Question

Direct Strategy Letter Assignment

15%

DUE: _______________________

The Scenario:

You are the manager of a Best Buy electronics store in St. Catharines.  Part of your duties includes responding to and resolving customer issues.

One of your long-term customers, Perdeep Bharadwaj, filed a complaint about the customer service he received at your location on October 25, 2016.  When he attempted to return a DVD player, he was denied a refund because he had no receipt.  Although the customer service representative was simply following company policy, Mr. Bharadwaj was very upset that he could not receive his money back; he has been a loyal customer who consistently purchases top-of-the-line products from you.  This prompted him to bypass your authority as manager and write a formal letter to the corporate office to seek a full refund.  Corporate office has forwarded the matter back to you so that you may have the opportunity to take care of the issue before they need to intervene.

It is at your discretion to decide whether or not you refund him partially or completely, or issue him a store credit.  Or, perhaps you offer him a partial refund plus a store credit.  Maybe you even handle this situation completely differently.  Regardless of your decision, this situation needs resolving quickly; a customer complaint that ends up in corporate office reflects negatively on you as a manager.  In order to respond formally (and keep a formal record on file), you write Mr. Bharadwaj letter in return, explaining your decision and how it was reached.

Your Task:

Write Mr. Bharadwaj a formal business letter using Direct Strategy as discussed in class.  

You should consider the following:

• Establish a clear opening paragraph that introduces yourself and gives some context as to why you’re writing. It must also announce the good news.
• Provide detail to justify your decision in the body: you need to record how you reached your decision and why
• Highlight overall reader benefits
• Conclude with “next steps” and necessary reader action, as well as the other necessary components discussed in class

Your Letter will

• Use clear Direct Strategy to organize the content
• Follow the guidelines for letter formatting discussed in class – you should use a formal letterhead, as this is from a company
• Be typed with your signature in pen
• Be no longer than one page

Important: create detail for addresses and other content

*Please attach this assignment sheet to your submission*

Marking Scheme

Total:     /30

Content & Organization (15 marks)                                                                         /15

• Direct Introduction (3 marks)

• concise but with effective information- introduces writer and gives some context
• clear purpose indicated but doesn’t give a lot of detail
• gets to the point quickly in the opening paragraph

• Body (5 marks)

• fully detailed and specific information provided
• decision is fully explained, rationalized, and justified
• reader benefits strategically discussed and emphasized throughout

• Close (3 marks)

• reader requirements/the needed action (next steps) from the reader are stated
• some form of contact information supplied
• deadline (specific date) stated
• thanks and goodwill given: cordial closing

• Tone (2 marks)

• Polite, professional, personal
• No negative content or language used

• Paragraph Structure (2 marks)

• logically ordered according to Direct Strategy
• information grouped appropriately
• topic sentence and supporting sentences for paragraphs; use of transitions

Mechanics & Business Writing Principles (10 marks)                                             /10     

• accurate spelling, grammar, punctuation, sentence structure
• business writing principles considered: “you” attitude, reader benefits,

positive language, clear, concise, plain language, inclusive language, etc.

Design/Format (5 marks)                                                                                          /5

• correct and effective use of letter design and layout (see text and class samples)
• aesthetically pleasing/professional appearance/balance of white space
• accurate block formatting (paragraphs aligned along left margin) and

paragraph spacing

• signature in pen appears in the signature block

**Note: Poor sentence structure and grammar will have an effect on the content**

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