Chapter 9 - Writing Routine, Good-News, and Goodwill Messages

Organizing Positive Messages

Use the direct approach for this common form of correspondence:

(1) main idea
(2) necessary details
(3) courteous close

The main idea is the single most important idea, concisely stated.

Three main goals when responding to requests from potential customers:

Answer customer’s questions
Encourage sale
Create goo impression of firm

Two main goals in responding to requests for information and action not related to a potential sale:

Answer individual’s questions
Create good impression

Responding Favorably to Claims and Adjustment Requests

Assume the customer has a legitimate claim, unless:

The same customer repeatedly submits dubious claims
The customer is obviously dishonest
The dollar amount involved is very large

Conveying Positive Information about People

Positive information about people includes:

Recommendation letters
Good news about employment

Goal of recommendation letters:  to convince readers the subject deserves the job or award.

Recommendation letters mention:

Full name of candidate
Job or benefit that candidate seeks
Quality that prompted writer to offer recommendation
Relationship between writer and candidate
Facts relevant to candidacy
Overall evaluation of candidate’s suitability

The goal of good-news messages about employment:  to offer candidate a job and explain details.

Good news about employment (a job offer) includes:

Job title
Starting date
Salary
Benefits
Friendly, welcoming tone

A job offer is legally binding.

To avoid implying that the employee will be kept on for a full year, no matter what:

State salary in monthly increments
Be vague about timing of performance reviews and raises

Writing Directives and Instructions

Directives:  memos that tell employees what to do

Instructions:  messages that tell someone how to do something
The objective of both directives and instructions is to make the message crystal clear:

Use direct order
Be concise but complete:  who, what, when, where, why, how

Instructions:

May be in form of letter, memo, or booklet
Require more detailed development than directives
Are often presented as numbered series of steps

Writing Business Summaries

To write a summary:

Gather the information
Organize the information
Present the information in your own words

Well-written summaries:

Are accurate
Are comprehensive and balanced
Contain clear sentence structure and good transitions

Libel:  false and malicious written statement that injures candidate’s reputation.

 Conveying Good News about Products and Operations

Objective of congratulations:  to recognize happy events (such as weddings and births) and praiseworthy
accomplishments (such as business achievements).

Congratulatory form letters mailed to people mentioned in newspapers can be used to build a mailing list and
introduce the firm -- but avoid a direct sales pitch.

Objective of messages of appreciation:  to recognize contributions of employees and associates.

Messages of appreciation:

Serve as record of good performance in personnel file
Motivate recipient to keep up good work
Reasons to send message of appreciation:

To praise employee for good work
To thank supplier for special service
To recognize long-term support or productive relationship
To thank speaker
To acknowledge donations

Objective of condolences:  to express sympathy in times of sorrow (such as health problems, death,
business misfortune).

Use the direct plan for condolences:

Begin with statement of sympathy
Mention subject’s good qualities and contributions
State what subject meant to you
Close with positive, uplifting thought
Offer help if appropriate and sincere

When writing condolences:   Be brief
Use own words
Be tactful
Be accurate
Write about special qualities of the deceased
Write about special qualities of the bereaved

Organizing Bad-News Messages

Objective of bad-news messages:  to convey the bad news without bruising the reader’s feelings.

Two basic issues to decide when planning a bad-news message:  tone and organization.

Adopt a tone that achieves three objectives:

 Makes audience aware that decision is firm
 Makes audience agree that decision is fair
 Leaves audience with positive attitude toward the organization -- and perhaps toward you

The issue of organization concerns a choice between the indirect and the direct plan.

Objective of indirect plan:  to ease the audience into the part of the message that justifies the decision or builds goodwill.

Four parts of indirect plan for bad-news messages:

1. Buffer
2. Reasons
3. Bad news
4. Positive close

Buffer:  neutral, non-controversial statement closely related to the point of the message.

Tips for formulating a buffer:

Don’t beat around the bush; stick to subject
Don’t build up false hopes of positive answer
Avoid saying no
Avoid know-it-all tone
Avoid wordy, irrelevant phrases
Don’t apologize
Don’t be long-winded

Buffer is pleasant, relevant, and neutral, and it leads smoothly into the reasons that follow.

Direct plan:  bad news first, followed by reasons and a courteous close.

