MGT 291 – Letter of Compliment
Assignment: Pre-Writing Form

Step
1 of Guffey’s 3 x 3 Writing Process

Directions:

Identify
a situation that happened
to you or that you witnessed in which you/a person received good customer
service, helpful advice, or necessary assistance to compliment the party/partiesinvolved in the
situation.

® Note: Compliment does not mean to thank the
person.

I. Analyze Your Purpose and Select Your Channel

A. Identifying the Purpose (See p. 130 in text)

·
Why am I sending
this message?

® I am sending this message to
______________________________________________

·
What do I hope to
achieve? What do I want the audience to do/believe?

®
As a result of my
letter, I want the audience to ________________________________

B. Selecting the Best Channel (See p. 131 and
Figure 4.5 on p. 132)

·
How important is
the message to me/to the audience?

® The letter is important to my audience because
_______________________________

·
How much feedback
is required?

®
Based on the
purpose of this letter, the audience ______________ (should/shouldn’t) respond (i.e., provide feedback) to my letter of
compliment.

·
How fast is
feedback needed?

®
Based on the
purpose of this letter, I should send it _________________.

·
Is a permanent
record necessary?

® The audience _______________ (does/does not) need a hard copy of the letter for my/its files?

·
How much can be
spent?

® Based on the immediacy of feedback and need for a
permanent record, I _________ (will have
to/will not have to) spend money to send the document?

·
How formal is the
message?

®
Based on the
purpose of the letter and its audience, I should use ______________ (formal/informal) language to write my
letter of compliment.

II.
Anticipate and Profile the Audience (See p.
130-131 and Figure 4.4 on p. 130)

A.
Profiling the Audience

·
How can
I tailor the message to my readers or listeners?

® My primary audience is
____________________________________________

·
Is/Are
there a secondary audience(s)?

® My secondary audience is
___________________________________

® Additional people who will read or hear my
message is/are _____________________

® The secondary audience is different from my
primary audience because ______________________________________________________________________

® Additional background information I need to
include for the secondary audience is
_________________________________________________________________

® I will adjust my message if it will be
forwarded to other audiences by ____________
____________________________________________

B.
Determining the Tone of the Message and Selecting
a Channel

·
What is
my relationship to the audience? ____________________________________

·
Is the
audience a member of or outside of the company/organization? ____________________

·
If the
audience is in my company/organization, does he/she hold a position of
authority? _____

® How will this affect the tone of my message? __________________________________

·
How much/what
does the audience know about the topic/subject of my message?
__________________________________________________________________________

·
What do
I know about the audience’s education, culture, beliefs, and attitudes?
__________________________________________________________________________

·
What
reaction (positive, negative, neutral) will the audience have to my message? ________

III.
Adapting to the Task and Audience (See p.
132-139 and Figure 4.6 on p. 133)

A. What techniques can I use to adapt my message
to the audience(s) based on the purpose of my message? (The audience will
do/believe ________ as a result of this letter.)

·
Identifying the Strategic Approach

® Based on the audience’s reaction (i.e., positive,
negative, neutral), I can use the _________ (direct or indirect) approach to writing my message.

·
Developing Audience Benefits

®
The benefits I
can emphasize to the audience for doing/believing what I write in my message
are ______________________________________________.

®
The needs of my
audience are _____________________________, and/or I can demonstrate empathy by
___________________________________________.

·
Cultivating the “You” View/Attitude

®
When I write, I
will:

1.
Focus on the
receiver.

2.
Emphasize
second-person pronouns (you, your). Instead of “We need you to work on Saturday,”
try this: “By working on Saturday during
the open house, you may surpass your sales goals for the quarter.”

3.
Avoid overusing you (otherwise,
my message may appear to place blame and cause ill will to the reader).

·
Being Conversational but Professional (See p. 135,
Figure 4.7)

®
When I write, I
will:

1.
Use warm, friendly, and informal writing.

2.
Keep my messages professional.

3.
Not use IM abbreviations, slang, sentence
fragments, and chitchat.

·
Expressing Yourself Positively

®
When I write, I
will:

1.
Find positive ways to express my ideas to avoid angry reactions from the
audience.

2.
Avoid words like complaint,
criticism, defective, failed, mistake, and neglected.

·
Being Courteous

®
When I write, I
will:

1.
Soften the tone of my message by using a courteous tone

2.
Use words like please and thank you.