 Lecture 19, As-Salaam-Alaikum. Welcome to the virtual university's course on business and technical communication. While in the last lesson, we looked at how to write direct requests. In today's lecture, we will look at how to write routine, good news and good will messages. In this lecture, we will learn to decide when to write a routine, good news or good will message. When is it appropriate to write such a message? We will also look at how to adjust the basic organizational pattern to fit the type of message that you are writing. What is the organization of a routine, good news, good will message and how will you adjust the basic organizational pattern of a message to your purpose? We will also add resale and sales promotion material when appropriate and look at how to do that. Also, we look at how to encourage the reader to take any desired action that you want them to take. Obviously, when you are writing any message, there are times when you want the reader to take some action based on your message and there are times when there is no action desired. So, if there is an action desired, then we will look at how you can encourage that action to be prompt and forthcoming. We will also look at how to write credit approvals and recommendation letters and how to use the correct form for such specialized messages as instructions, news releases and good will letters. Now, when we talk of organizing positive messages, we need to keep in mind that most business communication consists of messages that present neutral information or messages that answer requests positively and establish better relationships. So, you will probably get a lot of practice composing these routine, good news and good will messages because they are really what you will be involved or engaged in most in your business life. And understanding how positive messages are organized allows you to compose excellent messages quickly and promptly. So, once you get a basic understanding of the organization of good will messages, then it will not be a problem for you as you are engaged in writing them in a routine and you will be able to write your messages, convey your information, convey your the desired action very effectively. Of course, intercultural positive messages are best when organized according to the audience's needs. If you are giving a message that you have to read by someone who belongs to some other culture, then you will have to think that whatever your message is, it is according to your audience's needs and it follows their cultural norms, not your cultural norms. But when you are communicating with a US, American or Canadian audience whose cultural differences are very minimal, then you will use the direct plan. If you are looking at American audiences, North American audiences, whether they are in the US or in Canada, then they don't have a lot of cultural differences amongst them. So, you will write your message in a direct way to keep in mind their culture and also you need to keep in mind that whether your message is oral or written, positive messages begin with a clear statement of the main idea. They then move on to clarify any necessary details and then they close with a courteous close. They end with a courteous close. So, there are three basic sections to a routine Goodwill message. The first is a statement of the main idea. Second section is the detail and the third section is a courteous close. Let's look at the clear statement of the main idea. Now, we know that all business messages have two basic purposes. The first is to convey information. Secondly, to produce in the audience a favorable or at least an accepting response or attitude. The second purpose is to read your message and see if your response is positive or favorable. Once you know that you have these two purposes, then you need to begin your message with a clear statement of the main idea. This is your purpose. You need to convey information. You want to give your message a favorable response. Now, you will state your main idea. Basically, when you are beginning your message with a main idea, you are actually preparing your audience for what is to follow. So, therefore, it's important because you are preparing your audience for what is to follow. It's important that you make your statement and your opening clear and concise. There should be no ambiguity in what is to be stated and also it should not be very long. Let's have a look at two introductory statements which are basically making the same point but one clutters up the main idea while the other one presents the main idea in a more concise manner because it's brief and to the point. Instead of saying, I am pleased to inform you that after deliberating the matter carefully, our personnel committee has recommended you for appointment as a staff accountant. It might, it would be better to say you've been selected to join our firm as a staff accountant beginning March 20th. Now, the meaning in both the statements is the same but in the first statement, it's a very long statement, nearly double the size of the second statement and the writer gets to the point at the end of the statement rather than at the beginning of the statement whereas in the second statement, the writer gets to the point immediately, gives all the necessary information and ends the opening statement there. The next section will have the details of the appointment and that would be it. Now, how would these details be laid out? How would these details be organized? The middle part of Good News, routine Goodwill message is typically the longest section of such a message. Obviously, in the beginning, we only gave an opening statement. Now, all the details will come in the middle section so the middle section will be the longest. Your reasons for communicating can usually be expressed in a sentence or two but you will need more space or time to explain your point completely so that your audience will have no confusion or lingering doubt. So, whenever you've stated something in your main idea, in your opening, you will use more time, more space to explain whatever it is that you're saying so that there are no confusions in the audience's mind. Now, when you're providing necessary detail, the task is easiest when you're responding to a series of questions. If some of your students have already asked you some questions and