Letter of request: samples and examples, rules for writing

A query letter is a type of business letter. The request is sent to partners, contractors, government agencies... Sometimes you can do without it (for example, by verbally asking a fellow entrepreneur to provide some information), but in general such messages should not be neglected. At least for the sake of maintaining the established order.

What can you request?

Information (about the characteristics of the product and its availability, about delivery methods and delivery times, about the reasons for the delay in shipment, etc.).
Documents or items (papers for concluding a contract, product samples, etc.).

In a word, if you don’t know something or don’t quite understand it, if you need documents or price lists, send a letter of request.

Letter structure

Such messages are written in the same way as other business letters:

First, the details of the recipient and sender are indicated;
then - the date of preparation and the outgoing document number;
a title reflecting the essence of the question;
addressing the recipient (usually by name and patronymic, unless you are writing to official authorities);
essence of the question;
a favorable expression of hope for cooperation;
Gratitude;
position, full name and signature of the sender.

Since the request letter is an official document, it should be written on company letterhead. A sample request letter can be downloaded here.

https://youtu.be/RzHJkYTc-Wo

Stage 3: Justify the request

Any request must be justified, because the addressee must know why you are contacting him. Therefore, it makes sense to introduce it to the heart of the matter. At this stage, we recommend that you select the three most convincing arguments, which should be arranged in the text of the letter according to the following scheme: medium strength, weak, strongest.

The request may have varying levels of complexity, and you need to be prepared for the fact that the addressee will not always be interested in fulfilling it. In this regard, he must be convinced that its implementation carries potential benefits for him. Get the recipient interested so that he takes your document seriously.

A letter of request may contain a proposal to implement a certain opportunity that is attractive to him.

How to write?

It is better to start your request with a brief explanation of the reasons for your request. Simply demanding information without giving reasons (and even in the form of an ultimatum, as some do) is bad form. Write literally one introductory phrase, for example:

“based on our preliminary agreements”;
“in order to prevent possible controversial issues”;
“in accordance with the concluded agreement”;
"to conclude a contract."

If necessary, you can refer to legislative acts. For example, if the law requires that before concluding an agreement you familiarize yourself with any papers, you can write in the letter: “In accordance with Article of the Federal Law of July 24, 2012 No. 397-FZ...”. You can get to the point without preliminary explanation only in cases where the reason for the request is obvious (for example, if you are writing a commercial proposal request letter according to the sample). But if the reason for your request is non-standard, you should describe the situation and state your motives in detail so that the recipient does not have any questions.

In the content part, you need to formulate (as concisely as possible) one specific requirement. It is undesirable to ask for clarification on several topics in the same message. However, this is optional - if you write a letter on every small issue (of which there are 5-10 in total), this will only lead to unnecessary formalism. The recipient will also not be very happy to be subjected to such a “paper” bombardment. The content begins with standard introductory constructions:

“please inform us about...”;
“We will be extremely grateful if you...”;
“Please send...”

A letter of inquiry always requires a letter of response. If the question is urgent and urgent, tactfully mention that you would like to receive an answer as quickly as possible. For this purpose, you can use the following phrases:

“please respond as soon as possible”;
“We urge you to respond within five days”;
“We ask you to respond within two weeks”;
“We look forward to your letter”;
“Please send the documents as soon as possible by email.”

In most cases, the request message is very short. There is no need to spread your thoughts over the tree and express your thoughts on the topic and off-topic.

Below are examples of the most common requests.

Instructions for writing a letter of request

Both messages requesting assistance and letters of gratitude for cooperation, for obvious reasons, cannot be drawn up according to a single model: using a unified form, it is simply impossible to adapt to specific circumstances. Indeed, in order for a request to have the desired effect, it is extremely important to take into account the personality of the recipient, his social status, current financial condition and other factors. In addition, the letter should be of a clearly confidential nature: if it is a strictly official document, the addressee, who is in a default position, will most likely prefer to respond with an unsubscribe or simply refuse the dialogue, sending the message to the trash bin.

A letter asking for help should be written correctly and as briefly as possible.

Important : Throughout the letter, you must maintain a warm and respectful tone. We must not forget that a letter of request is not an official demand; it can easily be ignored or rejected by the recipient. Respect alone will not produce results without sufficient motivation, but at least it can hold the reader’s attention, forcing him to reach the end of the text.

