knowsthatp&pmeans postageandpacking?
Someinternationalorganizations,e.g.rvaro
(North Atlantic Treaty Organization),are
known in all countriesby the samesetof
initials,but many arenot,e.g.ru (European
Union) andurv (UnitedNations).National
organizations,e.g.in the UK,cnr
(Confederationof BritishIndustry)andluc
(TradesUnion Congress),areunlikelyto be
familiar to correspondentsin othercountries.
A rangeof abbreviationsareusedin email
correspondence>seepagezz,but many of
them arenot widelyknown.If you arenot
absolutelycertainthat an abbreviation or set
of initials will beeasilyrecognized,it isbest
not to useit.
hlumbers
Wesawon page8that the useof figures
insteadof wordsfor datescancreateproblems.
Numericalexpressionscanalsocause
confusion.Forexample,the decimal point in
BritishandAmericanusageis afull stop,but a
commaisusedin most continentalEuropean
countries,sothat aBritishor Americanperson
would write 4.255where aFrenchperson
wouid write 4,255(which to aBritish or
Americanpersonwould meanfour thousand
two hundredandfifty -five).
If thereisthe possibilityof confusion,write
the expressionin both flguresandwords,e.g.
fto,575.9o (tenthousandfive hundred and
seventy-fivepounds,ninetypence).
Prepositions
Specialcareshouldbetakenwhen using
prepositions.Thereis abig differencebetween
Thepricehasbeenincreasedto t45o.oo,
Thepricehasbeenincreasedbyt45o.oo,and
Thepricehasbeenincreasedfromt45o.oo.
ACCURACY
Spelling
Carelessmistakesin aletter cangivereadersa
badimpression.Spelling,punctuation,and
grammar shouldall becheckedcarefully.Many
peoplehavecometo relyonthe spellcheckerin
their computersto ensurethat thereareno
spellingmistakes.But aword speltincorrectly
mayform a completely different word, e.g.
Pleasegiveit somethough(thewriter means
thought);I sawit their (thewriter meansfhere).
A spellcheckerwouldmissthesemistakes.
Thereis no substitute for carefully reading,or
proofreading aletter that you havewritten.
Titler. nanref" ;lnd addresses
Usethe correcttitle in the addressand
salutation.Spellyour correspondent'sname
correctly(nothingcreatesaworseimpression
than amisspelledname),andwrite their
addressaccurately.
If you donot knowyour correspondent,do
not assumethat they areonesexor the other,
i.e.useDearSir/ Madam ratherthanDear Siror
DearMadam.If youknow acorrespondent's
namebut not their sex,useMr / Ms,e.g.DearMr
/ MsBarron.
References
When replying to aletter,fax,or email,quote
all referencesaccuratelysothat it is immediately
clearto your readerwhat you arewriting
about.
2
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Prices,measurements,etc.
Specialcareshouldbetakenwhen quoting
pricesor givingspecificationssuchas
measurementsor weights.Quotingthese
incorrectlycancauseserious
misunderstandings.
Enclosuresandattachments
Always checkthat you haveactually enclosed
the documentsyouhavementionedin your
Ietter,or attachedthem to your email
>seepage14.Check,too,that youhave
enclosedor attachedthe right documents.If,
for example,the documentyou areenclosingis
invoicenll23r,makesureyou donot enclose
invoiceYr,/2r3.
Whenordering,makesureyou quotethe
ordernumbercorrectly,especiallyin
internationaltradewheremistakescanbe
veryexpensivein both time andmoney.
Pointsto remember
1 Includethe right amount of information.If
you arerespondingto an enquiry makesure
youhaveansweredallthe writer'squestions.
2 Planbeforeyou start writing. Make sureyou
sayeverything you want to say,and in a
logicalsequence.
3 Useasimplebut politestyleof ianguage.
4 Make surethat everything you write is clear
andeasytounderstand.Donot use
colloquiallanguageor abbreviationsthat
yourreadermaynot understand.Write
numbersin wordsaswell asfigures.
5 Accuracyisimportant.Payspecialattention
to detailssuchastitles andnames,and
referencesandprices,andrememberto
checkenclosuresor attachments.
6 Checkwhat you havewritten when you
havefinished.Make sureeverything is asit
shouldbe.
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39 MAKTNGENO_urRrES
39 Opening
39 Askingforcatalogues,pricelists,etc.
39 Askingfordetails
40 Askingforsamples,patterns,anddemonstrations
40 Suggestingterms,methodsof payment,anddiscounts
40 Askingforgoodsonapproval,oronsaleorreturn
41 Askingforanestimateortender
41 Closing
42
42 ':'
42
43
44
45 : r:';: '
46 Pointsto remember

MAKING ENqUIRIES
A simpleenquirycanbemadeby email,
fax,or cable.Thecontentsof an enquiry will
dependonthreethings:howwellyou know
the suppiier,whetherthe suppiierisbasedin
your countryor abroad,andthe type of goods
or servicesyou areenquiringabout,Thereis
a differencebetweenaskingacomputer
companyaboutthe costof installing a
complexcomputernetwork andaskinga
publisheraboutthe priceof abook.
fi['rFill l] j:
Teilyour supplierwhat sortof organization
you are.
-We area co-operativewholesalesocietybased
in Zurich.
-Our companyisa subsidiaryof Universal
BusinessMachinesandwespecializein ...
-We areoneof the mainproducersof industrial
chemicalsin Germany,andweareinterested
n...
How did you hear aboutthe companyyou are
contacting?it might beusefulto point out that
youknow their associates,orthat they were
recommendedto youby aconsulateortrade
association.
-We weregivenyour namebytheHoteliers'
Associationin Paris.
-Youwere recommendedtousbyMr JohnKing,
ofLawsom& Davies,MerchantBankers.
-We wereadvisedbySpett.Marco Gennovisaof
Milan thatyou areinterestedin supplying...
-The BritishConsulateinMadrid hastoldus
thatyou arelookingfor anagentin Spainto
representyou.
It ispossibleto useotherreferences.
-We wereimpressedbytheselectionof
gardeningtoolsdisplayedonyour standat
thisyear'sHamburgGardeningExhibition.
