1 Lead your reader into the message

I’ll be pleased to help you to sort out this issue.
I appreciate your understanding in trying to resolve this problem.
I hope I can shed some light on this soon.
I see what you mean and can appreciate your concern.
This has shown me a clearer perspective and I can see a true picture now.
I’m happy to offer you an extra discount of 5% in the circumstances.

2 Show some emotion

I’ll be pleased to help you to sort out this issue.
I appreciate your understanding in trying to resolve this problem.
I hope I can shed some light on this soon.
I see what you mean and can appreciate your concern.
This has shown me a clearer perspective and I can see a true picture now.
I’m happy to offer you an extra discount of 5% in the circumstances.

3 Use a visual language

I can see what you mean.
This is all very clear to me now.
This will now enable us to focus on our mutual goals.
Your suggestions look good.
I would like to take a look at this issue from another perspective.

Structure: Opening

Thank you for your letter of . . .
It was good to meet you again at last week’s conference.
We wish to hold our annual conference at a London hotel in September.

I am glad we were able to speak on the phone this morning to clarify this issue.

It was good to meet you yesterday. It provided a good opportunity to learn more about your
new project, which sounds very interesting.

Thanks for calling me today. It made a nice change to speak to you instead of always
dealing through email!

Your news today is interesting – it sounds like you’ve been working really hard to ensure
the success of this project.

Structure: Central section (details)

Structure: Conclusion

Please let me have full details of the costs involved, together with some sample menus.
If payment is not received within seven days, this matter will be placed in the hands of our solicitor.

Structure: Close

I look forward to meeting you soon.
I look forward to seeing you at next month’s conference.
I would appreciate your prompt reply.
Please call me if you have any questions.

Over to you,

To your success,

Cheery greetings,

Take care,

Until next time,

Take it easy, Smiles.

Requests

Opening

We are interested in ______ as advertised recently in ______.

We have received an enquiry for your ______.

I was interested to see your advertisement for ______.

I understand you are manufacturers of (dealers in) ______ and should like to receive your current
catalogue.

Main section and close

When replying, please also include delivery details.

Please also state whether you can supply the goods from stock as we need them urgently.

If you can supply suitable goods, we may place regular orders for large quantities.

Replies to requests

Opening and main section

Thank you for your letter of ______. As requested we enclose ______.

I was pleased to learn ______ that you are interested in our ______.

Thank you for your enquiry dated ______ regarding ______.

Action and close

We look forward to receiving a trial order from you soon.

We shall be pleased to send you any further information you may need.

Please give me a call if you have any questions.

Please let me know if you need any further details.

I hope to hear from you soon.

I will call you next week to discuss this with you.

Requests for quotations, estimates, etc

Openings

Please quote for the supply of ______.

Please send me a quotation for the supply of ______.

We wish to have the following work carried out.

Closes

As the matter is urgent we should like this information by the end of this week.
If you can give us a competitive quotation, we expect to place a large order.
If your prices compare favourably with those of other suppliers, we shall send you an early
order.

Replies to requests for quotations, etc

Openings

Thank you for your letter of ______ .

We thank you for your enquiry of ______and are pleased to quote as follows:

We are sorry to learn that you find our quotation of ______ too high.

Closes

We hope you will find our quotation satisfactory and look forward to receiving your order.

We shall be pleased to receive your order.

As the prices quoted are exceptionally low and likely to rise, please place your order without
delay.

As our stocks of these goods are limited, we suggest you place an order immediately.

Placing orders

Openings

Thank you for your quotation of ______.

We have received your quotation of ______and enclose our official order form.

Please supply the following items as soon as possible:

Closes

As these goods are needed urgently, we look forward to prompt delivery.

Please acknowledge receipt of this order and confirm that you will be able to deliver by ______.

We hope to receive your advice of delivery within the next two days.

Acknowledging orders

Openings

Thank you for your order dated ______.
We are sorry to inform you that the goods ordered on ______ cannot be supplied.

Closes

We hope the goods reach you safely and that you will be pleased with them.

We hope you will find the goods satisfactory and look forward to receiving your further orders.

We are pleased to say that these goods have been despatched today (will be despatched in ______/are now awaiting collection at ______).

Invoicing and Accounts Settlement

Payments due

Openings

Enclosed is our statement for the quarter ended ______.

We enclose our statement to 31 showing a balance of £ ______.

We are sorry it was necessary to return our invoice number for correction.

Closes

Please let us have your credit note for the amount of this overcharge.
Please make the necessary adjustment and we will settle the account immediately.
We apologise again for this error and enclose our credit note for the overcharge.

Payments made

Openings

We enclose our cheque for £ ______ in payment for goods supplied on ______.

We enclose our cheque for £ ______ in settlement of your invoice number ______.

Many thanks for your cheque for £ ______.

We thank you for your cheque for £ ______ in part payment of your account.

Closes

We hope to receive the amount due by the end of this month.
Please send us your cheque immediately.
As the amount owing is considerably overdue, we must ask you to send us your cheque by return.

Letters Requesting Payment

First applications

We notice that your account, which was due for payment on _______, is still outstanding (remaining to be paid, done, or dealt with).

It seems that our invoice number _______ for £_______ remains unpaid.

We have not yet received the balance of our _______ statement amounting to £_______.

As our statement may have gone astray, a copy is attached. Please pass this for immediate

payment.

We hope to receive your cheque by return.

We look forward to receiving your payment soon.

Second applications

We have not received a reply to our letter dated _______ for settlement of £_______.

We are disappointed not to have received a reply to our letter dated _______ requesting settlement of

our statement.

We hope you will deal with this without further delay.

We must ask you to settle this account immediately.

We hope you will make arrangements to pay the amount outstanding immediately.

Third applications

We wrote to you on _______ and again on _______ regarding the amount owing on our invoice number

_______.

We have had no reply to our previous requests for payment of our _______ statement.

We are disappointed that we have had no replies to our two previous applications for payment

of your outstanding account.

Unless we receive your cheque in full settlement by _______ we shall have no option but to instruct

our solicitors to recover the amount due.

Unless we receive your full payment by the end of this month, we shall be compelled to take

further steps to enforce payment.

We still hope you will settle this account without further delay, otherwise we shall have to take

legal action.