For this week’s blog assignment, describe a goodwill message you have written or have received from someone else. Explain what the situation was (thank-you note, sympathy letter, or other expression of goodwill). Analyze how well you think the purpose was accomplished based on the “Five Ss of Goodwill Messages” discussed in your textbook. What could have been done differently? What was particularly good about the message?
This site provides some good examples and instructions for a variety of letter types, including such specialty items as fax cover sheets as well as goodwill messages: http://www.letterwritingguide.com/ (You may want to add it to your favorites/bookmark it for future use.)
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A few years ago, one of my elementary school teachers wrote a letter congratulating me for an award I had won. She spotted a brief article in the paper that my company submitted to highlight the award and create a little marketing piece. The letter kept to the “Five S’s” pretty well because it certainly was spontaneous and sincere as well as all the rest. I can’t think of anything I would change because it was such a surprise and well written that I was happy just to receive it. I can see a tremendous benefit from a business standpoint to send letters to customers when they receive an honor of some kind. It shows that you are more of a partner with them and can share in their success and happiness.
My most recent goodwill message was received on Easter Sunday. I was scanning the bulletin during the service, admiring all of the Easter lilies and who had shared them in memory or in honor of a loved one. To much surprise, I noted the most special one "The Sunday School kids in honor of their singing teacher, Linda Myhre". Personally, the five Ss of a goodwill message were met in this very special expression.
The latest goodwill message I received was from my work a few weeks ago. I had done some yard work for them one day, and they were very thankful that I took time out of my day to do that. I received a nice email thank-you for doing the work. The email met the "five Ss", it was especially sincere. Goodwill messages are very rewarding to receive. I believe sending and receiving them are a very important part of business communication.
My mom sent me a letter a few years back. It was selfless expression of goodwill. The message stated how proud she was of me, and how well I’ve taken care of my family during hard times. She wished me happiness in my life, but the rest of the letter was about her religion. It was specific, had a positive tone, and she meant well, but it came across preachy. It was sincere and spontaneous. There was one major problem. Since it was 12 pages long, it wasn’t short.
Every year for the past 5, I have recieved a Christmas card and a birthday card from a local jewler. I know the reason that they send these messages is to keep my business. In the past I have spent a lot of money on jewlery from them. I can't really think of any thing that I would change with the message. The sender kept pretty close to all of the "5 Ss" covered in the book. At first I was really supprised to recieve these messages. Now days I can kind of expect them to come in. I do feel that these goodwill messages have had an effect on me becouse I still shop with them.
The last goodwill letter that I had recieved was from a previous instructor from a college in North Dakota. I graduated Cume Lade with my AAS in Criminal Justice. My instructor wrote me a thank you letter for being a great leader to the others in my class. This letter followed all of the five Ss, I was very grateful for such a letter.
I recently a message congratulating my friend on her engagement. Based on the five Ss, everything had fit very well, since I kept the message short. I was really specific, since it was a congratulatory message and I was sincere. Since it was a congratulations message, I was not spontaneous about it because I had wrote that message before I learned the five Ss. What I liked about the message was that it was really short and I did not go on a tangent.
I recently received a thank you letter thanking me for helping out with a project. The letter was straight forward and to the point. It as a nice gesture to send the thank you note since it was unexpected and they took the extra time to make the letter. The letter followed the five S's well because it was neatly written and had made an effort to show appreciation. I thought that it was a nice way to communicate.
I think the most common goodwill letter I get is a thank-you letter. Most of the time they are short and sweet. Sometimes they fail in almost all the Ss, especially the spontaneous S, but it is always good to know that they've thought about what you've done.
The thank you email that I received from the new coordinator at Globe was very spontaneous. It was also contained very specific details as to what the new scheduled time and date was going to be for a meeting. The only thing that could have been done differently was a spell check completed on the email before it was sent out. A few miss spelled words were in the email, but I was still able to figure out what she was saying to me with no problems at all.
I received a goodwill letter from my parents about five years ago. At the time we weren’t getting along too well. In the letter, my parents told me they were proud of me. They understand that I am an adult and believe I will make the correct decisions in life. They apologized for judging me before trying to understand who I am. They also wrote about how they will try to listen better and will always love me.
Analyzing the letter, the purpose was accomplished based on the “Five Ss of Goodwill Messages.” The letter was selfless and specific. It showed that they cared about me and was specific enough for me to understand. It was also sincere and spontaneous. The letter helped me to believe in myself and I felt wonderful knowing how my parents really felt. The letter was one paragraph and short. The message they gave didn’t need to be long. It was perfect and I took it to heart.
I have not received many letters of good will. The ones I have received are for m the bank or the car dealership. They send out cards at you birthday, and thank you letters for referring business their way. They are very short, just a simple note card. They are very specific to the occasion. The birthday cards from the bank are much more sincere that note ones from the car dealership. The cards from the bank are hand signed by the employees, as opposed to the computer generated signature of the car dealership. Also they sometimes send a gift from the bank for referring business, and they used to send a gift certificate to Bakers Square, before they went out of business, for a free pie from the car dealership. I do think that sending a gift always makes the receiver feel you are more sincere.
These things tend to back fire with me. I would rather they saved the paper. Especially after I found out the signature on the card from the dealership was not real. And the gifts are nice, but I would rather have money off my next car or a higher interest rate on my savings account. I know I am kind of strange in that respect. But for most people these are very good incentives to continue to be a loyal customer and send more business to them.
I recently wrote a sympathy note to one of my co-workers, her dad had just passed away. I was deeply troubled by this because I knew exactly how she felt. I thought about buying a store card but that just seem so impersonal. I wanted to express my own words to her, not someone else's.
I was very careful to keep in mind the "Five S's.I know my friend really appreciated my message, I could tell by her reaction. She actually cried and said that I spoke from my heart.
A Goodwill Message can be very comforting if it is worded correctly.
I would not have changed a thing, I accomplished just what I wanted to do.
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