Writing Negative Messages
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Writing Negative Messages 9 LEARNING OBJECTIVES After studying this chapter, you will be able to Apply the three-step writing process to negative List the important points to consider when conveying 1 messages 6 negative organizational news Explain how to use the direct approach effectively when Describe successful strategies for sending negative 2 conveying negative news 7 employment-related messages Explain how to use the indirect approach effectively when MyBcommLab Where you see MyBcommLab in this 3 conveying negative news chapter, go to www.mybcommlab.com for additional activities on the topic being discussed. Explain the importance of maintaining high standards of 4 ethics and etiquette when delivering negative messages Describe successful strategies for sending negative 5 messages on routine business matters ON THE JOB: COMMUNICATING AT CHARGIFY Communication Gaffe Makes an Unpleasant Situation Worse If you’ve ever purchased anything online using a credit or debit card, you’ve used some form of an automated billing system. From a consumer’s point of view, in which all you do is fi ll in a form and a charge eventually shows up on your monthly statement, billing looks fairly simple. However, a lot of tasks need to be done behind the scenes to make billing work, and they need to be done accurately, quickly, and securely. Many e-commerce companies therefore turn to specialists such as Boston-based Chargify to handle this vital business function. Chargify charges its e-commerce clients fl at monthly fees based on the number of customers they have. This tiered pricing plan keeps costs low for e-commerce startups that still have few revenue-generating customers. Up until late 2010, the lowest tier in Chargify’s pricing plan had an extremely attractive price point—it was free. The idea behind the free tier was to attract e-commerce companies still in their startup phase; as they grew, they would advance into the higher tiers and become paying clients. However, Chargify discovered that many companies in the free tier grew very slowly, if at all, and Chargify wound up supporting a lot of users that weren’t bringing in any revenue. Chargify, which offers online billing services to other companies, caused To generate enough revenue to support the dependable, a ruckus among its own customer base when it raised prices without giving any advance notice. sustainable company that its clients needed, Chargify Source: © D. Hurst/Alamy. co-founder David Hauser realized he needed to raise prices, 254 CHAPTER 9 Writing Negative Messages 255 and that included charging lowest-tier clients for the fi rst in the way it handled the changes to its pricing model. By time. The company announced its new pricing structure in failing to alert customers well in advance of the change, he October 2010—and immediately came under attack from continued, Chargify “broke a trust that we had developed with many of its clients for the price increases, for the lack of any our customers over a long period of time, and will take much advance notice, and for Chargify’s refusal to “grandfather” to repair. We should have communicated our need and desire existing customers under their original pricing plans. Some to remove free plans and provided more information about how called the company “greedy” or “stupid,” and a few went so this would happen, and over a period of time leading up to the far as to accuse it of bait-and-switch tactics. As bloggers and change.” commentators across the Internet piled on, the technology news The kinds of services Chargify provides take money to site TechCrunch summed up the situation with an article that deliver, and the price increases were necessary, but everyone began, “It’s been a rough day for Chargify . .” involved agrees that the situation was not handled well. Hauser After spending two long days responding to criticisms and his team will continue to learn new lessons as they expand on Twitter, industry blogs, and other venues, Hauser wrote an Chargify, but you can bet they won’t initiate any new price unusually frank blog post titled “How to Break the Trust of Your increases without giving their customers plenty of warning. 1 Customers in Just One Day: Lessons Learned from a Major Mistake.” He said the company made “a massive mistake” http://chargify.com Using the Three-Step Writing Process for Negative Messages David Hauser and the rest of the executive team at Chargify (profi led in the chapter opener) 1 LEARNING OBJECTIVE are experienced and successful entrepreneurs, but even they discovered how tricky it can be to share unexpected and unwelcome news with audiences that have a lot riding on the Apply the three-step writing process to negative messages. information. Communicating negative information is a fact of life for all business profes- sionals, whether it’s saying no to a request, sharing unpleasant or unwelcome information, or issuing a public apology. With the techniques you’ll learn in this chapter, however, you Negative messages can have as can communicate unwelcome news successfully while minimizing unnecessary stress for many as fi ve goals: everyone involved. • Give the bad news Depending on the situation, you can have as many as fi ve distinct goals when you need • Ensure acceptance of the bad to convey negative information: (1) to convey the bad news, (2) to gain acceptance for the news bad news, (3) to maintain as much goodwill as possible with your audience, (4) to maintain • Maintain reader’s goodwill a good image for your organization, and (5) if appropriate, to reduce or eliminate the need • Maintain organization’s good for future correspondence on the matter. Five goals are clearly a lot to accomplish in one image message, so careful planning and execution are critical with negative messages. • Minimize or eliminate future correspondence on the matter, as appropriate STEP 1: PLANNING A NEGATIVE MESSAGE Analysis, investigation, and When planning negative messages, you can’t avoid the fact that your audience does not adaptation help you avoid want to hear what you have to say. To minimize the damage to business relationships and to alienating your readers. encourage the acceptance of your message, analyze the situation carefully to better under- stand the context in which the recipient will process your message. When preparing negative messages, choose the medium with care. Be sure to consider your purpose thoroughly—whether it’s straightforward (such as rejecting a job applicant) or more complicated (such as draft ing a negative performance MyBcommLab review, in which you not only give the employee feedback on past performance but also help the person develop a plan to improve future performance). With a clear purpose and your • Access this chapter’s audience’s needs in mind, identify and gather the information your audience requires in simulation entitled Negative Messages located at order to understand and accept your message. Negative messages can be intensely personal www.mybcommlab.com . to the recipient, and in many cases, recipients have a right to expect a thorough explanation of your message. Selecting the right medium is critical. For instance, bad news for employees should be delivered in person whenever possible, to guard their privacy, demonstrate respect, and give them an opportunity to ask questions. Doing so isn’t always possible or feasible, though, so you will have times when you need to share important negative information through written or electronic media. 256 PART 3 Crafting Brief Messages Direct Approach Indirect Approach Firmness is needed Audience will be surprised Bad news won’t come as a shock Audience will be displeased Situation is routine or minor Audience is emotionally involved Audience prefers bad news first BUFFER BAD NEWS REASONS REASONS BAD NEWS POSITIVE CLOSE POSITIVE CLOSE Figure 9.1 Choosing the Indirect or Direct Approach for Negative Messages Analyze the situation carefully before choosing your approach to organizing negative messages. Defi ning your main idea in a negative message is oft en more complicated than simply saying no. For instance, if you need to respond to a hardworking employee who requested a raise, your message might go beyond saying no to explaining how she can improve her performance by working smarter, not just harder. Appropriate organization helps Finally, the organization of a negative message requires particular care. One of the readers accept your negative news. most critical planning decisions is choosing whether to use the direct or indirect approach (see Figure 9.1 ). A negative message using the direct approach opens with the bad news, proceeds to the reasons for the situation or the decision, and ends with a positive statement aimed at maintaining a good relationship with the audience. In contrast, the indirect approach opens with the reasons behind the bad news before presenting the bad news itself. You need to consider a variety of To help decide which approach to take in any situation you encounter, ask yourself the factors when choosing between following questions: direct and indirect approaches for negative messages. ● Will the bad news come as a shock? Th e direct approach is fi ne for many business situ- ations in which people understand the possibility of receiving bad news. However, if the bad news might come as a shock to readers, use the indirect approach to help them prepare for it. ● Does the reader prefer short messages that get right to the point? For example, if you know that your boss always wants messages that get right to the point, even when they deliver bad news, use the direct approach. ● How important is this news to the reader? For minor or routine scenarios, the direct approach is nearly always best.