Junior Accountant Lesson series

• Engels
• MBO
• Studiejaar 3

Business e-mail

Junior accountant

Lesson 1

Aim lesson series 

By the end of these 3 lessons you can write a business e-mail in a real-life case study to respond to a request from a client.

AIM LESSON 1:

By the end of this lesson you

- know what KISS and AIDA means in writing business e-mails

- know what register (tone/style) to use in a business e-mail

- you know the basic sentence structure

- you know the basic structure of a business e-mail

What do you know about a business e-mail?

Video

Watch this video and make notes of the tips mentioned.

What were the tips in the video?

KISS & AIDA: Tips for business e-mails

1: KISS

- Keep

- It

- Simple: be to the point, use one paragraph for each point

- & Sweet: be polite: use formal language

2: AIDA

- Attention: get the reader's attention

- Interest: create interest in your product

- Desire: make your reader desire your product

- Action: motivate the reader to take action

KISS: about register

In business e- mails you should be polite and use formal language.

Can you spot the difference between informal and formal language use in e-mails on the next sheets?

Which sentence is formal language?

1. Sorry, I can't make it to the meeting
2. Unfortunately I am unable to attend the meeting

Which sentence is formal language?

1. Please accept my apologies for...
2. I'm very sorry about...

Which sentence is formal language?

1. Please let us know your requirements
2. Please tell us what you need.

Which sentence is formal language?

1. I promise you...
2. I can assure you that...

Informal

Formal

a lot
to need
to contact
to answer
help
okay
to ask

to enquire

to require

assistance

convenient

numerous

to get in touch with

to reply

KISS: sentence structure

Do you remember the simple, basic sentence structure?

Our company had more than 800 stores in the UK in 2020

What is the sentence structure here?

Discuss this with your classmate.

Then answer the questions on the next four sheets.

Wie

Doet

Wat

Waar

Wanneer

What is the correct word order? Rewrite the sentence:

to Spain / we / next month / our product / will send

What is the correct word order? Rewrite the sentence:

from our online catalogue/ your order / I / on the 21st of June / confirm

What is the correct word order? Rewrite the sentence:

would like / in our head office /a meeting / next week /in person / our manager / to organise

Revision: Sentence structure

subject + verb + object + place + time

wie doet wat waar wanneer

Our company had more than 800 stores in the UK in 2020

Basic E-mail structure

What comes first, in the middle and last?

1. Subject line
2. Salutation
3. Body
4. Closing
5. Signature

1.Subject line

Business owners receive a lot of emails.

Tips:

• Your subject line must stand out to grab their attention (remember AIDA!)
• Keep it short.
• Give specific information about the content of your message.

2. Salutation

The first line of your e-mail acts as a greeting.

• Greet respectfully and always use the name of the receiver of your e-mail:

• If you really can't figure out who to address the e-mail to:

Dear Mr [last name]

Dear Mrs [last name] (married)

Dear Miss [last name] (not married)

Dear Ms [last name](you don't know if she's married or not)

Dear Sir

Dear Madam

Dear Sir or Madam

To whom it may concern (very formal)

3. Body

This is where you share your message.

• You may want to introduce yourself:

• Opening sentence: you refer to the last contact with your client:

• You answer the client's questions and create interest and desire (AIDA):

- I am writing with regard to your... / with reference to ... / concerning ...

- Thank you very much for ... your e-mail / enquiry of [date]

- In addition we would like to suggest...

- With our product you would be able to.....

- Our unique selling points are...

- I am the junior account manager of ...

- My name is .... and I am in charge of ...

4. Closing

This is the last part of your email before your signature 

• Use a polite closing sentence
• Call to action

- I hope that this e-mail answers your questions.

- I look forward to your response / to hearing from you soon.

- If you have any questions, please feel free to call me directly at...

- If you require any further assistance / information, please do not hesitate to contact me on ...

- Please let us know if you are interested in our product ...

- Please let us know if you would like one of our representatives to visit you and ...

5. Sign-off

•  End your e-mail politely: 

• Add your signature: identify yourself by name, title and any other relevant information:

-Kind regards

-Best regards

-Yours sincerely

-Yours faithfully

Joan Jones

Junior Accountant

ABC Company

Final tips:

- Capital letters:

 

- Interpunction: 

- No abbreviations:

- No informal contractions:

- No emoticons:

- Check your spelling!

Start a sentence with a capital letter (hoofdletter).

Spell out words like "appointment" instead of writing "appt".

Leave out the smiley faces and LOLs.

Leave out informal short forms like "wanna" (want to), "here's" (here is), "we'll" (we will) and "Y" (you).

End a sentence with " ." or with "?" and use commas.

Answer the questions on the next slides

Write a subject line for this e-mail:
Subject:.....................................

Dear Mr Smith,
We have to change our meeting on July 17 to 11 am instead of 10 am.
We sincerely apologize for this inconvenience.
Kind regards,
Mrs Finch

Write a subject line for this email:

Subject:.....................................
Dear Ms Johnson,
I am writing to confirm your order of 100 laptops, order no 12345.
If you have any further questions don't hesitate to contact us.
Yours sincerely,
Peter Trump

Which answer is an appropriate way to greet in a business e-mail?

1. Hi there Harry
2. Hello again Mr Potter
3. Morning Harry
4. Dear Mr Potter

Which answer is an appropriate way to end a business e-mail?

1. Bye for now
2. Kind regards
3. Cheerio
4. See you soon

What is incorrect in the sentence below?

we'll send the products asap

What is the correct order of the different elements of the e-mail on the next sheet?

Check your ansers with your classmate before submitting your answer

With reference to your last phonecall regarding the current situation with the NIMBA project, as manager of the project, I can confirm that the project is going well. 

 Confirmation of situation NIMBA Project.

Rest assured that this issue is being looked into and I am confident that it will be resolved by the end of the week. I hope that this answers your questions.

We have not encountered any problems with the hardware but there are still some minor issues with the software.

Dear Mrs Williams,

Yours sincerely,

 Sue Davids, Project Manager

If you require any further information, please do not hesitate to contact me on my mobile, 0697099438.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Answer e-mail in correct order

1 Confirmation of situation NIMBA Project.

 

2 Dear Mrs Williams,

3 With reference to your last phonecall regarding the current situation with the NIMBA Project, as manager of the project, I can confirm that the project is going well.

4 We have not encountered any problems with the hardware but there are still some minor issues with the software system.

5 Rest assured that this issue is being looked into and I am confident that it will be resolved by the end of the week. I hope that this answers your questions.

6 If you require any further information, please do not hesitate to contact me on my mobile, 0697099438.

7 Yours sincerely,

    Sue Davids, Project Manager

Revision Aims lesson 1

By the end of this lesson you

  

- know what KISS and AIDA means in business e-mails

- know what what register (tone/style) to use in a business e-mail

- you know the basic sentence structure

- you know the structure of a business e-mail

Have we reached the aims of this lesson?

😒🙁😐🙂😃

What is the correct word order? Rewrite the sentence:
to Japan / will be shipped / on June 24 / the goods

What is the correct word order? Rewrite the sentence:
free service / we / one day a year / plan to offer

What is the correct word order? Rewrite the sentence:
in London / launched / the new drug / Pharmatec / in 2020

What is the correct word order? Rewrite the sentence:
will improve / our company / immediately / the packaging

What is the correct word order? Rewrite the sentence:
from 8.30 am until 18.00 pm / you / our manager / can contact

What is the correct word order? Rewrite the sentence:
as soon as possible / will send / the boxes / we

What is the correct word order? Rewrite the sentence:
good profits / our company / last year / made / in Europe