ROUTINE/POSITIVE LETTERBuilding goodwill with readers and creating a positive image of your organization

Martin 3355: Fall 2014

A QUICK NOTE

This slideshow works to provide you with the necessary information to begin working on your first letter (the routine/positive letter) and, as such, works heavily from the course’s textbook. My reasons behind providing this for your are two-fold. First, you need to begin thinking about and working on this project now as it is due next week. Second, I want you to be able to purchase/rent your textbook from where you would like to and doing this works to provide you with enough time to do so. However, please keep in mind, beginning next week (Week 3) you will need your textbook to refer to for future assignments.

TYPES OF ROUTINE & POSITIVE MESSAGES

Cover Messages (or Transmittals) Acknowledgments Inquiries Responses to Inquiries Sales and Promotions

COVER MESSAGES (OR TRANSMITTALS) When sending a formal report, proposal, brochure, or similar

material, you should include a short message to identify what you are sending.

Sending a cover message provides you with an opportunity to clarify what is being attached to an email as well as to provide you with a record of when and to whom you sent the material.

Begin the message by explaining what is being sent and why. In an optional second paragraph you may want to summarize

the information or direct attention to sections which may be of particular interest to the reader.

Please see “Course Documents” – “Brief Cover Letter” for an example of this. Chapter 9: p. 314

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This is simply a short note in an e-mail to let colleagues and clients know that you have received what they sent you as well as to express your thanks.

Please see “Course Documents” – “Acknowledgment” for an example of this.

Chapter 9: p. 314

INQUIRIES

An inquiry letter can be as simple as a request for a brochure and as complex as “asking a consultant to define specific requirements for a usability testing lab” (p. 314).

Two categories of inquires are as follows: Those that benefit the recipient Those that benefit the writer

No matter the type of inquiry, you should pay particular attention to your reader’s needs.

Please see “Course Documents” – “Inquiries” for an example of this.

INQUIRIES: CONSIDERING YOUR AUDIENCE AND PURPOSE Make your questions specific, clear, and concise. Phrase your

questions so that the reader will know immediately the type of information you are seeking, why you need it, and how you will use it.

If appropriate, present your questions in a numbered list to make it easy for your reader to address them.

Keep the number of questions to a minimum to improve your chances of receiving a prompt response.

If possible, offer some inducement for the reader to respond, such as promising to share the results of what you are doing.

Promise to keep responses confidential, if appropriate. Close by thanking the reader for taking the time to respond. Provide

contact information, such as a phone number of an e-mail address, to simplify a reply.

RESPONSES TO INQUIRIES

The first step you need to take when receiving an inquiry is to determine if you have both the information and the authority to respond.

If you can respond, do so as promptly as possible making sure to answer every question and adjust the response to the information provided by the writer.

If you feel you cannot respond, find out who can and forward the inquiry to that person as promptly as possible. Also, take the time to notify the writer that you have forwarded their inquiry

Please see “Course Documents” – “Response to Inquiry” for an example of this.

SALES AND PROMOTION

Requires a thorough understanding of the product, service, or business and the potential customer’s needs.

Most businesses employ specialists to compose their sales and promotional material.

Small businesses or self-employed individuals often have to write and design their sales messages themselves.

First task in sales and promotion writing is to identify your audience.

Once you have done this, you should work to learn as much about your audience as possible: age, gender, vocation, location, education, financial status, interests, etc.

Analyze your product or service to determine the strongest ties to your audience.

Please see “Course Documents” – “Sales-Promotion” for an example of this.

PROJECT 1: ROUTINE/POSITIVE LETTER For this project you will complete a one-page, single-

spaced letter with a routine and/or positive message. Choose one of the following scenarios from the Writing That Works textbook, pp. 344-347: Exercise 5, 8, or 10. These are the only exercises you can use for this project and will be provided for you in the next few slides. Letters should address each of the points presented in the scenario and will necessarily require you to make up some information.

THIS ASSIGNMENT IS DUE AT THE END OF WEEK 3, BY SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2014 BY 11:59 PM.

EXERCISE/SCENARIO 5

You are the membership director of a fitness center that caters to professional women. You decide to bring in additional revenue by offering personal training sessions at $90 per hour and hire three fitness instructors who have been certified as personal trainers by the Aerobics and Fitness Association of America. Unfortunately, clients have been slow to sign up. Write a sales letter to existing members, announcing your fitness center’s personal training program. In addition to convincing your readers of the benefits of personal training, the letter should introduce the trainers, describe their backgrounds and interests, and emphasize the extensive training they received in their certification workshops. Their training includes the following:

Anatomy and kinesiology Fitness-assessment testing procedures (including skin-fold caliper measuring and sit-up, reach,

and abdominal strength tests) Weight management and nutrition for the average person as well as those with special needs Motivation

EXERCISE/SCENARIO 8

You have recently purchased a local high-end camera store and with to build your business. You have a mailing list of former customers, but many of them were unhappy with the previous owner’s products and service. You would like to win them back. You specialize in the highest-quality digital and single-lens reflex (SLR) cameras as well as accessories. The shop is also an authorized repair service for Nikon and Sony cameras and lenses. Your partner is highly qualified as a photographer and is an expert in digital imaging for commercial and Web applications. The community you serve is relatively affluent, but the former owner’s reputation included overcharging customers and refusing to service what he sold. Your store is located on East Capitol Drive near a variety of appliance store and restaurants, and a chain electronics store that sells cameras but is not know for quality service. You believe that satisfied customers will improve your business. Write a sales letter, addressed to former customers, effectively promoting your services. Plan to use this letter as the basis for other promotional materials.

EXERCISE/SCENARIO 10

Prepare an e-mail message to inform a group of international customers of the following: Your company’s newsletter will now be delivered electronically, by e-mail, and will be updated monthly instead of bimonthly. Customers who wish to receive the print version of the newsletter will be charged an annual handling fee of $30. New items listed in the newsletter can be ordered at your company’s website and a 10 percent discount. Customers need to inform the company if they wish to cancel their subscriptions to the newsletter. Be sure to present these changes positively—with your customers’ point of view in mind.

GRADING RUBRIC

The following grading rubric will be used for the Routine/Positive Letter: Content – 20 points

Letter addresses all aspects of the prompt, provides complete information, is persuasive, is considerate of the reader’s needs

Organization – 10 points The order of the information in the letter is clear, logical, and otherwise appropriate to the

audience and message

Tone – 15 points Letter is professional, straightforward, sincere, and otherwise appropriate to the audience

and message

Grammar & Mechanics – 20 points The letter shows control and care with the grammar and mechanics of Standard Written

English

Format – 10 points The letter follows the correct format