Unit Three
Enquiries and Replies
Learning Objectives
To identify general enquiry and
specific enquiry
To learn writing skills for this kinds
of letter
General View
Enquiries are usually made by the
buyers without engagement to get
information about goods to be ordered,
such as price, specification, quality,
packing, shipment and other trade
terms.
Enquiries are of two types:
 General Enquiry
 Specific Enquiry
General View
General Enquiry is sent to acquire
some general information about
products, such as asking for a catalogue,
or price list, a sample, terms of payment.
Specific Enquiry expresses a definite
wish to purchase a specific product if
conditions are met and it requires more
detailed information such as price terms,
quantity, port of destination, packing.
Guidelines for Writing
1.How to write an enquiry letter
(1) Be specific and state clearly what you
want, the goods needed, a catalogue, a
price list, a sample, a quotation or an offer,
etc, so that the seller can offer what you
need.
(2)Keep the enquiry concise and to the
point.
Guidelines for Writing
(3)If it is a first enquiry, start your letter by informing
how you obtained their name and address.
Meanwhile, you can give a brief introduction of your
own business. Some details about what you would
like to get from the exporter would be mentioned in
the end.
(4)The tactic often used in order to invite better
terms is to give the seller some hope of substantial
orders or continued business by saying “Should
your prices be competitive, we shall place an
order…” or “If your quotation is favorable, we’ll
place regular order with you.”
Guidelines for Writing
(5)In an enquiry letter, the following
structures are often used instead of the
term ”enquiry” :
Please advise~~~
Interested in~~~ ,please~~~
Pleased quote~~~
Guidelines for Writing
 A letter of enquiry is usually composed of
three main parts:
• Opening paragraph/sentences, with mention of
how you get the name and address, the items you
are interested in, brief introduction to your company
if necessary and your initial intention or the purpose
of writing.
• Second part/message part, with details about your
specific requirements.
• Close part, where you express thanks in advance
and hopes of receiving an early reply.
Guidelines for Writing
2. How to reply an enquiry
(1). Express thanks to the inquirer for his or
her interest in your products.
(2). Answer the questions asked and
provide other relevant and necessary
information.
Guidelines for Writing
(3). State briefly to first enquirers the strengths
and advantages of your products.
(4). If you are unable to supply the products
required, give a reason or explanation in
addition to expressing regret. Always end
your letter positively by offering other
products as substitutes so as to create a good
impression, which hopefully result in more
business.
Specimen Letter-1 (General Enquiry and
Reply)
Messrs. Smith & Co.
153 Third Avenue, New York NY 10017, U.S.A
Tel: (415) 543-0028 Fax: (415)543-0030 E-mail:
smith@msn.com
February 3, 2012
Fujian Provincial Arts and Crafts I/E Corporation
12-11/F, Zhongshan Mansion
123 Hudong Road,
Fuzhou, China
Dear Mr. Wang,
We have seen your advertisement at http:// www. Madein-China. com and are particularly interested in your
bamboo and straw articles. We would like to have
details of your various types, including sizes, materials
and prices.
We are large dealers in arts and crafts, having over 15
years experience in this particular line of business.
Provided quality and prices are satisfactory, there are
prospects of good sales in our market.
When replying, please state terms of payment and
discounts you would allow on purchase of quantities of
over 100 dozen of individual items.
We look forward to your early reply.
Sincerely yours
Henry Taylor
Specimen Letter-2 （Reply to Importer’s Enquiry）
Fujian Provincial Arts and Craft I/E Corporation
12-11/F, Zhongshan Mansion, 123 Hudong Road,
Fuzhou, China
Tel:86-591-66664444 Fax: 86-591-66664422 E-mail: artsfujian@alibaba.com
February 4, 2012
Messrs, Smith & Co.
153 Third Avenue
New York NY10017, U.S.A
Dear Mr. Taylor,
We are very glad to receive your enquiry of February
3 and thank you for your interest in our products.
We are sending you our quotation sheet and a copy of
our latest catalogue giving the details you asked
for, and hope that some of our products will
be suitable for your market.
