1. Chapter 7 Persuasive Messages
There are videos embedded in the PowerPoint slides that are available on the Instructor’s Resource CD (ISBN ).

2. Responding to Feedback
Persuasive Messages
Audience Analysis
Short Messages
Sales Letters
Responding to Feedback

3. Planning Persuasive Messages
Possible Resistance
You want your manager to give you promotion
Your manager may have budget restriction or may believe your performance doesn’t warrant a promotion.
2. You want to sell a new product to an existing customer
The customer may be happy with the current product or may not want to spend more money.
3. You want an employee to work overtime
The employee may have other plans or may believe that your request is unfair or unnecessary.
4. You want a supplier to give you a discount on products
The supplier may have sales targets he or she needs to reach, may not have authority to grant your request.
5. You want a business to provide better service
The business may not believe your negative feedback or may have national standards that cant be changed .

4. Common Areas of Resistance
Previous negative experience
Limited time
Limited money
Indifference

5. Analyzing Your Audience
Who is the audience?
What is your relationship with the audience?
How will the audience likely react?
What does the audience already know?
What is unique about the audience?

6. Applying Persuasion Principles
Ethos: An appeal based on credibility
Demonstrate good character
Provide your background and experience
Pathos: An appeal based on emotion
Connect with people on an emotional level
Use stories and imagery
Logos: An appeal based on logic
Use solid evidence and reasoning
Provide facts and expert opinion

7. Determining How to Start
Determining How to Start the Message
Use a Direct Plan When…
writing to supervisors
your audience is predisposed to listen objectively to your request
the proposal does not require strong persuasion
the proposal is long or complex
you know that your reader prefers the direct approach
Use an Indirect Plan When…
writing to colleagues or people who report to you
writing to someone outside the organization
strong persuasion is needed
the reader is initially resistant to your proposal
you know that your reader prefers the indirect approach

8. Planning Persuasive Messages
The Opening Statement
Interesting
A good opening sentence grabs and keeps the reader’s attention for example you can use an effective rhetorical question:
“How much weight does the average Cedar Fitness Center member lose within a month on joining?”
Relevant
Your opening statement must also be relevant to the purpose of your message.
If the statement is too far off the topic or misleads the reader, this can make persuasion very difficult.
Short
An opening paragraph of just one sentence will make the message inviting to read.
Few readers have the patience to go through a long introduction to figure out the purpose of the message.

9. Justifying Your Idea or Request
Use objective statements and statistics that can be verified. Choose a few relevant data points to avoid overwhelming the reader. Example:
The Roper Division represents 34% of overheads.
Facts and Statistics
Include experts to support your points, particularly if your credibility is in question. Example: According to the recent study, by Accenture’s Management Group…
Expert Opinion 
Use relevant, representative cases or incidents to illustrate your points. Example: When Maximus outsourced its logistics last year, the company saved…
Examples

10. Dealing with Obstacles
Anticipate objections
Address big obstacles directly
Incorporate objections into benefits
Devote little space to objections

11. Motivating Action Make the action clear and easy to take
Ask confidently
Encourage prompt action
End your letter with a reminder of a reader benefit

12. Writing a Short Persuasive Message
Writing a Sales Letter
The first step is to be familiar with your product, it competition and your audience.
Introduce your central selling theme in the opening sentence and referring to it.
Find one major reader benefit that you introduce early and emphasize throughout.
Make a lasting impression on your reader.

13. Select a Central Selling Theme
1. First, become familiar with your product.
2. Select a central selling theme.
3. Rather than focusing on product features, find one major reader benefit.
4. Make a lasting impression on your reader.
Select a Central Selling Theme

14. Creating Interest and Building Desire
Devote several paragraphs to interpreting the product’s features.
Interpret Features
Invite the reader to pay attention.
Use Vivid Language
Maintain credibility by providing specific facts and figures.
Use Objective, Ethical Language
Subordinate or downplay price in your message.
Mention Price
Refer to enclosures at the end of the letter.
Refer to Enclosures

15. Gaining the Reader’s Attention
Solicited sales letter
A reply to a request for product information from a potential customer
Unsolicited sales letter
▪ Promotes a company’s products and is mailed to potential customers who have not expressed any interest.
▪ An unsolicited letter is also called a prospective letter. Recipients call them spam or junk mail.

16. Practice Enticing Your Reader
Imagine a situation where you’re writing to a prospective customer of your house cleaning service. Write a catchy opening that meets these criteria:
Interesting (perhaps a rhetorical question)
Relevant to the audience (busy professionals)
Short (one or two sentences)

17. Writing Complaint Letters and Negative Online Reviews
Consider an indirect style
Give specific evidence about what went wrong
Maintain a calm, objective tone
Close with a confident, respectful tone

18. Watch the video. Do you consider Nike’s promotional T-shirts ethical?
Link to the full story.
Nike responded to the author’s tweets that questioned Nike’s T-shirt campaign.
Nike "Get High" T-Shirts Anger Boston Mayor
Mayor of Boston Thomas Menino doesn't like Nike's new T-shirts. He believes that messages such as "Get High" and "Dope" promote drug use. In a letter to the general manager of Niketown Boston, Menino urges the company to remove the T-shirts.
Watch the video. Do you consider Nike’s promotional T-shirts ethical?
Nike responded to the author’s tweets about this situation (read more on bizcominthenews.com). Click the BizCom image to go to the blog, or search for “Nike.” You’ll also find a video about the situation here:

19. Compare Direct the Indirect Openings
I’m writing to request that you replace the shirt I purchased because the color has faded.
Indirect
I’ve come to expect premium quality in the products I purchase from your company over the last ten years. You can imagine my disappointment when the shirt I purchased recently faded after it was washed the first time.

21. Deciding Whether to Respond
Happy
Will you respond?
No Response
Reach Out
Degrading
Misguided
Unhappy
Monitor
Fix the Facts
Restore the Relationship
Consider
Social Media Posts
You have found a post about your company. Is it positive? NO
YES
DISCOVER
EVALUATE
RESPOND

22. Responding to Negative Online Feedback
Thank the writer for the review—even negative comments give you the opportunity to respond and restore your company’s reputation.
Show appreciation for the feedback
Many reviews will include some positive points; highlight those for other readers.
Reinforce positive aspects of the review
Explain the situation and what you will do to correct the situation. Then, follow through to use negative feedback to improve operations or service.
Address negative aspects directly
If you can contact the writer directly, you might offer a special discount to entice him or her to try your company again—and to have a better experience.
Invite the customer back