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How to Respond to Buyer Inquiries
How do you filter and group inquires?
According to information provided in an inquiry, we divide inquiries into FOUR main types:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Specific and detailed inquiries
Specific but Brief Inquiries
General Inquiries
Advertisement and spam
Type 1: Specific and detailed inquiries (Top priority)
Specific and detailed inquiries mention about specific product, with specific requirements like quantity,
exporting country, delivery time, or sample pictures, etc. Some buyers also give introduction of their company.
Example:
I am interested in importing royal jelly powder from your country. And our company is located in Busan. We
have many natural food distributors in Korea. If you can fulfill my following request, please contact me.
Color: milky white or light-yellow
Appearance: powder, 100 mesh
Odor: pure fragrance peculiar to royal jelly
Taste: acid, pucker, sweet aftertaste
Moisture: 5%
Quantity Required: 1,000 kilograms
Shipping Terms: FOB
Destination Port: Busan, Korea
Payment Terms: T/T
Thank you
Jerry Wales
Sales Manager
ABC company
Email: xxx@xxx.com
Tell…
Specific requirement
Purchasing conditions
Payment Terms preferred
Complete contact information
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Quotation sample for specific and detailed Inquires
Point out when you received
the inquiry.
Dear Mr ABC,
We are pleased to receive your inquiry of Aug. 2nd and to hear that you are interested in our plush
toys. Our company, Universal Trading Co., Ltd, was established in 1998. …
Model No.: 105023658
Give a short introduction
Product Origin: India
about you to your buyer
Price Terms: FOB Mumbai Other Price Terms: CIF London
Delivery Lead Time: 30 days
Certification(s): EN71, EN50088, EMC
Shipment: To be effected within 2 months from receipt of the relevant L/C by Maersk Line.
Payment: By sight L/C, T/T
Letter body should contain the
detail description of your
We will keep this offer valid only for 7 days.
product, such as functions,
color,
size, delivery
time
As we are receiving orders day to day and our present stocks
are nearly
exhausted,
weand
would advise
packing.
you to place an order as soon as possible if deliveries are required to be prompt.
We are looking forward to your initial order. Thanks and best regards,
Yours Faithfully
Mairaj Ali
Export Dept.
A.B. Technology Co., Ltd
Email: mairaj@abtech.com
Your contact details must be
input at the end of quotation.
Type 2. Specific but Brief Inquiries (High priority)
These inquiries do mention about interest in specific products but not much other requirements or
buyers’ own background are given.
Our company is specialized in tools and small machines sale in US. We are interested in your Gas Cutter
Machine. Could you send me your catalogue with price list?
1. Please indicate if you would like to send samples of some selected products
(FREE OF
CHARGE)
Only product
name,
no for
inspection prior to place orders.
specific requirement
2. Please indicate any discounts or special offers for quantity orders.
In the first instance, please send all correspondence to:XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Thank you
Jenny Wanda
Sales Manager
Email: xxx@xxx.com
2
Quotation sample for Specific but brief inquiries
Dear Jack,
Thank you for your kindly inquiry dated on Apr. 9th regarding the Gas Cutter Machine. And I have visited
your company website and known that your company is nearby Los Angeles. So the price for Gas Cutter
Machines is as follows on the term of CIF Los Angeles in USD.
Gas Cutter Machine Mode No. NB-PB-037P USD32.56/Set Check buyers’ company information
Gas Cutter Machine Mode No. NB-PB-037H USD39.75/Set from internet and company websites,
and give quotation as per buyer’s local
market
needs.
The payment term will be 30%T/T for deposit and the balance
against
the copy of B/L. And the L/C is also
available for the first order.
All of our Gas Cutter Machines are meet the American API standard and best seller in North America.
They would be double checked through our special examining instruments on our product line.
Replacement Parts be packed separately with manual guide on the bottom of the carton who is free of
charge.
12 Sets of Gas Cutter Machine be piled in a pallet. 16 pallets exactly fill a 20 feet container. The lead time
is 3 weeks once the order is confirmed.
There will be highly appreciated if you could let us get your opinion on our quotation. Looking forward to
hearing from you soon. Thank you.
Marry Li
Sales Manager
ABC Manufacturer Co., Ltd.
Tel: +86-571-0000000
Type 3. General Inquiries (low priority)
The general inquiries show the interest of a general product type or collection but no specific mention about
the exact product or other requirements.
Example:
No product name and
Dear Sir/Madam,
no product
details
We are interested in your products which I saw in Alibaba and we sincerely hope
to establish
a long-term
business relation with your esteemed corporation. Please kindly send me your catalog.
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Quotation sample for General inquiries:
Dear Mr. Sunny,
Thank you for your email of Sep. 6th, 2011.
We are able to produce 3 series of starter batteries, namely BCI (Battery council international), DIN
(German standard) and JIS (Japanese Standard) batteries. From your website, I get to know that your
company has kept a long-term business relationship with some Japanese carmakers. So I figure the
batteries you are using should be JIS series. Here I am sending you the specification of this series of
batteries for your reference.
Check the buyer’s company
…
information
from steady
internet
to
We hope our products can meet your need and we may establish
a long-term
business
further evaluate what exactly
relationship.
the buyer may want and give
quotation
with
specific
James Martin
requirement.
Export Dept.
A.B.C. Co., Ltd
Email: james@abc.com
Tel: 66-xxxxxxxxx
Type 4. Advertisement and spam (least priority)
Example:
Dear sir
Good Day!
im a factory from china .
i can offer cellphone ,but your qty is very big
this is right ?
if you have interesting
Promote their own product to
you.