-Our associatesinthepackagingindustry
speakhighlyofyour Zetapackingmachines,
andwewouldliketo havemoreinformation
aboutthem.Couldyousendus...
,Aslliinrgfor catalogucsi price ldsts,etc.
It isnot necessaryto givealot of information
aboutyourselfwhen askingfor carArocux s,
pricelists,etc.Thiscanbedoneby letter,fax,
or email,but rememberto giveyour postal
address.It is alsohelpfulto point out briefly
any particular items you areinterestedin.
-Could youpleasesendyour currentcatalogue
andpricelistJorexhibitionstands?Weare
particularlyinterestedin standssuitablefor
displayingfurniture.
-We haveheardaboutyour latestequipment
inlasersurgeryandwouldlikemoredetails.
Pleasesendusanyinformationyou can
supply,markingtheletter'FortheAttentionof
ProfessorKazuhiro',TokyoGeneralHospital,
Kinuta-Setagayaku,Tokyo,Iapan.
-I amplanningto comeandstudyin London
nextautumnandwouldbegratefulifyou
couldsendmeaprospectusanddetailsof
yourfees.I amparticularlyinterestedin
coursesin computing.
-Pleasewouldyou sendmean up-to-date
pricelistforyour buildingmaterials.
,Askfimgfon cietafi[sr
When askingfor goodsor servlcesyou should
bespecificandstateexactlywhat you want.
If replyingto an advertisement,you should
mentionthe journal or newspaperandits date,
andquoteanyBox NUMBERor department
numbergiven,eg.BoxNo.j4t;Dept 4/t28.And
if orderingfrom,or referringto,a catalogue,
BRocHURx,orpRospEcrus,alwaysquotethe
reference,e g.Cat.no.at4g;Item no.351tCourse
et 362.
-I am replyingtoyour advertisementinthe
Iuneeditionof 'TailorandCutter'.Iwouldlike
to knowmoreaboutthesteampresseswhich
you areofferingat costprice.
-I wiII beattendingtheauctionto beheldat
TurnerHouseont6 February,andam
particularlyinterestedin thejob lot listedas
Item No.35t.
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-Could youpleasegivememoreinformation
aboutcourseBt j6z,whichappearsinthe
IanguageJearningsectionofyour summer
prospectus?
-I wouldappreciatemoredetailsaboutthe
'UniversityCommunicationsSystem'which
you arecurrentlyadvertisingonyourwebsite-
Askingforsamplesopatterns,
anddemonstrations
Youmight want to seewhat amaterial or
item lookslikebeforeplacingan order.Most
suppliersarewilling to providesamplesor
patternssothat you canmakea selection.
However,fewwould sendacomplexpieceof
machineryfor youto lookat.Instead,you
would probablybeinvitedto visit a showroom,
orthe supplierwould offerto senda
representative.In anycase,if it ispractical,ask
to seean exampleof the articleyou want to buy.
-IAlhen replying,couldyoupleaseenclosea
pattern card?
-We wouldalsoappreciateit ifyou couldsend
somesamplesof thematerialsothat wecan
examinethetextureandquality.
-Before sellingtoysweprefer to testthemfor
safety.Couldyou thereJoresendusat least
two examplesof the'Sprite'range?
-I wouldliketo discusstheproblemof
maintenancebeforedecidingwhichmodelto
install in myfactory. ThereforeI would be
gratefulifyou couldarrangeforoneofyour
representativestocallon mewithinthe next
twoweeks
-Where canI seea demonstrationof this
system?
Surggestingterm5, methods of
payment,anddiscounts
Companiessometimesstatepricesand
conditionsin their advertisementsor literature
andmay not likeprospectivecustomers
making additional demands.However,evenif
conditionsarequoted,you canmentionthat
youusuallyexpectcertainconcessionsand
politely suggestthat, if your terms were met,
youwould bemorelikelyto placean order.
-We usuallydealon ajo% tradediscount
basiswith an additionalquantitltdiscount
for ordersover4ooo units.
-As a rule,our suppliersallow usto settleby
monthlystatementandwecanoffertheusual
referencesif necessary.
-We wouldalsoliketopoint out that we
usuallysettleouraccountson ao /e,basis
withpaymentby3o-daybill of exchange.
-Couldyoulet usknowifyou allowcash
discounts?
-As weintendtoplacea substantialorder,we
wouldliketo knowwhat quantitydiscounts
youallow.
Asking for goods o{'!erpprued,l,
(}r(,trsale or return
Sometimesretailersandwholesalerswant to
seehow a lIIrtr will sellbeforeplacingaflrm
orderwith a supplier.Two ways of doing this
areby gettinggoodson approvalor on a sALE
oRRETURNbasis.Ineithercasethe supplier
would haveto know the customerwell. or
wouldwant TRADEREFERENcEs.Thesupplier
would alsoplaceatime limit onwhen the
goodsmust bereturnedor paidfor.
-The leafletadvertisingyour latesthobby
magazinesinterestedus,andwewouldliketo
stocka selectionof them.However,wewould
onlyconsiderplacingan orderif it wason the
usualbasisof saleor return.Ifthis is
acceptable,wewill sendyouafirm order.
-In the cataloguewereceivedfrom you last
week,wesawthatyou areintroducinga new
Iinein syntheticfur s.lMile weapprecIatethat
increasingpressurefr om wildlifeprotection
societiesisreducingthedemandforrealfurs,
wearenotsurehowourcustomerswould
reactto syntheticalternatives.However,we
wouldliketo try a selectionof designs.Would
it bepossibleforyou to supplyuswith a range
onanapprovalbasisto seeiJwecanencourage
a demand?Threemonthswouldprobablybe
enoughtoestablisha marketif thereisone.
3
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Esrrmern s arequotationsto completea
job,e.g.putting anew roofon afactoryor
lnstallingmachinery.TTwDERSaresimilar
quotations,but in written form.Theyareoften
usedwhen the job is alargeone,e g.building a
completefactory.When the work isfor a
government,or is alargeundertaking,there
areoften newspaperadvertisementsinviting
tenders.
