Your company has just mistakenly sent a letter to all your customers offering a 20 percent discount off the total purchase price off their next order. The letter was supposed to have offered a 20 percent discount off only the most expensive item in their next order.
After receiving input from all appropriate departments, the Board of Directors has decided the business cannot afford to grant the overall 20 percent discount. You have been instructed to write a letter to your customers explaining the mistake, and explaining that they will be allowed to take 20 percent off only the most expensive item, not the entire order.
The Board asks that you appeal to your customers’ interest in your company’s ability to keep prices competitive, and advises you to ask for their understanding of this error.
Make sure your letter is formatted properly (as a letter), and that it includes a heading, date, inside address, salutation, and complimentary closing, and all the elements of a Negative Message (see p.324-327):
1. Context;
2. Explanation;
3. Bad News;
4. Goodwill
Use the letters on pp. 301-02 as a guide in formatting your letter, and I suggest that you use the Full-Block style on p. 301, although be aware that that letter is written on company stationary (or letterhead), with a printed logo and address. Your letter will have a typed address, as in the letter on p. 302, but everything should be blocked to the left-hand margin.
