IV. Write an enquiry-letter using the following plan.

Inquiry Letter Tips:

1) Begin your letter by stating who you are and giving your status or position (such as student, researcher, interested consumer, etc.), and tell how you found out about the individual or entity that you are writing to.

2) Clearly state what it is that you are inquiring about and what you would like the recipient of your letter to do. Make your inquiry as specific as possible.

3) You might want to briefly explain the purpose of your letter or what you hope to accomplish. Such an explanation may prompt the recipient of your letter to act more quickly.

4) If appropriate, consider mentioning the letter recipient’s qualifications for responding to your inquiry (this may prompt him/her to act when he/she might otherwise be hesitant to do so). For example, you could explain that you are writing to the reader because she is a leader in her field and the accepted authority on the subject you are interested in.

5) Include the date by which you need the information, services, etc. that you are requesting, and indicate that you await the reader’s response.

6) Thank the person for his/her time.

7) Include your contact information. Don’t forget to give the receiver your phone number and email as well as your mailing address. Do not make it hard for the receiver to get in touch with you to ensure she doesn't lose interest in your inquiry.

	Inquiries
Introduction	- We read your advertisement in … - With regard to your advertisement in … of …, we would ask you … - We have heard of your products from … - We have seen your current catalogue showing … - We are retailers/importers/wholesalers in the … trade, and would like to get in touch with suppliers/manufactures of …
The body of the letter	- We are interested in buying/importing … - Would you please inform us if it is possible to deliver … - Would you kindly quote your prices and terms of delivery (terms of payment) for … - Please send us samples of … (leaflets, your current catalogue showing…). - We would like to have further details about …/ to represent your products in the … market. - If your prices are competitive/If the quality of the goods comes up to our expectations/If your equipment complies with our requirements, we may be able to let you have regular orders.
Conclusion	- Thank you in advance for any information you can give us. - We look forward to your early reply. - Your prompt answer will be (would be) appreciated.

Step 2 “Order”

I. What will be the letter after the enquiry about? Choose the most suitable one. Explain your choice.

1) Dear Name:

In reply to your letter of September 12, we are pleased to enclose a copy of our most recent sales catalog which features the complete range of our new corduroy sports jackets for men. These handsome and versatile jackets—in beige, navy, chocolate, or rust—can be worn from the office to informal dinners to weekend activities in great style and comfort. The medium-wale corduroy is made from a long-wearing blend of long staple cotton and polyester and is soft and easy to wear. The models that you are interested in are presented on pages 9 to 15.

Mr. Robert Dillon, our regional sales manager, will telephone your office next week in order to arrange a meeting. He will be able to provide you with complete details of our other new sportswear lines.

 

Sincerely,

Name

2) Dear Name:

I am presently a graduate student at Columbia University in New York City, working toward a Master of Science degree in geophysics. I will graduate in July 1999. Since my prior work experience during summer and part-time employment is in geophysics, the profile of your company was provided to me by Columbia's placement office. I am particularly interested in a position in your company related to geological exploration.

I have worked as a summer intern and later as a part-time employee for the Ferguson Oil & Gas Exploration Company in Madison, New Hampshire. I was involved in seismic interpretation and acreage evaluation in order to delineate existing and future fields and to define potential exploration targets. The attached résumé indicates my capabilities. I am available for an interview to discuss my qualifications and your requirements at your convenience.

Thank you for your consideration and I look forward to hearing from you.

 

Sincerely

3) Dandy Manufacturing, Inc.

2525 E. 34th Street

Greeley, CO 80631

February 3, 2004

Better Widget Makers, Inc.

5555 Widget Avenue

Silver City, CO 80456

 

Attention: Sales Department

 

I’d like to order the Widgets listed in the table below. The reference numbers are from

your 2003 catalogue. Please include a new catalogue with my order.

 

Quantity	Ref.#	Description	Price	Total
	AB045	Tiny Blue Widget	$2.38	$238.00
	XT111	Deluxe Yellow Widget	$4.56	$1.368.00
	NT066	Super Deluxe Red Widget	$6.15	$307.50

Total $1.913.50

 

I would like this order to ship COD complete. If you cannot ship the complete order

within 10 days, please notify me immediately. I can be reached at [phone] #35.

 

Thank you,

 

Jim Dandy, Jr.

