Exam 4: Communicating Routine Messages and Building Goodwill

Consider the message below: Our department is short-staffed right now, as a number of employees were selected to participate in the current training program. This has coincided with a flood of paperwork that we must complete by the end of the week to fulfill the new compliance requirements. So without some divine intervention, our team won't be able to make it to this month's regularly scheduled meeting. -Evaluate this request and suggest how it could be improved.

Goodwill techniques are just embellishments to make a message sound more polite.

Which of the following is a faulty guideline for instant messaging (IM) standards?

Which of the following is an external benefit?

Which of the following is a routine announcement?

Sending a note congratulating a coworker who got a promotion is an example of a goodwill message.

After a job interview you decide to send a handwritten thank-you letter. This ________.

If a company decides to satisfy a customer claim for a refund, exchange, or repair, it is irrelevant whether the response is well written.

Which of the following best expresses the role of goodwill in business?

When writing a message, you determine audience benefits by ________.

________ benefits are advantages that your audience directly receives from complying with your request.

Consider the message below: Our department is short-staffed right now, as a number of employees were selected to participate in the current training program. This has coincided with a flood of paperwork that we must complete by the end of the week to fulfill the new compliance requirements. So without some divine intervention, our team won't be able to make it to this month's regularly scheduled meeting. -Which of the following statements is true regarding the subject line of a message?

Most claim requests require substantial explanation.

You work for Say Cheese!, an online digital photo developing service, that also sells specialty photo products. You receive an email from a customer who entered a coupon code when placing her recent order, but didn't receive the 15% discount it promised. In researching the claim, you find that the coupon was for orders with merchandise worth $50 or more. The customer's merchandise was worth only $47. But since she is a customer who has ordered from Say Cheese! before, you decide to grant her claim to receive the 15% discount on her order. -Which of the following is the best way to state this in your reply?

Before you can roll out the new database system you have designed, you need employees in departments across the company to volunteer to test it. You are drafting an email that will be sent to all employees to persuade them to help you with this testing. -You mention that those who complete five hours of testing will earn an Amazon.com gift certificate. This is an example of a(n) ________ benefit.

When someone asks you a question in a face-to-face or telephone conversation, ________.

Focusing on audience benefits helps the audience feel more positive about taking the time to send the requested information.

Routine business messages ________.

Which of the following is NOT a routine message?

When writing routine requests you should not adopt a "you" perspective.