How do you write an appointment email?
Being able to make, change and cancel appointments is an important skill in business English. Here are some expressions you can use in an email to do this concisely and clearly.
Asking for an appointment
(formal situations)
I would like to arrange an appointment to discuss….
Please would you indicate a suitable time and place to meet?
(neutral)
Would it be possible to meet on (date) at your / our offices to discuss…?
(informal)
Can we meet (up) to talk about…?
Suggesting a time
When using the scheduling assistant, the suggested meeting times on the right side only show times for which all attendees are completely free (i.e. Tentative commitments are not included and considered as busy). Is there a setting that can be applied such that I can also include time slots for which attendees are marked as tentative?
(neutral)
Would Tuesday suit you?
Would you be available on Tuesday?
(informal)
What about…?
Let’s say…
Agreeing to an appointment
(formal)
Thank you for your email. I would be available to discuss…. on (date) at (time and place).
(neutral / informal)
Tuesday sounds fine. Shall we say around (time) at (place)?
Saying a time is not convenient
(formal)
Unfortunately, I will be away on business during the week of July 6 – 11, so I will be unable to meet you then. However, if you were available in the following week, I would be glad to arrange a meeting with you.
I will be out of the office on Wednesday and Thursday, but I will be available on Friday afternoon.
Cancelling an appointment
(formal)
Unfortunately, due to some unforeseen business, I will be unable to keep our appointment for tomorrow afternoon.
Would it be possible to arrange another time later in the week?
(neutral)
I’m afraid that I have to cancel our meeting on Wednesday, as something unexpected has come up.
Would you be free to meet early next week?
Apologising
(formal)
I apologise for any inconvenience.
(informal)
I’m sorry about cancelling.
Asking for confirmation
(neutral)
Please confirm if this date and time is suitable / convenient for you.
(informal)
Can you let me know if this is OK for you?
Writing to someone you don’t know
If you don’t know the person, you’ll need to give some background information about yourself or your company.
I am… and I would be interested to meet you to discuss…
I would be grateful if you could indicate a convenient time to meet during this week.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Need to change an appointment on the phone?
See our page on making appointments
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When someone makes a proposal that doesn't work for you, keep the conversation and the relationship going by proposing alternatives. Here's how.
When you're scheduling meetings, it's easy to get caught in an endless back-and-forth as everyone searches for the right amount of time on their calendar. When Bernice emails you, saying 'I'm available tomorrow at 3pm. Let's go wild over a box of cupcakes and the latest sales figures,' you might discover you're already spending tomorrow at 3pm in a session to decide how to display your latest merchandise. You just can't make it to Bernice's meeting.
Don't simply write back, 'I can't make it.' If you send just that back, now you've put the other person in a position of still not knowing what a good time would be to meet. Instead, look at your calendar and find 2-3 time slots that work for you. List all of them in your reply, and highlight one as the default. That's the one you put in your calendar. Your reply will look something like this:
'I can't make it Tuesday at noon. My first choice is Friday at 3pm—I'll pencil that in. If that doesn't work, however, I'm free Wednesday at 11am and Thursday 2-4pm. But please let me know quickly, as those time slots may fill up.'
This way, you're keep the scheduling conversation going while meeting your scheduling needs and the need of the other person to coordinate a group.