Transcript Business Communication: Process and Product, 4e

Chapter 10
Sales and Persuasive
Messages
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business Communication:
Process and Product, 5e
Copyright © 2006
Applying the 3-x-3 Writing
Process
• Analyzing purpose
What do you want the receiver to do or think?
• Anticipating reaction
Does the receiver need to be persuaded?
• Adapting to the audience
How can you adapt your message to appeal to this
receiver?
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business Communication: Process and Product, 5e
Ch. 10, Slide 2
Applying the 3-x-3 Writing
Process
• Researching data
What information do you need?
Where can you locate it?
• Organizing data
What strategy is best – direct or indirect?
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business Communication: Process and Product, 5e
Ch. 10, Slide 3
The Indirect Pattern for
Persuasion
• Gain attention
• Build interest
• Reduce resistance
• Motivate action
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business Communication: Process and Product, 5e
Ch. 10, Slide 4
Making Persuasive
Requests
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business Communication: Process and Product, 5e
Ch. 10, Slide 5
Gaining Attention
• In requesting favors, begin with a
compliment, unexpected fact,
stimulating question, reader benefit,
summary of the problem, or candid
plea for help.
• For claims, consider opening with a
review of action you have taken to
resolve the problem.
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business Communication: Process and Product, 5e
Ch. 10, Slide 6
Building Interest
• Prove the accuracy and merit of your
request with facts, figures, expert
opinion, examples, and details.
• Avoid sounding high-pressured,
angry, or emotional.
• Suggest direct and indirect benefits
for the receiver.
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business Communication: Process and Product, 5e
Ch. 10, Slide 7
Building Interest
• Direct Benefit: If you accept our
invitation to speak, you will have an
audience of 50 potential customers
for your products.
• Indirect Benefit: Your appearance
would prove your professionalism
and make us grateful for your
willingness to give something back
to our field.
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business Communication: Process and Product, 5e
Ch. 10, Slide 8
Reducing Resistance
• Identify possible obstacles; offer
counter arguments.
• Demonstrate your credibility by
being knowledgeable.
• In requesting favors or making
recommendations, show how the
receiver or others will benefit.
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business Communication: Process and Product, 5e
Ch. 10, Slide 9
Reducing Resistance
• Example: Although your gift to the
Neonatal Center is not tax
deductible, it would help us purchase
an Intensive Care Ventilator that
would be put to use immediately in
caring for critically ill and premature
newborn infants.
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business Communication: Process and Product, 5e
Ch. 10, Slide 10
Motivating Action
• Ask for specific action confidently.
• Include an end date, if appropriate.
• Repeat a key benefit.
• Example: Please respond by May 1
so that we may add your photograph
to our announcement.
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business Communication: Process and Product, 5e
Ch. 10, Slide 11
Ineffective Persuasive
Invitation
Activity 10.1
“Before” Version
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business Communication: Process and Product, 5e
Ch. 10, Slide 12
Persuasive Invitation: “Before” Version
Dear Dr. Thomas:
Because you’re a local Atlanta author, we thought it might
not be too much trouble for you to speak at our GSU
Management Society banquet May 5.
Some of us business students here at Georgia State
University admired your book Beyond Race and Gender,
which appeared last spring and became such a hit across the
nation. One of our professors said you were now the
nation’s diversity management guru. What exactly did you
mean when you said that America is no longer a melting pot
of ethnic groups–it’s an “American mulligan stew”?
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business Communication: Process and Product, 5e
Ch. 10, Slide 13
Persuasive Invitation: “Before” Version
Because we have no funds for honoraria, we have to rely on
local speakers. The Reverend James R. Jones and Vice
Mayor Rebecca A. Timmons were speakers in the past. Our
banquets usually begin at 6:30 with a social hour, followed
by dinner at 7:30 and the speaker from 8:30 until 9 or 9:15.
We can arrange transportation for you and your guest, if
you need it.
We realize that you must be very busy, but we hope you’ll
agree. Please let our advisor, Professor Alexa North, have
the favor of an early response.
