Nowadays, business collaboration is becoming more and more important.

However, the
product’s quality or the terms of the sales are not the only things you should pay attention to.
Beside them, the way you respond to your partner’s request also plays a big role in making a
successful deal. Here is our guide on how to write an inquiry response email in the most
effective way!

What is an inquiry response email and who is receiving it?

1. The definition
Firstly, before getting to an inquiry response, you need to know what an inquiry email is.
Inquiry emails are emails used to ask for information. We often use a business inquiry email
to ask a company to give more details about their product or service. In case you need to
know more, we also have a guide on inquiry email.

So, an inquiry response is simply the email you write in response to an inquiry you received
earlier. Your main goal while writing them is to meet the sender’s request. They may need
you to provide information, set up a call or send a sample product.

You can see these kinds of email as the first step to a potential partner in the future.
Therefore, they are really important. This is your first impression and touchpoint. That’s why
it is vital that you learn how to write an inquiry response nicely!
2. The recipient
The one you send your inquiry response to is surely the same person who contacted you
earlier. They are very likely to be your company’s future customer or client.

The fact that they sent you an inquiry shown their interest in your product or service. Hence,
this is their first stage: get more information to consider doing business with you.

When a company puts an inquiry into your mailbox, it means that you are given a promising,
valuable business opportunity. As they said, you never know what the future may bring. This
one single inquiry email can be the way for your company to a new level of success.

So, you get it now. A poorly written inquiry response would be a terrible threat. It can leave a
bad impression and cause you to lose the chance. That’s why you should treat each and
every inquiry with care and respect.
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Useful notes while writing an inquiry response
Besides the basic format, there are some crucial notes you should remember while replying
to an inquiry email:

1. Understand the request precisely

After all, it doesn’t really matter what you write in your inquiry response. The most important
thing is that you are able to provide your customer with the information they need.

That is the first and most vital priority for this email type. You must send them the exact
information. Wrong, insufficient, and useless data will completely shut down your chance of
doing business with them.
So, whenever you receive an inquiry, take your time and read it thoroughly. After that,
respond with the same carefulness. Understand what they want, how they want it and send it
to them.

You can also make a checklist of the requested items. It will help you prepare the stuff as
well as check the accuracy of your response later.

2. Reply as soon as possible

Nobody wants to be kept waiting. Your customer, likewise, doesn’t.

You should give proper priority to your customer’s inquiry. If possible, try to reply to them
right after you read their email. The sooner you respond, the more professional and the
better impression they have for you.

Furthermore, this action also saves time for both you and your customer. You can quickly get
rid of another to-do task, while they don’t have to wait too long!
3. Know what you are sending
While replying to an inquiry, make sure you know first-hand what information is in there. If
the customer explained in detail the thing they want, your response should assure to satisfy
all their requests.

Many people tend to just attach the company’s brochure to the email and then click ‘Send’.
However, that is so careless. The brochure simply doesn’t have anything. That’s why
checking the items you send is so crucial. You need to know not only which information the
brochure has, but also which information it doesn’t have.

If the brochure didn’t mention the data your customer needs, you can insert it somewhere. If
you don’t have the item, be honest, and tell them you will send it later. (In this case, set an
expected deadline. Don’t make them wait.)

4. Don’t overdo with added data

You tend to want to give your customer as much information as possible. It’s easy to
understand. However, the secret that creating an effective inquiry response is nothing more
than being right and enough.

Too much information will just make them become excessive. Most of the time, it will just
leave your customer confused as well as irritated.

If you really want to add more, make sure you really understand the customer’s request.
Think carefully about what would truly be useful to them, and attach these only. Nothing
more, nothing less!
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TIPS
Emails that skip the pleasantries
Do you always start an email with a nice greeting and end with a pleasant sign-off? You may
think people won’t notice if you don’t say ‘hello’ or end with ‘kind regards’ but leaving out the
niceties can be taken as abrupt and rude.
Taking the time to address someone and thank them is about building rapport and
establishing a good professional relationship, says Grainger-Marsh. “You don’t have to be
flowery or over the top but it’s about demonstrating courtesy and respect.”

Emails that copy in the world

Keeping people in the loop is one thing but constantly cc-ing everyone in the office is
another. Grainger-Marsh says, “people can see it as you saying ‘well if I have a lot of
witnesses it reduces my ownership of the issue’.”

As a general rule only copy people if there’s an action point for them, someone on their team
or they’re the owner of a project and need to be kept abreast of a situation. “I’ve worked with
CEOs who say if you copy me in and it’s information only I’m going to press delete,” says
Grainger-Marsh. “People’s inboxes get clogged so much as it is…make sure there is some
value in the information you’re copying them into.”

Emails with information overload

Writing huge slabs of text is a no-no. “It gives you a negative reputation in terms of your
ability to communicate with people effectively,” says Grainger-Marsh. Before dropping
everything into an email ask yourself what am I trying to say and what does this person
really need to know?

