MBA L-17

Letters of Inquiry
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.

Format of a Letter of Inquiry

Follow this format in writing a letter of inquiry:

1. In the first paragraph, identify yourself and, if appropriate, your position,

and your institution or firm.
2. In the second paragraph, briefly explain why you are writing and how you
will use the requested information. Offer to keep the response confidential if
such an offer seems reasonable.
3. List the specific information you need. You can phrase your requests as
questions or as a list of specific items of information. In either case, make
each item clear and discrete.
4. Conclude your letter by offering your reader some incentive for responding.

How to Write an Inquiry Letter

Writing a letter of inquiry can become an easy task when you have some guiding
material.

An enquiry letter may consist all or few of the below mentioned parts:

 Introduction
 Description
 Statement
 Methodology
 Final Summary

Inquiry Letter Writing Tips

 Outline and Organise your Inquiry – By outlining it is meant that you have
to know what sort of information you are going to present?, word limit,
documents required, the tone of the language, your anticipation, common
ground of consensus and other required matter. It is just like an
architecture preparing a building plan. Here you have to decide ‘What to
include?’ and ‘Why to include?’ Knowing this eases the writing process and
also eases the reading on part of the recipient. When all the pieces are clear

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 in your mind, it is time to figure out the best possible logical order.  Arrange
a sequential order for the relevant information. In this way outlining and
organising eases the further writing process.

 Gather Information – Certain inquiries may not require any search or

research, certain will. For the latter one’s you have to collect information to
make your case strong. If you are looking for a job, you need to know the
expectations of the employer. If it is a fund that you are writing for, know
your client. Research your recipient; know the principles on which they
work. Analyse their intellect and weaknesses. Any information which will
support your inquiry is good. It might appear daunting but you don’t need to
go into all areas. Pick one or two and research on that. There are other
indirect methods like visiting the websites, going through profiles, news
items and other assistive methods. Knowing and delivering the anticipated
speeds up the writing and the success of the inquiry. On your part you
might be required to provide information to the recipient and that too needs
to be sorted out before it is presented.

 Drafting – A formal letter like query letter begins from a draft. The draft
maybe required for your own acceptance or for the organisation you are
working for. The initial step of outlining and organising comes to aid in the
draft. The logical order and the information collected are put to full use in
drafting. Ideas or lines may come hard, so start with what comes first in the
mind. Then weave the inquiry around it and prepare your letter. Though the
layout has been planned but the content may not always live up to the
layout. Drafting is a good option because you may not always come up with
a good letter and you require certain revisions or consultations with your
seniors. Here, you can experiment and chalk out a format for future use.

 Appropriate Recipient – Your inquiry may not yield the desired results if
you are in doubt about the exact recipient. You may know about multiple
recipients but who is the one, that is most likely to respond in a positive and
helpful manner. To solve this query you can contact the recipient’s office and
find out who is the most appropriate. For indirect methods you can use
previous correspondence containing letterhead or recipient’s name. The
company’s website can also be helpful in this matter. Never address your
inquiry letter to a ‘Department’, ‘Head of Department’ or ‘To whom it may
concern’. An individual will read your letter and this individual represents
the department. So always direct your letter to 'A Person having Authority'
and 'Not to Authority having a Person'.

 Impressive Opening – Inquiry letter being a representative to many types of

other letters requires an impressive opening. It may not be the agenda of all
inquiry letters but wherever it is applicable, you have to impress the reader.
To arouse the interest you can state the profit involved in the query. You
should write in an active voice and offer relevant facts. The letter should live
up to the anticipation and expectations of the reader, making it effortless to
read. You can also use certain apt phrases and quotes towards this effect.
You can flatter the recipient with certain praises but don’t exaggerate. Self
introduction in the starting itself wouldn’t be a good idea so refrain until it is
anticipated.

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  Be Specific and Brief – It makes sense to be specific and brief. Specificity of
your letter will lead to easy perception of the information. Brief letter will be
read quickly and wouldn’t appear as burdening. Moreover, there is no scope
for anything apart from the request and its relative aspects. You can be
specific by offering the most important information; one which will fulfil most
of the needs of the reader. You can be brief by using short paragraphs and
using one word whose meaning is equivalent to a number of words. Mostly
an inquiry letter is of 2 to 3 pages.

 Be Straightforward – Straightforward doesn’t mean a simple go. You have to

be direct but by remaining within the boundaries of etiquettes. You
shouldn’t sound cold and boring. You have to be professional and follow all
the observances expected from an inquiry letter. For, example you shouldn’t
condemn, be sarcastic or arrogant. One may not realise it but when others
read it, they can point out the anomalies. So build a momentum instead of
directly coming to the objective of the letter.

 Generate and Maintain Interest – There are many ways of presenting

information. It is up to you how you present it. You can utilise a question to
arouse the curiosity of the recipient. You can maintain this interest by
providing some hints as to what you have written next. Don’t lose the
momentum of the tone as it can reduce the interest. Present your idea which
forces the person to imagine a scenario.

 Supportive Documents –Don't forget to attach the required documents.

These documents are supportive towards your cause. For a prospective
employee these add value to the credibility of the individual. In a business
scenario it is complimentary and well thought idea. They also augment the
effect of the letter.

 Facilitate the Response – When you seek information which is more

essential to you than it is to the reader, you are required to ease the reply
process. So enclose a self-addressed stamped envelope with your query.
Even, otherwise it shows your presence of mind, willingness to ensure
smooth and quick response. If the inquiry is more beneficial to the recipient,
your contact number and other details are already there on the letterhead.

 Offer Incentives – When you make it obvious that the inquiry is beneficial
to the recipient, it acts as an incentive. If you make it clear – ‘The How’ and
‘What’ of the desired outcome of the letter, it also serves to offer an incentive.
You can emphasise the role of the reader in the inquiry and how it will add
up to his credentials. You can use examples towards this effect; a profit to
the recipient does go long down the line.

 Review and Revise – Coming to the final section, double check the address.
Your letter should have all the qualities of being a professional one. Ensure
the use of simple font such as Times New Roman or Arial. Check for any
spelling and grammatical errors. If in doubt get a reliable proofreader to
review it.

The inclusion or exclusion of certain components depends on the scope of your

letter. Business letters will tend to have all mentioned while those on a smaller
platform will include few. Not to forget that these letter are formal letters and will

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follow the rules pertaining to these. These rules refer to the common styles of
writing a business letter, i.e. Full Block Style, Modified Block Style and others.

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Inquiry letter sample -1
Street address
City, State ZIP code
Phone number

Date

Individual's name
Job title
Name of organization
Street address
City, State ZIP code

Dear Mr./Ms. ________________________________:

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I am writing to ask you to consider an addition to your marketing team. Your organization
has been in the news as a leader in the industry. I am an innovator of new ideas, an excellent
communicator with buyers, and have a demonstrated history of marketing success. I believe I
would be a good fit in your organization.

Currently, I market computer products for a major supplier using television, radio and news
advertising. I have a reputation for seeing every project through to success.

Enclosed is my resume for your review and consideration. EFTG Industries has a reputation
for excellence. I would like to use my talents to market your quality line of technical
products. I will call you to further discuss your needs and how I could benefit your company.
If you prefer, you may reach me in the evenings at (555) 555-5555.

Thank you for your time. I look forward to meeting you.

Sincerely,

(Your Signature in blue or black ink)

Your typed name

Enclosure

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Inquiry letter sample -2