Post #3 - Business Correspondence Critique

The positive points are as follows: Use of proper formatting. Components such as the letterhead, date, recipient’s name and address, salutation, signature, sender’s name and designation have been included in the letter. Moreover the letter is clear, concise, coherent and complete with the main idea being brought across clealy. Last, the letter is short and not too wordy.

The negative points include improper salutation. It should be written as ‘Dear Mr. Madzel’ instead of ‘Dear Rich’. It also lack a subject line. It would sound more formal if ‘Yours sincerely’ is used instead of ‘Goodluck’. Finally the tone of the letter is quite informal because of phrases like ‘kept our nerves under control’.

Ways to improve the letter are as such: The second paragraph could be re-written as: We faced numerous uncertainties when we decided to sell our business. Your guidance has really helped us along the way. In addition the third paragraph could be re-written as: The number of potential buyers who turned up was higher than expected. We are impressed that you delivered more than you promised. The planning and preparation you brought us through certainly did not go to waste. The last sentence could be re-written as: We sincerely appreciate your enthusiasm in helping us sell our business.

Post #2 - Resolving Interpersonal Conflict

For one of the vacation jobs I had, I was assigned to be stationed at a community centre to assist the public in filling out of application forms to apply for a scheme. Besides filling in the application forms manually, it can also be done online via the e-service which was not available at the community centre I was at.

A woman wanted to help her friend apply for the scheme via the e-service and asked me for the procedures of how to go about doing it. I told her that the e-service option was not offered at that community centre. Since it was not offered, my supervisor did not brief me on it, so I was not familiar with the system. As a result, I advised her to contact another community centre instead.

Immediately after that, she phoned her friend in front of me and she told her friend that I was not doing my job because I could not provide her with the details she needed. I felt wronged because although what she asked for was not within my job scope, I still helped her by directing her to the appropriate channel. That was what I told her. After which, she told me very rudely to “shut up” and that “customers are always right”. I was surprised with her response because she appeared highly educated. I was very angry at that moment and an argument started.

I believe the argument evolved because she did not like that I corrected her. Yet, I feel that I was right to stand up for myself when I am being wronged. Should I have kept quiet in the first place in order to avoid this conflict? Or is the woman being unreasonable?