Sincerely yours,
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business Communication: Process and Product, 5e
Ch. 10, Slide 14
Critical Thinking Questions
1. What is the purpose of the previous letter?
2. How do you think the reader would react to the
message?
3. What could be used to attract the attention of
the reader in the opening? Write an appropriate
opening.
4. What information could be used to build
interest in the body?
5. What are some of the arguments the receiver
might offer to resist the invitation? Could any
counter arguments be offered?
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business Communication: Process and Product, 5e
Ch. 10, Slide 15
Critical Thinking Questions
6. What could you use to motivate the reader to
accept?
7. Should an end date be used in the closing?
What information could be added to the closing
to make it easier for the receiver to respond?
Write an appropriate closing.
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business Communication: Process and Product, 5e
Ch. 10, Slide 16
Improved Persuasive
Invitation
Activity 10.1
“After” Version
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business Communication: Process and Product, 5e
Ch. 10, Slide 17
Persuasive Invitation: “After” Version
Dear Dr. Thomas:
Your book Beyond Race and Gender stimulated
provocative discussion across the nation and on our campus
when it appeared last spring.
Business students at Georgia State University now consider
you the nation’s diversity management guru, and for that
reason they asked me to use all my powers of persuasion in
this invitation. Because we admire your work, we’d like
you to be our keynote speaker at the GSU Management
Society banquet May 5.
As students at an urban campus in a metropolitan area,
we’re keenly aware of diversity issues. In your words,
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business Communication: Process and Product, 5e
Ch. 10, Slide 18
Persuasive Invitation: “After” Version
America is no longer a melting pot of ethnic groups; it is
now an “American mulligan stew.” We’d like to hear more
about the future workforce and how managers can
maximize the contribution of all employees.
Although we can’t offer you an honorarium, we can
promise you a fine dinner at the GSU Faculty Club and an
eager and appreciative audience of over 100 business
students and faculty. Speakers in the past have included the
Reverend James R. Jones and Vice Mayor Rebecca A.
Timmons.
The evening includes a social hour at 6:30, dinner at 7:30,
and your remarks from 8:30 until 9 or 9:15. So that you
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business Communication: Process and Product, 5e
Ch. 10, Slide 19
Persuasive Invitation: “After” Version
won’t have to worry about transportation or parking, we
will arrange a limousine for you and your guest.
Please make this our most memorable banquet yet. Just call
our adviser, Professor Alexa North, at 356-9910 before
April 1 to accept this invitation.
Sincerely yours,
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business Communication: Process and Product, 5e
Ch. 10, Slide 20
Writing Complaint Letters
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business Communication: Process and Product, 5e
Ch. 10, Slide 21
How to Write a Good
Complaint Letter
• Begin with a compliment, point of
agreement, statement of the problem,
or brief review of the action you have
taken to resolve the problem.
• Provide identifying data.
• Prove that your claim is valid;
explain why the receiver is
responsible.
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business Communication: Process and Product, 5e
Ch. 10, Slide 22
How to Write a Good
Complaint Letter
• Enclose copies of documents
supporting your claim.
• Appeal to the receiver’s fairness,
ethical and legal responsibilities, and
desire for customer satisfaction.
• Describe your feelings and your
disappointment.
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business Communication: Process and Product, 5e
Ch. 10, Slide 23
How to Write a Good
Complaint Letter
• Avoid sounding angry, emotional, or
irrational. Close by telling exactly
what you want done.
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business Communication: Process and Product, 5e
Ch. 10, Slide 24
Writing Sales Letters
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business Communication: Process and Product, 5e
Ch. 10, Slide 25
Gaining Attention
• Offer something valuable, promise a
significant result, or describe a
product feature.
• Present a testimonial, make a
startling statement, or show the
reader in an action setting.
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business Communication: Process and Product, 5e
Ch. 10, Slide 26
Gaining Attention
• Example: How much is sex costing
your company? An incident of sexual
harassment can cost millions of
dollars unless preventive measures
are taken.
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business Communication: Process and Product, 5e
Ch. 10, Slide 27
Gaining Attention
• Describe a problem.