Advantages of using the direct plan:

Allows shorter message
Gets directly to point

When to use the direct plan for bad-news messages:

For internal memos
For routine bad-news messages to other businesses
For audiences who prefer direct approach
For situations that demand firmness

Conveying Bad News about Orders

Messages containing bad news about orders focus on what can be done rather than on what cannot be done.

Communicating Negative Answers and Information

Use the direct plan if the audience will not be deeply disappointed; otherwise, use the indirect plan.
 

Refusing Adjustment of Claims and Complaints

Use a tactful, courteous tone.

Use the indirect plan:

1. Buffer:  brief, positive, noncontroversial statement
2. Middle:  explanation of reasons, followed by indirect statement of bad news, presented as positively as possible
3. Close:  expression of interest in future relationship

Refusing to Extend Credit

Use the indirect plan to soften the audience’s disappointment.

Conveying Unfavorable News about People

Four types of unfavorable news about people:

Refusal to write recommendation letters
Rejection of job applicants
Negative performance review
Termination of employees

For legal purposes, termination letters should present specific, objective, verifiable, measurable reasons.

Planning Persuasive Messages

Persuasion:  the attempt to change an audience’s attitudes, beliefs, or actions.

Before beginning, ask important questions:

 What legal and ethical issues apply?
 Who is the audience?
 What tools will help persuade the audience?
 Would emotional or logical appeals be best?

Ethical persuasion:  influencing your audience members by informing them and by aiding their understanding,
which allows them the freedom to choose.

Ethical businesspeople make every effort to persuade without manipulating by choosing words that won’t be
misinterpreted, not distorting the truth, adopting the “you” attitude.

Satisfying audience needs is the most effective way to motivate your audience.  Because needs differ, people
respond to messages differently.

Demographics:  an audience’s age, gender, occupation, income, education, and other quantifiable characteristics.

Psychographics:  the psychological characteristics of a person: personality, attitudes, and lifestyle.

Consider cultural differences when choosing an appeal and an organization.

Credibility:  your capability of being believed because you’re reliable and worthy of confidence.

Gain credibility by:

Supporting your message with facts
Being enthusiastic
Being objective
Being sincere
Being an expert
Having good intentions
Being trustworthy
Establishing common ground

Semantics:  the meaning of words and other symbols.

Tools to use in persuasive messages:

Choosing your words carefully
Focusing on your goal
Using simple language
Anticipating opposition
Being specific
Being moderate
Providing sufficient support
Creating a win-win situation

When you use an emotional appeal, make sure it’s subtle.

When using a logical appeal, consider using several types of reasoning:

Analogy
Induction
Deduction

Steer clear of faulty logic by avoiding:

Hasty generalizations
Begging the question
Attacking your opponent
Oversimplifying a complex issue
Assuming a false cause
Using illogical support

Organizing Persuasive Messages

The AIDA plan has four phases:

Attention
Interest
Desire
Action

Writing Sales and Fundraising Messages

Selling points:  the most attractive features of an idea or product.

Benefits:  the particular advantages readers will realize from those features.

Identify selling points and benefits by analyzing the product and the potential buyer.

Choose your format and approach based on the audience you’re trying to reach and the action you’re
trying to get readers to take.

Purpose of a sales letter:  getting someone to do something.

To personalize your fundraising message, rely on slice-of-life stories.

Writing Collection Messages

Two objectives of collection messages:

To maintain goodwill
To collect debt

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act of 1978 spells out restrictions on collection procedures.

Positive appeals:  accentuate the benefits of complying with the request for payment.

Negative appeals:  stress the unpleasant consequences of not acting.

Collection is a process, not just a single demand:

1. Notification:  form letter or card indicating amount due, due date, penalties for late payment.
2. Reminder:  brief form letter or copy of notification sent a few days after due date has passed; tone reflects
    assumption that some minor problem has delayed payment.
3. Inquiry:  personalized letter asking customer what’s wrong and indicating willingness to work out solution;
    avoids suggesting that customer may be dissatisfied with merchandise or service.
4. Urgent notice:  personalized letter emphasizing desire to collect payment immediately; often signed by top
    official; may use negative appeal.
5. Ultimatum:  final message, often using direct approach; probably uses negative appeal but in businesslike
    impersonal tone.

What Makes a Good Business Report

Report:  written, factual account that objectively communicates information about some aspect of business.

