Lesikar's Business Communication: Connecting in a Digital World 13th Edition by Kathryn Rentz,Paula Lentz

Exercise 1

Instructions: Write a text message shorter than 160 characters for each of the cases below. Be sure your message is both clear and complete.
a. You own three coffee shops around your area. Although you have a loyal base of regular customers, you realize that there is both room to grow this base and a real need to compete with the growing presence of Starbucks and other competitors. Your coffee is good and reasonably priced, but seasonal fruit and muffins have long been your specialties. In fact, since the local television station included your shop in a healthy eating segment, your low-fat muffins have been selling out every day even though you have been increasing production. When some of your loyal customers started grumbling about not always being able to get them, you knew you wanted to serve your customers better.
Because most of them have mobile phones, text messaging seems like an obvious solution. You have decided to offer an opt-in polling service that would ask their preference for a particular low-fat muffin or fresh fruit. Your customers could select the days of the week they would be interested in getting the poll. Although they would not be placing an order, they would be helping you plan. You'll also be spending well-targeted promotion dollars while creating goodwill with your loyal customers. Now you need to write this poll question.
b. You are on your way to the airport for a trip to a weeklong conference when you remember a file you were supposed to send to a customer. So many last-minute details came up that you really don't remember if you sent it. Unfortunately, you cannot access your work computer from outside the company firewall, but you have a colleague, Chris VanLerBerghe, who would be able to check your email outbox to confirm whether or not you sent it. Chris could also send the file, if necessary. However, you cannot reach her by phone now because she is in an important planning meeting, so you decide to send a text message with the exact information she will need to help you out. Be sure your message is both clear and complete.
c. As you are in the morning sales meeting, your mobile phone vibrates, indicating that you have an incoming call. You recognize the source-Yesaya Chan, the high school student you are mentoring \ tutoring in math. When you are finally able to listen to the call, you learn that Yesaya needs your help tonight because his teacher moved a test up a couple of days. He wants to know if you can meet him at the local library at 5 PM, noting that it will be open late tonight. You will say yes, but the earliest you can be there on such short notice is 6PM. Suggest that he still go to the library at 5 pm and work as many of the review problems on his own as he can. You will help him with the others when you get there. Because he is probably in class now, you will send your response as a text message so it won't interrupt his class.