I'm really enjoying the discussions in my business course. We are learning about effective ways to persuade customers to listen to what is being said with regard to sales or claims. One important thing we are learning is how to NOT send a persuasive letter.

First and foremost, you should always present the positives of any letter. Secondly, you should always present the you-viewpoint (customer, co-worker, prospective student, etc.). Third, you should convince the receiver to take the necessary action so that the desired results will come to pass (in a positive, encouraging way). Finally, you should close with a friendly closing that will almost guarantee that the reader/receiver will take the necessary action to ensure the success of the letter.

What you should NOT do in a persuasive letter is mention what the receiver should do for you; it completely leaves the you-viewpoint out and is a turnoff. In a sales letter, a request for an employee to take on additional work, or a collections letter, the writer should make every effort to take into consideration the feelings and circumstances the receiver may have at hand (for instance, a collections letter might consider that a long-standing, usually prompt-paying customer may be having some type of financial difficulties and try to work with that individual to not only resolve the debt, but to keep that one as a customer). When I have to make these types of calls where I work, I am firm but friendly; customers respond more readily to someone who is friendly and firm than a demanding customer service representative.