Planning Business Messages
by
Charles Lamson
Routine and Positive Messages
The most straightforward business messages are routine and positive messages. If you are inquiring about products or placing an order, your audience will usually want to comply. If you are announcing a price cut, granting an adjustment accepting an invitation or congratulating a colleage, Your audience will most likely be pleased to hear from you. If you are providing routine information as part of your regular business your audience will probably be neutral, neither pleased nor displeased.
Aside from being easy to understand, routine messages are easy to prepare. In most cases, you use the direct approach. In the openng, you state your main idea directly without searching for some creative introduction. By starting off with your positive idea, you emphasize the pleasing aspect of your message.
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Negative Messages
If you are refusing credit or denying a request for an adjustment, your audience will be disappointed. In such cases it may be best to ue the indirect approach, Putting the evidence first, and building up to the main idea, this approach strengthens your case as you go along - not only making the receiver more receptive to the eventual conclusion, but also treating the receiver in a more sensitive manner which helps you retain as much goodwill as possible. Astute businesspeople know that every person they encounter could be a potential customer, supplier or contributor.
Persuasive Messages
Persuasive messages present a special communication challenge, because you are asking your audience to give, do or change something, whether it is buying a product or changing a belief or an attitude. Professionals who specialize in persuasive messages such as sales letters and other advertising, spend years perfecting their craft and the best practitioners command salaries on par with many high-ranking executives.
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