correspondence_HB.pdf

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
t2
13
L4
15
lntroduction pdqe5
Letters,faxes,and
emails 7
Contentandstyle 2s
Enquiries 38
Replies
andquotations 47
Orders 6r
Payment'
76
Complaints
andadjustments gs
Credit n7
Banking 87
Agentsandagencies 168
Transportation
hndshipping 18s
Insurance 221
Miscellaneous
correspondence 241
Memosandreports 2so
Personnelappointments 266
Answer
key
Glossary
Index
z8z
288
297
n
o
=
f+
o
5
t+
(n

Lililumeryomtdcnce,
whether it is by letter, fax, or
Lrurumtrntr|ls
abyaspect of the world of commerce
umniill
hmmmess-
It reflectson the competenceand
;gtchrotuumalism
of the personwho haswritten
druuffi
' " - companyhe or sheworks for. Clear,
,rffiffiuurecorrespondence
is an important part
M'muummmog
an effcient business,andcan
pmumwufte
gmdrelations. Unclearor confusing
ummpoumdence
cancausemany problems,
iluoudl
rmrrnll
llpedlo misunderstandings,delays,
iluutr
humfurcss,
and poorrelationsbetween
uudlmilffiaals,
departments,and companies..
lUMe,writing skills- whaf iswritten and
tumm
ff mqpressed- shouldbeasmuch apart
rMia
hrumlmess
educationasaccountancyor
ilMro[lnmm[xcs.
'ffi,rw
@ord Handbookof Commercial
'rlmrw4mldezceis intended for peoplewho
lmdifrmwrite commercialcorrespondence
in
ltnrm$rllmh
aspart of their work, andfor students
unrhrouwless
and commercewho planto make a
itmmmrmthebusiness
world.It aimsto provide
| .*dfjjiirnl
hslp inwriting commercial
itmmspondence
of all kinds,including letters,
iem@s,
ffi...........![ails,
reports, memos, social
fl@mqpordence,
and application letters and
cwm,
Iffi
eglains how to write clearly and
tffimmely,and demonstrateshowit is possible
tltu"
hm
pftite without seemingtimid, directyet
mmif
murde-
conciserather than abrupt,andfirm
futr'mumlfi
inflexible.
Ltrsms
of earlier editions of this bookwill
mthrse
$,at,while it retainsthe coreelements
m"prewfimrs
editions,this third edition hasbeen
,wsmnsed
andupdatedto reflectchangesand
roumenolnrnents
in commercialcorrespondence,
mpmmhcular
the wider useof email in the
mmrmmessworld.
]trhe
irookdealswith the structure,
Mwtrlhtion, content,and styleof all kinds of
mmespondence.Itcoversvarioustypes of
fimmmctioninduding enquiries,quotations,
nn'rdrftryi'$,
paJrynents,
credit,complaints,and
&drurorsfurxents,
and providesbackground
rdfnumilEtion
and examplesof commercial
immesErondence
from the main types of
umrmmmercial
organization,for examplebanks,
fllsru]m-d$rce
companies,agencies,
and
companiesinvolvedin transportation,
including shipping.
Forthe purposesofthis book,we have
chosen
the 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
whateveryouchoose
to 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 objectives
to aimforwhen
you arewriting, with, where appropriate,
Iistsof alternativephrases,
sentences,
or
paragraphswhich you cansubstitute in
different situations.
- Examplecorrespondence
andtransactions,
togetherwith comprehension
questions
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 usefulbusiness
and
commercialvocabularyto help you
consolidateandbuild your knowledge.
- A revisedandextendedindexto helpyou
access
informationthroughoutthe book
quickly and easily.
TheaccompanyingWorkbookprovides
supplementary practicematerial.
5
r+
-
o
o-
c
n
r+
IO
o
5

tr
o
3
!
I
E
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
Correspondence
hasbeendesignedto 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.

l-
o
F+
F+
o
-
rn
t
-+r
q,
x
o
tn
t
9.|
5
o-
o
5
J
gJ
I.
-
UT
I
iii
Ietters
8 lavour t
8 Sender's
address
8 Date
8 lnside
address
ro Attentionline
1o Salutation
1r Bodyofthe letter
1r Complimentary
close
11 Signature
12 LAYOUT 2
12 Letterhead
12 References
14 Perpro
14 Jobtitle
14 Enclosures
14 LAYour3
14 Private
andconfidential
14 Subject
title
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 Header
information
21 Message
text
21 5ignatu
re
22 STYLE
22 Emailabbreviations
23
24
25
z6
27
Pointsto remembet
z8 Letters
z8 Faxes
z8 Emails

JI
l!
E
o
!
c
G
6
o
x
e
G
o
I
Letters
TAYOUT1>
Theletter oppositeisfrom aprivate individual
in Denmarkto acompanyinthe UK.It shows
the basicfeaturesof a simplebusiness
letter.
Sender's
address
In correspondence
that doesnot havea
rErrERHEAD,the
sender's
address
isplaced
in
the top right-handcornerofthe page.It is also
acceptable,butless
common,toplaceit inthe
top left-hand corner.Punctuation is rarely used
in addresses
thesedays.
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 correspondence
with 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.
z4thOctober
orz4October,and
to transpose
the dateandthe month,e.g.Odober
z4or
z4October.These
aremattersof personal
preference,but whatever you chooseyou
shouldbeconsistentthroughout your
correspondence.
Inside
address
TherwsrpnADDREss
iswrittenbelowthe
sender'saddressand on the left-hand sideof
the page.
Surname
known
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 addresses
areas
follows:
- Mr (pronounced
/rmrsta/)isthe usual
courtesytitle for aman.Theunabbreviated
form Mister shouldnot beused.
- Mrs (pronounced/rmrsrz/,no unabbreviated
form) isusedforamarriedwoman.
- Miss(pronounced/l
mrs/,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.
Messrs
P.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'demic
or
medicaltitles, e.g.Doctor(Dr),Profe
ssor(Prof.);
military title s,e.g.Captain(Capt.),
Major (Maj.),
Colonel
(CoI.),General
(Gen);andaristocratic
titles,e.g.
Sir,Dame,Lord,
Lady.Sirmeansthat
the addressee
is aknight, and is always
followedby afirst name,e.g.Sir
lohnBrown,
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.Bruce
HillEsq.,NorMr
BruceHIIEsq.
All thesecourtesytitles,exceptEsq.,
arealso
usedin salutations>seepage10.

!tffiaddrcss
Its
alEdrcss @ Compuvisionltd
WarwickHouse
WarwickStreet
Forest
HiIl
IondonSE23
lIF
.UK
line @ FortheattentionoftheSalesManager
lruirn @ DearSirorMadam
fffdthe letter @ Please
wouldyousendmedetailsofyourDVDvideosystems.
I amparticular$interested
in theOmega
range.
,Uclose
@ Yoursfaithfully
Itrrue @ B.Ka"a,eW
(Ms)B.Kaasen
o
@ 6May2o- I
I
1
5
:E
t
I

G
E
o
!
c
|!
u
o
x
,E
6
o
o
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
choose
to 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.TheSales
Manager,The
Finance
Diredor, in the inside address.
Departmentknown
Alternatively,you canaddressyour letter to a
particular department of the company,e.g.Ihe
SaIe
sDepartment,TheAccountsDepartment.
>seeletteron page43.
Company
known
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 addresses
in the UKis asfollows:
- Nameof houseor building
- Number of building and name of street,
road,avenue,etc.
- Name of torr'r-n
or 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('Deufs
chland')respectively.
Facoltddi Medicina
ViaGentile$z
t-7otoo Bari
Lehrschule
filr 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
postcode
may bewritten on a separate
line;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 Sirs
is usedto addressa company.(In
American Englishaletter to a companyusually
openswith Gentlemen.)
DearMadam is usedto address
awoman,
whether singleor married,who;e name you do
notknow.
DearSirorMadam (orDearSir/ Madaml is
usedto address
apersonwhen 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.Dear
Mr Smith,xor DearMr I.Smithor
DearMr lohn Smith.Business
associates
who
youknowwell canbeaddressed
usingjust
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
space
betweenparagraphs.
Complimentary
close
If the letterbeginsDearSir,Dear
Sirs,
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, Re
spe
ctfully
yours.
A commaafterthe complimentarycloseis
optional,i.e.Yours
faithfully, or Yours
faithfuny.
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.David
lenkins,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.
ID
o
-5
ii
x
o
-h
t
=
CL
o
3
t
=
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 Yours
faithtully
female-name not knornm Yoursfaithfully
when unsurewhetheryou
areaddressing
maleorfemale
Yoursfaithfully
thesetitles donot changewhether Yourssincerely
addressingamale or female
Madam
Sir/Madam

