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2021

UFCD 0658 Língua Inglesa

Comunicação Administrativa
Formal email

Formadora:
Paula Nogueira

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 1. How to Write a Perfect Professional Email in English

Although emails are often seen as less formal than printed business letters, in the business
world you cannot afford to let your language appear to be informal. Email may be faster and
more efficient, but your client or business partner will not easily forgive correspondence that
is too casual. Not to fear! Read on to discover simple secrets that will add a high level of
professionalism to your English emails.

Begin with a greeting

It's important to always open your email with a greeting, such as "Dear Lillian,". Depending on
the formality of your relationship, you may want to use their family name as opposed to their
given name, i.e. "Dear Mrs. Price,". If the relationship is more casual, you can simply say, "Hi
Kelly," If you’re contacting a company, not an individual, you may write "To Whom It May
Concern:"

Thank the recipient

If you are replying to a client's inquiry, you should begin with a line of thanks. For example, if
someone has a question about your company, you can say, "Thank you for contacting ABC
Company." If someone has replied to one of your emails, be sure to say, "Thank you for your
prompt reply." or "Thanks for getting back to me." If you can find any way to thank the reader,
then do. It will put him or her at ease, and it will make you appear more courteous.

State your purpose

If, however, you are initiating the email communication, it may be impossible to include a line
of thanks. Instead, begin by stating your purpose. For example, "I am writing to enquire about
…" or "I am writing in reference to …" It's important to make your purpose clear early on in
the email, and then move into the main text of your email. Remember to pay careful attention
to grammar, spelling and punctuation, and to avoid run-on sentences by keeping your
sentences short and clear.

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Closing remarks

Before you end your email, it's polite to thank your reader one more time as well as add some
courteous closing remarks. You might start with "Thank you for your patience and
cooperation." or "Thank you for your consideration." and then follow up with, "If you have
any questions or concerns, don't hesitate to let me know." and "I look forward to hearing from
you."

End with a closing

What to include in your email

Writing a business email is far easier when you know how to structure it. Here are the key
components your message should contain.

1. Subject line

This is the crucial part of your email which defines if a person actually opens it. A good subject
line informs a recipient what the email is about and why they should read it. Try to make your
subject line clear, specific, and to the point. For example:

• Marketing Budget Q4: Please review till August, 31

• Meet the new VP of Engineering
• Spark for Android: First impressions from our users
• Requesting a vacation for Aug, 10-20

2. Email greeting

How to start a formal email? At the beginning of your email, greet a person by name.
Depending on the level of formality, your salutations may vary from a simple “Hi” to an official
“Dear Mr./Ms./Dr./Professor…” For the most formal occasions, use a colon instead of a
comma after the salutation. For example, “Dear Ms. Smith:”

Here are some email greeting examples:

• Hi [Name],

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 • Hello [Name],
• Dear [Name],
• Dear Mr./Ms./Dr./Professor [Last name],
• Greetings,
• Hi there,
• Hi everyone,

Always do your best to find out the recipient’s name to address them in your email. If your
research wasn’t successful, use a generic salutation like “Greetings.”

10 Email Greetings to Avoid

• Hey!

There's no place for such a greeting in business emails. Just leave this greeting for your friends
and close acquaintances.

• Yo!

Would you be happy to receive a business proposal or partnership request addressing you
with "Yo"? So does your recipient.

• Hi [Nickname],

If you're writing to Jessica, don't take a responsibility to call her Jess. At the same time, if she
signs off with Jess, you should also address her that way.

• To Whom It May Concern,

This email greeting sounds too cold and archaic. It also feels like you have no idea who you're
writing to and why you're doing it at all. There's a good chance a person who opens such email
assumes it doesn't concern them.

• Dear Sir/Madam,

Just like with "To Whom It May Concern," this salutation is a way too formal. Plus it's extremely
generic. Such an email greeting proves that you haven't done your research to find out who
the recipient actually is.

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 • Dear [Job title],

Compared to "To Whom It May Concern" and "Dear Sir/Madam," this greeting is a bit more
specific. Anyway, a "Dear Hiring Manager" won't be happy that you haven't taken an extra
step to find out their name.

• Good morning/afternoon!

You don't know when a person is going to read your email so such greetings are better to
avoid, especially if you're communicating with someone from a different time zone.

• [Name], or [Name]!

An email greeting with just a name looks abrupt and even rude. An exclamation mark makes
it even worse. A recipient may feel as if you're about to shout at them.

• Wrong or misspelled name

Always double-check a person's name before emailing them. If you're not sure how to spell a
name, it's safer to use a generic greeting like "Hi there." This does far less harm than sending
an email with a typo.

If you're emailing multiple people at once, make sure you're not writing "Hi Mark," in your
email to Johnny. Otherwise, it would be difficult to prevent disaster and recover your
reputation.