_ ADVERTISEMXNT:
Thelrish TouristOrganizationinvitestenders
from buildingcontractorsto erectseatingfor
to,ooopeoplefo r theDublin Summer
FestivalTendersshouldbeinby t Marchzo-,
andwiII beassessedonpriceandsuitability of
constructionplans.
- ADVERTISEMXNT:
TheZenaChemicalCompanyinvitestenders
from privatecontractorsforthe disposalof
chemicalwaste.Onlythoselicensedto deal
with toxicsubstancesshouldapply.Further
detailsfrom ...
A companymaywrite crRcurARrnrtt ns to
severalsuppliers,inviting offersto completea
constructionjob,orto dorepairsor decorating.
-We area largechainof theatres,andwould
beinterestedin receivingestimatesfrom
upholsterersto re-covertheseatsin our
two main theatresin Manchester.
-We arewriting to a numberof building
contractorsto inviteestimatesforthe
conversionofNorthboroughAirfield into a
sportsand leisurecentre.Thework will include
erectingbuildingsandprovidingfacilities
suchasskislopesandparachutejumps.
Thedeadlineforcompletionistheendof
Decemberzo-. If you canprovidea
competitiveestimatepleasecontactusat ...
-As you may beawarefrom recentpress
reports,wehavetakenoverInternational
Motorsplc andareinthe processof
automating theirHamburgfactory.Weare
writing to severalengineeringdesigners,
includingyourselves,whowethink may be
interestedin convertingtheplant to afully
automatedproductionunit.Enclosedyou will
find thespecifi.cations.Wewouldwelcome
inspectionof thesitebyyour surveyors,witha
viewto supplyingan estimatefor the
reconstruction.
Usuallya simple'thank you' is sufficientto
ciosean enquiry.However,you couldmenti.on
that aprompt replywould beappreciated,or
that certainterms or guaranteeswould be
necessary
-We hopeto hearfromyou in the nearfuture.
3
-We wouldbegrateJulforan earlyreply.
-Finally, wewould liketopoint out that
deliverybeforeChristmasisessential,and
hopethatyou canofferusthat guarantee.
-If you canagreeto the concessionswehave
askedJor,wewillplacea substantialorder.
-Prompt deliverywould benecessaryaswe
havea rapidturnover.Wewouldtherefore
needyour assurancethatyou couldmeetall
deliverydates
Youcanalsoindicatefurther businessor other
linesyouwould beinterestedin.If a supplier
thinks that you may becomeareguiar
customer,they will bemoreinclinedto quote
competitiveterms andoffer concessions.
-If theproduct issatisfactory,wewill place
further orderswith you in thefuture.
-If thepricesquotedarecompetitiveandthe
quality up to standard,wewill orderon a
regularbasis
-P rovidedy ou can offerfav ourablequotations
andguaranteedeliverywithinfour weeks
from receiptoJorder,wewiIIplaceregular
orderswithyou.
rn
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Rcqucrtfore
crtelogucand
pdrcllrt
Rcqurrtfore
prolpoctur
tcquort for
grncnl
lnformetlon
Notethatthereference
tornnoEpnrcrsinthis
lettertellsthe
manufacturerthatheis
dealingwithaRETATLER
orwholesaler,nota
privateindividual.
lftheseexamples
weresentasemail
messages,it wouldbe
acceptableto remove
thesalutationand
changethe
complimentaryclose
f romYoursJaithfuIlyto
thelessformalThanking
you inadvance.
DearSir/ Madam
Pleasewould you sendme your Springcatalogueand pricelist, quoting CIF
prices,LeHavre?
Yoursfaithfully
F.Rnnl
F.Raval(M.)
DearSir/ Madam
Iwould like someinformation aboutyour coursesin Englishfor Business
Executives,beginning in July.
Pleasesendme aprospectus,detailsof your fees,and information about
accommodationin Londonfor the periodJulyto December.If possible,I
would like to staywith an Englishfamily.
Yoursfaithfully
Y.Iwaru.ni
Ylwanami(Ms)
DearSir/ Madam
Couldyou pleasesendme detailsof your tubelesstyres rivhicharebeing
advertisedin garagesaroundthe country?
I would appreciateaprompt reply quoting trade prices.
Yoursfaithtully
Erian Wyn'ut
BrianWvmer
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enqurrret (o.rld lrc rr'nl
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42

251ruedesRaimonieres
F-86oooPoitiersCedex
Tdlephone{+13,: 9968ro3r
T6f6copie(+11)2j41o2163
Emarlirge..rrC@;:lrsc(ofr
Ref.PG/AI
12May2O-
TheSalesDepartment
R.G.ElectronicsAG
Havmart 601
D-50000Koln1
DearSir/Madam
Wearealarge music storein the centreof Poitiersandwould like to know
more aboutthe re-vwitableand recordableCDsyou advertisein this
month's edition of 'Lectron'.
Couldyou tell usif the CDsareleading brand names,or madeby small
independent companies,andwhether they would besuitablefor domestic
recording?Wewould appreciateit if you couldsendus somesamples.If
they areof the standardwe require,we will placea substartial order.We
would alsolike to know if you offer anytrade discounts.
Yoursfaithtully
P.Qirad.
P.Gerard(M.)
Manager
Replytoan
advcrtisemcnt
lnthisletterthe
customerisreplyingto
anadvertisementfor
cosinatradejournal.
Theadvertisergavelittle
information,sothe
writerasksfordetails.
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sayWearealarge
musicstore?
Howdidhehear
aboutthecos?
Whatrequirements
doeshesuggestmust
bemetbeforehewill
placeanorder?
Whatconcession
doesheaskfor?
lf hehadbegunthe
letterDearMr-,
whatwouldthe
complimentaryclose
be?
Whichwordsinthe
letterhaveasimilar
meaningtothe
following?
r mostimportant
b typeofproduct
< large
d reducedprice
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Enquirryftoma
buyhryagumt
Companiesoften
haveagentsinother
countrieswhosellor
buyproductsforthem
>seepagesr59+7o.In
thisemailtheagentls
actingonbehalfofher
PRrNcrPArsinCanada.