you're answering them or you think that these questions will arise in your students' mind and you're already answering them. So, the easiest thing to do is to write them as a list. So, if you put them down as a list or as a numbered, especially as a numbered list, it becomes easiest to tackle all the issues, all the necessary details that you are going to be looking at in your middle section. In addition to providing details in the middle section, you also need to maintain the supportive tone that you established in the beginning. When a routine message must convey mildly disappointing information, put the negative answer into a favorable context or into as favorable context as possible. Let's have a look at an example where one way of giving mildly disappointing news would be to say, no, we no longer carry the sports girl line of sweaters. If that is what the customer has asked for. Now, this statement is very direct. It's very blunt, but it's also disappointing to the person who has requested this brand. However, instead of this, you could write, the new Olympic line has replaced the sports girl sweaters that you asked about, Olympic features, a wider range of colors and sizes and more contemporary styling. Now, here you are giving the same information, saying that the sports girl line is no longer available, but you're giving the audience an alternative and you're giving them a favorable news that will make them feel good and that will at least give them an alternative rather than giving them a blunt negative answer. A bluntly negative explanation here, as you saw, was replaced by a more complete description that emphasized how the audience could benefit from the change. However, you need to be careful that you are not using negative information. Be careful though. You can use negative information in this type of message only if you're reasonably sure that the audience will respond positively to your message. If you feel that the audience will not respond positively to what you're saying, then you need to modify the negative information that you're giving out. Because remember, as we talked about earlier, one main purpose of writing a routine goodwill message is to make sure that your audience responds positively towards you and has a positive attitude towards you. So it's important that your courtiers close, in ways the true courtesy that needs to be extended to your audience, your message is most likely to succeed if your audience is left with the feeling that you have their personal welfare in mind. In addition, your courtiers close will also include any follow-up action that is required. So you need to state clearly who will do what and also if possible when it will be done. So if you are required to take any action, then you need to state that in your courtiers close and if your reader request is required to take any action, then you need to clarify that as well. Now, coming to acknowledgement orders, which is another key kind of a message that you use in your business situations, you get orders and a lot of the times you need to acknowledge them. An order acknowledgement is unnecessary. However, if products are being shipped or the services will be provided immediately because if the service is being provided immediately, then you don't really need to acknowledge that order. If you have received that order through a written order, you just then confirm when the service would be provided and you provide it. Acknowledgement orders are acknowledgments for orders are appropriate for large orders, first orders and orders that cannot be filled right away. Obviously, if you have received a very large order, then you need to acknowledge it. If you have received an order, the first time a company or a client has placed an order with you, you need to acknowledge it as well because you need to establish a new order with your goodwill. And if there is an order that you cannot fill immediately or you cannot do that immediately, then you need to acknowledge it so that the audience can know what is your helplessness and when you can fill the order. In these three cases, you will definitely acknowledge the order but if your routine orders are on a rolling basis, then you don't need to acknowledge that order every time. Now, in acknowledging orders, again there are different sections. The first paragraph states the good news and the good news obviously for the audience in this case would be that the order is being processed and the merchandise is on its way. Obviously, if someone has ordered something from you, then the good news for them is that you can fulfill that order and they are sending whatever they have ordered. So, you will state this in your first paragraph because this is good news, this is something that will have a positive impact on the reader. When they open your message, they want to see that you can fulfill their order. The middle section demonstrates the professionalism of your farm with a clear, accurate summary of the transaction, when the delivery may be expected, the cost of the merchandise, shipping and taxes, any problems that might have arisen and perhaps your credit terms. All the details, all the things that are necessary to tell your reader will be written in the middle section. This shows the professionalism of your company and the thoroughness of the company. How thorough you are and how detailed you are. Obviously, your client or customer will be satisfied that you are in command of the situation. And order acknowledgement frequently does a bit of selling in the middle or closing section as well. First, you gave all the details in the middle section that when the order will be filled out, what will be the cost of it, what will be the details, from where to pick, etc. If you have any problems, but in the middle section, you will try to give your sales pitch as well. You can point out a favorite aspect of your product or you can do it in the middle section or in the closing section. This information is called resale information. Obviously, you have got the order, you are completing the sale, but resale information means you want the client to order again, you can sell their product again. So, you will prepare the resale in the same message. So, this resale information boasters the customer's confidence. It raises the customer's confidence by pointing out the good points