Reports can be printed on paper or distributed electronically, and they may take many forms:

Preprinted forms
Letters
Memos
Manuscripts
Oral presentations

Questions to consider when deciding on format, style, and organization:

Who initiated report?
What subject does it cover?
When is it prepared?
Where is it being sent?
Why is it being prepared?
How receptive is the reader?

Reports may be initiated by the writer (voluntary reports) or by the reader (authorized reports).

Voluntary reports require more background information and a more complete explanation of the purpose.

The subject of a report influences its vocabulary and format; if the reader knows the subject, the discussion can
be at a higher level.

Routine reports:  reports prepared on a regular basis and requiring less introductory and transitional material.

Special reports:  nonrecurring reports that require more complete development.

Reports sent to someone within the organization (internal reports) may be relatively informal and may use
e-mail, memo, or manuscript formats; reports sent to outsiders (external reports) are relatively formal and
may use the e-mail, letter, or manuscript format.

Informational reports:  reports prepared chiefly to present facts, organized around subtopics.

Analytical reports:  reports prepared to present facts plus analysis, interpretation, conclusions, or recommendations,
organized around logical arguments.

If the reader is receptive and likely to agree with the report’s contents, it may be organized in direct order; however,
if the audience is likely to have reservations, the report’s contents should usually be organized in indirect order.

How Electronic Technology Affects Business Reports

Software for electronic reports (report writer or reporting tool) helps you extract and format data from computerized databases.

Planning Short Reports

The recipient often predetermines the length and format of a report; the reader’s needs are the key consideration.

Purpose of informational report:  to explain something in straightforward terms

Common types of informational reports:  monitor/control reports, policies, procedures, compliance reports,
personal activity reports, some justification reports, some reports documenting client work, and some proposals.

Purpose of analytical report:  to persuade readers to accept conclusions or recommendations In an analytical
report, facts are a means to an end, not an end in themselves.

Typical examples of analytical reports:  decision-oriented reports, many proposals, many final reports to clients

The audience for informational reports is generally receptive, so direct order is commonly used.

The nature of the subject usually suggests a basis for grouping ideas in informational reports:

Geographic units
Components of a whole
Chronological series of events
Sequential steps in process
Categories established by client
Items in order of importance

The periodic report used as an example of an informational report is:

A form of monitor/control report submitted on regular basis to keep management informed about events
during specific period
In memo format
Most useful when organized the same way each time it’s prepared
Organized to present (1) overview of routine responsibilities, (2) discussion of special projects, (3) plans
for coming period, and (4) analysis of problems

Key to success in a periodic report:  be honest about problems as well as accomplishments.

The personal activity report used as an example of an informational report is:

A form of monitor/control report that gives individual’s account of nonrecurring event such as convention,
trip, or business meeting
In memo format
In direct order, using chronological organization or topical structure based on reader’s interests

Key to success in a personal activity report:  focus on important points; avoid blow-by-blow account.

Making Reports and Proposals Readable

The proper degree of formality to use in a report or proposal depends on the relationship between writer and reader:

Informal tone is appropriate for letter and memo reports sent to familiar audience
Formal tone is appropriate for formal reports submitted to unfamiliar or high-ranking audiences

To achieve informality, use personal pronouns, employ relatively colloquial language.

To achieve formality, avoid personal pronouns, use businesslike language, present points in an objective manner.

If you have questions about which tone to use, refer to other reports of a similar type and purpose.

To achieve a consistent time perspective:

Decide whether to use past or present tense; don’t flip back and forth
Stick with expected chronological or sequential order

Structural clues keep the reader from getting lost, especially in long reports.

Five structural clues used in reports:

Opening
Headings and lists
Transitions
Previews and reviews
Ending

Thinking About Your Career

Three steps in career planning:

1. Analyze what you have to offer employer
2. Determine what you want out of job
3. Seek employment opportunities that match your interests, capabilities, and goals

You offer an employer:

Skills:  general abilities that cut across functional lines, such as speaking ability
Employment qualifications:  educational preparation, work experience, activities, achievements
Personal characteristics:  traits such as curiosity, aggressiveness, persistence, friendliness
Values:  factors that give you satisfaction and happiness -- helping others, creating things
Interests and hobbies:  things you enjoy doing

Writing Your Résumé

Résumé:   a form of advertising emphasizing a person’s strong points and downplaying disadvantages; its purpose
is to create desire for an interview (whether a job, a promotion, membership in a professional organization, a
seat on a nonprofit board, etc.).