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JohnMerton
Ourref.180/MB
DearMrMerton
YouwererecommendedtousbyyourtradeassociationandIamwritingonbehalfof
ourprincipalsinCanada,whoareinterestedinimportingchinawarefromEngland.
Couldyousendusyourlatestcatalogueandpricelist,quotingyourmostcompetitive
prices?
Ourprincipalsarea largechainstoreinNorthAmericaandwillprobablyplacesubstantial
ordersif thequaligandpricesof yourproductsaresuitiable.
Manythanks.
LindaLowe
Director
Sanders&LoweLtd
PlanterHouse,PrincesStreet
LondonECI 7DQ
Tel.:+44(0)20787457
Fax:+44(0)20787458
Email:Llowe@sanlo.co.uk
44

Enqulryftom
rntelhrto
rfionfn
rnrnufrctuu
Thisemailisfromthe
ChiefBuyerforachain
ofshopsinBirmingham
to anltalianknitwear
manufacturer.Thebuyer
explainshowhegot
to knowaboutthe
manufacturerland
suggeststhataquantity
discountandacceptance
of hismethodof
paymentwould
persuadehimto place
anorder.Heisstating
histermsinhisenquiry
becausehefeelsthat
asaBULKeuvrnhe
candemandcertain
conditions.Butyou
willseefromthereply
>page58that,although
theltalianmanufacturer
wantstheorder,hedoes
notliketheterms,and
suggestsconditionsthat
aremoresuitableto
him.
ln
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DearSir/Madam
Weareachainof retailersbasedinBirminghamandarelookingfora manufacturerwho
cansupplyuswithawiderangeof sweatersforthemen'sleisurewearmarket.Wewere
impressedbythenewdesignsdisplayedonyourstandattheHamburgMenswear
Exhibitionlastmonth.
Asweusuallyplacelargeorders,wewouldexpectaquantitydiscountinadditiontoa
20o/olradediscountoffnetlistprices.Ourtermsof paymentarenormally30-daybillof
exchange,D/$.
lf theseconditionsinterestyou,andyoucanmeetordersof over500garmentsatone
time,pleasesendusyourcurrentcatalogueandpricelist.
Wehopetohearfromyousoon.
PeterCrane
ChiefBuyer
ELynch&Co.Ltd
NessonHouse,NewellStreet,Birmingham833EL
Telephone:+44(0)212366571
Fax:+44(0)212368592
Email:pcrane@lynch.co.uk
ln
x!l
3
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I Whatexpression
doesPeterCraneuse
to indicatethat Lynch
& Co.isalarge
company?
Whatmarket
areLynch& Co.
interestedin?
WheredidLynch&
Co.getto knowabout
Satex?
I Whatkindsof
discountarethey
askingfor?
I Howwouldpayment
bemade?
5 Howmanysweaters
aretheylikelyto
order?
I Whichwordsinthe
letterhaveasimilar
meaningtothe
following?
r selection
b presented
c fixedprice
d itemof cloth'ing
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Pointsto remember
1 Givedetailsof your own companyaswell as
askingfor information from your
prospectivesupplier.
2 Bespecificand stateexactlywhatyouwant.
If possible,quotebox numbers,catalogue
references,etc.to help your supplier identify
the product/s.
3 Askfor a sampleif you areuncertain about a
product.
4 Suggestterms and discounts,but be
preparedforthesuppliertomakea counter-
offer.
5 Closewith an expressionsuchasI look
forward to hearingfrom you and/ or indicate
the possibility ofsubstantial ordersor
furtherbusiness.
3
+6

48 REPLYTNcro ENo_urRrEs
48 Opening
48 Confirmingthatyoucanhelp
48'Selling'your product
48 Suggestingalternatives
49 Referringthe customerto anotherplace
49 Sendingcatalogues,pricelists,prospectuses,
anosamples
49 Arrangingdemonstrationsandvisits
50 Closing
50 CtVtNC O_UOTATtONS
50 Prices
51 Transportandinsurancecosts
51 Discounts
51 Methodsof payment
53 Quotingdeliverydate
53 Fixedtermsandnegotiableterms
53 Civinganestimate
54
54
54
55
56
57
58
59
6o Pointsto remember
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REPTYING TO ENO-UIRIES
Opening
In an email reply,the rr: abbreviation in
the subjectline automatically showsthat you
arereplying to amessage.Thereforeit is not
usuallynecessarytousea salutation.
>Seepageszo-z7formoreonemail.
However,letters aredifferent. Mention your
prospectivecustomer'sname,e.g.if the
customersignshisletterMr B.Green,begin
DearMr Green,xo'rDearSir.
Thank the writer for his or her enquiry.
Mentionthe dateof his orherletter andquote
any other references.
- Thankyoufor your enquiryof 6Junezo-
in whichyou askedabout...
- Iwouldlike tothankyouforyour enquiryof
to May zo-, andampleasedto tellyou that
wewouldbeableto supplyyou with the...
- Wewerepleasedto learnfrom your letter of
to Decemberthatyou areimpressedwith our
selectionof ...
- Thankyoufor your letter,Nt t6gt, whichwe
receivedthismorning.
Confirmingthatyoucanhelp
Ietthe enquirerknownearthe startofyour
reply ifyou havethe product or canprovide the
servicehe or sheis asking about.It is irritating
to read along letter only to find that the
supplier cannot help.
- Wehaveawide seledionoJsweatersthat wiII
appealto the marketyou specified.
- Ourfactorywouldhavenoproblemin
producingthe 6,ooounitsyou askedforin
your enqutry.
- Wecansupplyftom stockand wiII haveno
troubleinmeetingyour deliverydate.
- I ampleasedto saythat wewiII beableto
supplythe transportfacilities you require.
- Wecanofer door-to-doordeliveryservices.
'Selling'yourproduct
Encourageor persuadeyour prospective
customerto dobusinesswith you.A simple
answerthat you havethe goodsin stockis not
enough.Yourcustomermight havemadeten
other enquiries,soremember it is not only in
saleslettersthat you needto persuade.
Mention oneor two selling points of your
product,including any guarantees,special
offers.anddiscounts.
