BASIC ORGANIZATIONAL PLANS:Writing Goodwill Letters

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Lesson 19

BASIC ORGANIZATIONAL PLANS

Direct (Deductive) Approach

When you think that your audience will be interested in what you have to say or willing to cooperate with

you, you can use the direct or deductive plan to organize your message. It means your present request or the

main idea in the beginning, which follows up necessary details and then you close your message with a

cordial statement of action you want. We use this approach when the request requires no special tact or

persuasion. Close to direct request is good-news plan that is used to grant requests, announce favourable or

neutral information and exchange routine information within or between organizations. Look at the outline

of direct organizational plans and good-news plan.

Basic Organizational Plans

Direct-Request Plan

Good-News Plan

1. State the request or main idea.

1. Best news or main idea.

2. Give necessary desirable details for easy 2. Explain necessary and desirable details

reading.

with any helpful material.

3. Close with a cordial request for specific 3. End positively and friendly stating

action.

clearly the desired action and offering any

further help. Give date of action if

necessary.

Basic Organizational Plans

Dear Sir,

We intend to purchase a new office copier. We would like to consider a BHP copier and wonder if you

have a model that would suit our needs.

Our office is small, and a copier would generally be used by only three secretaries. We run approximately

3,000 copies a month and prefer a machine that uses regular paper. We rarely need to run off more than 25

copies at any one time.

We would also like to know about your warranty and repair service. We hope to hear from you soon.

Basic Organizational Plans

Dear Mr. Gul,

In a courier service, I am sending you six copies of our catalog, "Prime Gifts". I am very pleased that you

want to circulate it.

The catalog explains everything but I do want to say that for quantities of 20 or more gifts we offer an

attractive discount.

Please let me know if I can be of help in other ways.

Yours cordially,

Supplying Detailed Information on a Service

Gentlemen,

Please repair or replace my calculator watch, Model C863, and send it to me at the address above.

After six months of use, the musical alarm has quit working.

Enclosed is my watch, a copy of the sales receipt showing the date of purchase, and your warranty, which

guarantees material and workmanship for one year.

Yours Sincerely,

Modified Block Form

Attention

If you're looking for the change to be your own boss... or earn extra income in your

spare time... or a way to achieve independence when you retire... SMALL-

ENGINE REPAIR could be the answer.

Dear Mr. Hafiz,

I am delighted to know that you are interested in our Executive Book Club and am happy to answer your

questions about it.

Between 30 and 40 new books in the field of management are made available each year to the members

of the Executive Book club. And, as you have mentioned, the topics treated vary widely. From four to six

of these belong to personnel administration; in addition, a similar number of general management books

carry some aspects of personnel management.

Although we have several specialized book clubs but there isn't yet one in personnel administration.

Considering the increasing demand, it is possible that we will one day establish a club in personnel.

Certainly, there is a growing interest in this field.

The Circular enclosed contains complete information about the Executive Book Club. Please note that

the average price of books distributed by the club, if purchased separately, is about Rs.300. However, as a

member you would pay only about three-fourth of that amount.

I do hope you will want to become a member of the Executive Book Club, Mr. Hafiz. You can do so by

filling out the coupon on the back of the circular.

Yours truly,

Organization Plan Direct Request

Direct-Request Plan

Good-News Plan

1. State the request or main idea.

1. Best news or main idea.

2. Give necessary desirable details for easy 2. Explain necessary and desirable details

reading.

with any helpful material.

3. Close with a cordial request for specific 3. End positively and friendly stating clearly

action.

the desired action and offering any further

help. Give date of action if necessary.

Good News (and Neutral)

General Plan

1. Best news or main idea

2. Explanation

i. All necessary details

ii. Resale material

iii. Educational material

iv. Sales promotion

3. Positive, friendly ending

i. Appreciation

ii. Clear statement of action desired

iii. Easy action and motivation to action

iv. Willingness to help further

v. Dated action if desirables

Writing Goodwill Letters

The goodwill letter you write will probably be successful when you can answer yes to the following

questions:

1. If you were the reader, would you honestly like to receive this letter?

A goodwill letter does its job only when it makes the reader feel good.

2. Will the reader feel that you enjoyed writing the letter and that you mean everything you wrote? If the

reader feels bored, or indifferent tone, he or she may doubt your sincerity and interest.

Did you keep the spotlight on the reader?

To make the reader feel important, put your organization and yourself in the background and

convince the reader that you have written the letter just for him or her.

4. Did you omit specific sales material?

The reader will feel let down if your personal good wishes are only a prelude to a sales pitch.

Indirect or Inductive Organizational Plan

Organizational Plan

Persuasive request plan

Bad-News Plan

Buffer (using positive, pleasant rather Attention

than negative statement.

You oriented theme, reader's benefit.

Explanation (reader's benefit, reasons Interest

supporting the negative decision)

Explain the opening theme in greater

details using psychological appeal.

Decision (expressed or implied in Desire

clear but tactful manner)

Give relevant evidence to prove your

claim

Helpful, friendly and

positive, Action

stressing on goodwill

Close with a clear action ending that

suggests a specific action the reader may

take.

