Business Letters. Useful Phrases

Useful Phrases

Salutation

·         Dear Mr Brown

·         Dear Ms White

·         Dear Sir

·         Dear Sirs

·         Dear Madam

·         Dear Sir or Madam

·         Gentlemen

Starting

·         We are writing to inform you that ...
                      to confirm ...
                      to request ...
                      to enquire about ...

·         I am contacting you for the following reason.

·         I recently read/heard about  . . . and would like to know . . .

·         Having seen your advertisement in ... , I would like to ...

·         I would be interested in (obtaining/receiving) ...

·         I received your address from ...      and would like to   ...

·         I am writing to tell you about ...

Referring to previous contact

·         Thank you for your letter of March 15 ...

·         Thank you for contacting us.

·         In reply to your request ...

·         Thank you for your letter regarding ...

·         With reference to our telephone conversation yesterday ...

·         Further to our meeting last week ...

·         It was a pleasure meeting you in London last month.

·         I enjoyed having lunch with you last week in Tokyo.

·         I would just like to confirm the main points we discussed on Tuesday . . .

Making a request

·         We would appreciate it if you would ...

·         I would be grateful if you could...

·         Could you please send me . . .

·         Could you possibly tell us/let us have...

·         In addition, I would like to receive ...

·         It would be helpful if you could send us ...

·         I am interested in (obtaining/receiving...)

·         I would appreciate your immediate attention to this matter.

·         Please let me know what action you propose to take.

  Offering help

·         We would be happy to ...

·         Would you like us to ...

·         We are quite willing to ...

·         Our company would be pleased to ...

Giving good news

·         We are pleased to announce that ...

·         I am delighted to inform you that ...

·         You will be pleased to learn that ...

Giving bad news

·         We regret to inform you that ...

·         I'm afraid it would not be possible to ...

·         Unfortunately we cannot/we are unable to ...

·         After careful consideration we have decided (not) to…

 Complaining

·         I am writing to express my dissatisfaction with ...

·         I am writing to complain about ...

·         Please note that the goods we ordered on (date) have not yet arrived.

·         We regret to inform you that our order n°--- is now considerably overdue.

·         I would like to query the transport charges which seem unusually high. 

Apologizing

·         We are sorry for the delay in replying ...

·         I regret any inconvenience caused

·         I would like to apologize for (the delay/the inconvenience) ...

·         Once again, I apologise for any inconvenience….

Orders

·         Thank you for your quotation of ...

·         We are pleased to place an order with your company for ...

·         We would like to cancel our order n°...    

·         Please confirm receipt of our order.

·         I am pleased to acknowledge receipt of your order n°...

·         Your order will be processed as quickly as possible.

·         It will take about (three) weeks to process your order.

·         We can guarantee delivery before ...

·         Unfortunately these articles are no longer available/are out of stock.

Prices

·         Please send us your price list.

·         You will find enclosed our most recent catalogue and price list.

·         Please note that our prices are subject to change without notice.

·         We have pleasure in enclosing a detailed quotation.

·         We can make you a firm offer of ...

·         Our terms of payment are as follows :

Referring to payment

·         Our records show that we have not yet received payment of ...

·         According to our records ...

·         Please send payment as soon as possible.

·         You will receive a credit note for the sum of

    

Enclosing documents

·         I am enclosing ...

·         Please find enclosed ...

·         You will find enclosed ...

Closing remarks

·         If we can be of any further assistance, please let us know

·         If I can help in any way, please do not hesitate to contact me

·         If you require more information ...

·         For further details ...

·         Thank you for taking this into consideration

·         Thank you for your help.

·         We hope you are happy with this arrangement.

·         We hope you can settle this matter to our satisfaction.

 Referring to future business

·         We look forward to a successful working relationship in the future

·         We would be (very) pleased to do business with your company.

·         I would be happy to have an opportunity to work with your firm.

Referring to future contact

·         I look forward to seeing you next week

·         Looking forward to hearing from you

·         "           "      to receiving your comments

·         I look forward to meeting you on the 15th

·         I would appreciate a reply at your earliest convenience.  

·         An early reply would be appreciated.

Ending business letters

·         Yours faithfully,

·         Sincerely,          }

·         Yours sincerely, } (for all customers/clients)

·         Sincerely yours, }

·         Regards,             (for those you already know and/or
                                   with whom you already have a working relationship.)