Business English

Assignment

By 2nd Group :
Dini Hanifa
Fiki Amaliyya
Sherlly Anggraini
Tia Yandita

THE STUDY PROGRAMME OF ENGLISH EDUCATION

THE SCHOOL OF TEACHER TRAINING AND EDUCATION
THE UNIVERSITY OF MUHAMMADIYAH PROF. DR. HAMKA
JAKARTA
2013

A. A Letter of Enquiry
1. The Definition of Inquiry Letter
A letter of inquiry is a letter of interest, sent to companies that may be hiring,
but haven't listed specific job. A considerable number of companies require their
potential employees to submit a two-page letter of inquiry before they are given the
chance to write and submit a full proposal. The inquiry letter helps the company or
organisation to save time developing application material for unlikely projects.1
2. The Outline of Inquiry Letter
First Paragraph
This should tell the reader what you want: e.g.
Please send me...
I would be grateful if you could tell me...
I am writing to enquire whether...
I would especially like to know...
Could you also...
Second Paragraph
This paragraph tells the reader why you are contacting his or her organisation, and
gives further detail of the enquiry.
There are two reasons why you may contact an organisation :
1. you have contacted this organisation before, and want to again.
2. you have not contacted this organisation before, but you have heard about them.
You should describe from where, such as from an advert or a recommendation; e.g.
a. I saw your advert in the HK Daily on Thursday, 10 October 2013.
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http://www.ask.com/question/what-is-a-letter-of-enquiry
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b. Your company was recommended to me by Ms. Elsie Wong of Far Eastern

Logistics.
Final Paragraph
This paragraph should contain a polite expression and/or an expression of thanks to
the reader. The degree of politeness (and therefore the length), depends on how
unusual or difficult your request is. Possible language includes :

Thanks.

I look forward to hearing from you.

I am looking forward to hearing from you.

Thank you for your assistance.

Thank you very much for your kind assistance.

I appreciate that this is an unusual request, but I would be very grateful for any
help you could provide. I look forward to hearing from you.

If you think the reader might have further questions, you can suggest that he or she
contact you; e.g. 'If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me'.
Example :2

http://www2.elc.polyu.edu.hk/cill/eiw/enquiry_letter_constructor.htm
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Rich Lucky Trading Company

345, Nathan Rd, Kowloon, H.K.
14 October 2013
Hi-fashion Garment Ltd
Unit 398
Shek Kip Mei Industrial Estate
Dear Sir or Madam
Request for Catalogue
Please send me your current catalogue.
Your company was recommended to me by Ms. Elsie Wong of Far Eastern
Logistics. Our African customer is interested in importing a range of
printed 100% cotton cloth.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Yours
K.K. Chan
K.K. Chan
Merchandiser

B. A Letter Acknowledging an Enquiry

1. The Definition of Acknowledging Enquiry Letter
Acknowledgement letter is a type of letter that is written to recognize or reply
someones efforts towards your objective. That someone can be an individual,
individuals or an organisation.
A letter of acknowledgement is a document that intends to convey sincere
acknowledgement for someone's support that they gave to someone else. These
letters are more formal and sincere than a standard thank you note. Letters of
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acknowledgement should be written with the utmost sincerity and graciousness so

that the reader greatly appreciates the acknowledgement. The letter may be
acknowledging .
2. The Outline of Acknowledging Enquiry Letter
Acknowledging receipt of an enquiry/request
- Thank you for your letter of ... regarding / concerning / in connection with ...
- I refer to your enquiry about / relating to ...
- I have received your letter of ... requesting information about ...
Explaining action taken as a consequence of the enquiry
- I have (reviewed our available stock) ...
- We held a meeting on 21 January to discuss possible solutions.
- I have checked/looked into/investigated (the possible approaches) ...
Making suggestions / justifying recommendations / pointing out pros and
cons / hedging
- The best choice would be ... since ...
- I highly recommend ... as / due to the fact that ...
- ... would probably be more suitable because ...
- ... seems to suit you better although ...
- Perhaps you should choose ... even though ...
- I suggest that you (should) choose ...
- I recommend this item since ...
- In view of the fact that ..., I would strongly recommend ... as ...
Apologizing and rejecting proposals
- While I appreciate your firm's need for this information, I regret that ...
- It will not be possible to ... for legal reasons. We are bound to ...
- Your proposal is of interest to us, and we have had consultations about it.
- However, we feel that it will not be in our interests to ... for reasons of ..
- We are concerned that ...
Stipulating action requested or to be taken
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- We shall arrange for ... by ...at the latest.

- I shall see to it that ...
- Our company will arrange for ...
Establishing goodwill and suggesting contact
- I hope this suggestion/information will be useful to you.
- I hope this information will prove useful to you.
- I hope that this information will help you to make decisions on your order.
- I look forward to hearing from you.
- I look forward to receiving your confirmation of ...
- I look forward to doing business with your company in the future ...
- Please feel free to contact me again if you have any further queries on ...
- Do contact me on 27615432 if you need further information.
- Please do not hesitate to contact me on 27615432 if I can be of further
assistance.

