Business Communications Chapter 8

Sammie is planning a persuasive message. What should she do in her opening?

Ask a stimulating question.

When using the indirect strategy in a persuasive message, you should place the reasons and explanations

before the main idea.

Which of these statements about persuasion is most accurate?

Persuasion is important if you anticipate resistance or if you must prepare before you can present your ideas effectively.

You should use persuasion when

your ideas require preparation to be presented effectively.

To overcome resistance to your request in your persuasive appeal, you should

anticipate objections to the request.

The best way to begin a persuasive request is to

capture the reader’s attention and interest.

Professional marketers and salespeople follow the AIDA strategy in their sales letters because it is effective. What does AIDA represent?

Attention, interest, desire, and action

In the body of your persuasive message, you will reduce resistance by

anticipating arguments and offering counterarguments.

When writing persuasive claim or complaint letter, you should

appeal to the receiver’s sense of responsibility and pride in the company’s good name.

Corbin needs to write a persuasive message to his boss. What would you tell Corbin to place in his closing?

Motivate your boss to take action.

Which of the following messages would most likely require the indirect strategy to persuade?

Requesting favors and action from coworkers

Select the situation that is least likely to require persuasion.

A request to have a defective printer replaced within the warranty period

Select the most effective opening for a persuasive letter that invites a state representative to speak at your organization’s Flag Day celebration.

Your patriotism and leadership in the House of Representatives have improved the quality of life across our state.

On behalf of your civic organization, you are inviting a motivational speaker to your semiannual meeting. Although you cannot provide a fee to the speaker, you will guarantee the speaker an enthusiastic audience and a positive impact on the community. You are focusing on

indirect benefits.

Choose the best closing for a message persuading the president of your organization to accept your benefits proposal.

Contacting me by December 1 about your support of this new benefits plan will allow me to present this proposal at the next strategic planning session.

Which of the following situations would most likely require persuasion within an organization?

Asking employees to accept a pay cut to avoid layoffs or plant closings

Which of the following is most accurate about the use of persuasion in business?

Honesty is not just the best policy¾it’s the only policy.

You want to propose a workplace change to your employer. Which of these is the best advice for you?

Focus on how much money the proposed change will save the company.

When you are writing a persuasive claim letter about a problem and you’re worried that your reader might be reluctant to grant your request, you should use

the indirect strategy.

Which of the following messages to subordinates would use a direct approach instead of an indirect or persuasive strategy?

Instructions to operate the new phone system installed in all offices

Effective persuasive claim letters

present a logical case with clear facts.

Graciella is making a persuasive complaint at work. Which of these sentences will be most effective in achieving her goal?

For the past two weeks, fax machine No. 223- 51 has been unavailable to complete essential business for 25 of our employees due to incomplete service. Please ensure our equipment is repaired by Friday.

Mikhail’s claim has been denied once. Now, he is writing a second persuasive claim letter to his digital media services company asking for a promised rebate package. Because he expects resistance, what should he do?

Appeal to the receiver’s sense of responsibility and pride in the company’s good name.

The most personal and powerful form of advertising today is

traditional hard-copy sales letters.

Learning to compose effective sales and marketing messages benefits you because

techniques for sales writing can be applied in any persuasive communication.

When you use the AIDA persuasive approach, your first task is to gain the reader’s attention (A). Which of the following represents your second step, or "I" tasks, of AIDA?

Describe the benefits a product or service offers and make rational or emotional appeals.

The opener for a sales message should be

stimulating, relevant, honest, and short (1-5 lines).

Techniques to elicit audience desire and overcome reader resistance in a marketing message include all of the following except

application forms.

Emotional appeals in persuasive messages are designed to

focus on status, ego, and sensual feelings.

Rational appeals focus on making or saving money, increasing efficiency, and

making good use of resources.

Your primary goal in writing a sales or marketing message is to

get your audience to devote a few moments of attention to your message.

You must write a sales letter to prospective customers. What should you do in the opening of your sales letter?

Offer something valuable, promise a benefit to the reader, or use some other technique to gain your reader’s attention.

You can effectively build interest in a sales message by

emphasizing central selling points identified in the prewriting analysis.

Which of the following is the most effective emotional appeal?

Surround yourself in the uncompromising safety and luxury of a Lincoln-because you’ve earned it.

Use an emotional appeal when the

product is inexpensive, short-lived, or nonessential.

Which of the following most effectively illustrates reader benefits and elicits desire?

Going on a walking tour of Europe will allow you to visit small villages, meet and converse with the locals, and dine on authentic cuisine.

Choose the best advice to craft an effective direct-mail sales letter.

Present information completely, using a personalized tone for a specific, well-targeted audience.

Which of the following illustrates a testimonial?

After completing your training, I received job offers from three interviews in one week!

Techniques to motivate action in the closing of a sales message include offering a gift, promising an incentive, guaranteeing satisfaction, and

limiting the offer.

Which of the following is the most effective closing for a sales message?

If your sales don’t increase at least 10 percent after your salespeople complete our "Closing the Deal" training, you get a full refund. Use our toll-free number to call me by August 1 and begin training on September 1.

Purposes of e-mail marketing include attracting new customers, keeping existing customers, encouraging future sales, cross-selling, and

cutting costs.

Which of the following increases the effectiveness of an online sales or marketing message?

Send online sales messages only to customers or prospects who have given you permission to send them e-mail marketing messages.

The main information in an e-mail sales message should be placed above the fold, which means that

your primary points appear early in the message.

Companies are using social media such as Facebook, blogs, and RSS feeds to inform and persuade the public, to generate goodwill, and to

build a positive brand awareness.

What is the purpose of a company blog?

Hosts useful two-way dialogue for organizations and their stakeholders

Which of the following statements about businesses’ use of Facebook and other social networking sites is most accurate?

Media-savvy businesses can positively affect their customers’ beliefs and counter negative perceptions on these sites.

A company provides customers with downloadable content-rich audio and video files featuring information about the company’s products and service, and customers can view these on their computers or MP3 players. What marketing tool is the company using?

Podcast

What do the letters RSS represent?

Really Simple Syndication

Businesses are using wikis today to

facilitate collaboration both inside organizations and between companies.

Which of the following best explains the function of RSS?

A tool to keep readers up-to-date by distributing news and allowing customers to subscribe to content