Format and style of the résumé is important because it determines the recruiter’s initial impression:

Use letter-size white bond paper, black ink, wide margins
Keep to one page if possible
Use layout and graphic design to emphasize strong points
Check mechanics
Use simple, direct writing style that makes use of short, crisp phrases and action verbs

Essential elements in a résumé:

Name and address
Academic credentials
Employment history

Without exaggerating or lying, present your strongest, most impressive qualifications and skirt areas that might
raise questions.

Name and address:  who you are, how you can be reached.

Career objective (optional):

Provide frame of reference for evaluating résumé
Tell what you want to do, why you are qualified
Be specific but not too narrow

Summary of qualifications and date of availability (optional—may be used in place of career objective): a brief
overview of qualifications; is useful for long résumés.

Education:

Emphasize if you’re still in school
List each post-secondary school attended, with most recent school first
List off-campus training programs related to career goals
Include grades if impressive and relevant to job

Place education before experience if you’re a new graduate; place experience first if you’ve been out of school
a few years.

Work experience:

List places where you’ve worked, positions you’ve held
Emphasize jobs related to career goals
List in reverse chronological order, with most recent job first
Include name, location, brief description of employer
List your title and dates of employment
Describe accomplishments related to career goals

The relevant skills section includes such skills as foreign languages and computer expertise, as well as information
such as the date you’re available to start work.

Activities and achievements (optional):  paid or unpaid activities that demonstrate your abilities.

Personal data (optional):

Omit references to race, age, gender, marital status, religion, national origin
Include hobbies, military service if relevant to career goals
Three organizational plans for résumés; choice depends on the applicant’s background and goals:
Chronological résumé
Functional résumé
Targeted résumé

 Chronological résumé:

It is the traditional approach preferred by many employers
Emphasizes directly related experience (or education for new graduates)
Lists positions (schools) in reverse chronological order
Is the best choice for person with strong work history looking for position similar to current job

Functional résumé:

Is organized around list of accomplishments
Discusses employment history and education in subordinate sections
Is good for new graduates and people redirecting a career or minimizing breaks in employment

Targeted résumé:

Emphasizes what you can do for a particular employer in a particular position
Lists capabilities first and then achievements
Places employment history and education in subordinate sections
Is good for people who have a clear idea of what they want and can show ability in that area

Sending your résumé by fax and by e-mail and responding to job openings over the Internet are all acceptable
ways of seeking employment (preferable if the employer provides the fax number, e-mail address, or Web facilities).

Since employers are storing more résumés in centralized databases, consider making even your paper résumé
scannable (able to be read by OCR scanners and digested by computer):

Save your résumé as a plain ASCII text file
Provide a list of key words
Balance common language with current jargon

Consider deleting from electronic résumés:

Social Security numbers
Names of references and previous employers
Special interests

To write the “perfect” résumé:

Consider employer’s needs
Avoid such common mistakes as submitting résumé that is too long, too short or sketchy, wordy, too slick,
amateurish, poorly reproduced, misspelled and ungrammatical throughout, lacking explicit or implicit career
objective, boastful, dishonest, gimmicky
Update your résumé continually

Writing Application Messages

Tailor your application letter for specific employers.

An application letter is a form of “sales” letter; use the persuasive plan (indirect approach):

Use a confident, businesslike tone
Demonstrate your knowledge of the employer

Solicited application letter:  letter sent in response to an announced opening.

Unsolicited application letter:  letter sent “blind” to an organization that has not announced an opening.

In the opening paragraph of a solicited application letter:

Mention where you learned of job
Tell in general terms what you have to offer

In the opening paragraph of an unsolicited application letter:

State what position you are applying for
Get the reader’s attention

Ways to get attention in an unsolicited application letter:

Show how your strongest skills can benefit organization
Describe job requirements, show how well you fit
Mention name of someone reader respects
Refer to publicized accounts of organization’s activities
Ask question that shows understanding of organization’s needs
Use catchy phrase

Opening should state what position for which you are applying.

In the middle of the application letter, summarize your key selling points (your key qualifications) and explain
how they can benefit the employer:

Mention qualifications that are related to job (don’t repeat résumé), and back up with evidence
Explain how you meet all the requirements mentioned in the ad (for solicited application letters)
Show evidence of such job-related qualities as diligence, intelligence, tact
Include salary requirements only if asked to do so
Mention your résumé

In the closing paragraph:

Ask for specific action -- an interview
Make your audience’s action easy by providing a phone number and suggesting a time to call
Remind reader of your key selling point

The “perfect” application letter achieves one goal:  It gets you an interview.