of a product or a company. By explaining how these good points will benefit the customer. When the customer gets satisfied, what we have bought is really good. When the customer gets ready for the order, what they have just ordered, they also get satisfied that we have ordered really good things. Because you have highlighted the favorite points in your letter. Also, when you are acknowledging orders, you do a lot of sales promotion. You take advantage of the customer's obvious interest. In your product, you can send along brochures or order blanks to make additional purchases easier. So, this way you are, although the customer has ordered with your company, they are buying your products, you will also be promoting other products and you can either attach brochures or include brochures in your mail or even send an order form which they can fill out to order additional material. Effective resale and effective sales promotion demonstrates a very strong you attitude. We have talked about the you attitude before. It is something that is very important in making your audience receptive to your message. Now, let's have a look at an acknowledgement of an order and we will have a look at the different sections and see what function each section is performing, keeping in mind what we have talked about right now. As you see, in the first section, the message says, you will receive your SpannerVision video cassette recorder in just over two weeks. Now, in this, this is the main message and it is stated clearly right at the start. In this message, it is stated at the beginning that what is the message in this? The main message that you are trying to tell your audience is that they will receive the order within two weeks. Now, in the middle section, the writer is conveying the specific details of the order by saying, because you live in Massachusetts, you exempt from the Illinois sales tax, so I am enclosing a check for $26.15, the amount of the sales tax that you included in your payment. Any detail, if you want to return some money with the order, or if you want to ask for some extra money, or if you want to discuss any extra information with the order, is done in the middle section. Also, the middle section includes resale and sales promotion, which is, which builds on the customer's goodwill towards the product and the company. Let's have a look at how that's done. The writer says, Mr. Harmon, you're going to enjoy your new VCR day after day. It's quite versatile and to make it even more so, you might want to add a remote control device. Wired and wireless models are pictured in the enclosed brochure. Now, as you have seen, in this part, this is the continuation of the middle section. The writer has resale, which tells the reader how to enjoy your VCR because, as you mentioned in the opening, he was sending a VCR. Now, he tells you how good the VCR is and why the audience will enjoy it. Now, he is also talking about selling a remote control device, which was not included in the initial order. He also sent a brochure to encourage the reader to buy that. Also, the customer's name is mentioned as in a personal conversation to increase the feeling of friendliness. Using the person's name shows a more personal attitude towards the customer. It shows a closer link between the writer and the reader. Now, in closing, the writer offers friendly, accessible help by saying, when your new VCR arrives, spend a few minutes with the user's manual. If you have any questions, call toll-free 1-800-441-6446 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays and then in brackets Central Standard Time, one of our expert staff members will be happy to help you. As you can see, in this closing, there is a very pleasant closing. He says, when your VCR arrives and you enjoy it and if you still have any problems, you can call the person on this number and we will be happy to help you. So that's obviously a closing. It obviously rounds up all that has been said in the message. It's a farewell and it's personal and it offers help. It's personal, courteous and helpful. Now, another form of routine messages could be when you're replying to requests for information and action. If you have a letter or an email or an action official, and you write a message in the reply, that is also a very common form of writing messages in business situations. Any request is important to the person making it, whether that person is inside the organization or outside it. So you have to deal with every request as if it was the most important request because for the person who's making that request, it is the most important request for them at that point. The person's opinion of your company, your products, your department, and you yourself will be influenced by how promptly, graciously and thoroughly the request is handled. Obviously, if someone has requested you for information or wants you to do something, especially if they don't know you and even if they know you, their opinion about you will be molded, shaped, or changed in the way you will deal with their message with promptness and efficiency. And if you will deal with them graciously, obviously, they will be able to give you the information you need. They will understand you better and they will consider you a better businessman. Now, obviously, it isn't always easy to comply with a request. There are many times when people make requests which are not very easy to fulfill. So you need to keep that in mind as well. The information may not be immediately at hand. You may need to take some action for which decisions need to be made at a higher level. So you cannot always take the action yourself. You need to wait. So you can't be prompt in responding. Also, you need to keep in mind that because a letter written on letterhead stationery is legally binding, you need to plan your response carefully as well. If you are writing a letter on company's letterhead or your letterhead, then it becomes a legally binding document. So you need to keep in mind what things you are writing on your letterhead. You can't talk to them legally because they can be sold in a court of law. But if you are writing something on your letterhead, then it can be sold in a court of law. So you need to be very careful what you are writing on letterhead stationery. So whatever response you are giving to routine requests