10_BC_Chapter8 - M09_BOVE5352_09_SE_C08.QXD 12:59 PM Page...

212

CHAPTER
8
Writing Routine and Positive Messages
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After studying this chapter, you will be able to
1
Apply the three-step writing process to routine
and positive messages
2
Outline an effective strategy for writing routine
requests
3
Explain how to ask for specific action in a
courteous manner
4
Describe a strategy for writing routine replies
and positive messages
5
Discuss the importance of knowing who is
responsible when granting claims and requests
for adjustment
6
Explain how creating informative messages
differs from responding to information requests
7
Describe the importance of goodwill messages
and explain how to make them effective
COMMUNICATION CLOSE-UP
AT CONE, INC.
www.coneinc.com
Considering the number of corporate scandals in re-
cent years, it’s easy to forget that thousands of compa-
nies continue to conduct business ethically and work to make
significant contributions in their communities. Ready to help
them in their efforts to help others is Carol Cone of Cone, Inc.,
a Boston-based agency that specializes in cause branding,
linking corporate brands to socially beneficial programs.
One of Cone’s biggest success stories has been publiciz-
ing the efforts of ConAgra Foods, which took up the cause
of child hunger in the United States through its Feeding Chil-
dren Better program. A centerpiece of those efforts is the
Kids Cafés, an after-school program that serves free, hot, nu-
tritious meals to kids in need. Since it became the national
sponsor of Kids Cafés, ConAgra has funded 150 new Kids
Cafés, each one providing more than 10,000 meals a year.
ConAgra also helps in the battle against childhood hunger
by helping to improve the distribution of food nationwide.
Cone focuses news releases, web content, and other
messages on the three main goals of the program: (1) getting
food to children who need it, (2) repairing the breakdowns in
food distribution, and (3) raising national awareness about
child hunger. ConAgra and Cone have received numerous
ConAgra’s Feeding Children Better program
supports thousands of children every year, and the
company’s public relations agency uses these
successes to focus nationwide attention on the
problems of childhood hunger.

1
L E A R N I N G O B J E C T I V E
Apply the three-step writing
process to routine and
positive messages
214
PART 3
Crafting Brief Messages
Even simple messages can benefit
from thoughtful planning.
USING THE THREE-STEP WRITING PROCESS
FOR ROUTINE AND POSITIVE MESSAGES
Regardless of the subject matter of your business messages, you can make them more effec-
tive by following Carol Cone’s advice (profiled in the chapter-opening Communication
Close-Up) to stay focused on your overall business goals and to emphasize the audience’s
concerns whenever you write. Like Cone, you’ll be composing numerous routine and posi-
tive messages during the typical business day. In fact, most business communication is
about routine matters: customer orders, company policies, employees, products, opera-
tions, and so on. Such messages are rarely long or complex, but the three-step writing