Before you start composing a letter of request to solve a problem, defer payments or provide a discount, it makes sense to decide on the addressee. Depending on the circumstances, these could be:

a private individual - for example, a wealthy investor or an influential scientist;
individual entrepreneur or owner of a limited liability company;
a legal entity as a whole, if the sender does not know the name of the director or it does not make sense to him who exactly will respond to the message;
a public servant of any level - from the mayor of a small town to the governor or responsible head of any structure.

Naturally, a letter sent to a mediocre entrepreneur will be very different in spirit from an official message asking for assistance from the chairman of a state corporation. However, the structure of all request letters is approximately the same; It is enough for the compiler to understand which elements must be present in any letter, which can be varied and which are better to be completely abandoned. This is much more difficult to do than writing a memo, but it is still possible. The following instructions will help you understand the situation.

The second issue that needs to be clarified before writing a request letter is the structure of the document. As already mentioned, there is no unified form of message, but the general plan of any business letters is almost the same and should be followed. An official or semi-formal request for assistance, assistance or services is constructed from the following blocks:

"A cap". Consists of the organization’s logo, additional patterns (it is recommended to use your own design rather than stock ones; it doesn’t hurt to hire a professional designer for this) and the name of the sending organization, if the latter is not part of the logo. Contrary to popular belief, it is not necessary to include the state symbols of the Russian Federation, including the flag and coat of arms, in the header, especially if the sender is a private individual, individual entrepreneur or small company that has no connection with government agencies. The presence of a flag and coat of arms is unlikely to influence the recipient’s decision, but (if used ineptly) these attributes will arouse suspicion in the reader about the trustworthiness of the applicant.
Introductory part. It includes:
addressee's details, including TIN, OGRN, statistical codes, registration numbers and current account;
contact information: full address with zip code, phone numbers, email address, accounts in instant messengers and social networks, etc.;
optionally - name or surname, first name and patronymic of the recipient, depending on whether it is a legal entity or an individual;
a greeting separated from the main text by a blank line and highlighted by using a larger font;
indications of the basis for the appeal (the occurrence of a delay, analysis of the results, the presence of a verbal agreement, telephone conversations, and so on);
purpose of a letter of request (elimination of misunderstandings, prompt resolution of an issue or immediate assistance to a person).
Main text. The body of the letter should state (as briefly as possible, intelligibly and in literary Russian) the essence of the request: to pay a debt, carry out repair work, provide financial assistance to the shelter or provide a discount. At the very beginning of the text, it is necessary to emphasize that the letter is precisely a request; The easiest way to do this is to use the appropriate derivatives: “I sincerely ask”, “We ask you”, “Our organization asks”, “I make a request to you” - and others. As already mentioned, a letter of request is not a requirement, much less an order, therefore, from the beginning to the end of the message, it is necessary to strictly adhere to a respectful tone, remembering that the interested person in this case is the sender, not the reader. The only exceptions are messages asking to repay the debt; but even in this case one should not forget about respect for the addressee. It also doesn’t hurt to add a few warm words at the beginning of the letter (if the sender and recipient know each other well) or formal compliments if the originator and recipient have not previously communicated or the interaction took place within a strictly business framework. If one letter contains several requests that are different in essence or related to each other, each of them needs to be given its own paragraph, or even better, create a bulleted list that has a significant visual advantage over continuous text.
Conclusion. If the letter has special meaning for the sender, here it is worth once again (briefly and convincingly) to call the reader to action. This can be done either in two or three sentences, which are the quintessence of the main text, or with the help of an attention-grabbing slogan. However, you shouldn’t get too carried away; the request letter must be confidential and not commercial or advertising in nature. It is better that his style be uncomplicated than deliberately verified, instilling in the reader doubts about the sincerity of the sender. This is especially important if the letter contains a request for help or assistance.
Farewell and signature. “With respect” is not always placed at the end of a letter. If the purpose of drawing up a document is to achieve assistance or support, it makes sense to use another formula instead of this one, for example, “Thank you in advance,” “Thank you in advance,” “Thank you for your attention,” “Thank you very much for your help,” and so on. Whatever phrase is used, it is certainly and unconditionally separated from the signature itself by a comma, and also, if space permits, by a new line. The punctuation mark in this case has not a functional, but a graphic meaning, making it easier for the reader to perceive the text; the same applies to moving the signature to the next line.
Date and stamp. Immediately after the signature at the bottom of the letter, you need to put the date of its composition or, if it was written in advance, the date of sending. Putting a stamp and personal signature is not necessary, but highly recommended: this is another sign of respect for the addressee. Even if the message is sent electronically (although it is recommended to use paper documents), at the end of the page it is worth placing electronic copies of the seal impression (stamp) and the personal signature of the sender or certifying the document with an enhanced electronic digital signature.