• No greeting

Though choosing the best email greeting can be tricky, that doesn't mean you can omit it. A
salutation is an essential part of a professional email, and it's impolite to skip it.

3. Email body

Always devote one email to one topic. For example, you may need your colleague to review
your quarterly report and discuss the hiring strategy for your department. This is too much
information for a single email! It’s better to send two separate messages on each subject,
making it easy for a person to answer. This way, you’re more likely to get a fast reply.

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Explain what you’re writing about. If you’re emailing a stranger, briefly and then go straight
to the point. State the purpose of your email clearly so a person can understand why you’re
emailing them and how they can help. For example:

• I would like to invite you to speak at our annual developer conference.

• I’m running a YouTube blog about cats, and we’d love to feature your brand in our next
video.
• I’ve been using your service for a while, and I would like to report an issue I’ve recently
encountered.

Value the reader’s time. Provide a recipient with any additional information they need to
reply. At the same time, try to keep your email short and simple and don’t overload it with
extra details. Remember that email isn’t the best place for a lengthy discussion.

Make your email easy to read. Break your message into paragraphs and take advantage of
headings and lists. Where it’s appropriate, emphasize the key information with bold or italics,
just don’t overdo it. Your goal is to make your email as structured and easy to skim as possible.

4. Formal email closing

The formal tells a recipient what’s next. If you want them to do something, include a clear
and specific call to action. If you’re just wrapping up the discussion you’ve previously had, end
your email on a friendly note to show a reader you’re willing to keep in touch with them.

Here’s how to end a formal email:

• Please let me know by Friday, August 15th if you’d like to speak at the conference.
• It would be great to jump into a quick call tomorrow to discuss our collaboration.
• Thank you for help and feedback. Let’s keep in touch!

How to Write Formal Emails in English

Emails are among the most commonly used means of communication in the world. They’re
fast, immediate, and allow you to interact with all kinds of businesses within and beyond the
national boundaries. At work above all, writing formal emails in English in the right way

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requires certain skills, and being a professional situation, it’s essential not to commit mistakes
in order to make a good impression of yourself and your company.

The rules for writing formal emails in English

To write an email in English in the right way, don’t improvise! Read the following advice to
avoid making serious mistakes that could compromise the success of the email from the
moment it is received.

Subject

The subject is the first piece of information that the recipients of an email see, and if it’s
written incorrectly or unclearly, it could push the reader to delete it without even opening it!
So it’s important to give a clear and precise message, right from the start, indicating the
content or reason for writing in two or three words that grabs the attention of the recipient.

Style

Unlike many other languages which require long complex sentences in a formal written
context, English is very concise and favors short sentences and a simple structure. Make sure
you break up the text into two or three paragraphs – this enables the reader to quickly see
the key points.

Courtesy formulas

When you write an email in English, you’re not only using another language but you’re also
entering another culture with different habits. The Anglo-Saxons in general pay a lot of
attention to forms of courtesy and gratitude, therefore never forget to add them.

Check the email

Never send an email in English without having re-read what you wrote. Grammatical or typing
mistakes are very common even in your own language, so in English you can make errors much
more easily. Double-checking what you’ve written is a simple step to take that can prevent
you from appearing unprofessional and above all careless.

Signature

Be sure to have set your emails to end with all the important information about you, including:

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 • name and surname
• job title
• relative details about your company (name, address..)
• link to the company website

The format of a formal email in English

• Introduction
• Body of the text
• Conclusion

Introduction

Depending on the type of relationship you have with the person you’re writing to, there are
different ways of starting an email, but any email should always start with a greeting. In our
specific case being formal, the most appropriate options are:

• Dear Mr/Mrs/Ms (surname of the recipient, e.g. Mr Black)

• Dear Sir/Madam (if you don’t know the name of the recipient) or more generally ‘To
whom it may concern’

After the initial greeting you need an introductory sentence that indicates clearly the reason
for writing and is consistent with the subject of the email. Introduce yourself briefly (long texts
often discourage people from reading them), then follow on with:

• I am writing with regard to… (email subject)

• I am writing in connection with… (email subject)
• I am writing in reference to…

If you’re writing an email to send information, you can start with one of the following
sentences:

• I am writing to let you know…

• I am delighted to tell you… (if you’re communicating good news)
• I regret to inform you that… (if you’re communicating bad news)

If instead you’re replying to an email you received, you can say:

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 • I am writing in response to…
• I am writing in reply to…
• I am writing to thank you for… (if you need to thank the recipient)

Body of the text

There are no conventional formulas for writing the body of the text because this varies
according to the function of what you need to communicate. It’s useful to prepare an initial
draft and then proceed with any corrections.