- IAlhenyou havehad the opportunity to see
thesamplesforyourself,wefeel sureyouwill
agreethat they areoJthe highestqudlity;
andto seea wideselectiononline,go to
www.bettaware.co.uk.
- Onceyou haveseentheDelta8oo in
operationweknowyouwill beimpressedby
itstrouble-freeperformance.
- Wecanassureyou that theAlpha2ooo isone
of the mostoutstandingmachinesonthe
market,andour confidencein it issupported
byourfiv e-yearguarantee.
5uggesting alternatives
Ifyou do not havewhat the enquirer hasasked
for,but havean alternative,offer that. But do
not criticize the product he or sheoriginally
askedfor.
- ...andwhilethisenginehasaIIthequalitiesoJ
the modelyou askedfor,the 'Powerdrive'has
the addedadvantageoffewer movingparts,
soreducingmaintenancecosts.Italsosaves
onoilasit ...
- Themodelhasnowbeenimproved.Itssteel
casinghasbeenreplacedbystrongplastic,
whichmakesthemachinemuchlighterand
easiertohandle.
- Ofcourse,Ieatherisan excellentupholstery
material,butescalatingcostshavepersuaded
manyof our customerstolookforan
alternative whtchismorecompetitivein
price.TaretonPlasticshaveproduceda high-
qualitysubstitute,'Letherine',whichhasthe
texture,strength,and appearanceofleather,
but at lessthan a quarterof thecost.Wefeel
confidentthat thesamplesenclosed wiII
convtnceyou...
4
+8

Referringthecustomerto
anotherplace
Youmay not be ableto handlethe orderor
answertheenquiry.If this isthe case,tell the
enquirerand,if possible,referthem to another
companywhich canhelpthem.
- I regretto saythat wenolongerproducethe
typeof stapleryou referto asthereisno
longersutficientdemandfor it.I am sorrywe
cannothelpyou.
- Thebookyou mentionisnotpublishedby
us,but byGreenhill EducationLtd.Their
addressis...
- Weno longermanufacturepure cotton shirts
astheir retailpricestendonlyto attractthe
upperendof themarket.AIIourgarmentsare
nowpolycotton,which isstronger,needslittle
ironing,andallowsvariationsinpattern,
whichyou canseeon ourwebsiteat
www.elegance.co.uk.However,ifyou areonly
interestedinpurecottongarments,weadvise
you to contactLouisFashionsLtdat ...
Evenif you canhandle the enquiryyou may
still haveto referthe enquirer elsewhere.
- WemanuJacturetheprodud you require,but
weonly deaI with wholesalers,not retailers.
Therefore,Isuggestyoucontactour agent,R.
L.DeprdSA,rueMontpellier 28,Paris,...
- Ouragentsinltaly areIntalS.p.A,ViaAlberto
Poerio79,Rome,Email:<sales@intal.co.it>.
Theycarrythefull rangeof ourproducts.
Sendingcatalogues.pricelists,
prosPectuses,andsamples
Remembertoenclosecurrentcataloguesand
pricelistswithyour reply.If you areattaching
catalogues,pricelists,etc.to an emailmessage,
makesureyou compressthem to saveyour
recipient'stime when they download the
material.If pricesaresubjectto change,let
your customerknow.It isbadpolicysuddenly
to sendalettertelling a customerthat prices
havebeenincreasedby ten percentafteryou
havequoted afirm price.And ifyou are
sendingsamplesuworn sEeARATEcovEn,let
your customerknow when they arelikely
to arrive.
- Pleasefi.ndenclosedour currentcatalogue
andpricelistquotingcrr pricesKobe.The
unitsyou referredtoinyour letterare
Jeaturedonpp.3t-34 undercatalogue
numbersy32-y37.Whenorderingcouldyou
pleasequotethesenumbers?Thesamplesyou
askedforwillfollow underseparatecover.
- Weencloseour bookleton theOmegazooo
andaresureyou wiIIagreethat it isoneof the
finest machinesof itskind.It canbeadapted
toyour specifications(seethesection
'Structuralchanges'onpagetz).
- Weencloseoursummercatalogue,which
unfortunatelyisonlypublishedin English.
However,wehaveincludeda German
translationfortherelevantpages(4t-4j and
hopethis will provehelpful.
- ...andwehaveenclosedourpricelist,but
shouldpoint out thatpricesaresubjectto
changeasthe marketforrawmaterialsis
veryunstableatpresent.
Arran ging demonstrations anelvisits
Certainproducts,e.g.heavyequipment,
machinery and computer installations,may
needdemonstrating.In thesecasesthe
supplierwill eithersendarepresentativeor
adviser,or suggestthat the customervisits
their showroom.
- Wehaveenclosedfulldetailsof theLaren
welder,but a demonstrationwouldbe
necessaryto showyou itsfuII capabilities.We
thereforesuggestthatyouvisit ourcentrein
Birmingham,wheretheequipmentissetup,
sothatyou canseethe machinein action-
- Astheenclosedbookletcannotreallyshow
theeficienryoJthissystem,wewouldbe
happyto arrangefor our representativeto
visityou andgivea demonstration.Ifyou are
interestedin a visit,pleasefiII in theenclosed
pre-paidcardandreturnit to us.
- TheenclosedcataloguewiIIgiveyou an idea
of thetypeof soundequipmentweproduce,
but maywesuggestthatyou alsovisitour
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agent'sshowroomsin Rotterdamwhereyou
canseea widerangeof units?Theaddressis...
- Beforeinstallingtheequipment,wewould
Iiketo sendMrTony Grifith,our Chief
Engineer,to lookoveryourplant andprepare
a reporton theinstallation,takingyour
particularrequirementsinto account.We
suggestyou contactusto arrangea
convenientdate.
Closing
Alwaysthank the customerfor contacting you.
Ifyou havenot donesoat the beginningofthe
letteror email,you candosoatthe end.You
shouldalsoencouragefurther enquiries.
- Onceagainwewouldliketo thankyoufor
writing.Wewouldwelcomeanyfurther
questionsyou might have.
- Pleasecontactusagain ifyou haveany
questions,usingtheabovetelephonenumber
or emailaddress.
