Week 8 and 9: Building Goodwill

Written documents in the business world have different effects on their readers. A business letter
that implies good news may make the business relationship between the sender and the receiver of
the letter better. But the business relationship can be a failure if the same letter is written in such a
way that implies bad news for the receiver. In any situation, whether that is beneficial or
detrimental, courtesy and goodwill in business documents must be maintained so that the
difficulties of business and administrative work can be reduced.

Whether you are writing a business letter or a brief report, or even a memo, building goodwill is a
matter of using a positive tone to establish good relationships with your audience. Careful word
choices and encouraging attitudes can help you build messages that are not only convincing, but
also show your readers that you are very concerned about their interests.

This chapter will discuss writing techniques that can help build goodwill. “you-attitude” and
“positive emphasis” are two ways to build goodwill in writing trade letters.

7.2 You-Attitude
According to Professor Francis W. Weeks, former executive director of the Association for
Business Communication, USA, the problem that most often arises in business communication is
the tendency of writers not to think about what the recipient of the letter feels but thinks for himself
and his own problems. You-attitude pattern will help reduce the side-effects of misunderstandings
that can harm the sender of the letter. Below will be discussed five patterns of you-attitude.

1. Focus on what can be obtained or done by the recipient of the letter. In any situation,
emphasize what the reader wants to know. The reader is not interested in what you have
done. Instead they want to know what benefits they can get. In providing this information,
make the message as complete and interesting as possible.

Lack you-attitude We sent your order, 50 units of laptops, on 11th March 2018
Your order, 50 units of Lenovo laptops units, was sent on 11th
You-attitude
March 2018

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 As the owner of "Citra Travel Agent", I am willing to give
Lack you-attitude free of charge for one person if the tour participants are more
than 30 people.
As our regular customer, you are entitled to a free of charge
You-attitude
for 1 person if the tour participants are more than 30 people.

2. Focus on specific reader requests or orders. If you reply to an order letter, specify the
identification of the order. The statement, "Adidas sports shoes that you ordered ..." is
better than the statement "your order ..." because the first statement refers more specifically
to the item that the reader wants.

One thing a supplier needs to keep in mind is that the buyer does not only order goods from
him or her. There may be dozens or hundreds of other orders that must be handled by the
buyer. By mentioning the item specifically, the supplier has helped the buyer to recognize
the order more easily.

Lack you-attitude The ticket that you ordered was sent on 4th October 2018.
The Parahyangan Train ticket to Jakarta on behalf of Mrs.
You-attitude
Lina Wiranti was sent this morning, 4th October 2018.

Lack you-attitude We sent your order on 12th August 2018.

Fifty units of 5000mAh Xiaomi Power Banks were sent on
You-attitude
12th August 2018

3. Do not express your feelings unless you know very well that the reader wants to know your
feelings. In business situations, expressing feelings is irrelevant and must be avoided.

We are glad you can now withdraw cash up to Rp. 10,000,000

Lack you-attitude
(ten million rupiah) per day at all of our ATMs.
You can now withdraw cash up to Rp. 10,000,000 (ten million
You-attitude
rupiah) per day at all our ATMs.

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 We are proud to be able to provide welcome drinks for every
Lack you-attitude
guest staying at our hotel.
Welcome drinks are provided for every guest staying at our
You-attitude
hotel.

In general, readers do not really care whether you feel happy, proud, bored, or disappointed.
Readers are more interested in situations that are directly related to their interests.
However, expressing feelings can be expressed in congratulations or condolences.

Congratulations on your appointment as the Marketing Manager. We are

You-
happy to hear this news.
attitude
Please accept our condolences on the passing of your manager.

We condolence for the death of Mr. Michael Gomez

In internal documents, the author may express satisfaction or disappointment towards a
project. The same feeling can also be expressed in the introduction to a report. However,
one thing to keep in mind is that readers in general are more interested in the problems
written than your feelings

4. Don't assume that you know how the feeling or reaction of the reader. Guessing other
people's feelings, especially if the guess is not right, can damage the good relationship that
has been established. For this reason, avoid statements that guess the reaction or feelings
of the reader.

You will be satisfied to see our Eiger school bags meet

Lack you-attitude
International standards.
You-attitude Our Eiger School Bags meet International standards.

Readers who want all their ordered items to meet international standards may feel satisfied.
However, other readers who want cheaper items will feel disappointed. To avoid
mistaking, just explain the type of item. In other words, if you convey the good news,
convey the news without having to guess the reader's reaction.

We are sure you will be happy to hear the news that you get a
Lack you-attitude
gift of a gas stove.
You-attitude Congratulations! You get a gift of a gas stove.

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 Customers who like to cook may feel happy to get a gift for a gas stove. However, other
customers who don't expect a gas stove will feel disappointed. Therefore, we do not need
to write words that guess the feelings of the reader.

5. In a negative (unfavorable) situation, avoid using the word "you" and keep the ego of the
reader. Use passive or impersonal sentences to avoid the impression of blaming others.

You must obtain written approval from your supervisor before you
Lack you-attitude
submit an annual leave request.
All employees who intend to submit an annual leave request are
You-attitude
requested to obtain prior written approval from their supervisors.

You do not make details of financial expenses in your monthly

Lack you-attitude
report.
Details of financial expenditures are not included in this monthly
You-attitude report.
This monthly report does not specify financial expenses.

As we know, humans prefer to see every situation from the point of their own interests. We
are selfish people who often see every problem from our own point of view. In preparing
a business letter, this principle must be avoided because this condition can damage the
good relationship between you and your business partner. To avoid this problem, use the
five patterns of "you-attitude" writing described above.

7.3 Positive emphasis

In the business world, perfection will be difficult to find. We sometimes have to convey
negative information or bad news such as information about price increases, refusal of
goods, damage to goods, lack of goods sent, and so on.

