Inquiry Letter
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.
1.
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.
2.
Type Of Inquiry Letter
a. Unsolicited
enquiry
An unsolicited enquiry letter is written by a
potential buyer interested in the best bargain. He does it at his own
initiative and convenience. He writes to firms that sell the kind of product he
requires or provides the kind of service he needs, trying to elicit information
on price / costs, quality, availability and other terms of sale. An unsolicited
enquiry, since it is at the writer’s initiative has to be written in such a way
that it gets the required response.The letter should have the quality of completeness
and clarity. The writer should be able to give a complete idea of his
requirement and the reasons for his enquiry in clear terms. If the enquiry is
long, the writer can prefer to adopt a questionnaire format in the letter.
b. A
solicited enquiry
A solicited enquiry is in response to an
advertisement / sales letter of a seller. Already the buyer has some
information on the product or service. He requires further details. It is not
as lengthy as an unsolicited enquiry. The questions relate to particular areas
of a sale / service. A solicited enquiry may ask for a brochure / bulletin /
catalogue or for a clarification of the items mentioned in them.
c. Enquiries
asking for a favour
Certain letters of enquiry seek the favour of
an information with or without a commercial proposition. It may be merely
seeking some information to be used later. A business organisation may be
seeking information from another firm regarding credit worthiness of a
businessman. A research scholar particularly engaged in market research may
send a letter of enquiry with a questionnaire to a firm. Such enquiry letters
should clearly spell out their objectives.
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