J4
G
E
o
T'
tr
a!
6
o
x
e
6
o
.9
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,rru
rrr 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
SPWholesalers
plc
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 addresses
of
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.
Registered
number
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
Rrrrnrrvcrsare
often
quotedto
indicate
what the letter refersto (Yourref.)and the cor-
respondence
to referto when replying (Ourref.).
References
may either appearin figures,e.g.
66t/t7,where 66t may ref.er
to 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$vision
Ltd WarwickHouse
WarwickStreet
Forest
Hill
London
sE23lJF
Telephone
+44(o)zo8566r86r
Facsimile
+44(o)zo8566r385
EmaiI staff@comvi
s.co.
uk
www.comvis.co.u
k
Your
ref. 6May 20-
@ Your
ref. DS/MR
Date llMay2O-
Ms B.Kaasen
Bredgade
51
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.Allen
lr.sc. N.lgnot R.Lichens
B.A
o
o
;i
x
o
!J
=
cl
o
3
!,
!,
o
tr
N
0
@
o
13

t!
E
o
ll
E
t!
6
o
x
e
6
o
.U
Note that the YourRef.
in the letter on
page13is a date,asMs Kaasendid not give
any referencein her original letter.
Perpro
Theabbreviation
p.p.sometimes
appears
in
signature
blocks.It
meansnzaeno,i.e.for
and
onbehalfof,andisusedbyadministrators
or
personal
assistants
whensigningletterson
behalfoftheirmanagers.
Jobtitle
Whensending
aletteroremailonbehalfof
yourcompany,
it isagoodideato includeyour
jobtitle in thesignature
block,
especially
if
yourrecipienthasnot dealtwith youbefore.
Enclosures
Ifthereareanydocuments
enclosed
with a
letter,althoughthesemaybementioned
in the
bodyoftheletter,it isalsocommontowrite
Enc.
orEncI.
belowthesignature
block.
If there
areanumberofdocuments,
thesecanbe
listed,
e.g.:
Enc.
B|IIoflading$ copies)
Insurance
certificate(tcopy)
Certificate
oforiginAropy)
B|IIofexchange
(tcopy)
LAYOUT
3 >
Thefinalletterin thissection
showssome
furtherfeatures
ofabusiness
letter.
Privateand confidential
Thisphrasemaybewritten attheheadof a
Ietterand,moreimportant,ontheenvelope,
in
cases
wheretheletterisintendedto beread
oniybytheaddressee.
There
aremanyvariations
ofthisphrase,
e.g.
Confide
ntial,Strictly
confi.dential,but
little
difference
in meaning.
5ubjee
t title
A suslrcr rrrr,r atthebeginning
ofaletter,
directlyafterthe salutation,providesafurther
reference,
saves
introducing
thesubject
in the
first paragraph,
immediatelydrawsattention
to thetopicoftheletter,andallowsthewriter
to referto it throughout.
It isnotnecessary
to beginthesubject
title
with Re.
(with regard to),e.g.
Re.
:Applicationfo r
thepostofwebdesigner.When
sending
email
messages
thismayevenbeconfusing
as.n.E
is
shortforreply>see
page48.
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
Envelopeaddresses
arewritten 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.
6ooGrand
Street
LONDON
wtN guz
UK
14

WarWick
House
Warwick
Street
Forest
Hill
London
sE231JF
Telephone
+44(o)zo8566r86r
Facsimile
+44(o)zo8566r385
Emailslaff@comvis.co.u
k
www.comvis.co.u
k
Your
ref.
Your
ref. DS/MR
Date 21September
20-
Ms B.Kaasen
Bredgade
51
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
tt
-
00lUld, JAJ4,W)ru
DonaldSampson
Sales
Manager
@ c.c.
MessrsPoole& Jackson
Ltd,Solicitors
Chairman John Franksoer
Directots S B Allen M-sc- N.lgnot R.LichensB.A
Comp*rvis{wm
Ltd
|D
o
I
s
x
o
u
cl
=
A
o
3
!,
!J
-
o
tr
rl,
l! Private
and
confidential
@ Subjecttitle
I
@ Copies
o
o
15

14
|!
E
o
tt
tr
t!
6
o
x
e
5
o
o
Faxes
INTRODUCTION
Theword/ax comesfromlfacsimile,
which
meansan exactcopyor reproduction.Iike
email,thewordfax canbeusedasanoun,
e.g.IsentaJaxor asaverb,e.g.We
willfax
you when wehavetheinJormation.
A fax message
isusefuiwhen 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.
correspondence
caneasilybeaccessed
by
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
LADTNG
givesrrrlr to goods(i.e.
youwould
own the goodsif you hadthe bill in your
possession),
andwould not bevalid if it were a
faxedcopy.
Faxes
havebeen'courttested',
andthey tend
to beaccepted
in legalcases,
alongwith letters,
asevidencein certainareasof international
trade.However,an emailcontainingsimilar
information might not beconsidered
valid
under certaincircumstances.
Difierent fax machinesoffer awide range
of facilities,including repeatdialling if the
receiver's
fax 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.Check
the manual of your fax
machine to find out what functions it can
perform.
It is alsopossible
to sendafax from a
computer.
Preparin
gfortransmission
Checkthat you havethe correctfax number.
Checkthat the paperonwhich your message
is
printed orwritten is suitable.If it istoo big,too
small,or in poorcondition,photocopythe
message
onpaperthat canbeaccepted
by 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 reaches
its i.ntended
recipientsafely.
Most companiesusetheir own
headedfax transmissionform,but you can
easilycreateonefor yourself,e.g.:
BRrrrsHcnvsrtt Ltd.
Glazier
House
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 Replacement
of 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
Nesson
House
NewellStreet
Birmingham
833EL
Telephone:
+44@lzt46 657r
Fax:+44(o)21
458592
Email:
pcrane@lynch.co.u
k
www.lynch.com
Adviceof damaged
consignment
This
faxisfromLynch
& Cqwhoreceived
a
damaged
coHsrcNMENT
andweretold
bytheir
supplier,
5atex
5.p.A.,
to
returnit >seepage
ro6.
F
o
5
f
x
|D
_9
!,
=
o
o
3
t,
=
I
tn
x
!l
3
!
.D
IF
x
17

J4
o
E
o
!
E
G
I
o
x
.E
5
o
3
x
.E
g
q
E
|!
x
IlI
frrponr to
lmportr/r cnqulry
Thisisafaxfrom
British
Crystal
to their
rc errs,5.A.lmporters,
inSaudiArabia
>see
correspondence
on
pagesrT4-176.
This
faxisquite
formalinstyleasthe
companies
have
just
started
theirbusiness
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@crysta
l.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
Block
D.5urulere
lndustrial
Road
Ogba.lkeja.Lagos
&&$Ewm&mrru
ffixpXm**ffi&Awx3
ffimxvnpffiryruW
Telephone(+44) t 4836o829/4/5
Facsimile
(44) t 4837
oot
Faxaccompanying
anorder
With thisfax,an
importerissending
anofficialorderand
specifications
for the
drillsherequires.
He
saysthatacoNFrRMED
LETTER
oF cneorr will
beopenedoncehehas
the supplier's
COMMERCIAL INVOICE.
Noticethat the fax is
copied
to hiscompany's
accountant,
andalsothe
chiefengineer.
o
o
I
ii
x
o
!,
=
r
o
3
ll
ltt
x
t
3
E.
o
f
x
c.c.KwameAdeole(Accountant)
Vidal Lamont(ChiefEngineer)
Pages2-4 ofthis fax arespecificationsfor the exploration drilling heads
that we discussed
onyour 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
r9

