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10: Writing Routine and Positive Messages 10-1
[LO-2] AACSB: Written and oral communication
10.1. Message Strategies: Requesting an Adjustment
Note: Assuming that a fair adjustment will be made, the writer uses the organization plan for a direct
request. The first paragraph requests a replacement product. The middle paragraph explains all the
Customer Service Department
Calvin Klein, Inc.
205 West 39th Street
New York, NY 10018
Dear Customer Service Representative:
The CK Ladies’ Gold Plated watch that I purchased three months ago has stopped. I need your assistance
in obtaining a replacement.
I purchased the watch at Wilson’s Jewelry in Thibodaux, Louisiana. However, Wilson’s Jewelry went out
of business last month, and so I am unable to return the watch to the store to obtain a replacement. To
This is my first Calvin Klein watch, and I am looking forward to wearing it again. Please let me know
Sincerely,
[LO-2] AACSB: Written and oral communication
10.2. Message Strategies: Requesting Action
Note: Begin the email with a cordial opening, thanking managers for their previous cooperation and then
making the direct request to nominate one person to serve on an advisory team. Close by mentioning
[subject line] Seeking Advisory Team Nominations
I’ve had the pleasure of meeting many of you at past corporate events and during store visits, but for those
of you whom I haven’t been able to meet in person yet, I’m Tom Dooley, director of corporate marketing.
Copyright © 2018 Bovée and Thill LLC
10: Writing Routine and Positive Messages 10-2
By the end of next week, please nominate one of your employees who meets the following criteria:
As a store manager, you may be the local market expert, so I encourage you to nominate yourself if you
meet the above criteria.
Your input is valuable not only to help this new clothing line to succeed but also to help us all improve
[LO-2] AACSB: Written and oral communication
10.3. Message Strategies: Granting Claims
Note: Students should focus on the end goal of this exercise: keeping the customer. This message should
be sincere, professional, and factual. Making an apology and providing specific details on how the
situation will be rectified will give the customer confidence in the business. Also, offering a token of
Subject: Re: Complaint Regarding Wrong Delivery
Dear Mr. Ellison:
Please accept my deepest apologies for the distress caused to you by the incorrect delivery of a
I have initiated a full refund on the credit card you used to place your order; that amount should show up
on your next statement. The Valentine’s Day bouquet you ordered will be sent to your wife tomorrow, free
Copyright © 2018 Bovée and Thill LLC
10: Writing Routine and Positive Messages 10-3
Sincerely,
Andy Jandl
Partner, Flowers for All Occasions
[LO-4] AACSB: Written and oral communication
10.4. Message Strategies: Granting Claims
Note: This is an opportunity for students to see that a little humor and goodwill can go a long way to
retaining customers and even improving their perception of the company. Students should resist the urge
to negatively highlight the customer’s overzealous behavior; no point would be served. Instead, the
message should be used as a chance to professionally remind the customer of proper use, without being
offensive or condescending.
Subject: Re: Request for replacement of Razer Anansi keyboard
Dear Mr. Hapsberg,
Thanks for writing to us about the damage to your Razer Anansi keyboard. We are passionate about
Razer products are built for serious action, but our keyboards are precision machines that are designed to
We love hearing from our gamers, so please keep writing in. Everyone at Razer wishes you good times
Sincerely,
[LO-4] AACSB: Written and oral communication
10.5. Message Strategies: Providing Routine Information; Media Skills: Podcasting
Note: Audio-only instructions present two major challenges. First, without the benefit of visuals, you’ll
need to take extra care to describe parts and procedures. (In many cases, a podcast would be
accompanied by some manner of graphical support.) Second, because listeners can’t skip back and forth
as easily as they can with printed instructions, every instruction needs to be clear, and the instructions
need to follow each other in logical order. The brief excerpted example here describes the steps necessary
to assemble a home weather station. (Based on “Assembly Instructions for the 1-Wire® Weather Station
V2.0/V3.0,” AAG Electronica website, www.aagelectronica.com.)
Copyright © 2018 Bovée and Thill LLC
10: Writing Routine and Positive Messages 10-4
Welcome to the assembly instructions for your new weather station. At various points during this
Begin by carefully removing the weather station housing from the protective plastic bag. Pause.