The general rules are that the text should be divided into short paragraphs that avoid
abbreviations and acronyms, both of which you can use, on the contrary, when you write an
informal email to family and friends.

Based on the type of message you’re sending, there are various ways to write a final invitation
before ending the email, such as:

• I look forward to hearing from you soon

• Thank you in advance
• For further information, please do not hesitate to contact me
• Please let me know if you have any questions
• Thanks for your attention

Conclusion

The most common way to end an email are:

• Best regards
• Kind regards
• Yours faithfully (if you began the email with ‘Dear Sir/Madam’ because you don’t know
the name of the recipient)
• Yours sincerely (if you began the email with ‘Dear Mr/Mrs/Ms + surname)
• Regards

Examples of formal emails in English

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Example 1: Delay with the delivery of an order

Subject: Delivery delay

Dear Mr Pascal,

We regret to inform you that we will not be able to respect the deadline previously agreed for
the delivery of your order. Our supplier has warned us today that they are experiencing supply
problems, which will result in a delay in our production chain. We count on your
understanding and thank you for your patience.

Please accept our apologies.

Best regards,

Example 2: Replying to a job advertisement

Subject: Web Content Editor position

Dear Sir/Madam,

With reference to your job ad in xxx, I would like to submit my application for the position of
Web Content Editor in your company.

I graduated in Communication Sciences at the University of xxx and worked for several years
in a Digital Agency as Content Specialist. I believe my skills and experience are in line with the
requirements for the job position. I will be glad to introduce myself in an interview, that will
allow you to better evaluate my possible recruitment.

Please find attached a copy of my resume. I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours faithfully,

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Example 3: Sending a product catalogue

Subject: New product catalogue

Dear Ms.Chapman,

Following your request, we have recently sent you our new catalogue. We are convinced that
it will enable you to see the quality of our products. Our local agent will contact you soon to
arrange a meeting on a day and time that suits you in order to discuss in detail how our
products can be of benefit to your company’s needs.

For further information, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Yours sincerely,

A formal email of request

This type of email is used when you write to somebody to ask them for something and they
are not expecting the email.

Dear Mr Mitchell,

I am writing in reference to the current situation with the Skipton Airport Project. We have a
number of questions which we hope you could answer.

First of all, could you please provide us with an update on where you are on the Skipton Airport
Project. We would also appreciate it if you could clarify what the current issues with the
delivery system are, and confirm when you expect them to be resolved.

In addition, at the end of our last meeting we requested a copy of the latest project update
report. Unfortunately, we have still not received it. We would appreciate it if you could
forward this to us.

Could you also please confirm whether the post-installation support covers the equipment 24
hours a day? And what is actually included in the support? In particular, we would like to have

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confirmation if the cost of parts and labour are included in the package? We require this
information as soon as possible.

And lastly, we are considering extending the period of the post-installation support from your
company from 6 months to 12 months. We would be very grateful if you could provide us with
a quote for this extension.

I would really appreciate it if you could deal with these matters urgently.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely,

Ian McAdam

Development Manager

A less formal email of request

This is like the formal email of request (you use it when you write to somebody to ask them
for something and they are not expecting the email), but this is used when writing to a work
colleague or somebody you have a good relationship with.

Hi Dave,

I hope that everything is OK over there. I just have a few questions about the Skipton Airport
Project.

First, can you give me an update on where you are on the project? I'd also appreciate if you
could explain what the current issues with the delivery system are? And confirm when you
expect them to be resolved.

Also, at the end of our last meeting I asked for a copy of the latest Project Report. I still haven't
received one. Can you forward it to me?

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Can you also confirm if the post-installation support covers the equipment 24 hours a day?
And what is actually included in the support? We'd especially like to know if the cost of parts
and labour are included in the package? We need this information as soon as possible.

And lastly, we're thinking about extending the period of the post-installation support from
your company from 6 months to 12 months. Can you give us a quote for this extension?

Please get back to me with the information as soon as possible.

Thanks,

Ian McAdam

Development Manager

A formal email of response/reply

This type of email is used when replying to an email (or even a telephone conversation or
conversation) where somebody has asked you for something.

Dear Mr McAdam,

With reference to your last email regarding the current situation with the Skipton Airport
Project, I can confirm the following:

We successfully completed stage 2 on Monday and at present we are preparing to start stage
3. On the whole, the project is going well. We have not encountered any problems with the
machinery but there are still some minor issues with the delivery system.

As was pointed out in our last meeting, the problem with the delivery system is due to the
software. It is a very common software issue and we just need time to correct the code. Rest
assured that this issue is being looked into and we are confident that it will be resolved by the
end of the month.

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Please accept my apologises for not receiving a copy of the updated project report earlier.
Please find attached a copy of the report at the end of the email.