JI
G
E
o
!
tr
G
5
o
x
e
o
o
Emails
INTRODUCTION
Email(shortf.oreleetronic
mcil) is ameansof
sendingmessages
betweencomputers.
Tosendandreceiveemailyou needaccess
to
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
Therearenumerousadvantages
to 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 shortmessages
andfor
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
access
text 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 messages
canbesentresultsin
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 message
islike
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 correspondence
arestill the most suitable.
Forexample,personaland sensitive
correspondence
suchasmessages
of
congratulation, condolence,or complaint are
usually bestdoneby letter. Confirmation of
contracts,memos which areconfldential and
must besignedto acknowledgereceipt,and
any correspondence
which 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 addresses
Iooklike this:
dfranks@intchem.co.no
corneyg@kingsway.ac.uk
Thefirst part of the email address
isusuallythe
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 address
includesthe 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'for
Norway,'.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.In
additionto the basicdetails
shownin the sampie,it may include:
c.c.
Thisstandsfor carboncopies,
which means
muchthe sameasit doeson aletter
r.seepage14.
Hereyou insertthe email
addresses
of anyoneyouwant to sendcopies
ofthe message
to.
b.c.c.
Thisstandsfor blind carboncopies,
which,as
in aletter,you shoulduseif you donot want
the main recipientto know who hasreceived
copres>seePage
14.
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 messages
you sendandreceive
donot 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 essage
Fortheattentionof the
Sales
Manager.Ratherthan endingwith
Yoursfaithfully,
sheusesthe lessformal
I lookforwardto hearing
Jromyou.
,'rr-rt11i,
Thisislikethe signatureblockin aletter,
althoughit usuallyincludesmoredetails,e.g.
the sender's
companyor privateaddress,
and
telephoneandfax numbers.Youcanprogram
your emailsoftwareto addyour signature
automaticaliyto the endof outgoing
messages.
o
ID
ii
x
o
!,
I
cl
o
3
q,
=
I Header
information
',I Message
text
Subject:
f) DearSir/ Madam
Please
wouldyousendmedetails
of yourquadsoundsystems,
advertised
inthe
Apriledition
of 'SoundMonthly'?
I am particularly
interested
intheOmegarange.
I lookfonvardto hearingfromyou.
O Beatrix
Kaasen(Ms)
Bredgade
51
DK 1260
Copenhagen
K
Tel/ Fax:(+45)741583
Email:kaasenb@intertel.net,dk
r I Signature
block

14
|!
E
o
!
tr
t!
5
o
x
e
o
o
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,emailmessages
follow the style
andconventionsusedin lettersor faxes.For
example,youcanusesalutationssuchas
DearMr PintoorDearTom,and
complimentary closes
suchasYours
sincerely
or Bestwishes.
However,if you knowthe
recipient well, or if you areexchanging a
seriesof messages
with oneperson,you may
dispensewith the salutation and
complimentaryclose.
- Donot confusepersonalmessages
with
businessmessages.In
a 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 emailmessages
short andto the
point. Peopleoften receiveaIot of emails at
work,soconciseness
is 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 message
for mistakes
beforeyou sendit,just asyouwould check
a letter or afax message.
Errr.r
i| .rbbrcvr.rtiorrr
TLAs(three-letteracronyms)
In orderto keepemailmessages
short,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 close
ofbusiness
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
Fib Edil Yiew Lnsert Fgrmat
|D
o
f
x
G
!,
3
o.
o
3
!,
q*"iE elX
E
lll
x
g,
3
E
o
o
3
g.
Asking
foran
estimate
Hereisanexampleof
anemailaskingforan
EsrtMATE
to refita
store.There
arethree
attachments.
Notice
that the email isquite
short.lt isacceptable,
ashere,
to omit the
salutation
andthe
complimentary
close
whenthe sender
and
recipient
havebeenin
touchwith eachother
previously.
ro... I
-I
Planof oremises list Architect'sdrawinos
r,Vith
reference
to ourphoneconversation
thismorning,
Iwouldlikeoneof your
representatives
to visitourstoreat 443HaltonRoad,London,
SE43TN,to giveanestimate
fora complete
refit.Please
couldyoucontact
meto arrange
an appointment?
As I mentioned
onthephone,it isessential
thatworkiscompleted
before
theendof
February20-, andthiswouldbestatedinthe contract.
Iattachtheplansandspecifications.
JeanLandmpn
(Ms)
Assistant
to K.Bellon,
Managing
Director
Superbuys
Ltd,Superbuy
House
Wolverton
Road,LondonSW167DN
Tel.:020 83271651
Fax:020 8327 1935
j.landman@superbuys.com
Actions
PeterLane
Refitof HaltonRoadstore
2t

L
t!
E
IU
T'
tr
t!
o
x
o
o
.E
E
o
-g
ll
E
G
x
llt
tulakf,ng
arrangements
for
anestimate
PeterLanereplies
to
JeanLandman,
copying
the message
to the
surveyor,John
Pelham.
Noticethat this message
fulf lsthe requirements
for correspondence
dealing
with anenquiry,
i.e.the replyissentas
soonaspossible
and
covers
the points
mentioned
inthe
enquiry.The
styleis
quiteinformalbut still
politeandbusinesslike.
ThelettersRE:
appear
beforethe subjecttitle
inthe header
information.
This
indicates
that PeterLane
hasselected
the'reply'
option.The
original
message
appears
below
hisreply.
DearMs Landman
Oursurveyor,
JohnPelham,
is available
to inspect
the premises
anddiscussyourexact
requirements.
CouldyoupleasecontactJohnonjpelham@wemshop.com,
or on hismobile
(7129289541),to arrangea convenient
timefor himto visitthe store?
Fromyourattached
specifications,
I estimate
theworkcouldbe completed
withinthetime
yougive,andwe wouldbewillingto signa contract
to thiseffect.
PeterLane
Director,
WembleyShopfittersLtd
WycombeRoad,Wembley,
Middlesex
HAg6DA
Teleohone:
02089032323
Fax:020 89032349
Email:plane@wemshop.com
- Original
message
-
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.i
ylrLri.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,VOftlCl
ltt.:r,t:.atlrld
lrt til,.j (l{.}l
il/trr-'L
I erltacfr llrerpllrrrs :rnr.ispecificaLronl;
Je.an Lail(ii'ir:1i
i (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.
Howlonghasthecompany
beenin business?
> Thecompany
hastradedfor24yearsunderitscurrent
name.
Howmanyshowrooms
doesit have?
> lt hasa chainof 30showrooms
throughout
thecountry.
Whatis itsturnovereveryyear?
> ltsregistered
turnover
thisyearwas$410million.
Willitsproducts
compete
withmine?
> ltspecializes
inforeign
cars- yourswillbe unique
toyourcountry.
Howisitregarded
inJapan?
> lt hasanexcellent
reputation.
I hooethisinformation
isuseful.
KyokoMamura(Ms)
Assistantto Tradelnformation
Officer
Sakuragi
Bldg,Minami
Aoyama,
Minato-ku,
Tokyo109
Tel:(+61;3 45076851
Fax:(+31;3 45078890
Email:mamurak@tcha.com.jp
llll:lii
Asking
for
informatIon
A company
hasemailed
theirlocalcHAMBER
oF
coM MERcE
to askfor
someinformationabout
their prospective
DrsrRrBUToRs,Sato
Inc.
Inthis reply,the
answers
givenbythechamberof
commerce
havebeen
inserted
at the relevant
pointsinthe original
message.They
are
preceded
bythe'>'
symbol.
o
o
f
x
o
-6
ql
=
cl
ID
3
ll
ltt
x
q,
3
E.
o
o
3
E.
25

L
|!
E
o
!t
tr
,!
o
x
e
o
c,
.E
E
o
g
CL
E
G
x
ut
ril'ltg{:11
lijrl
i*:lil'l Ol' g;O+C-i
S
ijr i'cL{,tFtf'qJbqaU
Mr CliffofHomemakers
isafurniture
manufacturer
and
supplies
Mr Hughes's
shopwith awide range
of goods.
Inthis
example,
Mr Hughes
wantstwo newproducts
ON APPROVAT.
WhydoesMr Hughes
want the goodson
approval?
What doesMr
Hughes
think might
berequired
to get
goodson approval?
Actions Hetp
OrderNo81463
DearMrCliff
A lotof customers
havebeenaskingaboutyourbookcase
andcoffeetableassembly
kits
(abovecat.nos).Wewouldliketo testthe marketandhave6 setsof eachkiton approval
beforeplacinga firmorder.Icansupplytradereferences
if necessary.
I attacha provisional
order(No.81463)inanticipation
of youragreement.
Thereis nohurry,
soyoucansendthesewithyournextdelivery
to Swansea.
Manythanks
RobertHughes
R.Hughes& SonLtd
Tel:0179258441
Fax:01792
59472
Email:
r.hughes@huson.com
What sortof order ,r lsthisan urgent
hasbeensent,and request?
how hasit beensent?
Cat.NosKT3andKT14onapproval
z6