Everlong Batteries ]

171, Choi Hung Road

Example of Acknowledging Enquiry Letter:3

Hung Hom, Hong Kong
Tel/Fax 2235 2449
14 Oct 2013

Mr J Wong
Purchasing Officer
Fortune Goods
317 Orchard Road
Singapore

Dear Mr Wong
Enquiry about Batteries
Thank you for your letter of Friday, 11 October 2013 regarding making copies of the sample
battery you sent us.
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http://elc.polyu.edu.hk/cill/eiw/repliestoenquiries.aspx
I have investigated the situation and found that your specifications are exactly the same as the
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design of a proprietary camera battery manufactured
by a large Japanese electronics company.
We feel that it would not be in our interests to supply this type of battery.
However, I would like to thank you for considering our company as your supplier.
I look forward to doing business with your company in the future

 David Choi
David Choi
Distributions Manager

C. A Letter of Refusal
1. The Definition of Refusal Letter

A refusal letter is meant to convey rejection of a job offer, an invitation for a

seminar or event, a business proposal, etc. As this letter contains something negative,
people who are responsible for writing such a letter usually find themselves in a fix.
This is because they have to find a way of writing through which, they can convey the
message without hurting the sentiments of the addressee. Hence, it is important to
choose appropriate words while drafting a rejection letter.4
2. The Outline of Refusal Letter
First paragraph (acknowledging letter) :
-We thank you for your application requesting an extension of your credit for the
payment
-Thank you for your detailed letter of ..

Second paragraph (expressing regret) :

- We regret to inform you that .. we will not be able to ..
-we regret that we are unable to

Third paragraph (encouraging but giving a reason for refusal) :

-In theory, your project is an exciting one but we fear that .

Fourth paragraph (offering an alternative : a counter proposal) :

-However, if you would like to reconsider the project, you might prefer to act as a
distributor ..

Fifth paragraph (ending on a warm noteperhaps they will cooperate in the

future) :
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http://www.buzzle.com/articles/376836.html
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-Thank you again for your enquiry.

- We hope that we will be able to work together in the future. We once again thank you
for investing your time and interest in Acetek Company.
Example of refusal letter :

Refusal of Credit to Vendor

Mr. Will Taylor
Purchase Manager - Zoom Motors
17, Jackson Street
Los Angeles

Dear Mr. Will Taylor,

We thank you for your application requesting an extension of your credit

for the payment of $100,000 against 20,000 spare parts supplied in
November, 2012 for a duration of three months.

We regret to inform you that under the current situation of the economy,
Rejecting Proposal of a New Vendor
we will not be able to give you any further credit. As you know, we have
already
offered
you flexible payment terms of 60 days, post the date of
Mr. Joshua
Mason
delivery. However, owing to the market downturn, we have revised all our
credit
policies
and- have
resorted to work on "immediate payment" basis,
Sales
manager
Servicepro
as we are also obligated to pay our dues on time.
135, Willow Street
Boston
We, at Axlepro Company, value your long-term support and acknowledge
Dear
Joshua
Mason,
that
youMr.
have
always
adhered to our payment terms without defaulting.
As soon as the economy shows an upward trend, we will resume our
credit policies as earlier. We sincerely hope that you will consider our
situation,
andfor
continue
share
a strong
business
Thank you
offeringtoan
interesting
proposal
forrelationship.
the servicing and
overhauling of machinery in Acetek Company's new manufacturing
facility.
Sincerely,

Example of refusal letter :

Marie Jacob
Our vendor management team has reviewed your proposal carefully to
ensure
that it meets our requirements. However, we regret to inform you
Sales
Manager
that we will be unable to take it ahead, because of our company's
Axlepro
Company
stringent
vendor and cost policies. We already have a pool of vendors
who are offering us similar services at cost-effective rates.
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We hope that we will be able to work together in the future. We once
again thank you for investing your time and interest in Acetek Company.

Sincerely,
Paul Ford
Director - Vendor Management
Acetek Company

D. Describing Company Location

Example :
Our new Norwegian Hotel is in Alesund.
It is situated in an area which is
scheduled for leisure and recreation,
two hundred kilometres south of
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Trondheim and three hundred and
twenty kilometres west of Oslo.

Arranging of Describing a Business Office Location :

Country

Organization

Town

Distance

Our new Canadian Nature Park is in Dog Creek. It is situated in an area which is
scheduled for conservation, four hundred kilometres north of Vancouver and one
hundred and fifty kilometres east of Saskatchewan.

References

http://www.ask.com/question/what-is-a-letter-of-enquiry
http://www2.elc.polyu.edu.hk/cill/eiw/enquiry_letter_constructor.htm
http://elc.polyu.edu.hk/cill/eiw/repliestoenquiries.aspx
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/376836.html
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