Requests for catalogues and price lists

Routine requests where a formal reply is unnecessary

Dear Sir/Madam
I’ve seen your website and am interested in your range of fax machines. Please send me a current catalogue and price list, together with copies of any descriptive leaflets that I could pass to prospective customers.
Many thanks
Ellie Johnson

Dear Sir/Madam
I have seen one of your safes in the office of a local firm and they passed on your address to me.
Please send me a copy of your current catalogue. I am particularly interested in safes suitable for a small office.
Thanks for your help.
Martin Stewart

Potentially large business

Email enquiry

Dear Sir/Madam
I have a large hardware store in Southampton and am interested in the electric heaters you are advertising in the West Country Gazette.
Please send me your catalogue and a price list.
Many thanks
Harriet Johnson (Mrs)

Reply

Email enquiry

Dear Sir/Madam
Please send me details of the catering services you provide. We often run full-day events and are looking for a collaboration with a vendor who can provide tea, coffee and refreshment snacks for breaks as well as a lunch menu.
I hope to hear from you soon.
John Wee

Reply

Requests for advice

Email enquiry

Dear Sir/Madam
Please send me details of the catering services you provide. We often run full-day events and are looking for a collaboration with a vendor who can provide tea, coffee and refreshment snacks for breaks as well as a lunch menu.
I hope to hear from you soon.
John Wee

Reply

Enquiries through recommendations

Enquiry

Dear Sirs
My neighbour, Mr W Stevens of 29 High Street, Derby, recently bought an electric lawn mower from you. He is delighted with the machine and has recommended that I contact you.
I need a similar machine, but smaller. Could you let me know what products would be most suitable for me, and send me details via mail, because I don’t have email.
Yours faithfully

Reply

Dear Mrs Garson
Many thanks for your letter of 18 May. I am pleased to enclose a catalogue and price list of our lawn mowers.
The machine bought by your friend was a 38 cm Ramsome, which is a very efficient machine. On page 15 of our catalogue, you will see the smaller size of this model (30 cm). Alternatively, a smaller model than this is the Panther Junior shown on page 17.
We have both these models in stock and should be glad to show them to you if you would like to call at our showroom.
Please contact me on 2314679 to let me know when you can pop in.
Yours sincerely

Requests for samples

Enquiry

Dear Sirs
We have received a number of enquiries for floor coverings suitable for use on the rough floors that seem to be a feature of much of the new building taking place in this region.
It would be helpful if you could send us samples showing your range of suitable coverings. A pattern-card of the designs in which they are supplied would also be very useful.
I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Yours faithfully

Reply

An enquiry with numbered points

Reply

First enquiries

Enquiry

Reply by email

First enquiry from foreign importers

Enquiry via email

Dear Sir/Madam
We hear from Spett Mancienne of Rome that you are producing for export handmade gloves in a variety of natural leathers. I saw your website giving some details.
There is a steady demand in this country for gloves of high quality, and although sales are not particularly high, we are able to charge good prices.
Please let me know full details of the gloves you would recommend. It would also help if you can let us have samples of the various skins in which the gloves are supplied, or samples of the actual gloves.
I hope to hear from you soon.
Faizah Abdullah Rahman

Reply

Dear Mr Rahman
Thank you for your email, and I was pleased to speak to you just now about your interest in our products.
I am attaching a pdf of a more extensive catalogue of products, which I know you will find interesting. We have already arranged to courier to you samples of some of the skins we regularly use in our products. Unfortunately, we cannot send you immediately a full range of samples, but I can assure you that leathers such as chamois and doeskin, which we have not been able to send, are of the same high quality.
Mr Frank North, our European Director, will be visiting Rome early next month. I have asked him to contact you and arrange to visit you personally. He will bring with him a wide range of our goods. When you see them I know you will agree that the quality of materials used and the high standard of craftsmanship will appeal to the most selective buyer.
You also may be interested in our wide range of handmade leather handbags. They are also illustrated in the pdf attached and are of the same high quality as our gloves. Please also follow this link to see details online. Mr North will be able to show you samples when he calls.
Please let me know if you have any further questions.
Jonathan Turner

