Business Email Craft Through Different Segments & Customs? Paper Imagine that you are working as the customer service manager for Prime Electronics, a smal

Business Email Craft Through Different Segments & Customs? Paper Imagine that you are working as the customer service manager for Prime Electronics, a small family-owned online seller of audio electronics including wireless headphones and other accessories. You are approached one day by one of your customer service representatives, who tells you that she is escalating a somewhat complicated case to you for resolution.

Two customers had contacted the company within hours of each other. The first customer, Jack Keller, ordered a pair of wireless Bose noise-cancelling headphones that sold for $400 (excluding taxes and shipping). However, he received the wrong item–a $60 pair of Cowin noise-cancelling headphones. Macy Artell had ordered these, but she received the much more expensive Bose headphones that should have gone to Jack. Jack is furious, but Macy seems more reserved.
Here are the details of the two orders from the company’s database:
Customer InformationOrder No.Item OrderedPriceShippingTotalJack Keller
PE407792Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700$399$8$407Macy Artell
PE407972Cowin E7 Noise Cancelling Headphones$59$8$67
You are going to need to carefully craft some emails to each of these customers–in this case, an individual person is the “audience.”

Negative message. You need to persuade Macy to send back the Bose headphones. You can provide a pre-paid label for the return, and you will ask the warehouse to prepare to ship her the correct headphones. As you are uncertain whether Macy actually will return the more expensive headphones, it is up to you as to whether you will send these before or after she makes the return.
Positive message. You need to inform Jack that he can keep the cheaper headphones with the compliments of the company, and that the correct headphones will soon be shipped to him. Do what you can to try and retain him as a customer.

As you no doubt recall from the personal examples I provided from my own days in business, there are some other people you are going to need to loop into this situation, too.

Short persuasive message. Ellen, the shipping manager, needs to be informed of the mishap. She needs to be aware that Macy is supposed to be sending back the expensive Bose headphones, and she also needs to be given shipping instructions for the replacement for Jack (and potentially Macy, depending on what you decide). Make sure Ellen knows that retaining both of these customers is important, and that she has authorization to include whatever “freebies” (e.g., coupons, free samples, etc.) she’d like.
Long(er) persuasive message. Draft an email to your general manager, Lauren, explaining what happened and what you have done to resolve the situation. Furthermore, propose at least one idea to prevent this kind of mixup from happening in the future, acknowledging both pros and cons to your suggestion.
Informative message. Ellen has anywhere from three to six people working in the shipping warehouse with her, depending on the time of year. Turnover is somewhat high, and so policies and procedures have to be clearly spelled out. Assume that Lauren approves your suggestion for fixing the situation; draft a policy memo to all members of the shipping department explaining this new procedure and how it will work.

There are no word count or page count requirements for this assignment–in “real life” there are no such things. You will need to craft your messages instead with the appropriate audience and purpose in mind, checking yourself to be sure you are clear, concise, and consistent.
TIPs?
AudienceAudience CharacteristicsWriting GuidelinesConsumers
(General readers)

Little or no knowledge of subject
Usually no requirement that they read the message
General information rather than technical information preferred
Use simple language with minimal technical vocabulary
Keep graphs/visual aids simple
Maintain an informal tone
Use common words & simple sentences
Provide definitions & expain technical information
Organize visually using bullets, tables, etc.

Technicians
(Operators)

Know their fields, but may have limited or no knowledge of other fields
Are often interested in “how to” type information
Simple language, but use technical terms where appropriate
Tone should be encouraging, helpful, not intimidating
Direct, imperative sentences
Organize using descriptive headings for easy reference

Experts

Prefer specific information
Have technical expertise and depth of knowledge in a particular field
May have somewhat narrow specializations
More comfortable with ambiguity
Use plain language when there is no good reason to use technical vocabulary or jargon
Use a more formal format when appropriate
Provide relevant, topic-specific information

Decision makers
(Executives, managers)

Have progressed through the ranks & possess a wide range of experiences that vary in depth (may or may not have technical background)
Typically very busy and pressed for time
Prefer using information to lead decision making
Make decisions based on cost/benefit analyses
Assume they know their own fields well
Use plain language when there is no reason to use technical vocabulary or jargon
Strive for brevity and conciseness
Get to the point! Put the bottom line up front (“executive summary”)