On regular purchase of over 100 dozen of individual
items, we would give a discount of 3%. As to payment,
we usually accept payment by sight L/C. We assure our
clients of delivery within 20 days after receipt of L/C.
In addition to bamboo and straw articles, we also deal in
carvings, porcelains, wooden products and a wide range
of Christmas gift items, details of which you will find in
the catalogue. If you need any further information,
please let us know.
We look forward to welcoming you as our customer.
Yours sincerely,
Mr. Wang
Sales Manager
Specimen Letter-3 (Specific Enquiry)
• Dear Miss Huang,
• Thank you for your letter of January 28 introducing to us some of your
new products.
• We are interested in your radio-controlled toy car with musical IC and
would like to receive from you by airmail catalogues and all necessary
information regarding the captioned goods.
• Meanwhile please quote us your lowest price CIF Singapore, inclusive
of our 3% commission, together with your terms of payment and state
whether you would be able to effect delivery within one month after
receiving our order.
• Should your price be found competitive and delivery date acceptable,
we will place regular orders with you.
• We are looking forward to hear from you soon.
• Yours faithfully,
• John Brown
• Manager
Specimen Letter-4 (Reply to the specific
enquiry)
Shanghai New Century Import & Export Corporation
1830 Central Boulevard, Pudong 201206, China
Tel: 86-21-56782133 E-mail:ncie@163.com
February 14, 2012
The Arial Trade Company
No. 1 Warehouse, West India Quay,
Canary Wharf, London, E14 4AL
Dear Mr. Brown,
Thank you for your letter of February 12 inquiring about
our radio-controlled toy car.
Enclosed is our latest catalogue which we hope will give
the details you want.
We are a specialized manufacturer and exporter of
radio-controlled toy cars and have been in this line for
more than 10 years with ISO 9002(1994) approved.
Compared with similar products in the international
market, our toy cars are of competitive price and high
quality.
Our factory produces 30,000 pcs each month and
delivery can be made within 30 days after receipt of
payment for order. Meanwhile, we can accept orders on
OEM basis.
We look forward to doing business with you.
Best regards,
Simon Huang
Specimen Letter-5 (Enquiry for Textiles)
MASTERS & CO
Fabric and Furnishings
70-71 Cook Street, Brookvale,
P. O. Box E.128 Warring Mail 2100, Sydney, Australia
Tel: 61- 938- 3000 Fax: 61- 938-3001 E-mail: masters@sohu.com
5 December 2012
Dear Sir,
It is a pleasure for us to introduce ourselves to you as a
commission agent for Chinese Commodities. We’ve been
engaged with this post for over 7 years now.
We should appreciate it very much if you could send us
catalogues and samples for the following items.
(1) Bed sheets;
(2) Towels;
(3) Sleeping Bags;
(4) Shower-bath;
(5) Synthetic fabrics;
(6) Underwear for men, women and children.
Prefer to receive the following information by 31
December：
(1) FOB Prices;
(2) Minimum order quantity;
(3) Delivery time.
We are looking forward to your early reply,
Yours faithfully,
John
Purchase Manager
Specimen Letter-6 （Enquiry for Cosmetics）
March 28, 2012
Dear Sirs,
Re: COSMETICS
We are one of the leading importers of Daily Chemicals in this
city and shall be pleased to enter into business relations with
your corporation.
At present we take an interest in your cosmetics, details as
per our Enquiry Note No. 1288 attached, and shall be grateful
if you could send your lowest quotation as soon as possible.
We would like to mention that should your price is attractive
and delivery date acceptable, we shall place an order with
you immediately.
Faithfully yours,
Celia Clemens
Enclosure
Specimen Letter-7 （Enquiry for Digital Cameras）
13 November 2012
Dear Sirs,
We intend to import Sony Digital Camera you displayed at the
Trade Fair. Therefore, please inform us of CIF London price,
discount, time of shipment and other details. Could you
possibly send us some booklets and catalogues for our
reference? Should there be any items new to the U.K. market,
kindly let us know and send us samples if available.
We hope this will be a good start of mutually beneficial
business relations and we assure you of our close attention
to your offers.