for information or action, you need to be careful that you are actually giving out the correct information. Now companies usually develop form responses to handle repetitive queries that are often similar. A lot of the times, companies get, if they are dealing with a specific product or a specific service, a lot of the times they will be getting specific types of queries. And then they develop templates or form responses to handle the same kind of those repetitive queries or messages. Basically, in this, there is a template or form in which relevant information is filled out and sent back. Although form responses are often criticized as being cold and impersonal, much time and thought may go into wording them and computers permit personalization and the mixing of paragraphs as well. So it makes a lot of sense to have form responses and then you adapt them to the situation and you can personalize them as well now in this age of computers. It is not necessary that you send back form responses that are neutral. You can add the requests or the information you have requested in their names. You can also change the paragraphs so that the request becomes a direct response and you get a general response. Now when a potential sale is involved, then you need to use specific criteria, you need to use specific sales promotion techniques in the routine Goodwill message that you are sending out. Prospective customers often request an annual report, a catalog, a brochure, a swatch of material or some other type of sample or information to help them make a decision about the product that they have encountered through advertising. If your company is advertising their product then people will request a lot of information after seeing the product. They can request an annual report or a sample or brochures or more information. In a solicited sales letter in which the customer is anticipating that they will be getting something, you may use the direct plan. When answering requests involving a potential sale, you have three main goals. 1. To respond to the inquiry and answer all questions. 2. To encourage the future sale. 3. To leave your reader with a good impression of you and your firm. These are three things. Obviously you want to sell something, or sell your service or product. Then you have to do these three things. You have to respond to the inquiry and the questions that have been asked will be answered in a better way. 2. Encourage your reader to buy your product or service. 3. Write your message like this that your reader and your company will have a favorable impression. Let's have a look at a message where a potential sale is involved. Again, as in the previous example, we are going to break down the message in different sections and talk about each section separately. In the introduction or the beginning the writer says here's the copy of brightening your kitchen that you recently requested. Now this is a clear conversational statement of the main point and that's all that's required to start off the message. It's not very formal. There is a reference to what was requested but there is no lengthy reference to the previous communication. It doesn't start off by saying with reference to your letter or request dated dash dash dash. You're basically starting off very directly you're mentioning that the audience had requested this material and the audience obviously, the reader obviously knows that they requested it so they won't be surprised when they receive your message. After this you present the key information by saying as beautiful as the full color photographs are you really need to inspect right tiles in person. Only then can you fully appreciate designer patterns and overall quality. Baywood hardware 313 front street is in Clear Lake is the nearest outlet carrying bright tiles. Now here you're giving the key information you've given the address of the local store that carries the merchandise and all this information is presented immediately after the opening. After this you give a reference to more specific information by saying something like from antique Victorian to sleek contemporary bright tiles will help you achieve just the look you want. Spend a few moments now with the handy chart the right pattern for your decor on page 6 of the enclosed booklet. Then you'll know which patterns to look for when you visit Baywood hardware. Now this reference to a specific page further emphasizes the benefits of the product. This suggestion also encourages the reader to take one more step towards the actual purchase. Earlier they said where these tiles will be found and they said that we have given the brochure. Now in that brochure they are also referring to the particular page that you should look further because it is possible that the readers should look at the brochure carefully and keep it on the side and then maybe go and buy the tiles or not. But in this way the specific product is emphasized. The page number tells you where it will be found and then again they hinted that if you visit Baywood hardware store you will like these things. It's basically urging the customer to actually take the step towards going to the hardware store and ordering more tiles. Now we have in front of us a personal close which confidently points towards the possible sale. In this the writer is confident now that the reader will actually buy the product. By saying Mrs. Reha's, if you have any questions before or during installation please phone our toll free services Hotline, 1-800 whatever the number is you will get easy to understand answers every time. The fact that they might have questions during installation the writer is assuming that the reader has actually bought the product. Obviously when the product is being bought, they are installing it. Note that they are promoting their product but they have already written in the closing that when you buy this product and install it, you do this if you have any problems so they are already assuming that the product will be bought. Now this is a very effective strategy for selling because it shows the reader that you are actually confident in your product and you know that your product is so good that the reader will buy it. Now another type of message could be where no potential sale is involved. Now we have seen how such a message is written where a sale is involved you