Next, locate the weather vane, the part that looks like a large arrow. Pause. You will attach it to the shaft
Now locate the wind cup assembly. It has three small cups arranged in a circle around a central hub. You
Your weather station is now ready for testing. Locate the eight-foot test cord and plug one end into the
Start the 1-Wire Weather® software that you installed earlier. Pause. When the software starts for the first
[continues]
[LO-4] AACSB: Written and oral communication
10.6. Message Strategies: Providing Routine Information
Note: In the introduction, refer briefly to the reason for the posting without going into details, since
they’re likely to make employees defensive. Keep your message short. Use bulleted lists for easy
reference.
Listening Skills for the Workplace
This morning in our weekly staff meeting, I noticed some behaviors that weren’t conducive to our usually
supportive team environment. Most of the behaviors focused on the inability to listen, so I’ve put together
First, take a moment to remember the benefits of effective listening:
Copyright © 2018 Bovée and Thill LLC
10: Writing Routine and Positive Messages 10-5
Enhances your performance and influence within your company and industry
Next, practice these skills to become a good listener:
Take notes: don’t rely on your memory.
[LO-4] AACSB: Written and oral communication
10.7. Message Strategies: Routine Responses
Note: Student responses to this exercise will vary, but their critiques should be rational and fact-based,
with an emphasis on how real-life customers would use the website.
[subject line] Feedback on walmart.com
Thank you for requesting my feedback on walmart.com.
Overall, I find the site appealing and easy to use. The graphics are attractive and well produced, and I had
no problems finding the items I searched for. Prices, product information, and details on Walmart’s
I did, however, have trouble reading some text elements because of their color and small size. For
example, the shipping information for each product was very difficult to make out unless I increased the
Please let me know if you’d like more details on any of my comments.
Sincerely,
[LO-4] AACSB: Written and oral communication
Copyright © 2018 Bovée and Thill LLC
10: Writing Routine and Positive Messages 10-6
10.8. Message Strategies: Routine Announcements [LO-4]
Note: The company’s internal micromessaging system is more generous than Twitter, but even at 200
characters, the messages need to be concise and unambiguous.
Our annual United Way campaign begins June 1. If you would like to donate, the company will match
United Way’s education initiative aims to cut the high school dropout rate in half. The research-based
United Way’s income initiative aims to help more Americans achieve financial stability. Based on
[LO-4] AACSB: Written and oral communication
10.9. Message strategies: Providing Recommendations
Note: As the candidate has requested, keep the letter fairly general.
To Hiring Managers:
I am pleased to recommend Maxine Chenault (at her request) for a position in any professional field that
requires dependability, proficiency in meeting deadlines, and attention to detail. Max worked for me as an
Max is an exceptionally fast learner. She quickly became proficient with our content management system
and always used it properly. While other interns have struggled to learn and utilize the Orbitz system,
While Max was certainly a quick study, she was always willing to ask intelligent questions about our
business. Other interns and many new employees tend to avoid asking questions because they don’t want
Another important element of Max’s character is her willingness to respond to suggestions for
improvement. Soon after she joined me at Orbitz, I expressed concern that she was spending too much
I am confident that Max would be an asset to your organization. In addition to the traits I’ve outlined, she
is mature and professional, always on time, and eager to assist with even the most mundane tasks. Of the
Copyright © 2018 Bovée and Thill LLC
10: Writing Routine and Positive Messages 10-7
Best regards,
[LO-4] AACSB: Written and oral communication
10.10. Message Strategies: Writing Routine Information Messages; Composition Modes:
Summarizing
Note: With the announced merger of Tesla and SolarCity, the structure and content of the SolarCity
website might change. At the time of writing, information on the SolarLease program could be found at
http://www.solarcity.com/residential/affordable-solar-lease. Here is a post based on information
available at publication.