Writing Other Types of Employment Messages

In job-inquiry letters, which are direct requests for an application form:

Use the direct plan
Provide some evidence of qualifications
Consider applying in person instead of writing letter

Application forms:  standardized data sheets that simplify comparison of applicants’ qualifications

 Be complete, accurate, neat
 If form asks for salary requirements, say “open to negotiation” or consult government survey to determine
 standard pay for particular job in given area

Purpose of writing application follow-ups:  to remind company of your interest and to update your application.

Interviewing with Potential Employers

Three steps in the interview process:

1. Preliminary screening (to eliminate unqualified applicants)
2. Initial evaluation (to narrow the field)
3. Final evaluation (to make hiring decision)

The preliminary screening is conducted by the personnel department; takes a structured, standardized approach;
is often conducted on campus.

The initial evaluation (sometimes in the form of a panel interview) is held at the organization’s facilities.

The supervisor or department manager to whom the employee will report conducts the final evaluation.

The best strategy for a screening interview is to follow the interviewer’s lead and to keep answers brief and
pointed; the best strategy for a selection interview is to show interest, answer fully, and listen attentively.

Three basic forms of interviews:

Directed interview
Open-ended interview
Stress interview

Nonverbal behavior and vocal characteristics can be improved through analysis and practice.

The correct approach to an interview depends on the stage in the process:

1. Screening interview:  differentiate yourself from other candidates; telegraph “headline”
2. Initial selection interview:  broaden sales pitch; emphasize your three or four best qualifications; gather
    information on employer
3. Final interview:  determine psychological fit; clinch deal on favorable terms

Three stages in every interview: (1) warm-up, (2) question-and-answer stage, (3) close.

Preparing to Speak

Speeches and presentations require same planning process as other forms of communication

Four common purposes of speeches and presentations:

To inform
To persuade
To motivate
To entertain

Four steps in planning your speech or presentation:

1. Establish main idea
2. Organize outline
3. Estimate length
4. Decide on style

The style of a speech or presentation may be casual or formal.

A casual style is often best for small groups because it encourages audience participation:

Small room with conference table setting
Simple visual aids
Conversational delivery based on simple notes

A formal approach is more suitable for large audiences and major events:

Auditorium or convention hall with row seating
Dramatic visual aids
Limited audience participation
Formal delivery based on detailed notes or script

Visual aids serve as cue cards for the speaker and help the audience absorb information.

Mastering the Art of Delivery

Four delivery methods for speeches and presentations:  memorized, read, impromptu, extemporaneous.

Delivery can be improved if you practice in advance and check out the location beforehand.

Pay attention to the nonverbal message:

Don’t rush opening; act confident and make eye contact
Maintain eye contact throughout presentation
Stand up straight
Use gestures for emphasis
Vary your facial expressions
Speak in normal, conversational tone, but project voice and articulate clearly
Vary your pitch and tone
Don’t ramble or use meaningless fillers (“urn,” “you know,” “okay”)

Be prepared to handle questions:

Anticipate likely questions and rehearse answers
Focus your attention on questioner
Answer briefly and directly, or offer to talk to person afterward
If you don’t know answer, say so
Don’t let one or two people dominate question period
If you get hostile questions, maintain composure and be pleasant and businesslike
Don’t overrun time allotted

The motivated sequence structure.  I have a sample outline that illustrates the motivated sequence structure.

This pattern offers an important alternative in the organization of persuasive messages that seek a specific
action from the audience.  Persuaders in many fields use the pattern because of its motivational emphasis.
Advertisers make extensive use of it, as is evident in magazine ads and radio and TV commercials.

The motivated sequence has five steps:

(1) Attention:  awakening the receivers’ perception and encouraging them to concentrate on our message.  A
      rhetorical question or striking statement can be employed.

(2) Need:  we identify something that the audience needs, such as a product or a solution to a particular problem.

(3) Satisfaction:  a proposal to satisfy the need; a way receivers can correct the problem.

(4) Visualization:  help listeners to picture the good results of satisfying the need in the way we have proposed.
      Using vivid imagery, we describe the benefits that listeners will experience, such as more sex appeal, higher
      profits, greater safety.

(5) Action:  we are ready to ask them to actualize what they have visualized.  We must call for a specific action.