Letter of Enquiry

An enquiry letter is one which seeks some information from the receiver. Business organisations (and individuals) have to make enquiries at the beginning of a business transaction. Even if you want to purchase a piece of furniture for your home, you do not go and buy it immediately. You scout for the best furniture dealer, best in every sense, quality, price etc. You compare the prices before striking a deal. The enquiry was at a personal level. The enquiry letter in fact does this job for the organization. The enquiry letter itself may be a solicited enquiry or unsolicited enquiry.  When you respond to a seller’s letter, advertisement or visit to promote sales with a letter of enquiry, it carries a benefit for the recipient.. This is a solicited enquiry. He will respond to it provided your enquiry is exact and precise. An enquiry may be an unsolicited one trying to get Inhumation. The enquiry may be of a preliminary nature to be followed by other exercises of a business transaction, later.

An enquiry letter may be a routine enquiry between firms that are already involved in a transaction.

A letter of enquiry should be precise and brief, clear and complete. It should state the purpose of the enquiry with clarity. It should ask for all the details the writer is interested in knowing. The letter should be written in such a way that the receiver does not ask for further clarifications on the subject of enquiry. The direct or deductive method should be adopted in a letter of enquiry. The letter should clearly spell out the information sought and state why the information is being sought even in the opening part of the letter. If the enquiry is on a sale and has a number of questions pertaining to it such as price, quality, warranty, discount etc., the questions should be clearly enumerated and even numbered. The enquiry should also indicate the date by which the response is expected so that it prevents unnecessary delay by a misunderstanding on the part of the receiver.

The letter should clearly indicate the action desired, the schedule of time and finally end on a note of courtesy and goodwill. Enquiry letters are also written seeking  information on a prospective employee, or a borrower and his credit standing etc.