Please Advise

One of the small pleasures I've discovered since being an attorney is writing a brief letter or email that concludes with "Please advise." Like the opener "Gentlemen:" there's something nicely formal about "please advise," and yet it gently but firmly conveys "this is your problem, and the ball is in your court, buster" while also saying, "I'm standing by, ready to help, when you've done your part." It's a nifty little phrase. It pleases me to use it. Please advise.

Comments

[Steven]

Awesome Blogs! I got here by googling "Please advise" in an attempt substitute those words. I was about to submit an email to my head managers and just before I clicked on the “SEND” button, I looked at the phrase, “Please advise”, as a closure and I thought to myself, is that appropriate to use? However, I have not come across any good substitute for that phrase and which type of scenario it applies to.

[Jen]

Woah. People are really worked up about this.

I don't think Please Advise is all that offensive. Then again, I a) work with lawyers, and b) probably wouldn't use it for an equal coworker.

It's usful for higherups. It means - "I cannot go futher on this project without your consent" and then it nudges them to respond to you.

In it's place, sometimes I use "Thoughts?" at the end of my emails with coworkers, which is more like "what do you think? I may or may not take your advice."

Is that just as annoying?

[LLCoolLori]

This woman I work with ends all her emails with "Please advise", I would advise her to jump off a bridge if I could! lol =0 But then she would probably need more advising on which bridge and what time would be appropriate!

[Krystine]

You guys are just ridiculous. When I use the phrase "please advise", I am succinctly asking the person to give me a feedback or point me in the right direction to get an answer to what I need. Maybe it is something they should have either done or should should have advised me about. I seldomly use the phrase, but I do use it.

[Jeff]

I use "please advise" when talking to people who need to be reminded to do their job. It's a subtle way of saying "F**k you."

When dealing with, say, computer programmers, you might tell them: "My email takes a day to get to me" and they say: "So?"

So, I may, in a circumstance like this, to pre-empt such a response, write: "My email is not working (it sucks). Please advise (you jerkoff).

[Tanner]

YOU HAVE A MAJOR PROBLEM!

[cpw]

When dealing with computer people, especially when asking for them to investigate and fix something, "please advise" is just really obnoxious.
Like in Krystine's situation, for when her email isn't working, we can fix that for her, but what exactly are we suppose to give her advice on?
So instead of "Please advise (you jerkoff)" she could use "Please fix (you jerkoff)"

ad·vise
verb, -vised, -vis·ing. –verb (used with object)
to give counsel to; offer an opinion or suggestion as worth following: I advise you to be cautious.
to recommend as desirable, wise, prudent, etc.: He advised secrecy.
to give (a person, group, etc.) information or notice (often fol. by of): The investors were advised of the risk. They advised him that this was their final notice.

[Chat]

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[Anonomya]

Gee, I thought I was being "concise" by writing "please advise" instead of a wordy request for a response. For example...

email 1: "My email isn't working." Response? "Thanks for sharing."

email 2: "My email isn't working. Please advise." Response? "Please check your settings". See? That's productive.

email 3: "My email isn't working. I would appreciate it if you could take a look at it and see if there are any problems. Please let me know what you find out." FLUFF.

[Amber]

Wow, I never knew so many people had an opion about the phrase. I just, like others, have been told by my computer that its not grammatically correct. I have been using it for years and started wondering if it was, after all that, truly ligitamate. Thanks for verifying! Hope noone loses any sleep over it!

[Uli]

If I want to be a little bit more polite I use 'thanks in advance' (having stated what I'd like to know from her/him in the test before)

[bob]

I just wanted to know what would be appropriate to end an email.....please advise sounded right but i wasn't sure......now i'm just more confused.

[johnw]

I'd have to agree with the folks above who have said 1) that this is passive aggressive and 2) the person who uses it, knows that it gets a reaction out of people.

Don't let email replace normal communication. Call up the person. Stroll by their office. You've been advised.

