Inquiry Letter
Definition of inquiry letter
The
letters that are written for collecting information about job seekers, prices,
products, and services before awarding jobs, granting credit, making contracts
and giving promotions are known as letters of inquiry. These letters are
written to a third party seeking information about either a job or a company
that wishes to make business relationship.
In
broad sense, when a buyer wishes to get some information about the quantity,
price, quality and availability of goods or about the terms of sale, he writes
a letter to the seller known to be inquiry letter. Here you can get definition,
forms and content of inquiry letter.
As
Gartside said: “An inquiry letter asks information like catalogue, quotation,
sample, cost of a product from a seller in a concise and clear way.”
J. H Jains quoted: “The business letter which
collects valuable information of the business and therefore provides price
reduction and profit earning facilities is defined as inquiry letter”
Types of inquiry letter
Based
on purpose, there are two most common types of inquiry letters such as
- Personal status inquiry letter: The letters that are written by prospective employers for obtaining information about job applicants are called personal status inquiry letter. Employers write this letter to obtain information relating to the applicant’s personal and family background, ability, skills, honesty, character, integrity, quality of performance, fitness for job etc. generally this letter is written to the referees mentioned by the concerned applicant. In response to this letter, the referees write a reply letter to the employer. This response letter may be favorable, unfavorable or neutral to the applicant.
- Business status inquiry letter: When a business enterprise writes letter to another business enterprise for collecting information about a prospective customer, it is known as business status inquiry letter. This letter is usually written for collecting information about financial capability, goodwill, nature of business dealings, honesty etc. of a business enterprise to determine whether to establish business transactions with it. Responses of this letter may be either favorable or unfavorable.
Forms of Inquiry Letter
Forms
of Inquiry letter may take any of the following forms:
- Solicited Inquiry: An inquiry made in response to the seller’s advertisement and publicity.
- Unsolicited Inquiry: An inquiry made at the buyer’s own initiative.
- Inquiry for favor: An inquiry about some other information which may be about some special price or some favorable terms.
- Routine inquiry: An inquiry made by an old buyer in the usual course of business so, A letter of inquiry which asks valuable information from seller or producer should be:
Ø Straightforward
and courteous
Ø Positive and confident in tone
Ø Brief,
complete and correct.
Content of Inquiry Letter / Factors
to be considered for drafting an Inquiry Letter
Generally
content of inquiry letter asks information regarding two things which are:
- Price, quality, quantity and availability of a product
- Business policy related information such as terms of creditKeeping the above two things into consideration an inquiry letter should highlight the following matters:
- Name: The product that is going to be purchased should be mentioned clearly in such letter.
- Description: Information like quality, quantity, size & share, local or foreign origin and others of the inquired product should be mentioned clearly.
- Sample: Such letter should request for sample of the inquired product
- Price list: Such letter should ask for price list of the inquired product.
- System of Supply: When, where, how and in what terms the product should be traded must be asked by such letter.
- Payment system: What should be the way to pay the price should be sought by such letter.
- Transportation: The way of shipment of the inquired product should be asked by such letter.
- Provision for Addition or subtraction of value and quantity: Because of change in the economy or other events whether there would be any provision for plus/minus of value and quantity of inquired product must be sought by such letter.
- Assurance: If the sales term and other conditions favor the buyer, whether he can go for bulk purchase or not and in this connection what additional benefits will be given should be inquired by such letter.
Order Letter
Definition of Order Letter
The letter
that is written by a potential buyer to the seller requesting him to deliver
goods is known as order letter. By writing inquiry letters, buyers can collect
necessary information about the price, quality of goods and terms of sale. If
the buyer finds the quoted price, quality of goods and terms of sales
satisfactory, he places an order to supply goods in his address. The seller
delivers the good according to the buyer’s order.
In
modern time, sellers supply printed orders forms to the customers and customers
place orders by filling up those printed order blanks. In this case, the
printed order sheet or blank is considered as the order letter.
An
“Order” is an expense for the person placing the order and an income for the
one getting it. But this is not all. The company that bags the order has to
fulfill lot of commitments to ensure that it has a satisfied customer, which
can be an individual or another company. Timely delivery of the order, quality
of delivery and after sale service – are all part and parcel of getting an
order.
An Order
Letter is the one that is written by the person/company placing the request of
purchase from another company. This letter comes into action only when a
detailed study of the desired product has been done in the market and based on
promised service, quality and price of the product, a decision for a purchase
has been made.
An Order
Letter should be drafted very carefully as it needs to pen down all the terms
and conditions of the purchase for the benefit of both involved parties. It
should have details such as product specifications, quantities, price agreed
upon, delivery date, late delivery clauses, etc. It should be addressed to the
person responsible for the execution of the order with a copy to the head of
department. Since it is totally an official letter it should be typed.
Factors to Be Considered In Writing
Order Letter or Contents of Order Letter
Through
order letter, the potential buyers request the suppliers to deliver goods to
them. In modern time, printed order blanks or purchase order forms supplied by
the seller are typically used for placing orders. However, in absence of order
blanks and purchase order forms, order letters are written. Such letters
contain three major categories of information:
1. Information about the items being
ordered: An order letter must contain full particulars of
goods ordered. Such information include the followings:
·
Product name
·
Brand name
·
Quantity
·
Catalog number
·
Model number
·
Color
·
Size
·
Weight
·
Unit price
1. Information relating to shipping:
Shipping information is very important. In absence of shipping information,
there can arise misunderstanding between buyer and seller. Shipping information
may include the followings:
·
Desired receipt date;
·
Desired shipping location; and
·
Mode of shipping (rail, road, or
waterways).
4. Information relating to payment:
Mode of payment of prices for the ordered items must be clearly indicated. The
seller will accept the order letter only when both of them come to a common
ground relation to payment of price. Payment information include the following:
·
Mode of payment (cash, cheque, draft)
·
Payment data
The
above stated factors are usually included in order letter. However, the buyer
can include any other instruction or element if he thinks necessary.
Daftar Putaka
- http://www.businesscommunicationarticles.com/definition-forms-and-content-of-inquiry-letter/
- http://www.letters.org/order-letter/order-letter.html
- http://thebusinesscommunication.com/what-is-inquiry-letter-types-of-inquiry-letter/
- http://thebusinesscommunication.com/what-is-order-letter-factors-to-be-considered-in-writing-order-letter/
