Emails for Administration
Emails for making arrangements
When you want to make an arrangement, you should know whom you need to write to and also the specific purpose of your writing in mind, that is, what kind of arrangement you would like to make. Usually, an email for making an arrangement is not very long.
Notice the following sections in your email including the subject line, salutation, introduction, body paragraph(s), ending and complimentary close.
1. Subject
It is necessary to write a clear subject to show the recipient what the email is about in a precise manner. Note that the subject should not be too long.
e.g. “Arrangement for visiting your shop”
2. Salutation
Similar to other types of email, there are two types of salutation: one is when you know the name of the recipient and the other one is when you don’t know the recipient’s name.
It is common that if you know the name of the recipient, you begin with his/her surname.
e.g. “Dear Mr Wong”, “Dear Ms Kan”, etc.
Remember not to write the full name such as “Dear Mr Peter Wong, “Dear Ms Mary Kan”, etc.
On the other hand, if you don’t know that person, you need to begin with “Dear Sir/Madam” as usual.
3. Introduction
Begin by introducing yourself and then state the purpose of your writing by using phrases such as “I am writing to”, “I am contacting you to”, etc.
An example of this is:
“My name is Gary Chu and I am a Marketing Trainee of Success Company. I am writing to request for an arrangement of a meeting with you to discuss the terms of the contract after you have received the information of our products.”
4. Body paragraph(s)
This is to write the date and time of your arrangement, outline the issue of your meeting, and ask the other party to see if he/she is available.
e.g. “Our Manager, Mr Owen Cheung, will be available at 3pm on 25th January to have a meeting at your office to discuss the contract with you and answer any questions from you. Please let us know if you would be available for meeting us at that time.”
5. Ending
The ending for this type of email is just formality: use any suitable words and phrases to express your gratitude.
An appropriate ending is “Thank you very much and looking forward to your favourable reply.”
If you prefer, you can add a sentence such as “Don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any queries.” before the last remark.
6. Complimentary close
You can write “Yours truly” instead of “Yours faithfully, and “Regards” or “Best regards” instead of “Yours sincerely” in an email.
Then type your full name with your job title and the company name.
7. Check your grammar, spelling and punctuation
It is essential to proofread your email so that there will not be any mistakes in grammar and spelling. Make sure you check these carefully, including the punctuation marks. Don’t rely on the “spell check” function since there may not be any spelling mistake in a word but that may not be a suitable word to use. Besides, check the spelling of the recipient’s name carefully.
8. Be concise
People don’t want to read long emails spending a lot of their time. Therefore, make sure what you write is necessary and do not include any redundant information.
Exercise
Read the following situation and write an email to make an arrangement.
You are Benny Leung. You work as a Marketing Trainee in a company called Loyalty Limited which sells printers. Your supervisor, Mr Kurt Chak, the Manager of the Sales Department, has asked you to write an email to Mr Eric Chiu, who is the Manager of the Supply and Purchase Department of Big Technology Limited, a company in Guangzhou, requesting him for a meeting to give a presentation about different types of printers in your company. Write the email.
After you have finished writing the email, read the suggested answer and compare it with your own answer.
Dear Mr Chiu
My name is Benny Leung and I am aMarketing Trainee at Loyalty Limited. I am writing to request a meeting to give you a presentation about the different types of printers in our company.
We are a company which specializes in selling a number of printers with various functions which are used by many prestigious corporations as yours in the Greater Bay Area. The Manager of our Sales Department, Mr Kurt Chak, would greatly like to obtain the opportunity to present to you the information of our printers. He will be available from 10th to 12th January, 20XX. Please let us know which day and what time would be convenient to you.
Thank you very much and we look forward to hearing from you.
Best regards
Benny Leung
Marketing Trainee
Loyalty Limited
Further References
1. Emails: Making Arrangements
In this webpage, there are useful expressions in various sections of an email for making arrangements.
2. English for Emails
This link includes exercises on writing emails for making arrangements and answers are provided.
3. 7 Meeting Request Email Examples
There are explanations of what a meeting request email is and examples of short emails requesting for a meeting for reference.