Writing Business Letter Part.2

Writing Business Letters

Useful phrases and vocabulary for writing business letters.

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Salutation	• Dear Mr. Brown • Dear Ms. White • Dear Sir • Dear Madam • Dear Sir or Madam • Gentlemen
Starting	•  We are writing - to inform you that ... - to confirm ... - to request ... - to enquire about ... • I am contacting you for the following reason... • I recently read/heard about ..... and would like to know .... • Having seen your advertisement in ..., I would like to ... • I would be interested in (obtaining / receiving) ... • I received your address from ----- and would like to ...
Referring to previous   contact	• Thank you for your letter of March 15. • Thank you for contacting us. • In reply to your request, ... • Thank you for your letter regarding ... • With reference to our telephone conversation yesterday... • Further to our meeting last week ... • It was a pleasure meeting you in London last month. • I enjoyed having lunch with you last week in Tokyo. • I would just like to confirm the main points we discussed        on Tuesday.
Making a request	• We would appreciate it if you would ... • I would be grateful if you could ... • Could you please send me ... • Could you possibly tell us / let us have ... • In addition, I would like to receive ... • It would be helpful if you could send us ... • I am interested in (obtaining / receiving) ... • I would appreciate your immediate attention to this matter. • Please let me know what action you propose to take.
Offering help	• Would you like us to ...? • We would be happy to ... • We are quite willing to ... • Our company would be pleased to ...
Giving good news	• We are pleased to announce that ... • I am delighted to inform you that .. • You will be pleased to learn that ...
Giving bad news	• We regret to inform you that ... • I'm afraid it would not be possible to ... • Unfortunately we cannot / we are unable to ... • After careful consideration we have decided (not) to ...
Complaining	• I am writing to express my dissatisfaction with ... • I am writing to complain about ... • Please note that the goods we ordered on ( date )        have not yet arrived. • We regret to inform you that our order n° ----- is now        considerably overdue. • I would like to query the transport charges which seem        unusually high.

Apologizing	We are sorry for the delay in replying to ... I regret any inconvenience caused (by) ... I would like to apologize for the (delay, inconvenience)... Once again, please accept my apologies for ...
Orders	Thank you for your quotation of ... We are pleased to place an order with your company for.. We would like to cancel our order n° ..... Please confirm receipt of our order. I am pleased to acknowledge receipt of your order n° ..... Your order will be processed as quickly as possible. It will take about (two/three) weeks to process your order. We can guarantee you delivery before ...(date) Unfortunately these articles are no longer available / are out of stock.
Prices	Please send us your price list. You will find enclosed our most recent catalogue and price list. Please note that our prices are subject to change without notice. We have pleasure in enclosing a detailed quotation. We can make you a firm offer of ...
Referring to payment	Our terms of payment are as follows  ... Our records show that we have not yet received payment of ... According to our records ... Please send payment as soon as possible. You will receive a credit note for the sum of ...
Enclosing documents	I am enclosing ... Please find enclosed ... You will find enclosed ...
Closing remarks	If we can be of any further assistance, please let us know. If I can help in any way, please do not hesitate to contact me. If you require more information ... For further details ... Thank you for taking this into consideration. Thank you for your help. We hope you are happy with this arrangement. We hope you can settle this matter to our satisfaction.
Referring to future business	We look forward to a successful working relationship in the future. We would be (very) pleased to do business with your company. I would be happy to have an opportunity to work with your firm.
Referring to future contact	I look forward to seeing you next week. Looking forward to hearing from you, ... Looking forward to receiving your comments, I look forward to meeting you on the (date). I would appreciate a reply at your earliest convenience. An early reply would be appreciated.
Ending business letters	◊ Sincerely,    } ◊ Yours sincerely,}  for all customers / clients ◊ Sincerely yours,} ◊ Yours faithfully, in more formal letters ◊ Regards, for those you already know and/or with whom you have a working relationship

Here are several examples of business letters: Complaint letter from business to business. Dear Mr Thompson, I recently received a letter from a Mr Robinson, a valued customer of ours. He purchased an Italian coffee table and four French dining-room chairs from us which your company delivered to his residence. He has written to complain that the purchases arrived damaged. We pride ourselves in the quality of our products and would like an explanation as to how this mishap occurred. Even though the items are insured, our reputation is at stake. I would be most grateful if you would reply as soon as possible so that this matter can be resolved to everyone's satisfaction. Sincerely Jackie Middleton Customer Services Manager Complaint letter from a business customer to a telephone company Dear Sir, I am writing this letter to complain in the strongest terms about the poor service that I have received from your company. We signed up to your telephone and internet service package two months ago because your advertising suggests that you are better than Telco. In addition, you promise to deal with problems quickly and efficiently, something that Telco were unable or unwilling to do. However, in the first month of service you managed to cause me to lose two days worth of business because of poor administration. The main problem was that you failed to provide me with the correct telephone number, 9818 8747, that you had promised when I completed the contract. This phone number was an established business line which I had been using for the last three years. Obviously this meant that my clients were unable to contact me and it cost me many hours of phone calls to resolve the matter with your support centre. I would appreciate it if this situation could be resolved and a substantial rebate offered on my first three month's account. I look forward to hearing from you soon. Yours Faithfully John O'Sullivan ===================================== A letter to a magazine expressing an opinion about tourism Dear Sir-As someone who has travelled throughout Asia on business and holiday I would like to give my opinion on its environmental impact. Having visited Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia I understand that tourism can bring money to developing countries. However, this money often goes into the pockets of foreign investors, and only rarely benefits local people. Multinational hotel chains also have little regard for the surrounding wildlife when they build new resorts. This can cause many problems. In view of these facts we, as tourists, can directly affect these countries in a positive way if we are thoughtful. When we visit these countries we can visit restaurants, bars and even hotels that are owned by local people. In addition, we can refuse to give luxury resorts our patronage and therefore prevent them from becoming even larger. Most importantly we should check that any tours or excursions we take have minimal effect on the natural surroundings. Finally, we can even attempt to change the behaviour of other tourists by sharing our opinions. If we follow these simple steps we can be sure that our pleasure is not causing any harm to people or places that we visit. A letter in application for a job Dear Sir/Madam, I am writing this letter to apply for the position of student assistant that I saw advertised on your website. I am interested in working in the teachers' resource library, or in the accommodation department. I have recently graduated from the WSB Business School in Warsaw and received high grades in both my English and Business Courses. In addition, we had to use all of the Microsoft Office programs in the preparation of our finished assignments, so I am able to do most things with computers. Since I was 15 years old I have helped my father to run his small import-export business. I have been involved in helping a variety of clients and also the general administration of the business. In the past 2 years I have worked in the WSB library, helping teachers and students to find and use the resources there. This experience has given me the ability to deal with the needs of all types of people. I have an outgoing, diligent personality and find that I enjoy the challenges of working in busy environments. In addition, my studies and experience have taught me to be accurate and efficient in organising my work so I would be a valuable addition to your school. I look forward to hearing from you. Yours faithfully Pawel Minescz Source:  http://www.learn-english-today.com/business-english/business-resources.html http://www.parapal-online.co.uk/resources/letters.html

