Inquiry Letter

Inquiry Letter

Many skills are needed to be a successful professional. If you have a question about something related to a business or company, you need to know the proper way to get that question answered. Many companies prefer that you write your business inquiry in the form of a letter. This way your inquiry can be passed around to as many people as it takes to get it answered. But be careful what you write; you never know who could end up seeing it.

Inquiry Letter is a letter written to request information and/or ascertain its authenticity. A letter of inquiry deals with various matters like job vacancies, funding, grants, scholarships, projects, sales, pre-proposals and others. The term is common in various business setups as it implies fund request or pre-proposal information. Owing to this usage, the term may be considered exclusive to these setups alone. But that is not the case, to this effect the below definition offers a justified meaning.

A letter of inquiry asks someone for specific information.

• In some cases, such as a request for promotional material, the recipient will have a clear interest in responding to your letter.
• In other cases, such as a request for specific information on a product, the recipient may or may not be as motivated to respond quickly. 
• Consequently, always make the tone of the letter friendly and make it easy for the recipient to identify and provide the information you need.

Ø  Inquiry Letter Definition

A document requesting information sent on behalf of an individual or an organisation for their own respective purposes, which can be mutually beneficial to the recipient and the sender.

The term ‘Inquiry’ is same as ‘Enquiry’. The former is more commonly used in U.S. and the latter one is more common in U.K. There are some other terms which represent the letters; these are Letter of Intent, Letter of Interest, Query letter, Prospecting Letter, Pre-proposal Letter and Concept Paper. The term ‘Cover Letter’, ‘Business Letter’, ‘Request Letter’ and ‘Sales Letter’ is also applied to an inquiry letter especially when the objective is same as that of letter for inquiry.

A letter of inquiry serves to facilitate business operations and satisfaction of the sender. Inquiry letters remove any misunderstanding and are time savers, especially when two parties want to reach an understanding. The communication towards this effect resolves the issue without any delay. With relation to it being a ‘Pre-proposal letter’, the inquiry letter is also termed as a ‘Condensed Version of a Proposal’. It is the outcome of the purpose of the letter which highlights the points of a proposal instead of a full-fledged proposal.

On an individual’s basis, these letters are sent to companies that are willing to hire but haven't advertised job openings. It can also be a letter addressed to editor in-charge of a publication proposing certain literary work. It can be a letter from a student who is vying for a seat in a college or a business that provides an internship. So, the objective of an enquiry letter is same but its projections and audiences are different. Same goes for its method of delivery, it can be sent via paper mail or electronic mail.

Write an inquiry to ask for more information concerning a product, service or other information about a product or service. These letters are often written in response to an advertisement that we have seen in the paper, a magazine, a commercial on television when we are interested in purchasing a product, but would like more information before making a decision. Inquiries are also written to ask for business contact information to develop new business.

Remember to place your or your company's address at the top of the letter (or use your company's letterhead) followed by the address of the company you are writing to. The date can either be placed double spaced down or to the right.

A letter of inquiry describes your strengths and explains your job goal. Sending these letters (sometimes called "broadcast" or "marketing" letters) to the companies or employers you have targeted can help uncover unlisted employment opportunities.

Elements of a successful letter of inquiry should comprise:

o   A first sentence telling the reader why you are writing.

o   In the body of the letter, market your accomplishments. You might describe a problem relevant to the industry. State how you handled it and what results you achieved. Use some of the statements from Part One to describe your skills.

o   Close the letter with a positive statement and request a face-to-face meeting.

Ø  Important Language to Remember

·         The Start: Dear Sir or Madam
To Whom It May Concern - (very formal as you do not know the person to whom you are writing)

·         Giving Reference: With reference to your advertisement (ad) in...
Regarding your advertisement (ad) in ...

·         Requesting a Catalog, Brochure, Etc.: After the reference, add a comma and continue - ... , would (Could) you please send me ...

·         Requesting Further Information: I would also like to know ...
Could you tell me whether ...

·         Signature: Yours faithfully - (very formal as you do not know the person to whom you are writing)

How to write an Inquiry Letter?

• Begin your letter by stating who you are and giving your status or position and tell how you found out about the individual or entity that you are writing to.
• Make your inquiry as specific as possible.
• Your letter can be fairly short, but it should be long enough to adequately explain what it is that you are inquiring about and what you want the reader to do in response to your letter.
• Make it as easy as possible for the person to respond to your request. This might mean offering to pay for any needed photocopies or mailing costs, or perhaps including a self-addressed, stamped envelope
• Make sure to include contact information
• Include the date by which you need the information
• Thank the person for his/her time.

Sample Inquiry Letter :

Reply of Inquiry Letter :

Ø  Inquiry Letters: Types and Contexts

There are two types of inquiry letters: solicited and unsolicited.

You write a solicited letter of inquiry when a business or agency advertises its products or services. For example, if a software manufacturer advertises some new package it has developed and you can't inspect it locally, write a solicited letter to that manufacturer asking specific questions. If you cannot find any information on a technical subject, an inquiry letter to a company involved in that subject may put you on the right track. In fact, that company may supply much more help than you had expected (provided of course that you write a good inquiry letter).

Your letter of inquiry is unsolicited if the recipient has done nothing to prompt your inquiry. For example, if you read an article by an expert, you may have further questions or want more information. You seek help from these people in a slightly different form of inquiry letter. As the steps and guidelines for both types of inquiry letters show, you must construct the unsolicited type more carefully, because recipients of unsolicited letters of inquiry are not ordinarily prepared to handle such inquiries.

Ø  Inquiry Letters: Contents and Organization

1. Early in the letter, identify the purpose — to obtain help or information (if it's a solicited letter, information about an advertised product, service, or program).
2. In an unsolicited letter, identify who you are, what you are working on, and why you need the requested information, and how you found out about the individual. In an unsolicited letter, also identify the source that prompted your inquiry, for example, a magazine advertisement.
3. In the letter, list questions or information needed in a clear, specific, and easy-to-read format. If you have quite a number of questions, consider making a questionnaire and including a stamped, self-addressed envelope.
4. In an unsolicited letter, try to find some way to compensate the recipient for the trouble, for example, by offering to pay copying and mailing costs, to accept a collect call, to acknowledge the recipient in your report, or to send him or her a copy of your report. In a solicited letter, suggest that the recipient send brochures or catalogs.
5. In closing an unsolicited letter, express gratitude for any help that the recipient can provide you, acknowledge the inconvenience of your request, but do not thank the recipient "in advance." In an unsolicited letter, tactfully suggest to the recipient will benefit by helping you (for example, through future purchases from the recipient's company).