Yours faithfully,
Gary Zhang
Further Refinement
• Called the “Seven Cs” , the principles for
business communication put forward by
professor Emeritus Herta A. Murphy,
University of Washington, and her two
colleagues in University of Michigan are
completeness, correctness, clarity,
conciseness, concreteness, courtesy,
consideration. “Seven Cs” refer to the
evaluation of foreign letters in the word
choice, sentence structure, content, tone,
attitudes and other aspects of business
letter writing. Effective application of
the “Seven Cs” principles can create a
Further Refinement
• To ensure the correctness of grammar,
punctuation, and spelling of words is merely the
basic quality of a business letter writer. Much more
efforts have to be made in order to achieve high
efficiency and keep the customers, which turn out
to be the ultimate goal of business writing.
• Study two of the following mails and find out
why the mails can have different effects on
the customers.
Further Refinement
• The original mail
• Dear Sirs:
• We regret to inform you that the Lightning
Mountain bicycle about which you inquired is
temporarily out of stock until the end of February.
This means that you will not be able to purchase
this model by Christmas. However, you might be
interested in one of the bicycles in the enclosed
brochure which we can deliver immediately. If so,
please feel free to contact us.
• Sincerely,
Further Refinement
• As for the “7C” writing principles in business writing,
consideration can not be ignored. The principle of
“Consideration” requires the business writers always to
focus on the positive side rather than on the negative. To
take one example, an experienced seller prefers to say that
the glass is “half full” instead of “half empty”. Although the
two mails have given the basically identical information,
but it seems that they have taken different attitudes. In this
case, the original mail is not positive enough, while the
refined one highlights what the seller can do for the
customer and introduces more information to the
customers so that the customer can make the right choice
instead of being frustrated only. Thus, how to express
one’s ideas appropriately in a letter may decide the
success of the business deal.
Further Refinement
•
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•
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The refined mail
Dear Sirs:
Thank you for asking about our bicycles.
Unfortunately this model is temporarily out of stock because
of the Christmas rush, but we could deliver one to you by the
end of February.
We also have other models that could be delivered
immediately. The WX model, for instance, is becoming one of
our most popular bicycles because it is lightweight (only 20
pounds) but very strong. Though the cost is a little more than
the Lightning, if you would like to receive Christmas delivery
of this or any other bicycle in the enclosed brochure, please
let us know.
In the meantime, we send you our best wishes for a happy
holiday season!
Sincerely yours,
…
KEY TO UNIT THREE
KEY TO UNIT THREE
I. Translate the following sentences into English.
1. Should your price be found competitive, we intend to
place with you an order for 5,000 sets of Washing
machines.
2. Please quote us your most favorable price CIF New
York, stating the earliest date of shipment and the
discount you will allow.
3. We shall be glad to have your specific enquiry.
4. If your quality is good and the price is suitable for our
market, we would consider signing a long-term
contract with you.
5. To enable you to have a better understanding of our
textile products, we are sending you by air our latest
catalogue for your reference.
II. Correct one mistake in each of the following
sentences.
• 1. an offer for
• 2. at this end
• 3. of which
• 4. as enquired for
• 5. A t regular intervals
III. Refine the following business letter to
achieve better effect.
•
Dear Sir,
•
We are a newly established firm seeking information
from manufacturers of auto body repair tools and
related equipment.
Would you please send us your spray gun
catalogues and prices?
•
•
•
Very truly yours,
…
• IV. Write a specific enquiry for Briefcase and
handbags.
• Dear Mr. Kwan:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
During the Chinese Export Commodity Fair held in October,
2007, we had the pleasure of visiting your booth and are
impressed by your brief cases and bag made in a variety of
artificial leathers.
We are considering placing an order with you. Please send
us as soon as possible your most favorable prices CIF
Singapore for the following items:
Art. No. B13
B16 B18
B20
Color
white
red
black
brown
In your reply, please inform us of the terms of payment and
the discount you offer for purchase of no less than 500 of
each Article Number listed above.
Your prompt reply is appreciated.
Yours sincerely,