Advice: if it is important for the addressee to receive a response to a letter of request within a certain period of time, it is necessary to mention this in the main text: for example, “We are waiting for your response no later than...” or “We hope to receive clarifications by...”. Otherwise, the recipient, who is not bound by any obligations in relation to the document, may delay the response, which will create additional difficulties for the sender.

When sending a letter of request for help or repayment of a debt, it should be noted that in organizations, the processing of incoming correspondence is handled by a secretary or an authorized person. Therefore, an applicant who wants his message to be read directly by the head or director must make a note on the envelope “Personally in hand,” “Confidential” or “For consideration ... (last name and initials of the addressee).” However, if the document contains a request that does not affect personal, commercial or industrial secrets, there will be nothing disastrous if the message is first read and registered by the secretary, and only then it is transferred to the director or manager.

See also: Sales consultant - responsibilities for resume

Some tips for writing a message asking for help:

The letter must be written in good Russian, without errors or typos. This is not only a sign of the sender’s literacy, but also evidence of his respect for the recipient. If the author of the document did not bother to re-read the text, it is at least unreasonable to talk about the sincerity of the warm words he used towards the recipient.
If it is not possible to use letterhead (for example, it simply does not exist), you should at least try to choose an attractive font, using different sizes and styles. A letter of request should not only be convincing, but also pleasing to the eye - otherwise the addressee may not be patient and stop reading in the middle, without getting to the point.
Remembering that a message asking for help or assistance is not a strictly official document, when writing it you should try to avoid bureaucratic language and overly long sentences. The easier it is for the recipient to read the document and understand the essence of the request, the more likely he is to respond and take the necessary measures.

Sample letter of request for provision of documents

“Dear Vladimir Alexandrovich!

To conclude an agreement between Artemis LLC and Schwarzenspiegel JSC, I ask you to provide the following list of documents:

articles of association;
OGRN and TIN certificates;
certificate of state registration of the company (received from the Federal Tax Service in the manner prescribed by law);
order of appointment to the position of General Director.

Please send both the original documents (by Russian Post or courier service) and their copies (by email to [email protected] ).”

Sample letter requesting clarification

“Dear Alexander Petrovich!

In order to prevent possible controversial issues, I ask you to describe in as much detail as possible the procedure for delivering rhesus monkeys from the territory of Northern Vietnam. What vehicles are used at each stage, is there a danger to the life and health of individuals, what is the maximum period of time I should expect? Looking forward to your reply".

Compose a letter using the given samples and do not forget about politeness and business ethics. The request should not contain threatening phrases, ultimatums or promises to file a complaint with the authorities if there is no response. State your request as correctly as possible, even if the recipient clearly does not want to fulfill it. And if the answer never comes (or if you are sent an official refusal to provide data), you will have to resort to more serious measures - for example, writing a warning letter.

Samples of request letters

Although request letters are written in free form, it will be useful for the writer, especially one who has not previously had such experience, to become familiar with samples of the most common messages.

About the allocation of money

If you need to seek help or benefits from an investor, sponsor or lender, you should issue a letter requesting funds.

About delivery of goods

Sometimes it is necessary to ask the supplier to shift the delivery time of goods in one direction or another or to place an order for a new batch as soon as possible.

About deferred payment

It is not always possible to pay the lender on time. In order not to aggravate the relationship, the borrower is recommended to send a letter to the lender requesting a deferred payment.

About rent reduction

If the landlord decides to raise the rent, or some time after the contract was signed, the tenant realizes that he could spend less, you can try to rectify the situation by sending a letter to the other party asking for a reduction in the rent.

About providing discounts

It is not always the seller of a product or service who offers regular or especially profitable customers participation in a discount program. Sending a letter asking for a discount will help achieve fairness while maintaining excellent relationships between the parties.

About debt payment

From time to time, even the most respectable borrower or client forgets about the next installment or the obligation to pay for a purchase. A letter asking for payment of the debt will help to gently point out his inappropriate behavior.

See also: How to transfer money from a card to a Sberbank card?

About assistance in resolving the issue

If the issue is not purely financial and a citizen or organization needs comprehensive assistance, they can get out of the situation by writing and sending letters to several influential recipients asking for assistance in resolving the issue.