"Requests for favours, money, information, and action may come from charities, friends, or business partners." (Business Communications, p. 214) Oftentimes, these requests are usually made from people with good intentions or have goodwill in mind. Now you may be thinking that by accepting, you are doing a good deed for yourself or your company. True, it could be advantageous now; but it might cost you in the long run because of many reasons such as lack of resources, time, or energy.
Most of the time, these types of requests will probably come in the form of a written letter. An example can be found in Nelson's Fourth Brief Canadian Edition textbook - Figure 9.4 Refusing Donation Requests on p. 215. In this case, the reasons-before-refusal plan is an effective approach to this request. As I mentioned in a previous post, the indirect strategy would most likely be better suited for these situations because I believe it is important to respect the sender's feelings and express gratitude for receiving their letter. Below is a list of steps in writing a letter using the indirect method:
- Open with praise and compliments and acknowledge the request
- Present reasons without directly stating it
- Reveal the bad news in a sensitive manner
- Close with a pleasant statement that creates goodwill
By following these steps, you should be able to know how to refuse these requests without damaging anyone's reputation. Also, there will be other opportunities to contribute to a good cause if this is done correctly.
If someone approached you with a request for a donation to a charity, how would you handle this situation?
References
- Guffey, M., Loewy, D., Rhodes, K., & Rogin, P. (2012). Chapter 9: Negative Messages. In Business Communication: Process & Product (4th brief Canadian ed., p. 528). Toronto: Nelson Education.
No comments:
Post a Comment