[Shelley]

WOW!!! Ok I use it when I need more information. Like if someone tells me they want 3 pairs of shoes, I will simple state: Ma'am, What type of shoes are you looking for. Please advise. Thanks and then my signature. I don't see how that is being so annoying. It is just a professional, polite way of saying tell me exactly what you want so I don't screw it up and you get pissed off at me.

[BP]

How about this in place of:
Let me know what you think I should do.

Are there any thoughts?

[Jesse]

I picked up this handy phrase from the aviation community. It is commonly used in air traffic control situations when further input is needed from either party, i.e., "American 123, please advise when you have made visual contact with United 332," etc.

It is indeed very handy when you need to convey the transfer of responsibility.

[Outis]

Any time I receive an email with the words "Please advise" located therein, I cringe. Especially when the phrase "Please advise" is used in a manner inappropriate of its meaning.

Unfortunately, I work in an office where management tends to use "please advise" willy-nilly.

[ejl]

Too funny. I found this blog as well yesterday after having received one too many 'Please advise' salutations. (another link I found has t-shirts you can buy because yet another person had received just one too many!) I am very much enjoying all of the responses. Technically, you would need an object for that verb. "Please advise me." or perhaps "Please advise Frank". However, for the majority of the folks using it as a sign-off, it is more accurately interpreted as "Please understand I need you to rephrase what you have just written me because I did not take the time to actually read your response to my original email wherein I requested a response by advising you to advise." For LLCoolLori who wrote, "You guys are just ridiculous. When I use the phrase 'please advise', I am succinctly asking the person to give me a feedback or point me in the right direction to get an answer to what I need" I would suggest typing, "please...give me a (sic) feedback" or perhaps "please...point me in the right direction". Both are excellent examples of clear communication wherein (like that?) the reader does not have to understand your code words (please advise) when what you are actually asking is, "please point me in the right direction". As a courtesy to my fellow my emailers, I often respond to their 'please advise' with a 'peas and fries'. And as to the original post by the recovering lawyer, I suggest you reflect on how 'what gives you pleasure' mostly annoys the majority of recipients. Is that where the pleasure comes from? Peas and fries.

[George]

I hate this term, especially after someone asks a question then says "please advise." Obviously you want my advise because you asked me a question, there's no need for the please advise.

[Abe]

I work for support and I hate when people end their support request with "please advise".

Example:

I can't get this working. I've been trying all day. Please advise.

First of all, the above sentence is a perfect example of what I see everyday. No specifics, no notes of steps already taken. Apparently "Please Advise" gives techs a third eye an the ability to peer into your thoughts since you granted us with your "Please Advise"

I digress

To me "please advise" translates to:

1. I'm dumb and will not continue further until I hear back from you
2. I pass all responsibility to you
3. Screw this, I'll let you do the work
4. Please hold my hand? I'm clueless

I understand I'm in support and will have to answer questions, but for the love of god use something else rather then "Please Advise" I know other techs other then myself prefer "Thanks in advance"

[Art]

Thank you for this blog everyone. I have been laughing so hard i have tears coming down. "Please Advise" needs to be in a Seinfeld Episode. I have a few customers that use this term after every email. Drives me crazy!

[Jim Dilly]

My thoughts are: Would you say it to someone's face? I can't imagine asking someone for help in a face to face scenario and just uttering the statement "I'm not sure how I should handle this. Please advise." Why would you write it in an informal email?

[Like to type]

Pephaps we should use Please respond in lieu of pplease advise if not to a senior level, though it may take soem practice. I do enjoy the matter-of-fact-li-hood of the phrase myself. Desreves consideration though it if will affect people negatively.

[Like to type]

(spelling fixed) Pephaps we should use "Please respond" in lieu of please advise if not to a senior level, though it may take some practice. I do enjoy the matter-of-fact-li-hood of the phrase myself. Deserves some consideration, though, it if will affect people negatively.

[ErnieC]

The verb "to advise" means to give advice. When "Please advise" is written in an email or letter, it is a request for advice. I have a hard time understanding why MS Word and so many responders here have trouble with someone requesting their help.

My most common use is in closing an informal report as "If there are any questions, or if we can be of further service, please advise. Sincerely, me."