- I am sorrywedonot havethemodelyou
askedfor,but canassureyou that the
alternativeI havesuggestedwiII meetyour
requirements.PIeaseremember that weofrer
afuII three-yearguarantee.
- Wehopeto hearfromyou againsoon,and
co.nassureyou thatyour orderwiII bedealt
withpromptly.
GIVING O-UOTATIONS
In your reply to an enquiry you may want to
giveyour prospectivecustomera o_uorATroN.
Belowis aguideto the subjectsyou should
cover.
Prices
Mhenamanufacturer,wholesaler,or retailer
quotesa price,they may or may not include
othercostssuchastransport,insurance,and
pURcHASErax (e.g.var(Varur Aooro Tax)
in the UK).Priceswhich includetheseextra
costsareknown ascRoss pRIcEs;thosewhich
excludethem areknoum asNETpRIcEs.
- Thenetpriceof thisarticleisf,too.oo,to
whichvtr mustbeaddedat t7.5%,makinga
grossprice of tn7.5o.
- Wecanquoteyou agrossprice,inclusiveof
deliverycharges,offi47.5operrco items.
ThesegoodsareexemptfromvAr.
A quotation is not necessarilylegally binding,
i.e.the companydoesnot haveto sellyouthe
goodsatthe pricequotedin the replyto an
enquiry.However,when pricesareunstable,
the supplier will sayin their quotation that
their pricesaresubjedto change.If the
companymakesafirm ofrer,ilmeansthey will
holdthe goodsfor acertaintime until you
order,e.g.fi rm 4 days.Again,this isnot Iegally
binding,but suppliersgenerallykeepto firm
offersto protecttheir reputation.
- Thepricesquotedaboveareprovisional,since
wemay becompelledby the increasingcostof
rawmaterialsto raisethem.IwiII informyou
immediately if thishappens.
- Wecanofferyou apriceof t 5,zoo.ooper
engine,firm zt days,after which theprice wiII
besubjectto an increaseof5%.
Wheneverpossibleyoushouldquotepricesin
your customer'scurrency,allowing for
exchangefluctuations.
- ThepriceoJthismodelisYz,8oo,oooat
today'srateof exchange.
- Wecanquoteyouapriceof €3ooperrco
units,though I regretthat, becauseof
Jluctuatingexchangerates,wecanonlyhold
thispricefor four weeksfrom today'sdate.
- Thenetpriceof $5jo.ooper unit isextremely
competitive.
4
5o

Tnansportandinsuraneeeosts
Therearea number of abbreviationsthat
indicatewhich priceisbeingquotedto the
customer.Theseareestablishedby the
Isrr nrvarrorrrarCHnMsrn or Comannncn
(ICC)andarecalledIr.lcornnus.Theyare
revisedregularly,andadditionaltermsmay
beadded,e.g.the phrasecrr NaplesIncoterms
zooo landedmeansthat aconsignmentis
coveredunderanIncotermcrr (cost,
insurance,andfreight)setin the year2ooo,
up to the time it islandedin Naples.
Themain Incotermsarein four groups,
which arenamed after the flrst letter in the
term.
GroupC
Thesellercoversonlythe costslistedto getthe
goodsto anameddestination,e.g.freight and
import duties,butnot insurance.
GroupD
Thesellercarriesallthe costsandrisksto get
the goodsto anameddestination.
GroupE
Thebuyerpaysall costsoncethe goodshave
left the seller'spremises.
GroupF
Thesellerdeliversthe goodsto a carrierwho is
appointedbythe buyer.
Incotermsarequotedin correspondencein
the following way:t3o,ooo crnHongKong(i.e.
the priceincludesall deliverycoststo Hong
Kong,exceptfor insurance);$35,oooroa
Rotterdam(i.e.the priceincludesdeliverycosts
to when the goodsareon boardshipat
Rotterdam).Abbreviationsfor Incotermsmay
alsobewritten inlower case,e.g.cfrorfob.
Twoothertermswhich shouldbenoted,but
which areusedmainly in the UK,are:
- Cannracr yuo (c/ e),i.e.chargeswill be
paidby the sender,e.g.WewiIIsend
replacementsforthedamagedgoodsc/e.
- Cannracr FoRWARD(c/r),i.e.chargeswill
bepaidby the receiver,e.g.Asyou are
responsiblefor thedamage,wewiIIsend
replacementsc/r.
Diseounts
Manufacturersandwholesalerssometimes
allow adiscount(i.e.adeduction)onthe net
or grossprice.Theseareofdifferent kinds,e.g.
atradediscountto sellersin similartrades;a
quantity discountfor ordersoveracertain
amount;a cashdiscountif paymentis made
within acertaintime;aLoyArry DrscouNr
when companieshavealong association.
- Weallowaj% cashdiscountforpayment
withinonemonth.
- Thenetpriceof this modelisftTo.oo,Iessrc%
discountforquantitiesupto rco andry%
discountforquantiti.esover1oo.
- Wedonot normallygivediscountstoprivate
customers,but becauseofyour long
associationwithourcompanywecanofrer
you tz%offthe retailprice.
- Thepricesquotedarecrn Yokohama,butare
subjectto a zo%tradediscountofrnetprice.
Wecanofferafurther to%discountoff net
pricesforordersof morethan z,ooounits.
Mef hods of p.rvrnent
When quotingterms,you may require,or
suggest,anyof severalmethodsof payment,
e.g,Ietterof creditor bill of exchange.
>Formoreonthissubject,seepages78-79,
and47-157.
- Onreceiptof a chequefor theamountquoted,
wewill sendthearticleby registeredmail.
- Paymentforinitial ordersshouldbemadeby
sightdraJt,payableat DenNorske
Creditbank,Kirkegatenn, OsIot,cashagainst
documents.
- Wearewilling to consideropenaccount
facilitiesifyou canprovidethenecessary
bankreference.
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51

INCOTERM ABBREVIATION EXPLANATION
5
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GroupC
CostandFReight
Cost,Insurance,
and Freight
CarriagePaidTo
4 Carriageand
InsurancePaid
GroupD
Deliveredat Frontier
DeliveredEx-Ship
DeliveredEx-O_uay
DeliveredDuty Paid
DeliveredDuty Unpaid
GroupE
EX-Works
GroupF
FreeCArrier
FreeAlongsideShip
FreeOnBoard
CFR
CIF
CPT
CIP
uAr
DES
DEO
DDP
DDU
EXW
Theselierpaysall delivery coststo anamed
destination,exceptfor insurance.
