When you plan your message, your first step is to determine your specific purpose. Is your message mainly informational, such as announcing your firm's new location? Is it mainly persuasive, such as asking customers to buy your products? Must you explain why you are not granted a customer's request for credit? To create goodwill is the underlying purpose of all messages. For example, in a credit refusal letter, your purpose is two fold: to refuse the request while encouraging the customer's continued business.
It is very important to adapt your message to your receiver's views, needs, mental filters and culture. If your readers or listeners know you, you can actually visualize individuals. However, much of your writing will be directed to people you have never met. If you are sending a message to one person, try to see that person as a member of a group, such as business or professional person or laborer, superior, colleague or subordinate: woman or man, new or routine customer: young, middle-aged or elderly. You must also consider the person's educational level, attitudes and probable values (often culture specific). Finally, consider your message and decide whether your readers or listeners are informed or uninformed on the subject and whether they react positively or negatively, with interest or disinterest.
There are different approaches which are used for planning an effective business message. One approach is as follows:
Identify the objectives of the business which must be measurable. Define the cost and the impact. Finally identify the value preposition. Now for developing the effective business message check the clarity of the message which you are proposing. Check completeness of the message and determine how much the message is concise. For bringing creativity in the message add graphics, ideas and format it. For the effectiveness of the business message it should be considerate, correct and credible therefore, take steps to ensure its correctness and credibility.
Creating effective business messages requires a manager to go through an intensive process of formulating and tabulating the essentials that go into communicating with the clients/consumers or even colleagues and within business communities. A systematic approach may be as follows :-
Identify the objectives: Establishing quantifiable parameters of communication doing the necessary homework before getting down to drawing a decent outline of the text. It is imperative that extensive research to be done about the psyche and nature of clients in order to make sure you deliver what is required. Maintaining a 'You' attitude: Focus more on what it is that you are offering instead of focusing on your own personal requirements. To get people to deliver you have to deliver yourself. Any healthy relationship is a give and take transaction, that is, you put in 60% of work and expect a 40 % return and vice versa. Easy to understand Language: Use language that is appropriate and avoid dense jargon which may vex your audience. Always, make sure that you remain consistent and 'user friendly' in your approach. A deep understanding of your audience is required in order to make sure that you're delivering what the audience is likely to pay heed to. Using keywords that are more likely to gain the attention of your audience is also necessary. Discuss the Variables and Benefits: Finally discuss what benefits the audience is likely to deduce from the proposed arrangement preceding the costs and requirements of of the said arrangement. Discussing the former first will orient the audience towards the benefits and break down any barriers and keep them interested in your proposal before going about the hard part, which is discussing the costs. Also, be honest and answer all questions that may seem to arise in the reader's mind while going through the message.