General Plan (Indirect)

1. Buffer:

i. Agreement

ii. Appreciation

iii. Assurance

iv. Compliment

v. Cooperation

vi. Good News

vii. Neutral Courtesy

viii. Understanding

Agreement

Find a point on which you and the reader share similar views. For example;

We both know how hard it is to make a profit in this industry.

Appreciation

Express sincere thanks for receiving something. For example;

Your check for Rs.25000/- arrived yesterday. Thank you.

Cooperation

Convey your willingness to help in any way you realistically can. For example;

Employee Service is here to smooth the way for all of you who work to achieve company goals.

Fairness

Assure the reader that you've closely examined and carefully considered the problem, or mention an

appropriate action that has already been taken. For example;

For the past week, we have carefully monitored those using the photocopying machine to see whether we can detect any pattern

of use that might explain its frequent breakdowns.

Good News

Start with the part of your message that is favourable. For example;

A replacement knob for your range is on its way, shipped February 10 via TCS.

Understanding

Demonstrate that you understand the reader's goals and needs. For example;

So that you can more easily find the printer with the features you need, we are enclosing a brochure that describes all the

Panasonic printers currently available.

Here are some other things to avoid the following thing when writing a buffer:

1) Avoid saying no, An audience facing the unpleasant news right at the beginning usually reacts

negatively to the rest of the message, no matter how reasonable and well phrased it is.

2) Avoid using a know-it-all tone. When you use phrases such as "you should be aware that," the audience

expects your lecture to lead to a negative response and therefore resists the rest of your message.

3) Avoid wordy and irrelevant phrases and sentences. Sentences such as "We have received your letter," "This

letter is in reply to your request," and "We are writing in response to your request" are irrelevant.

You make better use of the space by referring directly to the subject of the letter.

4) Avoid apologizing. An apology weakens your explanation of the unfavourable decision.

5) Avoid writing a buffer that is too long. The point is to briefly identify something that both you and your

audience are interested in and agree on before proceeding in a businesslike way.

Basic Organizational Plans

Indirect (Inductive) Approach

If you think that your message might upset your reader or listener, you use the indirect plan to ease your

audience into the part of your message that shows that you are fair-minded and eager to do business with

him on some other terms. This approach consists of four parts:

(1) A buffer,

(2) Explanation of your decision supported by reason

(3) Negative decision tactfully expressed or understood with helpful suggestion;

(4) A helpful, friendly, and positive close.

Basic Organizational Plans

As good-news plan is similar to direct-request plan, so is persuasive plan to bad-news plan. Persuasion is the

attempt to change a reader's attitude, beliefs or action in your favour. This plan is used to influence the

readers who may resist otherwise. One way to organize persuasive messages is the AIDA plan, which is of

four stages:

1. Attention

2. Interest

3. Desire

4. Action

In the attention stage, you convince the reader that you have something interesting or useful for him. In

interest stage you explain how your message is related to your reader. In the desire stage you provide

relevant evidence to prove your claim drawing attention to any enclosures. And in the action stage you close

the message with an action ending that suggests a specific action the reader may take.

Outline of the Indirect (Inductive) approach

Outline of the indirect (inductive) plan is given below:

Organizational Plan

Bad-News Plan

Persuasive Request Plan

1. Buffer: (using positive, pleasant rather than 1. Attention: you oriented theme, reader's benefit.

negative statement.

2. Explanation: (reader's benefit, reasons 2. Interest: Explain the opening theme in greater details

supporting the negative decision)

using psychological appeal.

3. Decision: (expressed or implied in clear but 3. Desire: Give relevant evidence to prove your claim

tactful manner)

4. Helpful, friendly and positive, stressing on 4. Action: Close with a clear action ending that suggests

goodwill

a specific action the reader may take.

Worksheet

Choosing the Best approach. Each of the following problems states a purpose for writing a letter.

Read each purpose, then tell (1) what the reader's reaction will be (pleased, displeased, neutral, little interest)

and (2) which approach you as the writer would take (direct, indirect, or persuasive)

1. To confirm a reservation.

Reaction: ________________ Approach: ____________________

2. To refuse a request for credit.

Reaction: ________________ Approach: _______________

3. To send a brochure that a client requested.

Reaction: ________________ Approach: _______________

4. To ask for an opportunity to demonstrate your new energy-saving device.

Reaction: ________________ Approach: _________________

5. To decline a speaking invitation

Reaction: ________________ Approach: ________________

6. To thank a customer for placing a large order.

Reaction: ________________ Approach: ________________

7. To interest a potential customer in advertising in your magazine

Reaction: ________________ Approach: ________________

8. To replace a defective product

Reaction: ________________ Approach: ________________

9. To reject a job applicant

Reaction: ________________ Approach: _________________

10. To ask for more information about a product advertised on TV.

Reaction: ________________ Approach: _________________

11. To compromise on an adjustment

Reaction: ________________ Approach: _________________

12. To collect an overdue account

Reaction: ________________ Approach: _________________

13. To congratulate a former classmate on a promotion.

Reaction: ________________ Approach: _________________

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