Sunday, April 19, 2009

Methods of Conveying Negative Messages to Your Clients and Customers

Most people do not like changes and do not react or respond well to changes. It disturbs the natural order or flow of their lives. It gives them one more new thing to absorb and adjust to.

Negative messages may be conveyed through an e-mail, a letter sent through the 'snail mail', or more informally in a memorandum. While a follow-up call is a great idea, the original message should not be conveyed on the telephone. For one thing you want to eliminate any misunderstandings and misrepresentations of the message. Your goal should also be to reduce the need for future correspondence on the subject.

You may also want to convey negative messages in written form so that you can phrase your words in a way that the reader can be led to the conclusion that your decision was unavoidable, but fair and reasonable. Further, if they were in your shoes, they would have done the same thing.

Please feel free to add your comment and share how you handle negative messages to your clients and customers. We love to keep the conversation going.

***Next we'll consider how to organize negative letters.***

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