*--ltrlx
Reply
to request
forgoods
on
approval
o
o
ii
x
o
!J
f
EI
o
3
!l
:rrseno;n#-lX+@iA 0 m e i loptiars Q.
-l ro -QlB r Ull======
Fite Lnsert Fgrmat fools Actions Help
DearMr Hughes
Thankyouforyourenquiry
aboutourassembly
kits.We'dbepleased
to sendyou6 of each
onapproval.
Theyshouldbewithyoubynoonon Monday.
There's
noneedto supplyreferences.
Theprovisional
order(81463)yousentissufficient,
butpleasereturnanyunsoldkitsintwo months.
Letusknowif we canbeof anyfurtherhelp.
Richard
Cliff
Director,
Homemakers
Ltd
54-59Riverside.
CardiffCF11JW
Directline:+44(0)2920 49723
Fax'.+44 (0)2920 49937
Email: rcliff@homemakers.com
m
x
0,
3
g
o
o
:t
c.
1 DoesMrCliffagree
to sendthe goodson
approval?
2 Whatsortof
references
are
required?
3 Whatshould
Mr
Hughes
dowithany
unsold
kits?
4 What phrase
does
Mr Cliffuseto offer
morehelo?
rO
lD
o
a
27

J4
t!
E
o
t
tr
t!
a)
x
e
o
o
Points
to remember
Letters
Many ofthesepointsapplyto faxesandemails
aswell.
1 Thelayoutandpresentationofyour letter
areimportant asthey givethe recipientthe
flrst impressionofyour company's
efficiency.
2 Writeboth the sender's
andthe recipient's
address
in asmuchdetaiiaspossible
andin
the correctorder.
3 Makesureyouusethe recipient's
correct
title in the address
andsalutation.If in doubt
asto whetherawoman issingleor married,
useMs.
4 Donot write the month of the datein
f.gures.
5 Choose
the correctsalutationand
complimentaryclose:
DearSir/ Madam with Yoursfaithfully
DearMr / MsSmith with Yours
sincerely
6 Makesureyourreferences
arecorrect.
7 Makesureyour signatureblocktellsyour
readerwhat heor sheneedsto know about
you.
Faxes
1 Faxis an opensystem,soit shouldnot be
usedfor confldentialcorrespondence.
2 Write clearlywhensendinghandwritten
messages,
3 Faxes
arecopies,
andcannotbeusedwhen
originaldocumentsarerequired.
4 Prepare
yourtransmissioncarefullybefore
you sendit.
5 In general,
the languageof faxesismuchlike
that of letters,althoughfaxescanbebriefer
andmoredirect,likeemailmessages.
Emails
1 Emailisvery fast and effective,but there are
areaswhereit ispreferable
to useletters,e.g.
personal,
confldential,
or legal
rortcqnnnr]cnnp
2 Emailaddresses
usuallygivethe nameof the
personor department,then the @(at)
symbol,followedbythe nameofthe
companyor institution, andflnally the
domainnames,
which indicatethe type of
organizationandthe countryfrom which
the message
wassent.
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 ispossible
to usespecialabbreviations,
e.g.
tres andemoticons,
but donot confuseyour
recipientby usingabbreviations
heor she
maynot know or understand.
z8

3o
3o
31
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
oRDER
AND SEqUENCE
Unclear
sequence
Clear
sequence
PLANNING
First
paragraph
Middle
paragraphs
Finalparagraph
STYLE AND LANCUACE
Simplicity
Courtesy
ldiomsandcolloquial
language
CLARITY
Abbreviations
andinitials
Numbers
Prepositions
ACC U RACY
Spelling
Titles,
names,
andaddresses
References
Prices,
measu
rements,
etc.
Enclosures
andattachments
Pointsto remember
n
g
=
rr+
o
;5
l+
SJ
=
CL
UI
t+
q
I
o

o
!
tr
|!
c
q,
c
o
I
tE NGTH
All correspondence
shouldbelong 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 unnecessarily
to
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.We
often 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.
Enclosed
you 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
3o

-ac short
lhere areanumber of problemswith this
-etter:
I It shouldhavebegunDearMr Arrand and
endedfourssincerely
asthewriterknew Mr
Arrand'sname from his letter of enquiry.
2 Neitherthe datenorthe reference
number
ofthe enquiry arequoted.
3 Ideally,
a catalogue
shouldbeenclosed
with
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 somespeciflc
productswhich
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
6
o
f
o
:
!,
I
c
5
:s.
o
2
31

g
!t
c
G
tr
o
C
o
I
oRDER AND SEqUENCE
Aswell ascontaining the right amount of
information,yourletter shouldalsomakeall
the necessary
pointsin 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 sentences
or paragraphs
before,asinthe example.
Ur,1411*tq'
s0qrJF
11(g
ThisIetterisdifficultto understandbecause
thereisno clearsequence
or 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 businessassociate
of 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 Secure
18installed,but aswe
mentioned,they arewholesalers,while we area chain of stores.We
would like somethingthat canpreventrobberyandshoplifting,so
the Secure
15might suit us.
How long would it taketo install a systemthat would serveall
departments?
Couldyousendaninspector
oradviser
to 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 recommended
to 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 Secure
15featuredin your currentcatalogue
would 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.
Please
replyassoonaspossibleaswe 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 response
you 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. Enclose
catalogue,
pricelist
3rdpara. Drawattentiontowatches
suitable
JorArrand,andlatest
designs
4thpara. Mentionguarantees
and
reputation
5thpara. Encourage
Jurthercontact
Firc't
Xra
ragna6"rh
Theopeningsentence
or paragraphis
important asit setsthe toneof the letter and
creates
aflrst 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,we
appealtoawide agegroup
Jrom theteenage
marketthroughto more
maturewomen,andourproductsareretailed
in leadingstores
throughouttheworld.
- Thankyoufor your letteroftg August,whichI
received
today.Wecancertainlysupplyyou
with theindustrialJloorcoverings
you asked
about.Enclosed
you 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 correspondent
for writing. If
appropriate,
encourage
further 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
weeks
from receiptof order,andpayment
shouldbemadebybankdraft I lookforward
to hearing
fromyou soon.
- IhopeI havecovered
aIIthequestions
you
asked,but
pleasecontactmeif thereareany
otherdetailsyou require.
If you wouldliketo
placean order,mayI suggest
thatyou 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.
ar
0
=
o
=
!,
=
CL
6-
2
33

g
!
tr
t!
E
o
tr
o
t,
STYLE AND LANGUAGE
Sinnplicity
Commercialcorrespondence
often sulTers
from anold-fashioned,
pompousstyleof
Englishwhich complicates
the message
and
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,because
ofthe style,it istoo long andis
difficultto understand.
Hereis asimplerversionofthe letter.Mr
Aldinewill besatisfied
with it because
it 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 becomes
rude.Hereis an exampleof a
letter that istoo short and simple.
DearSir/ Madam
I begto acknowledge
receiptofyour letter ofthe 15thinst.in
connectionwith our not clearingour account,which was
outstandingasofthe endofJune.
Please
acceptour 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,which
we trust will rectify matters.
Wehopethat this unforeseen
incidentdid not in anyway
inconvenience
you,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 apologize
for not settlingthe accountsooner,
but dueto the
unfortunate death of Mr Noel,our Accountant,there havebeen
delaysin settling all of our outstanding balances.
Please
fnd enclosed
our 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
34

-i the versionof the sameletter,noticethe
s$istic devices
that areusedto makeit more
:olite: complexsentences,
joined by
:onjunctions,ratherthan shortsentences
e.g....thebalanceof [,t,t94,
whichhasbeen
cutstanding...
ratherthan ...yourdebtof
tt,99q.This
shouldhavebeencleared.
..);the
useof full ratherthan abbreviatedforms
,eg.I shallhaveto consider.
..ratherthan
We'IIsue...);andthe useof passive
forms
and indirect languagethat avoidssounding
aggressive
(e.g.
...for theaccountto besettled...
ratherthan ...ifyou donotcle
aryour 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's
first 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 1,994
on 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
a.t
o
I
.D
=
!l
=
c
:s.
|D
2
35