Concerning your question about the post-installation support package, I can confirm that we
provide both remote and call-out site support 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. This covers
remote monitoring, a service every 3 months, service engineer visits and the cost of all parts
and labour.

With regards to your request to extend the period of post-installation support from 6 months
to 12 months. May I suggest that we discuss this matter at the next project update meeting?

I hope that this answers your questions.

If you require any further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me on my mobile,
07340 7602133.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely,

A less formal email of response/reply

This is like the formal email of response (you use it when replying to an email (where
somebody has asked you for something), but this is used when writing to a work colleague or
somebody you have a good relationship with.

Hi Ian,

Everything is going well at the moment. We're a little bit busy, but that's good.

In answer to your email about the current situation with the Skipton Airport Project, please
find the answers to your questions below:

We successfully completed stage 2 on Monday and currently we're preparing to start stage 3.
In general, the project is going well. We haven't had any problems with the machinery but
there are still some minor issues with the delivery system. As was said in our last meeting, the
problem with the delivery system is because of the software. It's a very common software

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issue and we just need time to correct the code. Don't worry, we're looking into it and we
expect that it will be resolved by the end of the month.

I apologise that you haven't received a copy of the updated Project Report earlier. I have
attached a copy of the report below.

To answer your question about the post-installation support package we offer, I can confirm
that it includes both remote and call-out site support 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. This
covers remote monitoring, a service every 3 months, service engineer visits and the cost of all
parts and labour.

Regarding the quote for an extension to the period of post-installation support from 6 months
to 12 months. I think we should discuss this subject at the next project update meeting.

I hope that this answers your questions.

Give me a ring if you need anything else.

Regards,

Emails to give bad news

The first email is formal and used to politely make somebody aware that something bad that
affects them has happened. The second email is less formal and used to tell somebody that
you now can't do something that you had promised to do.

Email 1

Dear Mrs Ryder,

I regret to inform you that due to a mistake on our computer system, your credit card account
with ourselves has been cancelled. As a result, you will not be able to use the credit card. I
apologise on behalf of our company for this situation happening.

Unfortunately, due to banking regulations we are not legally able to change your account's
status from cancelled to active. In order to change the status to active, you will have to reapply

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for the credit card account again. Once you have done this, we will re-issue you with a new
card as quickly as we can.

Please find below a link to the web page to reapply:

www.bankcards.com/creditcard/appform.html

As a way to recompense you for any trouble this has caused, we will credit your account when
active with £35.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me by email (on
jbeever@bankcards.com) or by phone (on 0242 7433123).

Please accept my apologies for any inconvenience this may cause.

Yours sincerely,

James Beever

Customer Services Analyst

Email 2

Good Afternoon John,

I'm afraid I won't be able to help you to do the report for the holiday park. Something very
important has just come up and for the next two weeks I'm going to have to focus all my
attention on it.

I appreciate that it's very late to tell you that I can't help you and I can only apologise for that.

Have you thought about asking Karen Taylor to help? She has experience of writing these types
of reports.

Sorry again for not being able to help you.

Regards,

Emma

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An email of feedback

This email is used to give somebody (e.g. a work colleague) some feedback on something they
have asked you to look at.

Hi Simon,

I hope you are well?

As you asked, I've been using your new software application for adding customer information
for the past couple of days. Overall, I've been very impressed with how easy it is to learn.
Within 5 minutes of opening it, I knew what I had to do. I wish other applications were so easy
to learn.

Also, I love the design of the application. It looks modern and simple.

There are a few things which I think could be improved:

I'm not sure that it's necessary to have so many input fields for the information. It took me
nearly 10 minutes to complete the form for each new customer. I don't think that it's
necessary to know if the customer is married or what their nationality is. The longer we keep
new customers on the phone when adding their personal details to our database, the less
likely they are to return.

In addition, have you thought about making some of the input fields automatically complete
information? You could use the post/zip code to automatically add the street name, town and
country for each customer. Making the form quicker to complete.

A couple of times I couldn't see what I had written. For me, the size of the letters/fonts isn't
big enough. If I were you, I would consider making the letters/font bigger.

Although I think experienced staff will find it easy to complete the form with customers'
information on the application, new staff may struggle. As you know, new staff often don't
know exactly what information to take from a customer or they complete fields with the
wrong type of information. Can you think of a way to help new staff complete the form
correctly without them having to ask other staff in the call centre?

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As I said before, overall I think the application is very good. I just think with some minor
changes, it could be even better.

Contact me if you want to go over what I've suggested.

Take care,

Chris

An email of apology

You would use this formal type of email when you want to apologise for something that you
or your company has done wrong.

