Great Plains Veterinary Educational Center Client Communication Great Plains Veterinary Educational Center

Purpose Reinforce verbal communication Provide new information Create a record Reinforce: New info: You should always calculate a pregnancy percentage for the client, but the written communication provides the opportunity to summarize and analyaze other data collected. Create a record: A written record will provide a valid historical record of the data.

Layout One page Letterhead Date Avoid blocks of text Grammar and sentence structure One page: If you can’t fit it onto one page, then judiciously use an additional page(s). Letterhead: Make it easy for the producer to contact you by including you phone number and email address in the letterhead. Keep the letterhead to a reasonable size to allow adequate room for the body of the letter. Date: You are creating a record, so dating that record is important. Avoid blocks of text: Large blocks of text can be a turn-off to the reader, so use bullet points as shown above. However, use them judiciously or the letter looks more like an outline than a letter.

An example of large blocks of text which may turn the reader off An example of large blocks of text which may turn the reader off. The lack of letterhead is also a problem with this letter.

Layout One page Letterhead Date Avoid blocks of text Grammar and sentence structure Grammar and sentence structure: If you are not a good writer find someone who will proofread letters for you.

Content 3 main points For each point More or less Positive and negative For each point Data summary Significance Action 3 main points: This varies according to your findings. Too many points will be confusing and difficult to adequately address while too few points may make the letter a strictly academic exercise. Data summary = use actual numbers (but not too many) rather than saying “mostly”, “some”, etc. Significance = explain what the data says and why it may be important. E.g. high BCS cows increase feed costs. Action = suggest a plan of action (i.e. offer to help). E.g. offer to create a balanced ration that may lower feed costs.

Enclosures Supporting material for the cover letter ALWAYS include a summary list Other examples: Printouts from CowCalf 5, spreadsheets, etc. Tables Graphs Pictures Don’t get carried away It is good to include charts, tables or pictures to support the comments made in the cover letter. It is essential to include a list of cows and their corresponding data that provides the client with a clean version of the data. By clean I mean both a physically clean copy as well as a ‘clean’ version of the data with typos, missing values, etc. cleared up. However, don’t include too many enclosures or you risk confusing the reader.

Assignment Review data Write a letter Identify primary findings Print or copy data and summaries from CowCalf 5 Write a letter One page Brief, but informative Send via email to jondrak@gpvec.unl.edu

AND, answer the question he asked.” “Don’t give random, off-the-cuff, answers to production problems or questions. Give value back to the producer with carefully calculated, written information for him to come to a conclusion. AND, answer the question he asked.” Dr. Terry DeGroff