-c
!
E
|E
tr
q,
tr
o
rJ
CLARITY
Yourcorrespondent
must beableto
understand what you havewritten. Confusion
in correspondence
oftenarisesthrough alack
ofthought andcare,andthere areanumberof
ways in which this canhappen.
Abhreviations
andinitials
Abbreviations canbeuseful becausethey are
quickto write andeasyto read.But both
correspondentsneedto know what the
abbreviationsstandfor.
Theabbreviations
crr 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
(Confederation
of BritishIndustry)andluc
(Trades
Union Congress),
areunlikelyto be
familiar to correspondents
in 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.
Numericalexpressions
canalsocause
confusion.Forexample,the decimal point in
BritishandAmericanusageis afull stop,but a
commaisusedin most continentalEuropean
countries,
sothat aBritishor Americanperson
would write 4.255
where aFrenchperson
wouid write 4,255(which to aBritish or
Americanpersonwould meanfour thousand
two hundredandfifty -five).
If thereisthe possibilityof confusion,write
the expression
in both flguresandwords,e.g.
fto,57
5.9o (tenthousand
five hundred and
seventy-five
pounds,ninetypence).
Prepositions
Special
careshouldbetakenwhen using
prepositions.
Thereis abig differencebetween
Thepricehasbeenincreased
to t45o.oo,
Thepricehasbeenincreasedby
t45o.oo,and
Thepricehasbeenincreasedfrom
t45o.oo.
ACCURACY
Spelling
Careless
mistakesin aletter cangivereadersa
badimpression.
Spelling,
punctuation,and
grammar shouldall becheckedcarefully.Many
peoplehavecometo relyonthe spellchecker
in
their computersto ensurethat thereareno
spellingmistakes.
But aword speltincorrectly
mayform a completely different word, e.g.
Please
giveit 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 address
and
salutation.Spellyour correspondent'sname
correctly(nothingcreates
aworseimpression
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.Dear
Mr
/ MsBarron.
References
When replying to aletter,fax,or email,quote
all referencesaccuratelysothat it is immediately
clearto your readerwhat you arewriting
about.
2
36

Prices,
measurements,
etc.
Special
careshouldbetakenwhen quoting
pricesor givingspecifications
suchas
measurements
or weights.Quotingthese
incorrectlycancauseserious
misunderstandings.
Enclosures
andattachments
Always checkthat you haveactually enclosed
the documentsyouhavementionedin your
Ietter,or attachedthem to your email
>seepage14.
Check,
too,that youhave
enclosed
or attachedthe right documents.If,
for example,
the documentyou areenclosingis
invoicenll23r,makesureyou donot enclose
invoiceYr,/2r3.
Whenordering,makesureyou quotethe
ordernumbercorrectly,
especially
in
internationaltradewheremistakescanbe
veryexpensive
in both time andmoney.
Points
to 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 abbreviations
that
yourreadermaynot understand.
Write
numbersin wordsaswell asfigures.
5 Accuracyisimportant.Payspecialattention
to detailssuchastitles andnames,and
references
andprices,andrememberto
checkenclosures
or attachments.
6 Checkwhat you havewritten when you
havefinished.Make sureeverything is asit
shouldbe.
ai
o
5
o
5
ll
=
c
:s.
o
2
37

vr
OJ
a r!!l
L-
a-
-t
J
5
-
-
e&l
39 MAKTNGENO_urRrES
39 Opening
39 Asking
forcatalogues,
price
lists,
etc.
39 Askingfor
details
40 Asking
forsamples,
patterns,
anddemonstrations
40 Suggesting
terms,
methods
of payment,
anddiscounts
40 Asking
forgoods
onapprova
l,oronsale
orreturn
41 Askingforan
estimate
ortender
41 Closing
42
42 ':'
42
43
44
45 : r:';: '
46 Points
to 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 services
you 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-operative
wholesale
societybased
in Zurich.
-Our companyisa subsidiary
of Universal
Business
Machinesandwespecialize
in ...
-We areoneof the mainproducers
of industrial
chemicals
in Germany,
andweareinterested
n...
How did you hear aboutthe companyyou are
contacting?
it might beusefulto point out that
youknow their associates,
orthat they were
recommended
to youby aconsulateortrade
association.
-We weregivenyour namebytheHoteliers'
Association
in Paris.
-Youwere recommendedto
usbyMr JohnKing,
ofLawsom
& Davies,
MerchantBankers.
-We wereadvisedbySpett.
Marco Gennovisaof
Milan thatyou areinterested
in supplying...
-The BritishConsulate
inMadrid hastoldus
thatyou arelooking
for anagentin Spainto
represent
you.
It ispossible
to useotherreferences.
-We wereimpressed
bytheselection
of
gardeningtoolsdisplayed
onyour standat
thisyear'sHamburgGardening
Exhibition.
-Our associates
inthepackaging
industry
speakhighlyofyour Zetapackingmachines,
andwewouldliketo havemoreinformation
aboutthem.Could
yousendus...
,Aslliinrg
for catalogucsi price ldsts,
etc.
It isnot necessary
to 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
particularlyinterested
in standssuitable
for
displaying
furniture.
-We haveheardaboutyour latestequipment
inlasersurgery
andwouldlikemoredetails.
Please
sendusanyinformationyou can
supply,
markingtheletter'FortheAttentionof
Professor
Kazuhiro',TokyoGeneralHospital,
Kinuta-Setagayaku,Toky
o,Iapan.
-I amplanningto comeandstudyin London
nextautumnandwouldbegratefulifyou
couldsendmeaprospectus
anddetailsof
yourfees.
I amparticularlyinterested
in
courses
in computing.
-Pleasewouldyou sendmean up-to-date
pricelistforyour buildingmaterials.
,Askfimg
fon cietafi[sr
When askingfor goodsor servlces
you 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,
always
quotethe
reference,
e g.Cat.no.at4g;Item no.351t
Course
et 362.
-I am replyingtoyour advertisement
inthe
Iuneeditionof 'TailorandCutter'.Iwouldlike
to knowmoreaboutthesteampresses
which
you areofferingat cost
price.
-I wiII beattendingtheauctionto beheldat
TurnerHouseont6 February,
andam
particularlyinterested
in thejob lot listedas
Item No.35t.
EI
-
-o
tr
o
3
79

o
5
E
tr
|lt
-Could youplease
givememoreinformation
aboutcourse
Bt j6z,whichappears
inthe
IanguageJearning
section
ofyour summer
prospectus?
-I wouldappreciate
moredetailsaboutthe
'UniversityCommunications
Syst
em'which
you arecurrentlyadvertising
onyourwebsite
-
Asking
forsampleso
patterns,
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,
couldyoupleaseenclose
a
pattern card?
-We wouldalsoappreciate
it ifyou couldsend
somesamples
of thematerialsothat wecan
examinethetextureandquality.
-Before sellingtoysweprefer to testthemfor
safety.
Could
you thereJore
sendusat least
two examples
of the'Sprite'range?
-I wouldliketo discuss
theproblemof
maintenance
beforedecidingwhichmodelto
install in myfactory. Therefore
I would be
gratefulifyou couldarrangeforoneofyour
representativesto
callon mewithinthe next
twoweeks
-Where canI seea demonstration
of this
system?
Surggestingterm5, methods of
payment,
anddiscounts
Companies
sometimesstatepricesand
conditionsin their advertisementsor literature
andmay not likeprospective
customers
making additional demands.However,evenif
conditionsarequoted,you canmentionthat
youusuallyexpectcertainconcessions
and
politely suggestthat, if your terms were met,
youwould bemorelikelyto placean order.
-We usuallydealon ajo% tradediscount
basis
with an additionalquantitltdiscount
for ordersover4ooo units.
-As a rule,our suppliersallow usto settleby
monthlystatement
andwecanoffertheusual
referencesif nece
ssary.
-We wouldalsoliketopoint out that we
usuallysettleouraccounts
on 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
Sometimes
retailersandwholesalers
want to
seehow a lIIrtr will sellbeforeplacingaflrm
orderwith a supplier.Two ways of doing this
areby gettinggoodson approvalor on a sALE
oRRETURN
basis.In
eithercase
the supplier
would haveto know the customerwell. or
wouldwant TRADE
RE
FE
RENcE
s.Thesupplier
would alsoplaceatime limit onwhen the
goodsmust bereturnedor paidfor.
-The leafletadvertising
your latesthobby
magazines
interested
us,andwewouldliketo
stocka selection
of them.However,
wewould
onlyconsider
placingan orderif it wason the
usualbasis
of saleor return.Ifthis is
acceptable,we
will sendyouafirm order.
-In the cataloguewereceived
from you last
week,
wesawthatyou areintroducinga new
Iinein syntheticfur s.lMile weapprecIatethat
incre
asingpressure
fr om wildlifeprotection
societies
isreducingthedemandforrealfurs,
wearenotsurehowourcustomers
would
reactto syntheticalternatives.
However,
we
wouldliketo try a selection
of designs.Would
it bepossiblefor
you to supplyuswith a range
onanapprovalbasis
to seeiJwecanencourage
a demand?Threemonthswouldprobablybe
enoughtoestablish
a marketif thereisone.
3
4o