Example:
Dear Sirs,
I am Mr. Ali Buba, Bill and Exchange manager, Bank of Africa Ouagadougou Burkina Faso. I have a
A huge amount of
profiling amount in an excess of US$18 Million, which I seek you to accommodate for me. You will be
profit mentioned at
rewarded with 40% of the total sum for your partnership. Can you handle this?
first.

I need your assistance in transferring the sum of ($18 Million) eighteen million US Dollars into your
account within 7 to 10 banking days.
…
4
Report Spam to Alibaba.com
If you receive a spam message in your “Inbox”, click “Report Spam” and the sender will be added to the Block
List automatically.
Responding to Buyers Inquiries - Some Good Practices
After filtering and sorting inquiries, we should consider how to reply to inquiries. First, let’s understand what
the buyers concern most when they have their first contacts with suppliers.
Based on the recent survey Alibaba.com conducted regarding buyers’ purchasing behavior and attitude in
2010, we find that buyers concern the following the most in their first contacts with suppliers.
•
•
•
Whether the suppliers understand the buyers’ needs
If the suppliers respond to buyers on a timely manner
Whether the suppliers’ staff respond in a professional manner, like language and communication
capability
For details, please refer to the below chart.
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So, to let buyers have a good impression to the first reply, we should have the following habits and
preparation in our replies to buyers.
i.
Investigate who are our buyers and what they need
An inquiry is always coming with a buyer’s company name. Some buyers may give some brief introduction
of their background, importing country, selling network, etc and these are helpful information for a
supplier to prepare the appropriate quotation matching with the buyers’ market.
Some buyers may not mention much about their company background. We can then make use of internet
or other channels to look for the buyers’ company information.
Knowing where the buyers are located and selling, it’s convenient for a supplier to give the quotation with
the country-specific requirement. For example, for a buyer located in US and selling in US, then you should
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follow closely with the inland freight from east coast to west coast in US. Certain product testing and
importing regulations can be referenced based upon US requirements.
ii.
Timely Response
Reply all inquiries in the same day. If the inquiries can’t be replied in time, you’d better tell buyer you
have received the inquiry and need more time to check for prices and details for some reasons and
when you can give an answer.
If the buyer doesn’t reply your first response, please try to ask the buyer whether he/she received
your previous email.
Regularly send your latest products your potential buyer may be interested in.
iii.
Quotation Preparation
Price: Quote different prices, according to different trade terms and destination port. And quote your
price accordingly by the raw material price and currency fluctuations.
Logistics: Choose licensed and reliable shipment company to guarantee a good delivery and favorable
price.
Time of Delivery: Estimate a reasonable lead time, in order to give the right time of delivery.
Product Details: Providing the product specification, technical data, etc, so that you could show your
professionalism on the products.
Package: Provide details about the inner packing and outer packing, quantities in a 20’ container or a
40’ container.
Product Photo: Clear and detailed.
Sample: Prepare samples in each category, in order to send samples to buyers if needed.
iv.
Email Communication Tips
Here are some tips for the first quotation.
Email Subject should be simple and specific. It helps the potential buyers find your quotation easily.
And it could also save time for buyers to sort.
Example:
Email Subject: Quotation of Item A from ABC
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For the email body, font size should be consistent. Do not use capital letters or lower cases in the
whole article. Key points can be highlighted so that potential buyers may pay close attention to.
Email signatures not only indicate company professional, but also help buyers remember you and
contact you easily. It can show direct contact details such as company name, address, website,
telephone, email & other IMs.
v.
Example of Quotation
Point out when you
received the inquiry.
Dear Mr ABC,
We are pleased to receive your inquiry of Aug. 2nd and to hear that you
are interested in our plush toys.
Our company, Universal Trading Co., Ltd, was established in 1998. We
have a Toy Department specializing in the export of various toys covering
plastic, wooden, cloth and plush articles. They are all fashionable designing
and competing well in the world market.
Here we would like to quote as follows base on perIf20’FCL.
Quantities
you contact
the buyer at
less than that are slightly higher.
first time, you’d better
introduce your company, in
order to give C3
the buyer a
Commodity
Article No. Packing Cartons
per CIF
better understanding
of
20’FCL
Amsterdam
in
your company.
USD
Dalmatian
KD3498
8pcs/ctn 225
6.96/pc
Dog
Long
Hair KC2385
30pcs/ct 105
4.86/pc
Cat
n
Model No.: 105023658
Product Origin: India
Price Terms: FOB Mumbai Other Price Terms: CIF London
Brand Name: DZ Toy
Minimum Order: 10ctns
Delivery Lead Time: 30 days
Certification(s): EN71, EN50088, EMC
Shipment: To be effected within 2 months from receipt of
themost
relevant
L/C by part of the
The
important
Maersk Line.
quotation is the letter body. It
Payment: By sight L/C, T/T
should contain the detail
Insurance: For 110% invoice value coving All Risks and War
Risks.
description
of your product,
We will keep this offer valid only for 7 days.
such as functions, color, size,
As we are receiving orders day to day and our present
stocks
areand
nearly
delivery
time
packing.
exhausted, we would advise you to place an order as soon as possible if
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deliveries are required to be prompt.
We are looking forward to your initial order.
Other reminders could be
Thanks and best regards,
mentioned.
Yours Faithfully
Mairaj Ali
Export Dept.
A.B. Technology Co., Ltd
Email: mairaj@abtech.com
Tel: 91-591-2234567
Fax: 91-591-2234568
Mobile: 0091-9837012345
Address: 5 Floor A.B. Building, Delhi Road, Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh, India
Zip: 244000
Your contact details must be
Website: http://www.abtech.com
input at the end of quotation.
MSN:abcde@hotmail.com
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