“ deliver bad new effectively ,” pages 15 W r i t i n g

Reading:

1. http://mcom320.net/

In Management Communication, Ch. 10 “Persuade,” read Section 5, “Deliver Bad New Effectively,” pages 15-16

2. https://courses.lumenlearning.com/fau-businesscomm…

In Communication in Management, read in the chapter“Negative News and Crisis Communication” these two sections: “Delivering a Negative News Message” and “Eliciting Negative News.” Exclude Table 17.2 “Direct and Indirect Delivery” and any information related to this table.

In Communication in Management, read in the chapter“Business Writing in Action” this section: “Letters.”

Mediasite Presentation

See the Mediasite Presentation (in Modules) for the lecture on the assignment, which follows the negative message format infour parts in this letter: buffer-explanation-negative news-redirect/positive close.

This lecture has critical information regarding this assignment.

Purpose: To communicate a negative message effectively in a high-stakes situation.

Assignment: Write a letter of no more than 1 page to your client explaining your denial of their claim. Supply a hypothetical client’s name, claim number, address, city, state, and ZIP code in the letter. Also, supply hypothetical information as indicated below.

Background for the Letter:

You work at an insurance company (supply hypothetical name of the company; must include the word Insurance). A loyal customer contacted you via email with his/her issue (supply hypothetical issue) and details of that issue), and you must deny the claim. You will choose whether the claim is about life, health, homeowners, renters, pet, travel, or auto insurance; choose one of these, not more than one. You will supply the hypothetical information regarding their claim, and write a letter to this customer denying the claim. Regardless of the type of insurance or situation, this is a valued customer who has had a policy with your company for many years; you want to keep his/her business. Here are some examples of situations:

• Auto insurance claim in which you, representing the auto insurance company, deny the claim of a customer who wants the company to cover the cost of repairing their totaled car; in your research, you learn that the car was totaled in an accident in which their teenage son was the cause of the accident, according to the police report.

• Health insurance claim in which you, representing the health insurance company, deny the claim of a customer who wants the company to cover their medical bills for surgery; in your research, you learn it was cosmetic surgery, not a health-related necessity.

• Pet insurance claim in which you, representing the pet insurance company, deny the claim of a customer who insists that the company should cover the entire cost of their pet’s monthly bill; in our research, you learn that the bill was for their pet’s grooming expenses.

These are just three examples of situations; you do not need to use any of them. You can use your own, made-up situation. Do not research the situation; make it up yourself. Regardless of the situation, you must develop the details of the claim of the customer plus the details of your investigation, including name/sof people and other organization/s you contacted to reach your decision. Also, details must include dollar amounts. The company where you work has this policy for responding to claims: the employee takes the customer’s information, gives them a claim number, and investigates the claim. They’ll be notified of a decision within 10 to 15 business days. In your letter to the customer, you must include a hypothetical company policy rule that the customer violated or is the reason for your denial of their claim; make up a rule number and specify the hypothetical rule “in a quotation.” For example, for the health insurance example above, you write to the customer that the company’s health insurance policy rule #10B states, “No surgery will be covered if it is not a medical necessity; for example, liposuction, face lifts, etc. are the sole financial responsibility of the policy holder.”

Note: Choosing positive words is a must for a negative business message. Do not use any of these words or variations of these words in your message as using one of them will result in -2 pts deduction per use, except for denied/denial/deny, which will be -30 pts deduction per use: but, cannot, can’t, claim (as a verb),denied, denial, deny, denying, error, failure, fault, however, impossible, mistake, misunderstand, misunderstanding, never, regret, rejected, unable, unwilling, unfortunately, and violate.

Do not copy and paste any wording from the information above; this will result in point deductions. The one-page letter must be submitted to the correct Dropbox by the assigned deadline.

Rubric:

Criteria and Explanations:	Max. Pts.
Opening: The opening is sincere and clearly transitions to the explanation leading to the negative response.	13
Organization, Content, & Cohesion: The reasons for the negative message are explained and bring the reader to an understanding of the bad news; ideas flow logically from one to another within and between paragraphs; the conclusion re-establishes goodwill.	25
Style & Tone: Style and tone are warm, professional, tactful, bias-free, positive, consistent, and suitable for the purpose and audience.	15
Format: Letter fully adheres to the block format, one page, and uses correct font, size.	15
Mechanics: spelling, grammar, and punctuation	15
Clarity & Conciseness: sentences are virtually free of excess words, unclear phrases, and word choices are precise.	15
File & Upload: File is named exactly as instructed and uploaded to the correct Dropbox.	2
Total:	100