Dear Mr Smith,

Further to your email of the 17th December 2009 regarding your order (ref no. 34ED12QP).
First of all, please allow me to apologise for Peter Taylor not responding to your email. I can
confirm that Peter has been on sick leave for the whole of this week. And although this
explains the issue, it does not justify it.

It transpires that there was a miscommunication in his department and the person who should
have been taking care of this issue, did not. I have already taken all the necessary measures
to ensure that this does not happen again in the future. Thank you for bringing this matter to
my attention.

With regards to the issues about your order, I have taken personal charge of them. First of all,
let me apologise for the late delivery. We should have made you aware about the delay at the
time.

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Regarding the damaged components, I can confirm the following:

It is normal policy here that we do not accept liability for problems with components if we are
not notified within 7 working days of delivery. And due to the fact that you did not notify us
until after 15 working days of the delivery, the Customer Service Department followed
procedure.

But as we view you as a valuable customer, and we have worked together for over five years,
rest assured that I will sort out this issue as a matter of urgency. I have already spoken to the
Production Director here and he will confirm tomorrow when we can send the replacement
components to you. I will update you about the situation with the components by the end of
tomorrow at the latest.

Could you please confirm if this is adequate?

I do hope that this situation has not damaged your confidence in working with us.

Once again, please accept our apologises for any inconvenience caused.

If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact me by mobile on 07995 348236.

Yours sincerely,

Mrs Sally Boswell

Rugger Sales Director

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An email of complaint

You would use this formal type of email when you want to complain to somebody (normally
at another company or department) about something you think they or their company or
department is responsible for.

Dear Mrs Boswell,

I wish to draw your attention to an issue we have with a recent order from yourselves (ref no.
34ED12QP). Not only was the delivery four days later than agreed, but when we tried to use
the components, we found that 40% of them were damaged and basically useless.

As is normal, I spoke to your Customer Service Manager, Peter Taylor on this matter. I
expected that you would replace the damaged components, but this has not been the case.
When I last spoke to Peter, last week, he informed me that the components were undamaged
when delivered to us and that it was our fault. To make matters worse, he has still not replied
to an email I sent to him on Monday. Not very professional customer service.

As you are aware, we have been a customer of your company for over 5 years. The damaged
components are severely impacting our production at the moment. We have orders which we
can not send because of this problem with the components.

Although, I appreciate that you are all very busy. I believe that I am entitled to an explanation
why Peter Taylor has not answered my email, and is refusing to replace the components.

Unless this issue is resolved promptly, then unfortunately, we will be forced to take further
action.

I expect an email from yourself by 5pm today at the latest, to inform me how you are going to
resolve this issue.

Yours sincerely,

Craig Smith

EGO Production Director

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An email to ask for help

You would use this less formal type of email when you need to ask a work colleague or
somebody you know well to help you to do something.

Hi Simon,

I hope you are fine and had a good holiday?

We went to Portugal two years ago. It's a beautiful place and the people are very friendly.

I was wondering if you could do me a favour. I'm writing a presentation on 'changes in modern
marketing' to give at the international marketing conference next week. I've nearly finished it
and I think it sounds ok. But I think that the PowerPoint slides for the presentation look
terrible.

I know that you are very good at creating slides on PowerPoint (your slides always look very
professional). Would you mind having a look at them?

I just need you to have a look at them and suggest how I can make them look more
professional. There are about 12 slides for the presentation. It shouldn't take longer than an
hour to do it. I'd really appreciate it if you could help me.

I would have asked Kevin in my team to check them for me, but he's on holiday until after the
conference.

It's no problem if you can't, but could you let me know as soon as you can?

Sorry for asking you to do this, but I wouldn't ask you if it wasn't important.

Regards,

Ian Flynn

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An email to disagree with somebody

You would use this formal type of email when you want to strongly (but politely) disagree
about something that a person has said to you by email.

Good Afternoon Peter,

Further to your last email regarding the proposed changes to the design of the company's
website. I can confirm that no decision has yet been taken and will not be until next month.

With regards to your concerns about the cost of the new design of the website being
excessive, I'm afraid that I cannot agree with your opinion. I appreciate why you believe that
spending $600,000 is excessive. I can reassure you that we have done everything possible to
reduce the overall cost of the project. In fact, the original offers we received for the project
were around $750,000.

Taking into consideration both the size of the website and the work involved in redesigning
and updating the website, in my opinion, $600,000 is a very good price.

You yourself agreed that the current design of our company's website looks old and the
website is difficult to use. If we do not carry out design changes in the near future, we will not
only lose more potential customers, but it will also damage our brand image in the market.

I would be happy to forward to you a copy of the project plan and the estimated costs. May I
suggest that you look at these first and if you have any suggestions of how the cost can be
reduced further, I would be pleased to hear them.

I hope this addresses your concerns.