General Manager

 

II. What is the logical end of the deal? Using this sample compose a letter of order (A4).

	Orders
Introduction	- In reply (response) to your letter of (dated) …, we thank you for … - We are pleased to enclose our Order № … - With reference to your quotation, we enclose our order for … - We accept your offer on these terms and have pleasure in placing an order with you for …
The body of the letter	- Please confirm that you can supply this quantity by the required date. - If any of these items is out of stock, please submit a quotation for a substitute.
Conclusion	- Please send us the copy of this order, duly signed, as acknowledgement.

III. Role play

Using the following vocabulary make up a dialogue between two (or more) business partners who want to make a deal and discuss its terms: they enquire about the range of goods, models, quantity, prices, terms of order, delivery and contract. They negotiate the terms of the deal.

to enquire about a product	запрашивать информацию о продукте
a supplier	поставщик
a customer	клиент
a wholesaler	оптовая торговая фирма
a retailer	розничная торговая фирма
a bulk buyer	оптовый покупатель
an associate	компаньон
a representative	представитель
a subsidiary	филиал
a Trade Association	торговая ассоциация
a leaflet	рекламный буклет
samples/patterns	образцы/ модели
to offer concessions	предлагать скидки
to quote a price	назначать цену
to suggest/state terms	предлагать/определять условия
cash discount	скидки за расчет наличными
trade discount	торговые скидки

SUPPLEMENTARY TEXTS

Unit I. Text A

Meeting

Meetings are sometimes held around conference tables. In a meeting, two or more people come together to discuss one or more topics, often in a formal setting.

Definitions

1) an act or process of coming together as an assembly for a common purpose.

2) a meeting is a gathering of two or more people that has been convened for the purpose of achieving a common goal through verbal interaction, such as sharing information or reaching agreement. Meetings may occur face to face or virtually, as mediated by communications technology, such as a telephone conference call, a skyped conference call or a videoconference.

Thus, a meeting may be distinguished from other gatherings, such as a chance encounter (not convened), a sports game or a concert (verbal interaction is incidental), a party or the company of friends (no common goal is to be achieved) and a demonstration (whose common goal is achieved mainly through the number of demonstrators presented, not verbal interaction).

Commercially, the term is used by meeting planners and other meeting professionals to denote an event booked at a hotel, convention center or any other venue dedicated to such gatherings. In this sense, the term meeting covers a lecture (one presentation), seminar (typically several presentations, small audience, one day), conference (mid-size, one or more days), congress (large, several days), exhibition or trade show (with manned stands being visited by passers-by), workshop (smaller, with active participants), training course, team-building session and kick-off event.

Common types of meeting include:

· Status Meetings, generally leader-led, which are about reporting by one-way communication

· Work Meeting, which produces a product or intangible result such as a decision

· Staff meeting, typically a meeting between a manager and those that report to the manager

· Team meeting, a meeting among colleagues working on various aspects of a team project

· Ad-hoc meeting, a meeting called for a special purpose

· Management meeting, a meeting among managers

· Board meeting, a meeting of the Board of directors of an organization

· One-on-one meeting, between two individuals

· Off-site meeting, also called "offsite retreat" and known as an Awayday meeting in the UK

· Kickoff meeting, the first meeting with the project team and the client of the project to discuss the role of each team member

· Pre-Bid Meeting, a meeting of various competitors and or contractors to visually inspect a jobsite for a future project. The meeting is normally hosted by the future customer or engineer who wrote the project specification to ensure all bidders are aware of the details and services expected of them. Attendance at the Pre-Bid Meeting may be mandatory. Failure to attend usually results in a rejected bid.

Meeting frequency options

Since a meeting can be held once or often, the meeting organizer has to determine the repetition and frequency of occurrence of the meeting. Options generally include the following:

· A one-time meeting is the most common meeting type and covers events that are self-contained. While they may repeat often, the individual meeting is the entirety of the event. This can include a 2006 conference. The 2007 version of the conference is a stand-alone meeting event.

· A recurring meeting is a meeting that recurs periodically, such as an every Monday staff meeting from 9:00AM to 9:30 AM. The meeting organizer wants the participants to be at the meeting on a constant and repetitive basis. A recurring meeting can be ongoing, such as a weekly team meeting, or have an end date, such as a 5 week training meeting, held every Friday afternoon.

· A series meeting is like a recurring meeting, but the details differ from meeting to meeting. One example of a series meeting is a monthly "lunch and learn" event at a company, church, club or organization. The placeholder is the same, but the agenda and topics to be covered vary. This is more of a recurring meeting with the details to be determined.

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia

Text B