business correspondence -...
TRANSCRIPT
Business Correspondence
Company to company Unit 1/2
Presenter: Eleanor Wang
王怡人
Business Correspondence
• Telex
• Letter
• Memo
• Fax
Letter
ABC Co Ltd123 May Road Taipei Taiwan ROC
Tel: 07-1234567 Fax: 07-7654321 Letterhead
28 February 2002 Date
Mr Andrew Pan
Marketing Manager
XYZ Company
63 Fifth Street Inside address
New York 20352
USA
Dear Mr Pan Salutation
Thank you for your letter dated 8 February.
The purchase order is attached. Please process the order as soon as possible. If you
have any question, please contact me or Ms Huang on (301) 581-2323 in the Marketing
Department.
Body
Please let me know if you need any further information.
Yours sincerely Complimentary Close
Lisa Huang Lisa Huang Signature
Manager
• Letterhead
– design by own company (left, middle, right)
– should have company address, telephone and
fax number, website
• The date
– British English
day month year
Ex: 1 March 2007
– American English
month day year
Ex: March 1 2007
• Inside address
Curtsy titleReceiver’s full name
Job titleReceiver’s company name
Address
• Salutation / Complimentary close
(Dear…./Yours…..)
– Dear Sir or Madam – Yours faithfully
– Dear Mr / Mrs / Miss / Ms + Last name (Mr
Smith)
(Unless that a woman preferred to be called
Miss or Mrs, use Ms) – Yours sincerely
– Dear John – Best wishes
• Body
– An opening which says why you are writing
– The main message which gives the details
– The close which usually talks about the future
• Signature
Hand writing
Typed
Job title
Letter layout
• Block style
• Open punctuation
• Write the date in full (Friday, not Fri.)
• The paragraphs start at the margin.
Between each paragraph there is one line
space
• Do not use contractions (I’m, you’re…)
• Consistency
• Some things that make a message unclear
– Paragraphs that are too long
– Sentences that are too long
– Words that are not used very often
– Too much information at once
– Incomplete information
– Information that is in the wrong order
Subject
copy
Signature
block
• TO
• From
• Subject headings
– Short and clear
• Ex, Request for catalogues, Agents in Taiwan (P9)
• Cc – copy
• Bcc – blind copy
• Attached – attachment (a file or …)
• Signature block
Email layout
• Salutation / Complimentary close
(Dear…./Yours…..)
– Dear Sir or Madam – Yours faithfully
– Dear Mr/Ms/Mrs/Miss Smith – Yours sincerely
– Dear John – Best wishes
• Signature block
Asking for and sending
information (1)• Ask for information
– Please can you tell me …
– Please can you send me …
– Please can you send me details of …
• If you are replying, thank the person first.
– Thank you for your email.
– Thank you for your letter (email) dated6 June.
– Many thanks for your message, dated 6 June.
– Thank you for your enquiry.
Asking for and sending
information (2)• You can then send the information they
want.
– I am attaching details of …
– I have pleasure in attaching …
– I attach some information which I hope you
find useful.
– I attach our price list and look forward to
hearing from you. (look forward to + Ving)
(P11)
Writing tips – message style (1)
• Write a natural style
– Thank you for your letter dated 20 Mar.
– We have received your letter of the 20th of this
month. Χ
• Do not use very informal language
– Dear John
– Hi! or Hello! Χ
• Do not use text-message abbreviation
– I hope I can see you soon. / for you
– I hope I can c u soon. / 4 u Χ
Writing tips – message style (2)
• Do not use slang
– Someone in our office can help ….
– A guy here can help. Χ
• Do not use “emoticons” symbols.
– -.-, >。< Χ
Be polite! (1)
• Say please and thank you.
– Thank you for your email. Please can you
send us your catalogue.
• Avoid being very direct.
– We think your price are rather high…
– Your price are not acceptable. Χ
• Ask rather than order.
– Please could you send it as soon as possible.
– You must send it right away. Χ
Be polite! (2)
• Use indirect questions
– I was wondering if you could help me.
– Can you help me? Χ
• Avoid blaming / accusing the addressee
– I am afraid there is a problem with the order
– You’ve make a mistake with my order. Χ
• Understate the point
– It seems we have a problem.
– There is a problem. Χ (P13)
• Letter of proposal / Promotion letter-
catalogue, P/L (price list), sample, market
report, company profile (Buyer←Seller)
• Enquiry (Buyer→Seller)
• Quotation, Offer (Buyer←Seller)
• Counter offer - Negotiation(Buyer→Seller)
• Acceptance (Buyer←Seller)
• Contract
• Complain
• Claim
Enquiry
Attachments
• I am attaching our catalogue to this
message. Please contact me if you would
like more information.
• Please find attached our report. I look
forward to hearing your comments.
• I have just received the photographs,
which I have attached to this message.
• If you have any problems opening the
files, please let me know.
Problems with attachments
• Thank you for your email. I am afraid you
forgot to attach the report. Please send
your message again.
• Thank you for your message.
Unfortunately, we can not open the
attachment on my computer. Please send
it again in a different format.
• Sorry! I forgot to send the attachment.
(P19)
Beginning a letter
• Say why you are writing
– We are writing to enquire about…
– We are writing in connection with…
– We are interested in … and we would like to
know…
• Replying
– Thank you for your letter (email) of (date)
– Thank you for your letter (email) dated…
– We have received your letter (email) of (date)
• (date), asking if …
• (date), enquiring about …
• (date), enclosing …
• (date), concerning
Main message
– We are attaching details of …
– We have pleasure in attaching …
– We attach some information which we hope
you find useful.
Ending a letter
– We look forward to receiving your reply / order/
products / etc.
– Looking forward to hearing from you,
– W hope that this information will help you.
– Please contact me if you need any further
information.
– Please fell free to contact me if you have any
further questions.
– Please let me know if you need any further
information.
Email conventions
• Make sure your email open and close
properly.
• Don’t write in CAPITALS.
• Writing a reply, don’t copy the original
message back.
• Divide your message into paragraphs.
• Check spelling and grammar before you
send it.
Vocabulary• letter of proposal / promotion letter-
catalogue(catalog), P/L (price list), sample,
market report, company profile, brochure,
leaflet
• complain
• claim
• attached, attachment, enclosed
• head office
• branch office
• specialise (specialize)
• export
• import
• terms (price terms)
• confirm
• courier快遞
• Trade Fair, Trade Exhibition
• demonstration
• product range
• inquiry / enquiry
• quotation, offer
• counter offer – negotiation
• Trade Terms交易條件
– FOB free on board船上交貨條件
– CFR cost and freight運費在內條件
– CIF cost, insurance and freight運保費在內條件
Vocabulary - Price