have to sell something or you are not giving an answer to a request where you can have a sale but there will be messages where there is no chance of a sale and you don't have to sell anything and then there are two essential goals when you are writing a message where no sale is involved. You are then either you are responding to a request and also you are leaving a favorable impression of your company or you are fostering a good relationship with other companies. Where there was a sale there is one main purpose that is to buy your product here this is not the purpose that your product is also there but yes this is the purpose that your company's impression is very good on the reader and your and their one working relationship is better developed and obviously the request that they have requested you are responding to it. Favorably to claims and adjustment requests also needs attacked diplomacy as anyone business knows customers sometimes return merchandise to a company they complain about its services asked to be compensated etc. Such complaints are golden opportunities for companies to build customer loyalty if you unfortunately you have complained about your product which shouldn't come but if there is a complaint then this is a very good opportunity for a company to improve their relationship with their customers because obviously if they do not deal with that complaint properly then in the future the customer will not return the most sensible reaction is to assume that the customers account of the transaction is an honest statement of what happened now obviously if the customer is telling you something they are saying that we bought this product at this time this particular place and this is what happened this is what is wrong with it then you need to assume that what they are saying is correct unless the same customer repeatedly submits dubious claims or suspicious claims a customer or they are honest for example they are trying to return merchandise that has obviously been used or they are trying to return a dress that has been worn and then they are saying that it is the wrong size that's where they want to return it or something like that or if the amount of money that is involved is very large you will not question the claim of the customer if you really feel that they are saying the wrong thing they are lying that they are trying to return it and they are returning it or they are using it and they are returning it when there is no damage or there is a huge amount of money involved apart from this if you don't have these things then whatever customer you are saying you will take the face value because replacing that product will make you lose a lot of money because you need to remember that once a complaint is made customers may come to view the original transaction as less important than the events that come after the complaint so they might forget how you dealt with them when you were actually selling the product but they will remember how you dealt with them when you dealt with the complaint so you need to be very careful in how you deal with that complaint to protect your company's image and to regain your customer's goodwill refer to your company's errors very carefully don't blame an individual or a specific department and also avoid lame excuses such as nobody's perfect or mistakes will happen because these will not really give a very good image of your company it will try to show that you are trying to just brush off the error that happened also don't promise that problems will never happen again such guarantees are unrealistic and often beyond your control if obviously a problem has arisen with the product it was not deliberate it was beyond your control and your company's control so don't make firm promises that it will never happen again but explain your company's efforts to do a good job because in doing this at the error was an unusual incident a letter shows us how such a complaint has been dealt with your letter about the golden harvest canned fruit you recently purchased has been forwarded to our vice president of operations for review we are pleased that you took the time to write your satisfaction is important to us since 1906 golden harvest has been packaging fine food products our workers and inspectors monitor quality carefully with technology but we want to do an even better job your letter will help us do just that the next time you shop use the enclosed half price coupon to pick up a gift box set of golden harvest holiday spices this coupon which will be honored wherever our fine specialty products foods are sold is our way of thanking you for your interest in our products the writer has not directly to anybody they have not said that we are not packaging it somebody else is packaging it that's why there was a problem but what they are saying is that we have made the best efforts to monitor the quality of the product and the way of apologizing is that they have enclosed a coupon through which the customer will get their products discounted or free now there is a clever way of promoting their own product even though they are dealing with the complaint by giving a coupon for an alternative product by the same company the company is actually introducing the reader to their new product the complaint was about canned goods or fruits and now they have given a coupon for spices those who do not buy the spices will be given samples that's why they are giving to buy it it exemplifies the following points it's a form letter now this kind of form letter is sent to people with various types of requests or complaints with minor adjustments it's the same format of the letter that they would be using for different complaints of different products of the company they will just change the name of the product and it cannot start with a clear good news statement because various customers are seeking various types of good news so they have started directly with what the problem is it starts what might be called a good attitude statement which is the U-oriented attitude to put the customer at ease also at no time does the letter suggest that the customer was mistaken in questioning the quality of the product they don't say that the product is fine they are not questioning the customer's judgment at all also however they are not admitting to any defect in the product they are not