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Chapter 7 QuestionsTest Your KnowledgeTo review chapter content related to each question, refer to the indicated Learning Objective.1.?In what situations might a printed memo or letter be preferable to an electronic message??Practise Your SkillsEXERCISES FOR PERFECTING YOUR WRITINGTo review chapter content related to each set of exercises, refer to the indicated Learning Objective.Revising Messages: Direct Approach? Revise the following short email messages so that they are more direct and concise. Develop a subject line for each revised message.1.?I’m contacting you about your recent order for a High Country backpack. You didn’t tell us which backpack you wanted, and you know we make a lot of different ones. We have the canvas models with the plastic frames and vinyl trim, and we have the canvas models with leather trim, and we have the ones that have more pockets than the other ones. Plus they come in lots of different colours. Also they make the ones that are large for a big-boned person and the smaller versions for little women or kids.3.?Sorry it took us so long to get back to you. We were flooded with resumés. Anyway, your resumé made the final 10, and after meeting three hours yesterday, we’ve decided we’d like to meet with you. What is your schedule like for next week? Can you come in for an interview on June 15 at 3:00 p.m.? Please get back to us by the end of this work week and let us know if you will be able to attend. As you can imagine, this is our busy season.Revising Messages: Direct ApproachRewrite the following sentences so that they are direct and concise.4.?We wanted to invite you to our special 40 percent off by-invitation-only sale. The sale is taking place on November 9.5.?We wanted to let you know that we are giving an MP3 player with every $100 donation you make to our radio station.6.?The director planned to go to the meeting that will be held on Monday at a little before 11:00 a.m.7.?In today’s meeting, we were happy to have the opportunity to welcome Paul Eccelson. He reviewed some of the newest types of order forms. If you have any questions about these new forms, feel free to call him at his office.Revising Messages: Closing Paragraphs? Rewrite each of the following closing paragraphs to be concise, courteous, and specific.12.?I need your response sometime soon so I can order the parts in time for your service appointment. Otherwise your air-conditioning system may not be in tip-top condition for the start of the summer season.13.?Thank you in advance for sending me as much information as you can about your products. I look forward to receiving your package in the very near future.14.?To schedule an appointment with one of our knowledgeable mortgage specialists in your area, you can always call our hotline at 1-800-555-8765. This is also the number to call if you have more questions about mortgage rates, closing procedures, or any other aspect of the mortgage process. Remember, we’re here to make the home-buying experience as painless as possible.ACTIVITIESEach activity is labelled according to the primary skill or skills you will need to use. To review relevant chapter content, you can refer to the indicated Learning Objective. In some instances, supporting information will be found in another chapter, as indicated.1. Message Strategies: Making Routine Requests; Completing: Evaluating Content, Organization, and ToneAnalyze the strengths and weaknesses of this message and then revise it so that it follows this chapters guidelines for routine requests for information:I’m fed up with the mistakes that our current accounting firm makes. I run a small construction company, and I don’t have time to double-check every bookkeeping entry and call the accountants a dozen times when they won’t return my messages. Please explain how your firm would do a better job than my current accountants. You have a good reputation among homebuilders, but before I consider hiring you to take over my accounting, I need to know that you care about quality work and good customer service.2.?Message Strategies: Making Routine Requests; Completing: Evaluating Content, Organization, and Tone?Analyze the strengths and weaknesses of this message and then revise it so that it follows this chapters guidelines for routine requests for information:I’m contacting you about your recent email request for technical support on your cable internet service. Part of the problem we have in tech support is trying to figure out exactly what each customer’s specific problem is so that we can troubleshoot quickly and get you back in business as quickly as possible. You may have noticed that in the online support request form, there are a number of fields to enter your type of computer, operating system, memory, and so on. While you did tell us you were experiencing slow download speeds during certain times of the day, you didn’t tell us which times specifically, nor did you complete all the fields telling us about your computer. Please return to our support website and resubmit your request, being sure to provide all the necessary information; then we’ll be able to help you.3.?Message Strategies: Writing Routine Replies; Completing: Evaluating Content, Organization, and Tone?Analyze the strengths and weaknesses of this message and then revise it so that it follows this chapters guidelines for responding to requests for adjustments:We read your letter, requesting your deposit refund. We couldn’t figure out why you hadn’t received it, so we talked to our maintenance engineer, as you suggested. He said you had left one of the doors off the hinges in your apartment in order to get a large sofa through the door. He also confirmed that you had paid him $5.00 