Customer requests goods on approval

Request

Dear Sir/Madam
Several of my customers have recently expressed an interest in your waterproof garments.
However, before placing a firm order I would like to receive a selection of men’s and children’s waterproof raincoats and leggings on 14 days’ approval. If there are any items unsold at the end of this period, which I decide not to keep as stock, I will return them at my expense.
If quality and price are satisfactory there are prospects of very good sales here, so I hope you can give me some good news soon.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Yours faithfully

Reply

Dear Mrs Turner
Thank you for enquiring about our waterproof garments.
As we have not previously done business together, I’m sure you will appreciate that I must request either the usual trade references, or the name of a bank to which we may refer. As soon as these enquiries have been made, we shall be happy to send you a good selection of the items you require.
I look forward to receiving these details from you soon, and hope that our first transaction together will be the beginning of a long and pleasant business association.
Please give me a call if you have any queries.
Name

Despatch of goods

Dear Mrs Turner
I have now received satisfactory references and am pleased to send you a selection of our waterproof garments.
This selection includes several new and attractive models in which the water-resistant qualities have been improved by a special process. Due to recent economies in our manufacturing methods, we have been able to reduce our prices. They are now lower than those for imported waterproof garments of similar quality.
When you have inspected these garments, please let us know which ones you wish to keep and then return the rest as soon as possible.
I hope this first selection will meet your requirements. If you would like a further selection, please let me know.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Name

Customer returns surplus

Dear Mrs Robinson
Thank you for sending me a selection of waterproof garments on approval.
Quality and prices are both satisfactory and I have arranged to keep the items shown on the attached statement.
Please send me your invoice for £1,209.
Thank you for dealing with this very promptly.
Name

Visits by representatives

Customers often form their opinions of a company from the impressions created by its
representatives. This stresses the need for careful selection and proper training of sales staff. Apart
from being specialists in the art of persuasion, such representatives must also fulfil several
requirements:
They must have an excellent knowledge of the goods to be sold and the uses to which they can be
put.
They must be able to anticipate the customer’s needs.
They must be able to give sound advice and guidance to customers.
They must aim to build relationships with all their customers.

Request for representative to call

Enquiry

Dear Sirs
I read with interest your advertisement for plastic kitchenware in the current issue of the House Furnishing Review.
Can you please arrange for your representative to let me know when he is next visiting this area? I am interested to see a selection of items from your product range.
This is a rapidly developing area and if prices are right I believe your products would be popular.
I hope to hear from you soon.
Name

Supplier’s offer of visit

Request for sole distribution rights

Enquiry

Request declined

Request for special terms

Enquiry

Reply

Dear Ms Denning
Thanks for your email and interest in our bicycles. I was sorry you weren’t in your office when I called today, but I hope you received my voicemail.
I am mailing to you today a hard copy of our catalogue and price list. You can also find full details, including terms and conditions, on our website.
We have considered your suggestion of placing orders for a guaranteed minimum number of bicycles in return for a special allowance. However, after careful consideration we feel it would be better to offer you a special allowance on this sliding scale basis:
On purchases exceeding an annual total of:
£5,000 but not exceeding £8,000 5%
£8,000 but not exceeding £12,000 7%
£12,000 and above 10%
We are unable to give a special allowance on annual total purchases below £5,000.
Orders will be subject to the usual trade references.
I look forward to working with you and hope to hear from you soon. Please give me a call if you wish to discuss this.
My contact details are shown in my signature below.
Best wishes
John Beaver

Letter declining special terms

Dear Mr Ellis
We have carefully considered your letter of 18 December.
As we have been working together for many years, we wish we could grant your request to lower the prices of our sportswear. However, our own overheads have risen sharply in the past 12 months, and we could not reduce prices by the 15% you request unless we considerably lower our quality standards. I hope you can understand that we are not prepared to do this.
As an alternative to this 15% discount, I hope you will agree to a reduction of 5% on all our products for orders of £2,000 or more. On orders of this size we could make such a reduction without lowering standards.
I hope that you will agree to this suggestion and look forward to continuing to work with you.
Please give me a call if you have any questions.
Marsha Ellis