If you want to discuss this matter further, don't hesitate to contact me on my mobile, 676 005
451.

Best regards,

William Smith

IT Web Manager

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An email to invite people to a meeting

This less formal email is used to directly invite work colleague, supplier or customer to a
meeting. It can easily adapted to invite groups of people.

Hi Ian,

We're holding a meeting on the current problems with the computer systems and I'd
appreciate it if you could come. Having somebody like yourself there from the legal
department is important because of the problems we've had with the loss of customer data.

The meeting will take place next Thursday at 2pm in meeting room 3 in the Corley Building in
Leeds.

If there's anything you would like to discuss in the meeting, send it to me by email and I'll
include it in the meeting's agenda.

Let me know as soon as possible if you can attend.

Regards,

David Mitchell

IT Project Manager

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An email to invite people to an event

This formal email is used to invite customers (or potential customers) or suppliers to events
(e.g. a conference etc...) organised by your company.

Dear Mr Smith,

My name is Sue Jenkins and I am writing on behalf of Reef Technologies plc.

We are pleased to announce that we are sponsoring a series of presentations on the future of
renewable energy. The presentations are going to be performed by world-renowned experts
in the field (for example Dr Josh Bartlett from MIT and Mrs Jennifer Woods from Clean Future
inc.) and will consider future advances in the technology of renewable technology.

Due to your company having worked with Reef Technologies plc in the past, we would like to
invite you to the event. The event will be held at the Randalls Conference Centre in Leeds
between 3pm and 8pm on the 12 April 2017. If you require directions to the venue, please let
me know.

If you would like to attend, please confirm your attendance by replying to this email by the 18
March 2017.

If you have any questions about the event, please do not hesitate to contact me by email (on
sjenkins@reeftech.com) or by mobile/cell (on 07867 7433123).

I look forward to receiving your reply.

Yours faithfully,

Sue Jenkins

PR Manager

Reef Technologies plc

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Emails to say you can't attend a meeting

Three formal and less formal emails that can be sent to say that you can't attend a meeting.

Email 1

Dear Mr Smith,

Thank you for the invitation to the review meeting on the 12 July. Unfortunately, due to a
prior commitment that I am unable to change, I will not be able to attend the meeting.

If you need to contact me, please do not hesitate to do so on my mobile, 6902341899.

I apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

Yours sincerely,

T Berridge

Email 2

Hi John,

I hope that everything's going well over there?

I'm afraid that I can't make tomorrow's meeting. Something very important has just come up
and I'm going to be very busy tomorrow.

I'm sorry for the short notice, but I just found out this morning.

Is there any chance we can put the meeting back until Friday?

Let me know if that's OK for you.

Regards

Will

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Email 3

Dear Miss Garland,

With reference to the upcoming review meeting on Thursday the 13 November, I am afraid
that due to personal reasons, I will not be able to attend.

Would you object if we postponed the meeting to next week? If this is appropriate, what day
would be convenient for you?

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me on my mobile, 1902341892.

Allow me to apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely,

D Mitchell

Emails to convince somebody to go to a meeting they said they can't go to

These three less formal emails can be used to convince somebody to attend a meeting after
they have said that they can't go.

Email 1

Hi Jeff,

Thanks for getting back to me about the meeting.

I appreciate that you're very busy at the moment. As I said in the invitation I sent you, in the
meeting we're going to be looking at the problems we've had with the loss of customer data.
To be honest, we still don't know the full extent. We may have lost the data for 1,000
customers or 500,000. In addition, there is also some indications that it could have been
stolen.

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As you can imagine, no matter what the cause, it's going to have major consequences on the
company. That why we need to be fully prepared for any eventuality. And that's the reason
why we felt that your attendance was necessary.

If you could reconsider attending the meeting, we'd all appreciate it.

Regards,

Sue Jenkins

Email 2

Hi Dan,

Thanks for getting back to me about the meeting.

It's a shame that you can't attend the meeting on Thursday. You'll be the only person invited
that won't be attending (The director of customer services has also asked to attend).

It would have been an excellent opportunity to have all the relevant areas together to see how
we can quickly deal with this problem and limit the consequences.

It's highly likely that we'll have to organise another meeting when you can be available. I'll
discuss this with the attendees in the meeting and let you know what they think.

Regards,

Sue Jenkins

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Email 3

Hi Sally,

Thanks for letting me know that you can't attend the meeting on Friday afternoon.

I've spoken to the other attendees (Paul Daniels, Keith Richards etc...) and we've all agreed
that we can move the meeting to a time and date which is more suitable for your schedule.

Please advise me of a time and a date which is more suitable for your schedule.