Esrrmern s arequotationsto completea
job,e.g.putting anew roofon afactoryor
lnstallingmachinery.
TTwDERS
aresimilar
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 newspaperadvertisements
inviting
tenders.
_ ADVERTISEMXNT:
Thelrish TouristOrganizationinvitestenders
from buildingcontractors
to erectseating
for
to,ooopeoplefo r theDublin Summe
r
FestivalTenders
shouldbeinby t Marchzo-,
andwiII beassessed
onpriceandsuitability of
construction
plans.
- ADVERTISEMXNT:
TheZenaChemicalCompanyinvitestenders
from privatecontractorsforthe disposal
of
chemicalwaste.Onlythoselicensed
to deal
with toxicsubstances
shouldapply.Further
details
from ...
A companymaywrite crRcurARrnrtt ns to
severalsuppliers,
inviting offersto completea
constructionjob,orto dorepairsor decorating.
-We area largechainof theatres,
andwould
beinterested
in receiving
estimatesfrom
upholsterers
to re-cover
theseatsin our
two main theatresin Manchester.
-We arewriting to a numberof building
contractors
to inviteestimatesforthe
conversion
ofNorthboroughAirfield into a
sportsand leisurecentre.Thework will include
erectingbuildingsandprovidingfacilities
suchasskislopes
andparachute
jumps.
Thedeadlineforcompletionistheendof
December
zo-. If you canprovidea
competitive
estimate
please
contactusat ...
-As you may beaware
from recent
press
reports,we
havetakenoverInternational
Motorsplc andareinthe process
of
automating theirHamburgfactory.Weare
writing to several
engineeringdesigners,
includingyourselves,who
wethink may be
interested
in convertingtheplant to afully
automated
productionunit.Enclosed
you will
find thespecifi.cations.
Wewouldwelcome
inspectionof thesitebyyour surveyors,with
a
viewto supplyingan estimate
for the
reconstruction.
Usuallya simple'thank you' is sufficientto
ciosean enquiry.However,you couldmenti.on
that aprompt replywould beappreciated,
or
that certainterms or guarantees
would 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 concessions
wehave
askedJor,we
willplacea substantial
order.
-Prompt deliverywould benecessary
aswe
havea rapidturnover.Wewouldtherefore
need
your assurance
thatyou 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
5
tt
E.
=.
o
4r

6
o
t
(t
E
ul
Rcqucrtfore
crtelogucand
pdrcllrt
Rcqurrtfore
prolpoctur
tcquort for
grncnl
lnformetlon
Notethatthereference
tornnoEpnrcrs
inthis
lettertellsthe
manufacturerthat
heis
dealingwith
aRETATLER
orwholesaler,
nota
private
individual.
lfthese
examples
weresentasemail
messages,
it wouldbe
acceptable
to remove
thesalutation
and
cha
ngethe
complimentary
close
f romYou
rsJaithfuIlyto
theless
formalTha
nking
you inadvance.
DearSir/ Madam
Please
would 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.
Please
sendme 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
UI
o
-g
c
E
o
x
EI
Ihqr€ lhret thott
enqurrret (o.rld lrc rr'nl
by l?lttr. |.|r. or em.r,l
42

251
ruedesRaimonieres
F-86oooPoitiers
Cedex
Tdlephone
{+13,
: 9968ro3r
T6f6copie
(+1
1)2j41o2163
Emarl
irge..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
Replyto
an
advcrtisemcnt
lnthisletterthe
customer
isreplying
to
anadvertisementfor
cosinatrade
journal.
Theadvertiser
gavelittle
information,
sothe
writerasks
fordetails.
tn
5
l|
E
o
h
3
tn
x
t,
3
E.
o
o
o
Whydoes
M.G6rard
sayWearealarge
musicstore?
Howdidhehear
about
thecos?
Whatrequirements
doeshesuggest
must
bemetbefore
hewill
place
anorder?
Whatconcession
doesheaskfor?
lf hehadbegun
the
letterDearMr-,
whatwouldthe
complimentary
close
be?
Which
words
inthe
letter
have
asimilar
meaning
tothe
following?
r mostimportant
b typeofproduct
< large
d reduced
price
tO
E
o
5
f.
o
5
s
4l

n
o
t
E
E
|lI
Enquirryftom
a
buyhryagumt
Companies
often
haveagentsinother
countries
whosellor
buyproducts
forthem
>seepages
r59+7o.In
thisemailtheagentls
actingonbehalfofher
PRrNcrPArs
inCanada.
3
t!
E
o
g
B
E
o
x
rll
JohnMerton
Ourref.180/MB
DearMrMerton
Youwererecommended
tousbyyourtradeassociation
andIamwriting
onbehalfof
ourprincipals
inCanada,
whoareinterested
inimporting
chinawarefrom
England.
Couldyousendusyourlatestcatalogue
andpricelist,quoting
yourmostcompetitive
prices?
Ourprincipals
area largechainstoreinNorthAmerica
andwillprobably
placesubstantial
ordersif thequaligandpricesof yourproducts
aresuitiable.
Many
thanks.
LindaLowe
Director
Sanders
&LoweLtd
Planter
House,
Princes
Street
London
ECI 7DQ
Tel.:
+44(0)20787457
Fax:+44(0)20787458
Email:
Llowe@sanlo.co.uk
44

Enqulryftom
rntelhrto
rfionfn
rnrnufrctuu
This
email
isfromthe
Chief
Buyerfor
achain
ofshops
inBirmingham
to anltalian
knitwear
manufacturer.
Thebuyer
explains
howhegot
to knowaboutthe
manufacturerl
and
suggests
thataquantity
discount
andacceptance
of hismethod
of
payment
would
persuade
himto place
anorder.
Heisstating
histerms
inhisenquiry
because
hefeels
that
asaBULKeuvrnhe
candemand
certain
conditions.
Butyou
willsee
fromthereply
>page
58that,although
theltalian
manufacturer
wantstheorder,
hedoes
notliketheterms,and
suggests
conditions
that
aremore
suitableto
him.
ln
I
5
E
o
UT
Dear
Sir/Madam
Weareachain
of retailers
based
inBirmingham
andarelooking
fora manufacturerwho
cansupplyuswithawiderangeof sweaters
forthemen'sleisurewear
market.
Wewere
impressed
bythenewdesigns
displayed
onyourstand
attheHamburg
Menswear
Exhibition
lastmonth.
Asweusually
place
large
orders,
wewould
expect
aquantity
discount
inaddition
toa
20o/olrade
discount
offnetlistprices.
Ourtermsof payment
arenormally
30-day
billof
exchange,
D/$.
lf these
conditions
interest
you,andyoucanmeetorders
of over500garments
atone
time,please
sendusyourcurrent
catalogue
andprice
list.
Wehope
tohearfrom
yousoon.
Peter
Crane
ChiefBuyer
ELynch&Co.Ltd
Nesson
House,
NewellStreet,
Birmingham
833EL
Telephone:
+44(0)21236657
1
Fax:+44(0)212368592
Email:
pcrane@lynch.co.uk
ln
x
!l
3
E
o
o
3
ll
I Whatexpression
doesPeter
Crane
use
to indicate
that Lynch
& Co.
isalarge
company?
Whatmarket
areLynch
& Co.
interested
in?
Where
didLynch
&
Co.
getto knowabout
Satex?
I Whatkinds
of
discount
arethey
asking
for?
I Howwouldpayment
bemade?
5 Howmanysweaters
arethey
likelyto
order?
I Whichwordsinthe
letterhave
asimilar
meaning
tothe
following?
r selection
b presented
c fixedprice
d itemof cloth'ing
E
E
4J

