Templates for initial contact with suppliers

hi ,

is there any salehoo suggestion for how to make the first contact with a supplier?
kind of offer or template as for what to say ? any tips ? is it OK to refer to salehoo?

I don't think there is any template available but it's perfectly okay to mention that you found them in the Salehoo directory

Set up your email with a basic template.

This would be like a letter, if you were righting one.

Company name. Make one up if your not registered. Use a name you would
like to have.
Your name
Address
contact phone#


Their name
address
phone
contact name if you have one.

Then

Dear sirs;

Enter your text

Then
sincerely yours
first name.


Keep the text professional and straight to the point.

Thanks guys .

could anyone attach one that he wrote lately ?
i think it could be useful to other newbies like me (-:

I want to add, make sure you have no spelling errors. 'Sirs' should be capitalized, as well as, the 'S' and the 'Y' in Sincerely Yours.

You should also add the date - and again, no spelling errors. These may seem like small points, but it helps to make your correspondence appear more professional.

I have written many business correspondence at a high executive level and people do look at these things. It can sometimes make a difference between receiving a response and not, especially if the company you are approaching is receiving a myriad of requests. It will make yours stand out from the crowd, just as it would for a resume.

If you have a bit of trouble, go to your local library, they will definitely have books that relate to business correspondence.

I have not tried, but you may even find something by googling.

As mentioned previously, keep it short, professional and on point, no flowery language, since this is about business .

All the best.
Hope

Great tips guys! I'd have to agree, SPELLING to everything when you're writing not to mention GRAMMAR as well.

Just want to add a bit by sharing this site I used to visit whenever I had trouble with my writing.. And I found this article they have on business writing and links to a few sample letters too.

Link hidden: Login to view

Hope this helps! Cheers :)

I want to add, make sure you have no spelling errors. 'Sirs' should be capitalized, as well as, the 'S' and the 'Y' in Sincerely Yours.

You should also add the date - and again, no spelling errors. These may seem like small points, but it helps to make your correspondence appear more professional.

I have written many business correspondence at a high executive level and people do look at these things. It can sometimes make a difference between receiving a response and not, especially if the company you are approaching is receiving a myriad of requests. It will make yours stand out from the crowd, just as it would for a resume.

If you have a bit of trouble, go to your local library, they will definitely have books that relate to business correspondence.

I have not tried, but you may even find something by googling.

As mentioned previously, keep it short, professional and on point, no flowery language, since this is about business .

All the best.
Hope

Great points! I had someone try and sell me something through an email and quote' When was you interested in getting more information.' When I questioned the person the reply was you don't need good grammar to make money. Now I'm no grammar expert but I would never buy anything from someone who wrote that way.

This post is not really helpful but I thought I'd share it with you anyway.

A trader on the Trademe auction site received the following email (yes email, not text) from a customer :

..........hi i won ur aunction on trademe wea in chch r u based? is it pozzbl 4 u 2 bring da ring 2 me in shirley at a smll xtra cst .i wil have da muni 2mura .my cel numba is XXXXXXXXXXXXX.cn u let me knw asap plz.thanx mel..........

What the heck do these people do with all the time they save by not writing complete sentences?

It's actually quite relevant userexists!

Since text messaging became the in thing people have been trying to discover new ways to shorten words even the really short ones. This directly affects everyone especially children who now have a difficult time spelling words correctly due to confusion.

I'd still say that spelling out words correctly presents you to be a professional and formal person, be you be a buyer or seller.

:)

I'm scared we will soon have a whole generation of people who can't make themselves understood in writing because they have no idea how to construct a sentence. I've been called a pedantic old nanna for this notion before.

I hear you nana P: )

I think as with most, I get some very interestingly worded inquiries these days.

I think the best policy is to still respond professionally, because you never know who else is reading it. You can still be professional without being over the top, so I try and gauge the vibe of the customer, then respond within the same theme.

For example, doing a lot of business within Australia, I will get quite a lot of inquiries starting with ' Hi mate'

Now I would never respond to an inquiry like that with a Dear Sir or anything, that is a little extreme, and can actually impact the customer's view of doing business with you in a negative way.

Of course I'm not about to start my response with, Gday or anything like that lol, but I will most likely use the customer's first name in those situations.

Being able to read a customer by the words they use is a very helpful marketing technique. If you can respond professionally, but within the same them as they have made the inquiry in, then you are on the way to establishing a very early bond.

What that can do is put the customer at ease, and when a customer is relaxed they find it easier to reach for their credit card : )

I always try and provide more information than what the inquiry relates to, while still keeping it relative to the point.

For example: If some writes and asks me if I accept bank deposit, then I will answer that with my details, as well as what they need to put as the payment reference, the approximate time it take their funds to clear, as well as information like despatch time after the funds have cleared as so on.

A lot of customers ask a question at a time, and covering related topics when responding to an initial inquiry can not only encourage a sale, but can eliminate the time answering the next 5 questions the customer would have sent lol.

This post is not really helpful but I thought I'd share it with you anyway.

A trader on the Trademe auction site received the following email (yes email, not text) from a customer :

..........hi i won ur aunction on trademe wea in chch r u based? is it pozzbl 4 u 2 bring da ring 2 me in shirley at a smll xtra cst .i wil have da muni 2mura .my cel numba is XXXXXXXXXXXXX.cn u let me knw asap plz.thanx mel..........

What the heck do these people do with all the time they save by not writing complete sentences?

I cant even make sense of this one. Not sure if this is even texting language but someone who can't write.

Hi, we are in Christchurch, where are you based?

Is it possible for you to bring the ring to me in Shirley at a small extra cost. I will have the money tomorrow. My cellphone number is ............

Can you let me know as soon as possible please.

Thanks,
Mel

Sorry, I had to give the translation a go hahahahahahaha, but that's one of the worst I've come across, it really is a shocker lol!

This post is not really helpful but I thought I'd share it with you anyway.

A trader on the Trademe auction site received the following email (yes email, not text) from a customer :

..........hi i won ur aunction on trademe wea in chch r u based? is it pozzbl 4 u 2 bring da ring 2 me in shirley at a smll xtra cst .i wil have da muni 2mura .my cel numba is XXXXXXXXXXXXX.cn u let me knw asap plz.thanx mel..........

What the heck do these people do with all the time they save by not writing complete sentences?

LOL, this got me rolling.