Regards,

Sue Jenkins

Emails to thank people

Three different emails that can be sent to thank people for doing something. The first is to a
customer/supplier, the second is to the whole company or a department/team, and the last
is to a work colleage.

Email 1

Dear Mr Trotter,

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for showing myself and my colleague around
your factory on Monday. It was both a very informative and productive visit for both myself
and my colleague. I really appreciate that you took time out of your busy work schedule to
show us around and meet with us.

It was a pleasure to meet with you and your staff. All of whom treated us with the utmost
kindness and respect during the whole of our visit. If you could pass our thanks onto your staff,
it would be very much appreciated.

Once again, thank you for the visit.

Yours sincerely,

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Eric Banner

Account Executive

Merlin Components plc

Email 2

Dear all,

I would just like to make you aware that our company has won the contract to supply
photocopiers to the American government for the next 3 years.

I would like to thank you all for the hard work you have done over the last four months. The
winning of this contract is a recognition of both all your hard work and the dedication that you
have made over the years to make our company great. This wouldn't have been possible
without you.

Thank you,

Ron Lowe

CEO

Runners Ink inc.

Email 3

Hi Peter,

Thanks a lot for sending me a copy of the report. It's really appreciated.

Regards,

Sally

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A proposal email

You would use this type of email when you want to recommend to somebody (normally your
manager) that something be bought or changed where you work. This is normally only used
when the thing that will be bought or changed will cost a lot of money or will require a lot of
resources.

Hi Sally,

Further to our conversation yesterday about the sales training course for the members of my
staff, please find below the proposal that I would like you to consider:

As you are aware, all staff in the customer services department are now expected to promote
our company's products and services when speaking to existing customers by phone. Since
the beginning of this year, the performance of the department is now partly based on how
many sales are generated.

As you yourself have said, the results since we started promoting have been disappointing.
We have not met any of the sales targets which have been set for the call centre. No matter
what we have done to improve sales rate (increasing commissions per sale, punishing staff
who don't try to promote etc...), they have not increased.

After conducting an extensive investigation into the issue, through monitoring incoming
customer calls into the call centre and performing interviews with staff, I have created a report
(a copy of which is attached at the bottom of the email). This report identifies that the problem
lies with the staff.

It shows that it's not that the staff don't want to sell and promote the products or services,
but that they don't know how to do it. Few have any prior experience of selling any type of
products or services. They don't understand how to persuade/convince people to buy or
identify what products or services would be of most use or interest to the person they are
speaking to. No matter what we do, until they learn how to do this, sales conversions are going
to continue to remain low.

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That is why I propose we undertake a sales training course to teach essential sales skills to the
customer services staff in the call centre. After contacting a number of different companies, I
have found a training course which would be the most suitable for our needs. It's run by APC
Sales Training. Not only do they have one of the best reputations in the industry (they are used
by Barclays, HSBC, ING etc...) but one of my ex-colleagues used them in the customer services
department which she runs and said sales conversions more than doubled as a result.

I have already contacted APC Sales Training and they have devised a three day sales training
course designed specifically for our needs (their proposed course outline is attached at the
bottom of the email).

The cost of the three day course they are proposing is £1,200 per participant. That includes all
materials, food and drinks, and room hire.

I appreciate that money is a concern. And I admit that the three day training course is not
cheap. That is why I propose that we initially limit the number of staff who undertake the
course to four customer service assistants. We can then monitor their performance when they
return to see if the course has lead to a significant improvement in their sales conversion. If it
does, we can talk about enrolling the rest of the customer service assistants in the call centre
on to the course.

I really believe that this proposal is both the most effective and quickest way that we can
improve our sales performance. If we don't train the staff how to sell, the chances of meeting
the sales targets for the call centre are extremely low.

I'd appreciate to hear what you think about the proposal.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me by either email or phone (07930
522356).

Regards,

Peter Smith

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Emails to reject a business offer

The first email is formal and used to tell a company that you are not interested in an offer they
have made. The second is also formal, but it is used to tell a company that they have not won
a contract they made a bid for.

Email 1

Dear Mr Boxall,

Thank you for your enquiry about supplying our company with new photocopying equipment.

Unfortunately, we are currently not in need of replacing our existing photocopiers. We

recently entered a new 2 year contract with our existing photocopier provider.

You would be more than welcome to contact us again when our current contract is up for
renewal.

Yours sincerely,

Jeff Thompson

Office Manager

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Email 2

Dear Mrs Robinson,

Thank you for submitting a bid for the re-design of our website. After careful consideration of
all the proposals we received for the contract, I regret to inform you that on this occasion your
bid has been unsuccessful. We have decided to offer the contract to one of the other bidders.

Although your proposal was very professional and well-thought out, we felt that the design
didn't focus enough on the social media channels our company uses and it was a little over
complicated and confusing to use.