Six of our computers were recently
infected with the “Hacker” virus, and we
lost at least 25 work hours trying to repair
the problem.
• Present an unexpected statement.
If you checked carefully, you’d probably
find that 20 percent of your customers
account for 80 percent of your profits.
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business Communication: Process and Product, 5e
Ch. 10, Slide 28
Building Interest
• Describe the product in terms of
what it does for the reader.
• Show how the product or service
saves or makes money, reduces
effort, improves health, produces
pleasure, or boosts status.
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business Communication: Process and Product, 5e
Ch. 10, Slide 29
Building Interest
• Example: Our computer-based
training program teaches your
employees what behavior is
acceptable and unacceptable, while
showing you steps that can be taken
to reduce the risk of employer
liability.
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business Communication: Process and Product, 5e
Ch. 10, Slide 30
Building Interest
• Suggest reader benefits.
Now you can immediately protect all your
computers from the latest viruses with our
online anti-virus program.
• Pay a compliment.
Because no one generates as much
audience enthusiasm as you do in your
presentations, we are asking you to speak
....
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business Communication: Process and Product, 5e
Ch. 10, Slide 31
Building Interest
• Supply facts and figures.
Currently 30,000 known computer viruses
are in existence, and the number
increases by 300 to 400 each month.
• Give examples.
One company lost valuable data and had
no recent backup disks to replace infected
files.
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business Communication: Process and Product, 5e
Ch. 10, Slide 32
Building Interest
• Cite expert opinion.
“Hostile code can hit without warning,”
says virus specialist Dr. Tony Timm, “so
companies must have a virus antidote or
they risk all their operations.”
• Provide specific details.
In a test comparing six of the leading antivirus programs, our program was flawless
in virus detection, easy to use, and low in
ownership cost.
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business Communication: Process and Product, 5e
Ch. 10, Slide 33
Building Interest
• Mention direct benefits.
Our anti-virus program can protect you
from subtle corruptions of data that may
go unnoticed for months.
• Mention indirect benefits.
Your company continues to be a
pacesetter in the health care industry by
setting an example for other organizations
who are bewildered by the growing
number of viruses.
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business Communication: Process and Product, 5e
Ch. 10, Slide 34
Reducing Resistance
• Counter reluctance with testimonials,
money-back guarantees, attractive
warranties, trial offers, or free
samples.
• Build credibility with results of
performance tests, polls, or awards.
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business Communication: Process and Product, 5e
Ch. 10, Slide 35
Reducing Resistance
• Example: This important investment
in sexual harassment prevention
comes with a money-back guarantee.
If you are not satisfied, your entire
training costs are returned.
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business Communication: Process and Product, 5e
Ch. 10, Slide 36
Motivating Action
• Close with repetition of the central
selling point and clear instructions
for an easy action to be taken.
• Prompt the reader to act immediately
with a gift, incentive, limited offer, or
deadline.
• Put the strongest motivator in a
postscript.
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business Communication: Process and Product, 5e
Ch. 10, Slide 37
Motivating Action
• Example: Sign up now and you
receive a free 60-day trial. Call, fax,
or e-mail us today to receive a free
demo disk. You can’t lose!
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business Communication: Process and Product, 5e
Ch. 10, Slide 38
Composing Successful E-Mail
Sales Messages
• Send only those who
“opt in to.”
• Craft a catchy subject
line.
• Place main information
“above the fold.”
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business Communication: Process and Product, 5e
Ch. 10, Slide 39
Composing Successful E-Mail
Sales Messages
• Keep it short, conversational
and focused.
• Convey urgency.
• Sprinkle testimonials
throughout.
• Provide a means for opting
out.
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business Communication: Process and Product, 5e
Ch. 10, Slide 40
Persuasive Press Releases
• Open with attention-getting lead
or summary of important facts.
• Include answers to who, what,
when, where, why, how.
Appeal to audience of target media.
Present most important
information early.
Make the release visually
appealing.
Look and sound credible.
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business Communication: Process and Product, 5e
Ch. 10, Slide 41
End
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business Communication: Process and Product, 5e
Ch. 10, Slide 42