to replace the door since you had to turn in the U-Haul trailer and were in a big hurry.This entire situation really was caused by a lack of communication between our housekeeping inspector and the maintenance engineer. All we knew was that the door was off the hinges when it was inspected by Sally Tarnley gotten around to replacing the door. You know that our policy states that if anything is wrong with the apartment, we keep the deposit. We had no way of knowing that George just hadn’t gotten around to replacing the door.But we have good news. We approved the deposit refund, which will be mailed to you from our home office in Red Deer, Alberta. I’m not sure how long that will take, however. If you don’t receive the cheque by the end of next month, give me a call.Next time, it’s really a good idea to stay with your apartment until it’s inspected, as stipulated in your lease agreement. That way, you’ll be sure to receive your refund when you expect it. Hope you have a good summer.CASESApply the three-step writing process to the following cases, as assigned by your instructor.?Email Skills3. Message Strategies: Making Routine Requests? You head up the corporate marketing department for a nationwide chain of clothing stores. The company has decided to launch a new store-within-a-store concept, in which a small section of each store will showcase “business casual” clothing. To ensure a successful launch of this new strategy, you want to get input from the best retailing minds in the company. You also know it’s important to get regional insights from around the country, because a merchandising strategy that works in one area might not succeed in another.YOUR TASK?Write an email message to all 87 store managers, asking them to each nominate one person to serve on an advisory team (managers can nominate themselves if they are local market experts). Explain that you want to find people with at least five years of retailing experience, a good understanding of the local business climate, and thorough knowledge of the local retail competition. In addition, the best candidates will be good team players who are comfortable collaborating long distance, using virtual meeting technologies. Also, explain that while you are asking each of the 87 stores to nominate someone, the team will be limited to no more than eight people. You’ve met many of the store managers, but not all of them, so be sure to introduce yourself at the beginning of the message.?Letter Writing Skills4. Message Strategies: Making Routine RequestsAs a consumer, you’ve probably bought something that didn’t work right or paid for a service that didn’t turn out the way you expected. Maybe it was a pair of jeans?with a rip in a seam that you didn’t find until you got home or a watch that broke a week after you bought it. Or maybe your family hired a lawn service to do some yard work, and no one from the company showed up on the day promised. When the crew finally appeared, they did not do what they’d been hired for but did other things that wound up damaging valuable plants. In any of these situations, you’d be wise to write a claim letter asking for a refund, repair, replacement, or other adjustment. You’d need to include all the details of the transaction, plus your contact address and phone number.YOUR TASK?To practise writing claim letters, choose an experience like this from your own background or make up details for these imaginary situations. If your experience is real, you might want to mail the letter. The reply you receive will provide a good test of your claim-writing skills.Procedure Writing Skills9. Message Strategies: Revising a Procedure Revise the poorly written procedure below. Use the guidelines given in the chapter to identify problems in planning, style, and design, and then reorganize and rewrite the procedures using effective document design. Buy More Industries is an electronics retail operation with a full-time staff of 40 and a part-time staff of 80. The employees are between the ages of 18 and 40. Incorporate these procedures into an email message to all employees from the general manager.EvacuationsIt is important that all personnel are in compliance with Buy More Industries’ Evacuation Procedures in the event of an emergency. An Emergency Team is responsible for shutting down the building but there are some procedures for general staff too. It is imperative that the building be exited and that the staff be congregated with their fellow department staff members in the designated area. The gathering area can be found outside the building by the Pay Station in Parking Lot A. It is advisable that doors must be shut when leaving the area. When the emergency alarm is sounded all staff are to follow the commands of the Emergency Team who have had emergency preparedness training and who will take charge of the removal of all customers from the store. It is incumbent upon all staff to lock any registers and display cabinets that are beside them when the alarm goes off but it is not expected that staff would put themselves in danger to stay in the area or return to the area when the alarm is sounding to go back in to lock up. Don’t be alarmed. Panic adds to the problem and is not helpful. It is imperative that staff check in with their supervisors at the gathering area. It is imperative that staff do not go?back into the building until the “All Clear” signal has sounded. It is imperative that staff assist any person who is having physical difficulty leaving the building. Emergency Team Captains wear high visibility vests so you can see them in a crowd. Your safety is paramount to Buy More.Chapter 8 QuestionsTest Your Knowledge2.?What questions should you ask yourself when choosing between the direct and indirect