6
o
I
q
E
EI
Points
to 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 REPLYTNc
ro ENo_urRrEs
48 Opening
48 Confirming
thatyoucanhelp
48'Selling'your product
48 Suggesting
alternatives
49 Referring
the customer
to anotherplace
49 Sending
catalogues,
pricelists,
prospectuses,
anosamples
49 Arranging
demonstrations
andvisits
50 Closing
50 CtVtNC O_UOTATtONS
50 Prices
51 Transport
andinsurance
costs
51 Discounts
51 Methods
of payment
53 Quoting
delivery
date
53 Fixed
terms
andnegotiable
terms
53 Civing
anestimate
54
54
54
55
56
57
58
59
6o Points
to remember
n
o
g
IO
o
rn
s,
=
o-
-o
c
o
r+
SJ
!f.
o
5
(n

tr
o
t!
o
5
E
T'
s
t!
.g
Et.
o
c
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.
>See
pages
zo-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 December
thatyou areimpressed
with our
selection
of ...
- Thankyoufor your letter,Nt t6gt, whichwe
receivedthis
morning.
Confirming
thatyoucanhelp
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 seledionoJsweaters
that 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'your
product
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
sales
lettersthat you needto persuade.
Mention oneor two selling points of your
product,including any guarantees,special
offers.anddiscounts.
- IAlhen
you havehad the opportunity to see
thesamplesfor
yourself,wefeel sureyouwill
agreethat they areoJthe highestqudlity;
andto seea wideselection
online,go to
www.bettaware.co.uk.
- Once
you haveseentheDelta8oo in
operationweknowyouwill beimpressed
by
itstrouble-freeperformance.
- Wecanassure
you that theAlpha2ooo isone
of the mostoutstandingmachines
onthe
market,andour confidence
in it issupported
byourfiv e-yearguarantee.
5uggestin
g 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,
soreducingmaintenance
costs.Italsosaves
onoilasit ...
- Themodelhasnowbeenimproved.Itssteel
casinghasbeenreplaced
bystrongplastic,
whichmakesthe
machine
muchlighter
and
easiertohandle.
- Ofcourse,
Ieatherisan excellent
upholstery
material,butescalating
costs
havepersuaded
manyof our customerstolookforan
alternative whtchismorecompetitivein
price.TaretonPlasticshaveproduceda high-
qualitysubstitute,'Letherine',
whichhasthe
texture,strength,and appearanceofleather,
but at less
than a quarterof thecost.We
feel
confidentthat thesamplesenclose
d wiII
convtnce
you...
4
+8

Referring
thecustomer
to
another
place
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
address
is...
- Weno longermanufacturepure cotton shirts
astheir retailpricestendonlyto attractthe
upperendof themarket.AIIourgarmentsare
nowpolycotton,which isstronger,needslittle
ironing,andallowsvariationsinpattern,
whichyou canseeon ourwebsite
at
www.elegance.co.uk.
However,ifyou areonly
interested
inpurecottongarments,we
advise
you to contactLouisFashions
Ltdat ...
Evenif you canhandle the enquiryyou may
still haveto referthe enquirer elsewhere.
- WemanuJacture
theprodud you require,
but
weonly deaI with wholes
alers,not retailers.
Therefore,I
suggestyou
contactour agent,R.
L.DeprdSA,
rueMontpellier 28,Paris,...
- Ouragentsinltaly areIntalS.p.A,ViaAlberto
Poerio79,Rome,
Email:<s
ales@intal.co.it>.
Theycarrythefull rangeof ourproducts.
Sending
catalogues.
price
lists,
prosPectuses,
andsamples
Remembertoenclose
currentcatalogues
and
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
havebeenincreased
by ten percentafteryou
havequoted afirm price.And ifyou are
sendingsamples
uworn sEeARATE
covEn,let
your customerknow when they arelikely
to arrive.
- Pleasefi.nd
enclosed
our currentcatalogue
andpricelistquotingcrr pricesKobe.The
unitsyou referredtoinyour letterare
Jeaturedonpp.3t-34 undercatalogue
numbersy32-y37.
Whenorderingcouldyou
pleasequotethesenumbers?
Thesamples
you
askedforwillfollow underseparate
cover.
- Weenclose
our bookleton theOmegazooo
andaresureyou wiIIagreethat it isoneof the
finest machines
of itskind.It canbeadapted
toyour specifications
(see
thesection
'Structural
changes'on
pagetz).
- Weenclose
oursummercatalogue,
which
unfortunatelyisonlypublishedin English.
However,we
haveincludeda German
translationfortherelevant
pages(4t-4j and
hopethis will provehelpful.
- ...andwehaveenclosed
ourpricelist,but
shouldpoint out thatpricesaresubject
to
changeasthe marketforrawmaterialsis
veryunstableatpresent.
Arran ging demonstrations anelvisits
Certainproducts,
e.g.
heavyequipment,
machinery and computer installations,may
needdemonstrating.
In thesecases
the
supplierwill eithersendarepresentative
or
adviser,
or suggest
that the customervisits
their showroom.
- Wehaveenclosedfull
detailsof theLaren
welder,
but a demonstration
wouldbe
necessary
to showyou itsfuII capabilities.
We
therefore
suggest
thatyouvisit ourcentrein
Birmingham,where
theequipmentissetup,
sothatyou canseethe machinein action-
- Astheenclosed
bookletcannotreallyshow
theeficienryoJthissystem,
wewouldbe
happyto arrangefor our representative
to
visityou andgivea demonstration.If
you are
interested
in a visit,please
fiII in theenclosed
pre-paidcardandreturnit to us.
- Theenclosed
catalogue
wiIIgiveyou an idea
of thetypeof soundequipmentweproduce,
but maywesuggest
thatyou alsovisitour
-
o
t
.D
t
5
c
4
c
o
c,
o
5
4
49

tr
o
G
E
3
E
It
tr
o
.g
a
o
e
agent's
showrooms
in Rotterdamwhere
you
canseea widerangeof units?Theaddressis...
- Beforeinstallingtheequipment,we
would
Iiketo sendMrTony Grifith,our Chief
Engineer,
to lookoveryourplant andprepare
a reporton theinstallation,takingyour
particularrequirements
into account.
We
suggest
you contactusto arrangea
convenient
date.
Closing
Alwaysthank the customerfor contacting you.
Ifyou havenot donesoat the beginningofthe
letteror email,you candosoatthe end.You
shouldalsoencourage
further enquiries.
- Onceagainwewouldliketo thankyoufor
writing.Wewouldwelcome
anyfurther
questions
you might have.
- Please
contactusagain ifyou haveany
questions,using
theabovetelephone
number
or emailaddress.
- I am sorrywedonot havethemodelyou
askedfor,
but canassure
you that the
alternativeI havesuggested
wiII meetyour
requirements.
PIe
aseremember that weofrer
afuII three
-yearguarante
e.
- Wehopeto hearfromyou againsoon,
and
co.n
assure
you thatyour orderwiII bedealt
withpromptly.
GIVING O-UOTATIONS
In your reply to an enquiry you may want to
giveyour prospective
customera o_uorATroN.
Belowis aguideto the subjects
you should
cover.
Prices
Mhenamanufacturer,wholesaler,or retailer
quotesa price,they may or may not include
othercostssuchastransport,insurance,
and
pURcHASE
rax (e.g.var(Varur Aooro Tax)
in the UK).Prices
which includetheseextra
costs
areknown ascRoss pRIcE
s;thosewhich
excludethem areknoum asNETpRIcEs.
- Thenetpriceof thisarticleisf,too.oo,to
whichvtr mustbeaddedat t7.5%,
makinga
grossprice of tn7.5o.
- Wecanquoteyou agross
price,inclusive
of
deliverycharges,
offi47.5operrco items.
These
goodsareexemptfromvAr.
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.oo
per
engine,firm zt days,after which theprice wiII
besubjectto an increase
of5%.
Wheneverpossible
youshouldquotepricesin
your customer'scurrency,allowing for
exchangefluctuations.
- ThepriceoJthismodelisYz,8oo,oooat
today'srateof exchange.
- Wecanquoteyouapriceof €3ooperrco
units,though I regretthat, because
of
Jluctuatingexchange
rates,we
canonlyhold
thispricefor four weeks
from today'sdate.
- Thenetpriceof $5jo.ooper unit isextremely
competitive.
4
5o