Thesameascrn, excepttheselleralsopays
the costof insurance.
Thesellerpaysall delivery coststo a named
destination.Thebuyer paysany additional
costsafterthe goodshavebeendeliveredtoa
nominatedcarrier.
Thesellerpaystransportandinsurancecosts
to a named destination,but not import duty.
Thesellerpaysall delivery coststo the buyer's
frontier,but not import duty.
Thesellerpaysall delivery costson boardship,
but doesnot clearthe goodsfor import atthe
namedport of destination.
Thesellerpaysall delivery coststo aport
namedby the buyer,but doesnot clearthe
goodsfor import at the named port.
Thesellerpaysall delivery costs,including
import duty,to anamed destination in the
importing country.
ThesameasDDp,exceptthat the sellerdoesnot
pay import duty.
Thebuyer paysall delivery costsoncethe goods
haveleft the seller'sfactory or warehouse.
FCA
FAS
Thesellerpaysall delivery coststo the buyer's
carrier,and clearsthe goodsfor export.
Thesellerpaysall delivery coststo the port.The
buyerpaysfor loadingthe goodsonto the ship
andall othercosts.
Thesellerpaysall delivery coststo when the
goodsareonboardshipat anamedport.The
buyer paysall other costs.
t2

Quotingdeliverydate
If the enquiryspeciflesadeliverydate,
confirmthat it canbemet,or if not,suggestan
alternative date.Donot make apromisethat
you cannot keepasit will giveyou abad
reputation.If a deliverytime is aconditionof
ordering,the customercouldrejectthe goods
or sueyou ifyou breakthe contract.
- ...andwearepleasedto saythat wecan
deliverbyNovemberL soyou will havestock
for theChristmassalesperiod.
- Asthereareregularsailingsfrom Liverpoolto
NewYork,wearesurethat theconsignment
will reachyou weIIwithin thetimeyou
specified.
- Wehavethematerialsin stockandwiIIship
them immediatelywereceiveyour order.
- Asthereisa heavydemandforfansat this
timeofyear,pleaseallowatleastsixweeksfor
delivery.
- Wewouldnot beableto deliverwithin two
weeksof receiptof order,aswewouldneed
time topreparethematerials.However,we
couldguaranteedeliverywithinfour weeks.
Fixedtermsandnegotiableterms
Youcanquotetermsin two ways:state
your priceanddiscountswith no roomfor
negotiation,or suggestthe customercould
discussthem.In the two examplesbelow,the
writers makefirm quotes,indicatingthat
methodsof paymentanddiscountsarefixed.
- Alllistpricesarequotedrot Southampton
andaresubjectto a z5%tradediscountwith
paymentbyletterof credit.
- Thepricesquotedarenxw,butwe can
arrangefreightand insurance(crcHong
Kong) if required.However,unlessotherwise
stated,paymentshouldbemadebyjo-day
biIIof exchange,documentsagainst
acceptance.
In the nexttwo examples,the useof the
adverbsnormallyandusuallysoftenthetone
ofthe statementsto indicatethat,although
the companypreferscertainterms,thesecan
bediscussed.In the f,nal examplethe supplier
softensthe tonefurther by askingthe
customerto conflrmwhether or not the
arrangementis satisfactory.
- WeusuallyofferanB% tradediscounton
r os prices,andwouldpreferpaymentby
irrevocableletterof credit.
- Normallyweallowa4% tradediscount
offnetpriceswithpaymentona documents
againstpaymentbasis.Pleaseletusknowif
thisarrangementissatisfactory.
Givinganestimate
Companieswhich areaskedto givean
estimatefor aparticularjob mayinclude
the estimatein tabulatedform in aletter
>seepage59.Moreoften,however,they will
sendtheir offcial estimateform with a
nnrrarin n la++av
- Asyou know,our representativehasvisited
yourfactory to discussyourproposed
extension,andI nowhavepleasurein
enclosingouroficial estimate.
- Theenclosedestimatecoverslabourand
partsandcarriesa six-monthguaranteeon
allworkcomaleted.
F
o
g
o
!,
5
CL
lt
g
o
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o
=
4
53

I
tr
o
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o
3
q
It
g
a!
I
o
A
o
ea
4
5
o
g
g
CL
E
G
x|ll
Reply to a requert
for a catalogue
and price list
' Seepage4zfor
therequest.
Replyto a request
for a prorpectur
. Seepage4z for
the request.
DearMrRaval
Thank you for your enquiry of 31January.Weencloseour SpringCatalogue
and current pricelist quoting CIFpricesLeHavre.
Wewould like to draw your attention to the trade and quantity discounts
we areoffering in our SpecialPurchasessectionon pp.19-26,which may be
ofparticular interest to you.
Pleasecontactusif we canbeof anyfurtherhelp.
Yourssincerely
':
TimHoad
DearMsIwanami
Pleasefind enclosedour prospectuscoveringcoursesfrom Julyto
December.Detailsof feesand accommodationin Londonfor that period are
coveredin the booklet'Living in London'which accompaniesthe
prospectus.
At presentwe still haveplacesavailablefor studentstaking the Englishfor
BusinessExecutivescoursebeginning in July,but would askyou to book as
soonaspossiblesothat we canreseryeaplacefor you and arrange
accommodationwith an Englishfamily.
Wearesureyou will enjoyyour stayhereand lookforward to seeingyou.
Yourssincerely
I,
M.Preston(Ms)
DearMrWymer
Thankyou very much for your enquiry.I enclosea cataloguegiving detailed
information about our heavy goodsvehicletyres,including the impressive
resultswe haveachievedin rigorousfactory andtrack tests.Pleasenote
especiallythe items on safetyand fuel economy-the main selling points of
this product.
With regardto trade discounts,we canoffer 25%offlistprices to bonaflde
retailersandwholesalers,with quantity discountsfor ordersoverf,20,000.00.