In conveying this information try not to emphasize the negative side so that the content
seems to give the impression that things are worse than the reality. The steps below can
help eliminate negative impressions and create a more positive impression. This section
will provide examples of how to make sentences that give a more positive impression to
the readers.
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 1. Avoid using negative words or having negative connotations.
Negative: We have failed to complete this contract
We have not completed this contract.
Positive:
We will complete this contract in November 2018
Negative: I won’t be able to arrange the business meeting this afternoon.
Positive: The business meeting arrangement will be ready tomorrow by 10 o’clock
Negative: If you do not understand how to use this application, please call me.
Positive: If you have any question, please call me.
Negative: Because this invoice has not been paid, we have to delay your shipment
To facilitate the delivery of goods, this invoice is expected to be repaid before 5
Positive:
November.
Negative: I hope this is the brochure that you need
(implication: the company doesn't feel confident)
Positive: Attached is a travel package brochure to Bali for 8 days and 7 nights.
Negative: Don’t forget back up your important files
Positive: Always back up your important files

2. Convey information in a positive way. Focus on what the reader can do instead of
what the writer or reader cannot do. Emphasizing positively refers to how to
convey information. For example, half a glass of milk can be called half empty or
half filled.
Negative: You will not get your salary at the beginning of the month.
Positive: You will get your salary at the end of the month.
Negative: You will not get a discount of 15% unless you are a student.
Positive: A discount of 15% is given to students.

3. Justify Negative Information by Giving a Reason or Linking It to An Audience

Benefit. A reason can help your audience see that the information is necessary; a
benefit can suggest that the negative aspect is outweighed by positive factors. Be
careful, however, to make the logic behind your reason clear and to leave no loopholes.

Negative: We cannot send orders for less than twenty Jackets.

In order help customers save shipping costs, we only serve a minimum order of
Positive:
twenty jackets.
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 4. If the negative is truly unimportant, omit it.
Omit negatives only when
1. The audience does not need the information to make a decision.
2. You have already given the audience the information and they have access
to the previous communication.
3. The information is trivial.

Negative A one-month subscription to Indihome – Triple Play is Rp. 460.000,’ That rate
is not as low as the rates charged by other providers.
Positive A one-month subscription to Indihome – Triple Play is Rp. 460.000,’

Negative If you are not satisfied with our products, you can search for other products

Better =Omit the sentence=

5. Put the negative information in the middle and present it compactly.

Put negatives at the beginning or end only if you want to emphasize the negative. To deemphasize
a written negative, put it in the middle of a paragraph rather than in the first or last sentence and
in the middle of the message rather than in the first or last paragraphs.

When a letter or memo runs several pages, remember that the bottom of the first page is also a
position of emphasis, even if it is in the middle of a paragraph, because of the extra white space of
the bottom margin. (The first page gets more attention because it is on top and the reader’s eye
may catch lines of the message even when he or she isn’t consciously reading it; the tops and
bottoms of subsequent pages don’t get this extra attention.)

If possible, avoid placing negative information at the bottom of the first page. Giving a topic lots
of space emphasizes it. Therefore, you can de-emphasize negative information by giving it as little
space as possible. Give negative information only once in your message. Don’t list negatives
vertically on the page since lists take space and emphasize material.

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7.4 Summary

Building goodwill is one way to build a good relationship with consumers. If goodwill has already
been established with customers, they will think that you or your company has a good reputation.
In other words, the image of your company will be better in the eyes of consumers. Your customers
will be loyal and keep in touch with your business. One form of goodwill can be created through
writing good business letters. To do this you should compose business letters that contain the
patterns of "you attitude" and "positive emphasis." You attitude means looking at things from the
audience’s point of view, emphasizing what the audience wants to know, respecting the audience’s
intelligence, and protecting the audience’s ego. While positive emphasis refers to using positive
terms when appropriate to communicate your ideas.

7.5 Exercise. Revise the following sentences so that they build goodwill

Lack you-attitude We sent 50 Power Banks on 11 August 2018

You-attitude

Lack you-attitude You should knock the door before entering your manager’s room

You-attitude

Lack you-attitude We are happy to give you a special discount of 10%.

You-attitude

Lack you-attitude You do not elaborate the total sales of Nike sport shoes

You-attitude

Negative: We cannot handle LED TV orders under 10 pieces

Positive:

Negative: We failed to complete the process audit on time.

Positive:

Negative: You will not get your bonus in November.

Positive:

Negative: You will not get a special discount of 20% unless you are our regular customer.

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 Positive:

1. Write at least 3 sentences of you attitude!

2. Write at least 3 sentences positive emphasis!

Fill in the gaps with the suitable word from the list below the text
It’s very important to _______ (1) in mind the audience that is reading whatever you ______ (2)
something down these days, whether it be for work or just an _______ (3) between friends or
colleagues, it’s crucial to be ________ (4) in your writing to portray the proper _______ (5)
without anything getting taken out of context.

a. positive b. email c. message d. keep e. write

Your letters will be more __________ (6) if you focus on positive wording rather than_______
(7), simply because most people ________ (8) more favorably to positive ideas than negative ones.
Words that affect your _______ (9) positively are likely to produce the ________ (10) you desire
in letter-writing situations. A positive ________ (11) will persuade the reader and create
_________ (12). In contrast, negative _______ (13) may generate resistance and other unfavorable
_______ (14). You should therefore be careful to ________ (15) words with negative
connotations.

a. emphasis b. avoid c. goodwill d. respond e. successful

f. words g. negative h. reactions i. reader j. response

References

Locker, Kitty O. and Kienzler, Donna S. (2008) Busniness and Administrative

communication (8th edition). Rockefeller Center, New York: The McGraw−Hill
Companies,