Emails with poor grammar

Is a rogue apostrophe here or a misspelled word there really doing much harm? Absolutely.
“It shows a lack of interest and a lack of professionalism,” says Grainger-Marsh. Hitting send
on an email with grammatical errors indicates to someone that you don’t value them or your
communication with them highly. To avoid this, get into the habit of proofreading your emails
to ensure they’re polished.

CHUYỂN SLIDE
All enquiries should be answered, even those that cannot for some reason be
given a complete response. An enquiry indicates interest in your company and
potential customers. The enquiry reply should be designed not only to
increase that interest, but also to inspire the inquirer to action.

CHUYỂN SLIDE
1. Opening LXH
Firstly, open your enquiry response with a greeting by mentioning your
prospective customer’s name. For example, if the customer signs his enquiry
letter Mr Black, begin with Dear Mr Black, not Dear Sir.

The first and foremost rule is to show the potential partner your gratitude and
thank them for their interest in your product or service.

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There was this saying: Well begun is half done. Likewise, giving your
customer a pleasant feeling at first can help the business go smoothly.

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After that, mention the date of his or her enquiry and quote any other
references so that they know the matter you discuss here.

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So, here are some phrases you can use in the opening:

● Thank you for your enquiry of 11 November 2021 inquiring about our
service.

● I would like to thank you for your letter which we received this morning
in which you asked about our product.

● We truly appreciate your letter asking for information about our service.

● It was a pleasure to receive your enquiry on 19 December regarding the

product of our company.

● We were pleased to learn from your letter of 10 January that you are
impressed with our selection of...

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2. Confirming that you can help

The next step is to complete your salutation with a confirmation. This small
detail is usually overlooked but actually it conveys the message that your
company cares about customer’s comfort.
Since readers may get irritated reading a long letter only to find that the
supplier cannot help, it is of basic requirement to let the inquirer know near the
start of your reply if you have the product or can provide the service he or she
is asking about.

CHUYỂN SLIDE
Some frequently used expressions include:

● We have a wide selection of sweaters that will appeal to the market you
specified.

● Our factory would have no problem in producing the 6,000 units you
asked for in your enquiry.

● We can supply from stock and will have no trouble in meeting your
delivery date.

● I am pleased to say that we will be able to offer door-to-door delivery

services you require.

CHUYỂN SLIDE

● “Selling” your product

-Why? Encourage or persuade your prospective customer to do business with you. Because,
you have not only the goods that your customers ask for but also other goods that are
related to the goods the customers are finding. Your customer might have made 10 other
enquiries,so remember it is not only in sales letters that you need to persuade. Moreover, by
persuading and encouraging your customers to buy other goods, you also signal your
customer that this is a gesture of goodwill.

-You can do this by making suggestions / justifying recommendations / pointing out pros and
cons / hedging.

-Example:
+when you have had the opportunity to see the samples for yourself,we feel sure you will
agree that they are the highest quality; and to see a wide selection online, go to...

+Once You've Seen The Macbook 800 in operation we know you'll be impressed by it's
trouble-free performance.

+We Can Assure You that the Iphone 2000 is one of the most outstanding machines on the
market,and our confidence in it is supported by a five-year guarantee
+ All our machinery is guaranteed for 4 years against normal use, and we have several
agencies in your country with mechanics trained to serve all our products,

+In view of the fact that July and August are the two months that have the greatest discount
for our courses, I would strongly recommend you to enroll your Valuation class on 15-July.

● Suggesting alternatives
-Why? Sometimes, the goods or services that the customers ask have sold out or you simply
just don’t have it, you can offer an alternative. But do not criticize the product he/she
originally asked for.

-You can also do this by making suggestions / justifying recommendations.

-Example:
+ ...and while this engine has all the qualities of the model you asked for,the 'Powerdrive has
the added advantage of fewer moving parts, so reducing maintenance costs.It also saves on
oil as it

- The model has now been improved. Its Steel casing has been replaced by strong plastic,
which makes the machine much lighter and easier to handle.

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SAMPLES ANALYSIS:
Okay guy, we have prepared some sample letters and prepared some activities in order to
help you understand more about how to reply to an enquiry.
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[Script] So now after having gone through all the parts of an enquiry response theoretically, I
will help you to see how those connect in a complete letter. I will now analyze two letters for
their parts.
CHUYỂN SLIDE
As you can see on the slide, the thing that comes first is not the opening, but the letterhead
as we have all learned in previous lectures. Never forget to inform the recipients your identity
to avoid confusion. It also serves as a way to attach contacts for further cooperation.

Then we will come to the very first part, the opening of the letter. You may or may not choose
to write down the specific information of the recipients. The important thing here is to send a
thank-you to the readers for having interest in your services, and generally address whether
or not you can satisfy their enquiries stated in the previous letter, just as you can see in the
opening sentence “It was a pleasure to receive your letter today, and we are enclosing the
catalogue and price-list you asked for.”
The next thing to do is to try to “sell” your product by words. First, pls remember to reconfirm
that you can help. In the first sentence of the first paragraph, the writer was very wise when
he or she both confirmed the ability to help as well as advertise the diversity of the services
provided. This one is just like the topic sentence of the paragraph, so it is obvious what
purpose the remaining part serves. You can see that the following sentences try to prove the
topic sentence, by specifying how diverse the product portfolio is, colored by descriptive
words, from adjectives like “rugged”, “elegance”, “delicate”, to specific names of each
product line. These all serve to show that the statement of choice variety is true, thus
increasing the chance that the customer may choose to use your service. Another point to
add, it is always said that words are invisible weapons. With a clever choice of language,
you can highlight the unique selling points that only your company possesses. Bear in mind
that a customer may receive many replies trying to sell products from different parties, not
only from yours.