We will be more than happy to consider you for any web development or redesign projects
we have in the future.

If you require any further feedback, please do not hesitate to contact me by email on
dmitchell@powersports.com or by phone on 01535 6547196.

Yours sincerely,

David Mitchell

Project Manager

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Email example 1: Announcement

Subject: Meet the new Customer Support Representative

Dear team,

I am pleased to introduce you to [Name] who is starting today as a Customer Support

Representative. She will be providing technical support and assistance to our users, making
sure they enjoy the best experience with our products.

Feel free to greet [Name] in person and congratulate her with the new role!

Best regards,

[Your name]

[Job title]

Email example 2: Business follow up email

Subject: RE: [subject line of your previous email]

Hi [Name],

Following up on my previous email about the collaboration with your website. I’m still
interested in writing a guest post about the best UX practices for dating apps. With 10 years
of experience in the mobile industry, I have a lot of insights to share with your audience.

Please let me know if you’re interested in collaboration!

Best,

[Your name]

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Email example 3: Request

Subject: Vacation request for September, 10-15

Dear Mr./Ms. [Last name],

I would like to request a vacation from Monday, September 9th till Friday, September 13th.

I will make sure to complete all my current projects and pending tasks in advance before the
vacation. My colleagues [Name] and [Name] will cover my responsibilities during my absence.

Looking forward to your approval.

Sincerely,

[Your name]

[Job title]

Email example 4: Question

Subject: Do you have student discounts for the Annual Coding Conference?

Greetings,

I would like to ask if you provide student discounts for tickets to the Annual Coding
Conference.

I’m a full-time student at the University of Texas and I’m very excited about your event, but
unfortunately, the ticket price is too high for me. I would appreciate if you could offer me an
educational discount.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

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Best,

[Your name]

Email example 5: Complaint

Subject: Complaint regarding the quality of the headphones

Hi there,

I purchased the headphones at Perfect Music on Monday, August 11. Later, I discovered that
the left headphone wasn’t working. Unfortunately, the staff refused to replace the
headphones or return my money although I provided the receipt.

I’m deeply disappointed about the quality of the product and the disrespectful treatment I
received in your store.

I hope to have this issue resolved and get my money back, otherwise, I will have to take further
actions.

Best,

[Your name]

Email example 6: Response to a complaint

Dear [Name],

I’m sorry for the unpleasant experience you had in our store and I can understand your
frustration. I have forwarded your complaint to our management team, and we’ll do our best
to make sure this never happens again.

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I refunded your purchase, and your funds should be with you shortly. We also want to offer
you a 10% discount for your next purchase in our store. Please use this promo code to get a
discount: [link].

Please accept our apologies for the inconvenience you had.

Best regards,

[Your name]

[Job title]

[Contact details]

37
Starting Phrases

• Dear Sir or Madam,

• Dear Mr Smith,

Ending Phrases

• Yours sincerely,

(Used in British English)

This is used to end an email or letter when you have had some type of contact with the person
you are writing to before. As a result, it can only be used when you have started the email
with the person's name (e.g. 'Dear Mrs Smith,'). It is never used when you open the email with
'Dear Sir or Madam,'.

• Sincerely,

(Used in American English)

The equivalent of 'Yours sincerely,' in American English is this. It is used to end an email or
letter when you have had some type of contact with the person you are writing to before. As
a result, it should only be used when you have started the email with the person's name (e.g.
'Dear Mrs. Smith,'). Although it shouldn't be used when you start the email with 'Dear Sir or
Madam,', it often is by many Americans.

• Regards,

(Used in both British and American English)

This is a little less formal way of saying 'Yours sincerely,' or 'Sincerely'. It is used to close an
email or letter when you have had some type of contact with the person you are writing to
before. As a result, it can only be used when you have started the email with the person's
name (e.g. 'Dear Mrs Smith,'). It is never used when you start the email with 'Dear Sir or
Madam,'.

38
If the email or letter is very formal, you wouldn't use 'Regards,'. But if it isn't, it is fine to end
it by using 'Regards,'.

• Yours faithfully,

(Used in British English)

This is used to close an email or letter when you have never had any type of contact with the
person you are writing to before. You can use it with both of the starting phrases from above.

• Yours truly,

(Used in American English)

The equivalent of 'Yours faithfully,' in American English is this. It is used to close an email or
letter when you have never had any type of contact with the person you are writing to before.
You can use it with both of the starting phrases from above.

This is not commonly used these day. It is more common to use 'Sincerely' instead if you
haven't had any contact with the person before.

Opening sentences for formal emails

• I am writing in reference to...

• I am writing with regards to...
• With reference to...
• Further to...
• My name is Ruth Smith and I work...
• My name is Ruth Smith and I am writing on behalf of...

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