believing their own mistake they are not saying that our product is defective but they are not lying to the customer they are just accepting what the customer has said and not commenting on it but going on to more positive news the middle explanatory section combines the old and the new it says Golden Harvest has been doing business for almost 100 years but its equipment is thoroughly modern this explanation of the company's quality control may restore the readers confidence in the product so if the reader feels that the company is very old and the technology that they are using might be old by saying something like this the company is actually saying that although we are old the technology we are using is very modern the experience is actually adding to our quality rather than taking away from it also the letter closes with some resale and sales promotion and this resale and sales promotion is made personal by the use of you and your by these pronouns now obviously if you get an adjustment letter like this you are also likely to respond favorably to it so when you writing an adjustment letter like this you can be sure that your clients will also respond favorably to you a claim letter written as a personal answer to a unique situation would start with a clear statement of good news the settling of claim according to the customer's request now however a claim letter written as a personal answer to a unique situation this is a standard situation but there could be times when the request or the complaint could be unique and then the claim letter would not be in a form format but it would be more personal so such a letter would start with a clear statement of the good news and then talk about the settling of the claim according to the customer's request let's have a look at an example in just a few days you will receive a new factory tested electronic metric scale to replace the one you returned thanks for giving us the opportunity to back up the name of total buyer satisfaction now if you saw in this reply the writer is again although they are telling the customer what it is that the customer will get they are also thanking them because the customer has pointed out a problem with the company and also in the close they are pointing to the policy of total customer satisfaction saying something positive about themselves as a company although they are responding to a complaint now another type of message could be when you are approving credit if you are working for a company or if you are working in a situation where you need to approve credit for your customers then you need to keep in mind that handling routine credit requests is important because customers often carry a wallet full of plastic credit cards and businesses of all sizes operate more smoothly because they can pay for their purchases over time a lot of the times in this day and age a lot of transactions are not made by handing cash immediately at the time of the sale a lot of the work is done over credit or through credit cards letters approving credit are good news messages and the first step in what may be decades long of a business relationship so if you are writing a credit letter or you are writing a letter approving credit then you are obviously giving out good news to your client here you need to open your letter with the main idea in the middle section you will include a reasonably full statement of the credit agreements what are the upper limits of the account the dates that the bills are sent possible arrangements for partial monthly payments account payments, interest charges for unpaid balances due dates etc any details that might be relevant when you are giving the details you will state the terms positively and objectively not negatively or in an authoritarian manner instead of saying something like your credit balance cannot exceed 5000 dollars or 50,000 rupees you will write with our standard credit account you can order up to 5000 dollars worth of fine merchandise it's the same it means the same thing but you are putting the message positively instead of negatively another example could be instead of saying we expect your payment within 30 days of receipt of our statement you will say payment is due 30 days after you receive our statement also when you are approving credit the final section of the letter provides resale information and sales promotion highlighting the benefits of buying from you let's have a look at a letter that was written both to approve credit and to bring in customers it says welcome aboard here is your new ship to shore credit card which will make shopping at Conrad's even easier than before now you can make credit purchases up to a total of 100,000 dollars or 1000 dollars or whatever the amount you want to name now this is a good news opening right to the point so depending on the purpose of your routine message the function that you wish it performs you will tailor the opening accordingly you will include necessary details and obviously then you will have a closing preferably something which makes a possible future sale and also resells what you are selling the product that the customer already has ordered in this lecture we learnt to decide when to write a routine good news, good will messages and what type of message to write depending on the situation we also learnt how to adjust the basic organizational pattern which was the three different sections of a letter that we looked at and how to arrange that how to organize that to fit whatever type of message you are writing we also learnt how to add resale and sales promotion when writing because that is something that is important for the image of your company for the sales of your company and for the success of your company we also learnt how to encourage the reader to take desired action by using a positive note by ending on a positive note and on a confident note as well we also talked about how to write credit approval letters and also the correct form for specialized messages as instructions news releases and good will letters we also learnt how to write credit approval letters and how to phrase the terms and conditions of those so that they come across positively rather than negatively or in an authoritarian manner with this we come to the end of today's lecture on writing routine good news good will messages until next time, Allah Hafiz