Similarly, the next paragraph is to further confirm how qualified the service provider is to
make a deal with. By making firm promises about the product quality, like “excellent” or “first
class”, as well as the willingness to “indulge” customers’ extra requests, the writer may have
managed to boost the image of the companies toward the readers.

It is also advised to attach the price lists to the letter for convenience. But a wiser man shall
find ways to add extra benefits to the sentence, just as the writer did in the next paragraph,
mentioning about a 10% discount and speedy delivery.

Finally, the only thing’s left is to close the letter. Before ending the letter with a
complimentary close and your name, always try to establish your goodwill for further
partnership by saying thank you and encourage the readers to reply with further enquiries, if
there is any, meaning that they’ve developed interest in the services.
CHUYỂN SLIDE
[Script]
This second sample deals with another opposite scenario when the enquired
party cannot fulfill customers’ needs. Generally, the basic format is all the
same, the main differences shall be found in the body of the letter.

Just as aforementioned, the opening should generally address whether or not

you can provide the requested services. So for this case, the writer informed
about his company’s inability to offer the enquired products in the very first
place.

An ending sometimes is just another beginning. The deal does not necessarily
end since you can always mention alternatives to the originally required
products to your customers. The second paragraph does show a very clear
example of this approach. For this part, you may refer to another choice or
choices that might be similar to the initial one, maybe with further explanation
about their resemblances. Having said that, please never forget to mention the
distinctions between them, even if it means flaws or disadvantages. One more
thing to mention is that even when you already refer to alternatives, it is
always beneficial to restate that you do respect the original request as the top
priority over the others, and shall do your best to fulfill the enquiry.

This letter does not realy have a closing, but everything happens for a reason,
and it is always better when you close your letter when thank-you words and
the willingness to cooperate in the future.

This is the end of the sample analysis, next, DC will show you some exercises
to help you get used to the format of these enquiry replies.
CHUYỂN SLIDE
Chính
This is our example of the replies to the enquries,with the opening,detail, closing this
task is just a simple one to test what we have prepesent to they about the structure of
the letter + we did several times when we are in secondary, or high school. You guys
just have to put some prepositions, auxiliary verb

Anna Trade International

54, Washington, New York
Phone: 914554656
Fax: 099-9152752568
Ref.
Date: November 31, 2013
Manager
Mr. Michel TradingAgency
302 UCSONAZ85705
USA

Subject: Reply to financial status inquiry of John and company, 1 4/1, Tares, Washington

Dear Sir,
Thank you for your letter of November 28, 2013. We have regular and satisfactory business
relation for long time with John and company, 14/1, Tares, Washington about whom you
have sought information. They are doing business in this line since long ago with utmost
sincerity and honesty. Their financial capability and business goodwill are highly appreciable.
Their business dealings and payment records with us during the last several years can be
held in high esteem. You can supply them goods worth 1300$ on credit in a single
consignment without any hesitation.
We feel proud to provide information about the firm and we think our confidence in this firm
will never be misplaced. Expecting your business success.
yours Sincerely
. (Mr. Jonson)

niceee, it seems that everyones has the corret answer, and it show that you can get how to
write a reply to enquiry
CHUYỂN SLIDE
IN this exercise you just have to find out some simple verb or adjective that we often use in
the reply to enquiries.
-Financial capability is the combination of attitude, knowledge, skills, and self-efficacy
needed to make and exercise money management decisions.
-A record of monthly payment status on individual's credit
- having a particular value, especially in money:

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/////////////////////////////////
For this part, I have prepared a simple game. Through my samples analysis combined with
the previous two exercises by DC, you will now check for mistakes in this letter. It will be
easy, there are seven mistakes I planted in the letter. I’ll give you 2 minutes and then I'll
randomly choose someone to point out 3 or 4 mistakes and then I’ll show you the answer.

////Script////

1. Punctuation after salutation. As you can see, the flawed letter doesn’t have a
punctuation after Mr. Gerard. We just need to slide in a comma and then move on to the
second mistake.
2. Have been advertising -> advertised. This is just a grammar error. Because the
magazine for the month has been printed and circulated, the CDs have been advertised.
So using Have been advertised is not optimal here.

3. Confirming that you can help and selling your product / answering customer’s questions
should go before suggesting alternatives

4. We should exercise simple and concise wording in letters

5. Don’t use abbreviation/ slang.

6. Signature and name of the sender.

7. Two ways of writing enquiry/ inquiry, but use one to

That’s it’s the end of our group presentation, however, we still have a quick