Using Imperative, Permission, Obligation & Prohibition

Using the Imperative Form in English

You can use the imperative form to give an order, to give a warning or advice, and (if you use "please") to make a request.

To make the imperative, use the infinitive of the verb without 'to':
"Come here!"
"Sit down!"
To make a negative imperative, put "do not" or "don't" before the verb:
"Don't go!"
"Do not walk on the grass."
The imperative can be used for all subjects (you, he, they and we), but you can also use "let's" before the verb if you are including yourself in the imperative:
"Let's stop now."
"Let's have some lunch."
The negative of "let's" is "let's not":
"Let's not argue!
"Let's not tell her about it."
Orders
Adults do not usually give each other orders, unless they are in a position of authority. The intonation of an order is important: each word is stressed, and the tone falls at the end of the sentence:
"Sit down now!" ('Sit', 'down' and 'now' are all stressed, and the tone falls on 'now'.)
However, adults can give orders to children and to animals:
Here are some orders you could give your pet dog:
"Come here!"
"Sit!"
"Heel!"
"Fetch!"
Warnings
You can use the imperative to warn someone of danger. All the words in the warning are stressed, but the last word has a higher tone than the first word:
"Watch out!"
"Look out!"
"Don't cross!"
Advice
When you give advice using the imperative, the words are stressed normally:
"Eat an apple – it's much better for you than a biscuit!"
"Don't tell him you're resigning now! Wait until Monday when he's in a better mood."
You can often read articles in magazines that give advice on a subject. Sometimes, this advice is presented as "Dos and don'ts".
For example:
Travelling long-distance
Do try to sleep well the night before
Do drink plenty of water
Do try to walk about the plane during the flight
Don't drink alcohol
Don't eat heavy meals
Don't wear restrictive clothing
Requests
You can also use the imperative to make a request, but you should use a polite word before the verb:
"Please take a seat."
"Please wait here."
"Please hold the line."
"Please don't smoke here."
In written English, you might also see "Kindly" used as a polite word:
"Kindly return the documents as soon as possible."
"Kindly forward this to the Sales and Marketing department."
"Kindly send me 2 copies of your brochure."

Source: http://www.english-at-home.com/grammar/imperative-form/

Common English Words: Permission, Obligation, Prohibition

Permission = It’s OK

You can smoke here

English words used for permission:

§  can

§  allowed

§  may

§  permitted

What’s the difference? 

The word “to” is used after allowed and permitted, but not after can or may.

§  You’re allowed to smoke in here.

§  You can to smoke in here.

§  You can smoke in here.

Can is more informal, may and permitted are more formal, and allowed is both formal and informal.

For the past and future of “can,” you can use could / was allowed (in the past) and will be allowed (in the future):

§  When I was a kid, I was allowed to stay up until 11 PM on Friday nights.

§  We‘ll be allowed to check two suitcases on the flight.

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Obligation = It’s necessary

You have to show your photo ID.

English words used for obligation:

§  have to

§  need to

§  must

§  required

What’s the difference?

Must and required are more formal than have to and need to.

Don’t use “to” after “must.”

Supposed to / Not supposed to

You can use these words for “light” requirements and prohibitions – for example, rules that are often not followed.

§  We’re supposed to arrive on time, but it’s OK if we’re a little late. Our boss is pretty relaxed.

§  The employees aren’t supposed to eat lunch at their desks, but a lot of them do so anyway.

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Prohibition = It’s not OK

You’re not allowed to swim here.

English words used for prohibition:

§  can’t

§  mustn’t

§  not allowed

§  not permitted

What’s the difference?

Can’t is more informal, mustn’t and not permitted are more formal, and not allowed is both formal and informal.

Don’t use “to” after “mustn’t.”

Pronunciation

The first “t” in “mustn’t” is silent!

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No obligation = It’s not necessary

You don’t need to wear shoes here.

English words used for no obligation:

§  don’t have to

§  don’t need to

§  not necessary

§  not required

§  optional

What’s the difference?

Don’t have to and don’t need to are more informal. Not necessary, not required, and optional are more formal.

 

Source: http://www.espressoenglish.net/common-english-words-permission-obligation-prohibition/