approaches for delivering bad news??3.?What is the sequence of elements in a negative message organized using the direct approach??4.?What is a buffer, and why might using one be unethical??5.?When using the indirect approach to announce a negative decision, what is the purpose of presenting your reasons before explaining the decision itself??Practise Your SkillsEXERCISES FOR PERFECTING YOUR WRITINGMessage Strategies: Writing Negative Messages??Select which approach you would use (direct or indirect) for the following negative messages.1.?An email message to your boss, informing her that one of your key clients is taking its business to a different accounting firm2.?An email message to a customer, informing her that one of the books she ordered from your website is temporarily out of stockACTIVITIESEach activity is labelled according to the primary skill or skills you will need to use. To review relevant chapter content, you can refer to the indicated Learning Objective. In some instances, supporting information will be found in another chapter, as indicated.1.?Message Strategies: Making Negative Announcements? Read the following document and (a) analyze the strengths and weaknesses of each sentence and (b) revise each document so that it follows this chapters guidelines.Your spring party sounds like fun. We’re glad you’ve again chosen us as your caterer. Unfortunately, we have changed a few of our policies, and I wanted you to know about these changes in advance so that we won’t have any misunderstandings on the day of the party.We will arrange the delivery of tables and chairs as usual the evening before the party. However, if you want us to set up, there is now a $100 charge for that service. Of course, you might want to get some friends to do it, which would save you money. We’ve also added a small charge for cleanup. This is only $3 per person (you can estimate because I know a lot of people come and go later in the evening).Other than that, all the arrangements will be the same. We’ll provide the skirt for the band stage, tablecloths, bar setup, and of course, the barbecue. Will you have the tubs of ice with soft drinks again? We can do that for you as well, but there will be a fee.Please let me know if you have any problems with these changes and we’ll try to work them out. I know it’s going to be a great party.2.?Message Strategies: Refusing Routine Requests As a customer service supervisor for a telephone company, you’re in charge of responding to customers’ requests for refunds. You’ve just received an email from a customer who unwittingly ran up a $500 bill for long-distance calls after mistakenly configuring his laptop computer to dial an internet access number that wasn’t a local call. The customer says it wasn’t his fault because he didn’t realize he was dialling a long-distance number. However, you’ve dealt with this situation before; you know that the customer’s internet service provider warns its customers to choose a local access number because customers are responsible for all long-distance charges. Draft a short buffer (one or two sentences) for your email reply, sympathizing with the customer’s plight but preparing him for the bad news (that company policy specifically prohibits refunds in such cases).3.?Message Strategies: Making Negative AnnouncementsThe following email message about travel budget cutbacks at Black & Decker contains numerous blunders. Using what you’ve learned in the chapter, read the message carefully and analyze its faults. Then use the questions that follow to outline and write an improved message.a.?Describe the flaws in this bad-news email message about company operations.b.?Develop a plan for rewriting the email to company insiders, using the direct approach. The following steps will help you organize your efforts before you begin writing:??Create an opening statement of the bad news, using the “you” attitude.??Decide what explanation is needed to justify the news.??Determine whether you can use lists effectively.??Choose some positive suggestions you can include to soften the news.??Develop an upbeat closing.c.?Now rewrite the email message. Don’t forget to revise your work before you turn it in.CASESApply the three-step writing process to the following cases.Letter Writing Skills1. Message Strategies: Making Negative AnnouncementsYour company PolicyPlan Insurance Services, is a 120-employee insurance claims processor based in Winnipeg. PolicyPlan has engaged Prairie Sparkleen for interior and exterior cleaning for the past five years. Prairie Sparkleen did exemplary work for the first four years, but after a change of ownership last year, the level of service has plummeted. Offices are no longer cleaned thoroughly, you’ve had to call the company at least six times to remind them to take care of spills and other messes that they’re supposed to address routinely, and they’ve left toxic cleaning chemicals in a public hallway on several occasions. You have spoken with the owner about your concerns twice in the past three months, but his assurances that service would improve have not resulted in any noticeable improvements. When the evening cleaning crew forgot to lock the lobby door last Thursday—leaving your entire facility vulnerable to theft from midnight until 8 a.m. Friday morning—you decided it was time for a change.YOUR TASK?Write a letter to Johan Holland, owner of Prairie Sparkleen, 4000 Princess Street, Winnipeg MB, R3H 0J9, telling him that PolicyPlan will not be renewing its annual cleaning contract with Prairie Sparkleen when the current contract expires at the end of this month. Cite the examples identified above, and keep the tone of your letter professional. ................
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