Declining to Do Business
Guidelines and Alternate Phrases
Thank the reader for his or her interest in your product, service, or organization.
Thank you for contacting us about the research work you have underway.
We appreciate your writing us about the products you saw advertised recently.
Thank you for phoning us about the availability of your staff to complete the Sycon project.
We appreciate having the opportunity to review the materials you sent us about your organization.
Your interest in Sycon Instruments is flattering.
Thank you for inquiring about our bidding process and the projects now underway.
Your offer to help us complete the Lybednon work is generous and tempting.
We’ve heard a great deal about your organization and are flattered you would think of contacting us about ....
Your information arrived today; thank you for considering our products and services in your marketing and distribution plans.
Your future plans sound exciting; thank you for offering to make us a part of them.
Lead into your statement of refusal by first outlining your reasons for the decision. Then state your turndown as positively and tactfully as possible.
We have already made prior commitments for contracting such work.
We think a decision to narrow our focus to one company such as yours would limit our future plans. Therefore, to keep our options open with regard to..., we have decided to ....
The information you provided on your work with valves interests me a great deal; however, there is currently no formal procurement requirement or open solicitation for this effort.
The research you mention in your letter has to do with hydroponics and greenhouse systems. Our emphasis here is primarily on solid substrate mediums rather than hydroponics. The bulk of the work you mentioned is being conducted at other locations.
As you may imagine, we can foresee a possible conflict of interest in that ....
Therefore, to avoid all appearances of favoritism, we have decided to ....
Our experience in similar situations tells us there could be legal ramifications if we were to join hands in ....
Because of the politics of the situation and the impression this relationship might leave with our own employees, we must decline the opportunity to ....
Suggest either that it may not be in the best interest of your reader to do business with you under the circumstances or he or that she should devote efforts elsewhere.
We believe you could formulate a much better arrangement if you contacted some of our competitors who do not perform this work in-house. The price compares very favorably with other products of lower quality than yours; I suggest you raise your price before offering the product line to a more suitable distributor.
I’m afraid we simply do not do the volume of business you would expect for your profit margins on an exclusive arrangement.
If I were you, I’d refurbish the equipment and housing and offer it to a buyer in the local market. Possibly such a buyer could pay you more than we could because of the logistics and distance involved.
We think you’ll find our philosophies too restrictive for your future plans.
We fear our structure here would be limiting to your creativity in solving many problems.
You deserve freedom to make pricing choices, and our current arrangement would limit that freedom.
I’m sure you would be concerned with copyright infringement possibilities, so rather than create confusion over these issues, we think it best to decline.
Offer any referral, if possible, for the product or service.
In the event you want to contact other divisions, I have attached a list of contact names.
Perhaps you can check listings in the Dallas area for nonprofits in a position to take advantage of your work.
I want to take this opportunity to wish you well in your efforts to contact other interested organizations.
Elaine Turnbolt may be more interested than I in such a program.
Perhaps Booker and Charles Ltd. could offer you more exposure than we could. Feel free to use our name in contacting them.
Let me make one suggestion: Humbolt, Inc. would seem a likely candidate for this service.
Have you thought of offering your service to Humbolt, Inc.?
Despite our inability to work out clear, unambiguous arrangements, we wish you success with the project.
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