Tnansport
andinsuranee
eosts
Therearea number of abbreviationsthat
indicatewhich priceisbeingquotedto the
customer.
Theseareestablished
by the
Isrr nrvarrorrrar
CHnMsrn or Comann
ncn
(ICC)
andarecalledIr.lcornnus.Theyare
revisedregularly,andadditionaltermsmay
beadded,
e.g.
the phrasecrr NaplesIncoterms
zooo landedmeansthat aconsignmentis
covered
underanIncotermcrr (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
Thesellercovers
onlythe 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's
premises.
GroupF
Thesellerdeliversthe goodsto a carrierwho is
appointedbythe buyer.
Incotermsarequotedin correspondence
in
the following way:t3o,ooo crnHongKong(i.e.
the priceincludesall deliverycoststo Hong
Kong,exceptfor insurance);
$35,ooo
roa
Rotterdam(i.e.
the priceincludesdeliverycosts
to when the goodsareon boardshipat
Rotterdam).
Abbreviationsfor Incotermsmay
alsobewritten inlower case,e.g.cfr
orfob.
Twoothertermswhich shouldbenoted,but
which areusedmainly in the UK,are:
- Cannracr yuo (c/ e),i.e.
charges
will be
paidby the sender,
e.g.WewiIIsend
replacementsfor
thedamagedgoodsc/e.
- Cannracr FoRWARD
(c/r),i.e.charges
will
bepaidby the receiver,
e.g
.Asyou are
responsible
for thedamage,
wewiIIsend
replacements
c/r.
Diseounts
Manufacturersandwholesalers
sometimes
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,Iess
rc%
discountforquantitiesupto rco andry%
discountforquantiti.es
over1oo.
- Wedonot normallygivediscounts
toprivate
customers,
but because
ofyour long
associationwithourcompanywecanofrer
you tz%offthe retailprice.
- The
prices
quotedarecrn Yokohama,but
are
subject
to a zo%tradediscountofrnetprice.
Wecanofferafurther to%discountoff net
pricesforordersof morethan z,ooounits.
Mef hods of p.rvrnent
When quotingterms,you may require,or
suggest,
anyof several
methodsof payment,
e.g,
Ietterof creditor bill of exchange.
>Formoreonthissubject,
seepages
78-79,
and47-157.
- Onreceiptof a cheque
for theamountquoted,
wewill sendthearticleby registered
mail.
- Paymentforinitial ordersshouldbemadeby
sightdraJt,
payableat DenNorske
Creditbank,
Kirkegaten
n, OsIo
t,cashagainst
documents.
- Wearewilling to consider
openaccount
facilitiesifyou canprovidethenecessary
bankreference.
-
o
E.
o
5
!J
=
cl
lt
c
o
!,
rf.
o
=
4
51

INCOTERM ABBREVIATION EXPLANATION
5
tr
.9
o
o
t
q
!
tr
a!
n
.g
CL
o
4
Group
C
CostandFReight
Cost,
Insurance,
and Freight
CarriagePaidTo
4 Carriage
and
InsurancePaid
Group
D
Deliveredat Frontier
DeliveredEx-Ship
DeliveredEx-O_uay
DeliveredDuty Paid
DeliveredDuty Unpaid
Group
E
EX-Works
Group
F
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

Quotingdelivery
date
If the enquiryspecifles
adeliverydate,
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.
- ...andwearepleased
to saythat wecan
deliverbyNovember
L soyou will havestock
for theChristmas
sales
period.
- Asthereareregularsailings
from Liverpool
to
NewYork,
wearesurethat theconsignment
will reach
you weIIwithin thetimeyou
specified.
- Wehavethematerialsin stockandwiIIship
them immediatelywereceive
your order.
- Asthereisa heavydemandforfansat this
timeofyear,please
allowatleastsixweeksfor
delivery.
- Wewouldnot beableto deliverwithin two
weeks
of receipt
of order,
aswewouldneed
time topreparethematerials.
However,
we
couldguaranteedeliverywithinfour weeks.
Fixed
termsandnegotiable
terms
Youcanquotetermsin two ways:state
your priceanddiscountswith no roomfor
negotiation,or suggest
the customercould
discuss
them.In the two examplesbelow,the
writers makefirm quotes,
indicatingthat
methodsof paymentanddiscountsarefixed.
- Alllistpricesarequotedrot Southampton
andaresubject
to a z5%tradediscountwith
paymentbyletterof credit.
- The
prices
quotedarenxw,butwe can
arrangefreightand insurance
(crcHong
Kong
) if require
d.However,
unless
otherwis
e
stated,
paymentshouldbemadebyjo-day
biIIof exchange,
documents
against
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
irrevocable
letterof credit.
- Normallyweallowa4% tradediscount
offnetpriceswithpaymentona documents
againstpaymentbasis.
Please
letusknowif
thisarrangementissatisfactory.
Giving
anestimate
Companies
which 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 representative
hasvisited
yourfactory to discuss
yourproposed
extension,
andI nowhave
pleasure
in
enclosing
ouroficial estimate.
- Theenclosed
estimatecovers
labourand
partsandcarries
a six-month
guarantee
on
allworkcomaleted.
F
o
g
o
!,
5
CL
lt
g
o
!J
o
=
4
53

I
tr
o
G
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
' See
page4zfor
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 SpecialPurchases
sectionon pp.19-26,which may be
ofparticular interest to you.
Please
contactusif we canbeof anyfurtherhelp.
Yourssincerely
':
TimHoad
DearMsIwanami
Please
find enclosed
our prospectus
coveringcourses
from 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.Please
note
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
' See
page
4zfor
therequest.
54

What references
does
HerrGerlach
quote?
Whyarethe cos
beingsoldcheaply?
Does
heofferany
discounts
onthe
advertised
goods?
What othermaterial
hashesentto Disc
5.A.?
Catalogues
and
samPles
M.Gdrard
wroteto R.G.
Electronics
to enquire
aboutcos>seepage
43.
Heimplied
thathisstore
wasalarge
one,that
he
wasonlyinterested
in
high-quality
products,
andthathemightplace
asubsta
ntia
Iorder.This
isthereply.
CanDiscS.A.
order
whenever
theywant
to?
m.ffi.
Electronics
AG flHl?,1",
Telefon
(+49)
zzt3z 4z98
Telefax
(+49)zzt 836t z5
ilil:,?::f:"'rge'co
de
Your
Ref:
PG/AL
14Mav20-
l1.
Geraro
Manager
DiscS.A.
251
ruedesRaimonidres
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.
Because
of 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
Sales
Director
Enc.price-list
-
o
!
o
5
!,
=
r
3
t
!l
o
5
6
4
Il|
x
t
3
E.
o
o
o
rO
s
o
5
s
o
=
6
55

I
E
o
a!
o
t
I
!
E
a!
,
o
A.
o
o2
'Selling'the
product
Thisisareply
to the
buying
agentwho
emailed
Glaston
Potteries
>seepage44
onbehalfofher
principals
inCanada.
Astheagentmade
noreference
to any
particular
lineof
chinaware
shewas
interested
in,and
did
notmention
terms,
thisreply
takes
the
formof asales
letter.
Howdoes
MrMerton
drawattention
to his
company's
many
prod
ucts?
How doesheimply
that hiscompanyhas
an international
reputation?
3 Whattermsfor
deliverydo
Glaston
Potteries
quote?
4 Howdoes
he
encourage
further
enquiries?
Regrstered
No 716481
vAr ReBrstered
No r3353.i3r
cB
Which
words
inthe
letterhave
asimilar
meaning
tothe
following?
r range
b select
c timewhenorder
received
=- GLASTON
Cay':a1i
r.u,r
rr *o'ol.e V POTTE RlEi rrp
Telephone+44 (o)r282.i.5r
ll
Facsimile
+44 io jtz8,-63rE;
EmailI mettor@g'astc:.co rr<
wWVv Hla5iCn CC'-'-
10June20-
MsL.Lowe
Sanders& LoweLtd
PlanterHouse
Princes
Street
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)
Sales
Manager
Enc.
4
o
E
o
!c
E
o
x
tll
Er
3
3
=
c)|
56

correspondence_HB.pdf

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

More from NgoMinh32

More from NgoMinh32 (12)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

correspondence_HB.pdf