SolarCity makes it easy to add solar power to your home with SolarLease, a unique financing option that
lets you go solar without any upfront costs and the chance to save money from day one. With this
What’s more, there are no unexpected repair costs to worry about because they are covered under this
program. SolarLease includes continuous performance monitoring to make sure your system performing
[LO-4] AACSB: Written and oral communication
10.11. Message Strategies: Good News Messages
Note: This message should focus not only on what is being offered, but also how they will benefit the
reader. Students should include information that makes these services appropriate for the reader’s
personal needs. Specific details of the services offered will enable readers to clearly understand the what,
how, and when of the offering.
[post title] A Hot Stix Center to Open Soon at Indian Wells Golf Resort
Hot Stix is thrilled to announce a new fitting center to open at the Indian Wells Golf Resort within the
Every golfer has a unique swing. Accordingly, golf clubs need to match the individual specifications of
the golfer, which is done through the process of club fitting. Club fitters use advanced technology such as
Copyright © 2018 Bovée and Thill LLC
10: Writing Routine and Positive Messages 10-8
The Indian Wells Hot Stix center will provide three fitting programs—Performance Fitting, Tour Fitting,
and Platinum Game Fitting.
All fitting programs will be done using Hot Stix software and expert fitters. Moreover, each player will
[LO-4] AACSB: Written and oral communication
10.12. Message Strategies: Good-News Messages
Note: Use the direct approach to share the good news immediately, but try to do so in a way that (a)
doesn’t sound boastful for yourself or your department and (b) lets the entire company share in the glory.
Also, within the context of complimenting the department, keep the focus on the team, not on yourself as
the manager. In addition, since this is a blog posting, and a relatively simple announcement at that, keep
it short and to the point. People will want to hear about the award, but no one outside the department is
likely to be interested in lots of details.
And the Webby Goes to . . . Band-Aid Magic Vision
The Webby Awards, the online equivalent of the Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony awards, recognize the
best efforts in web and interactive design. I am thrilled to share the news that our Band-Aid Magic Vision
app has just been awarded the Webby for Interactive Advertising and Media in the Augmented Reality
[LO-4] AACSB: Written and oral communication
10.13. Message Strategies: Goodwill Messages
Note: Begin with a message of appreciation, much deserved by the community. While the citizens of
Loganville unselfishly offered their assistance, publicly thanking them will go a long way to ensuring a
Copyright © 2018 Bovée and Thill LLC
10: Writing Routine and Positive Messages 10-9
Thank you, fellow citizens of Loganville, for saving Ace Construction during the storm last weekend,
which pushed the Logan River past flood level. Many of you came forward to build the emergency levee
that protected our facilities from the rising water levels. Your action prevented a major calamity. I
[LO-4] AACSB: Written and oral communication
10.14. Message Strategies: Goodwill Messages
Note: A message such as this should be a celebration, so feel free to dial up the energy and have a little
fun with it.
Wow! We always have high hopes for the Spring Surge sales contest every April, but you folks set a new
all-time record this year. We booked $4.7 million of new revenue last month, putting us on track for our
best year since 2009.
Now for the fun part! Big cheers and a hearty “well done!” to our top three performers. Please
congratulate them and try not to be too jealous when they enjoy their prizes:
In addition to these standout performers, every member of the sales team had a positive and productive
[LO-4] AACSB: Written and oral communication
10.15. Message Strategies: Goodwill Messages
Note: Assume that this message would be hand-written on high-quality stationery. Use the guidelines
from the chapter to craft a message that is short, simple, and sincere.
Dear Arthur, Jordan, and Amy,
I am deeply sorry for your loss. Shari was a respected and cherished colleague, and I know from talking
with you over the years that she was, more importantly, beloved as a wife and mother. It seems like every
Copyright © 2018 Bovée and Thill LLC
10: Writing Routine and Positive Messages 10-10
[LO-4] AACSB: Written and oral communication
10.16. Message Strategies: Goodwill Messages
Note: This message needs to be sincere at a personal level without overstepping professional boundaries
by assuming too much familiarity. Keep it short and simple; remember that the fact you care to write is
more important than the specific language used.
Dear Leo,
[LO-4] AACSB: Written and oral communication
ASSISTED GRADING QUESTIONS (accessed on MyBCommLab)
10.18. To prevent good-news announcements from being all about you and your company, look for ways
Copyright © 2018 Bovée and Thill LLC