Wewould bepleasedto supply anyfurther information you require.
Yourssincerely
. .,r1
DarrenTreadwell
Reply to.r requert
for general
infornration
' Seepage4zfor
therequest.
54

What referencesdoes
HerrGerlachquote?
Whyarethe cos
beingsoldcheaply?
Doesheofferany
discountsonthe
advertisedgoods?
What othermaterial
hashesentto Disc
5.A.?
Cataloguesand
samPles
M.Gdrardwroteto R.G.
Electronicsto enquire
aboutcos>seepage43.
Heimpliedthathisstore
wasalargeone,thathe
wasonlyinterestedin
high-qualityproducts,
andthathemightplace
asubstantiaIorder.This
isthereply.
CanDiscS.A.order
whenevertheywant
to?
m.ffi.ElectronicsAG flHl?,1",
Telefon(+49)zzt3z 4z98
Telefax(+49)zzt 836t z5
ilil:,?::f:"'rge'co
de
YourRef:PG/AL
14Mav20-
l1.Geraro
Manager
DiscS.A.
251ruedesRaimonidres
F-86000PoitiersC6dex
uear ]vI.ueraro
Thankyou for your enquiry of 12May in which you askedaboutthe CDs
we advertisedinthis month's edition of 'Lectron'.
I canconfirm that they areof high quality, and suitablefor domestic
recording.Theyare'Kolby'products,abrandnameyouwill certainly
recognize,andthe reasontheir pricesaresocompetitive isthat they are
part of aconsignmentof bankrupt stockthatwas offeredtous.
Becauseof theirlowprice, andthe smallprofit margin,we will not be
offering anytrade discountson this consignment.But we sellawide range
of electronicand computer productsand haveenclosedapricelist giving
you detailsoftrade, quantity, and cashdiscounts.
Wehavesent,by separatepost,samplesof the advertisedCDsand other
brandswe stock,andwould urgeyouto placeanorderassoonaspossibleas
there hasbeenahugeresponseto our advertisement.Thank you for your
interest.
Yourssincerely
R. Qer|ar-h,
(Herr)R.Gerlach
SalesDirector
Enc.price-list
-
o
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=
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3
t
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6
4
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=6
55

I
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o
a!
o
t
I
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E
a!
,o
A.
o
o2
'Selling'the
product
Thisisareplyto the
buyingagentwho
emailedGlaston
Potteries>seepage44
onbehalfofher
principalsinCanada.
Astheagentmade
noreferenceto any
particularlineof
chinawareshewas
interestedin,anddid
notmentionterms,
thisreplytakesthe
formof asalesletter.
HowdoesMrMerton
drawattentionto his
company'smany
products?
How doesheimply
that hiscompanyhas
an international
reputation?
3 Whattermsfor
deliverydoGlaston
Potteriesquote?
4 Howdoeshe
encouragefurther
enquiries?
RegrsteredNo 716481
vAr ReBrsteredNo r3353.i3rcB
Whichwordsinthe
letterhaveasimilar
meaningtothe
following?
r range
b select
c timewhenorder
received
=- GLASTON
Cay':a1ir.u,rrr *o'ol.e V POTTE RlEi rrp
Telephone+44 (o)r282.i.5rll
Facsimile+44 io jtz8,-63rE;
EmailI mettor@g'astc:.co rr<
wWVv Hla5iCn CC'-'-
10June20-
MsL.Lowe
Sanders& LoweLtd
PlanterHouse
PrincesStreet
LondonECl7DO_
DearMsLowe
Wewere pleasedto receiveyour enquiry today,and areenclosingthe
catalogueand pricelist you askedfor.
Youwill seethat we canoffer awide selectionof dinner andtea services
ranging from the rugged'Greystone'earthenwarebreakfastsetsto the
delicate'Ming'bone china dinner service.Youcanchoosefrom morethan
fifty designs,which include the eleganceof 'Wedgwood',the delicate
pattem of 'Willow', andthe richnessof 'Brownstone'glaze.
Wewould very much like to addyour clientsto our worldwide list of
customers,and couldpromisethem an excellentproduct with afust-class
service.Wewould begladto acceptordersfor anynumber of pieces,and can
mix setsif required.
Youwill seethat ow pricesarequoted CIFto EasternCanadianseaboard
ports andwe areoffering a special10%discountoff all net prices,with
deliverywithin three weeksfrom receiptof order.
If there is anyfurther information you need,pleasecontactus,or goto our
website at the addressabove.Onceagainthank you for your enquiry.
Yourssincerely
J.Muton
J.Merton(Mr)
SalesManager
Enc.
4
o
Eo
!c
Eo
xtll
Er
3
3
=
c)|
56

Offeringan
alternative
Awholesalerisout of
stockofthe adapters
that hercustomerhas
askedfor,sosheoffersa
substitute.However,the
new producthasnotyet
beentestedandshe
knowsnothingaboutits
performanceor safety.
F
o
E
o
!,
=
CL
lt
tr
o
!,
o
5
4
DearSrMonteiro
Thankyouforyouremail.I regretto saythatwe areoutof stockof K153andK'l57units,and
co notexpectanotherdeliveryuntillaterthismonth.
'lVearecurrentlytestinga consignmentfromTaiwan,butthesedo nothavea Belgian
StandardsInstitutestampof approvalandwewouldliketo completeourtestsbeforeputting
:hemonthemarket.Wewillcontactyouagainassoonasourtestingiscompleted,orwhen
:heunitsyourequestedareavailable,whicheverdateistheearlier.
DianeCharcot(Mme)
r,t3lager
I iSCharcotS.A.R.L.
: =:e du20ao0t79,8-4000,Lidge
: : i+32)49-240886
-: ecopie:(+32)49-16592
=-all: d.charcot@dscharcot.co.be
tn
x
!,
3
g
o
o
3
9.
i What isMme
Charcot'sproblem?
2 Howdoessheshow 3 lsMme Charcot
hercustomerthatshe relyingonher
isconcernedabout customertocontact
safety? heragain?
rO
c
a
9.
a
PedroMonteiro
Enquiry(K153,K157units)
57

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