business assignment

Not only did it take me 2 hours just to finally reach the counter, but also the price of the items I wanted to purchase almost made my jaw drop! This bookstore has turned into a profit-based bookstore instead of a bookstore for students who are not loaded with money. The prices were just downright ridiculous.

Basically, my experience with the (school name) bookstore was horrendous. I sincerely hope that no one else will get the same experience that I did and if you do, I suggest you buy or rent your textbooks elsewhere.

Letter 3

February 12, 2016

Subject: Bookstore Inquiries

Dear (friends name),

I hope you are doing well. Is managing the bookstore still as challenging as it was before? I have not heard from you in a while and decided to send you this email to notify you of some of the complaints I have heard from other customers about the store that I thought you might be concerned about.

1. Relatively speaking, I am not only your friend but also one of your customers and I want to ensure that you have a successful business. I understand that customer loyalty is important to you but in my judgment, you should focus more on the students that visit your bookstore at the start of every new semester to look for the textbooks and materials they need for classes. I have overheard complaints that the books they were looking for were not only expensive, but were also not in stock during the first week of class due to late shipments. I sincerely suggest you get the inventories to come in as soon as possible to avoid any other possible complaints.

2. Since I have been a student of (school name) for two years now, I noticed a pattern that drives customers away from the bookstore. What I had observed was that some students were unable to afford to pay for the books and although the bookstore provides a system in which students who are under financial aid can pay by loan, it is still somewhat ineffective as it takes a while for the books to get approved. Also because of that circumstance, some of the staff members do not allow the students to rent the books leaving students with no other option. I believe that in order to overcome this, staff members need to be trained to handle procedures such as this to avoid all unnecessary outcomes.

I hope this email will help you in your future business. I wish you all the best and I hope to hear from you again soon.

Yours truly,

(XXX)

Reflection Paper: 3 Letter Assignments

Relating to my own experience, I have never been so mindful on how I start to write a piece of information to someone. Deep down, I may have unconsciously felt that if I were writing to a friend, I would go for a social media text and on the other hand, if I were to go for someone superior than me, I would send them a proper email. Being an international student from Malaysia, I have written at least hundreds of emails to college representatives in the United States to make sure that I got everything right before I start applying to the school. Since English is not my first language, it was somewhat difficult to choose which was the right word to use, do I need to sound proficient so they would like me better and so on. Be that as it may, I have never critically thought about the right medium of channels, my tone and style, and rhetorical strategies that would help me write better. Therefore, since this class opened my eyes on those areas of communication, I will discuss the strategies that I have chosen to use for all three assignments by determining my objectives, motives, and mediums.

Now, the task for my first paper was to write a formal letter to Leslie Wong, the President of SF State. My objective was to get a full refund for my purchase and to complain about some issues that I have encountered in the bookstore. In brief, the most relevant medium for this task was to write a formal letter. This way I have established that Mr. Wong is superior to me. Plus, I embedded strong, simple words to convey that I was unhappy with the service in the bookstore by including words like “uncooperative” to describe the staff members as being unhelpful, and “refuse” to emphasize a certain statement regarding the issue. By mentioning that I was displeased, disappointed, and dissatisfied I hereby have included an emotional rhetoric strategy to convey my message and in hope that I have achieved my goal in making some changes in the bookstore.

Following this, my second task was to write an anonymous Yelp review about the (school name) bookstore. The purpose of this assignment was to inform potential customers or owners that I was frustrated by the given services that I had encountered in the bookstore. Generally, since Yelp reviews are available everywhere in public, I made sure that my information was accurate, short and straight to the point. To make this happen, I described only relevant details so that readers could picture my experience. For the same reason, I did not point fingers and checked that all staff members’ names remain anonymous to avoid any conflicts in the future. The language that I used in this particular assignment was casual and simple so that anybody could grasp the meaning with no confusion. To be more specific, I included some sense of “sarcasm” in the letter to persuade people that I was really frustrated by my experience. Subsequently, since my goal is to inform that (school name) bookstore needs to implement some changes, I ended my review by suggesting a new idea for those experiencing the same problem.

Then, for my last task, I had to write a letter to a friend who is managing the bookstore. In my opinion, the process of choosing a type of friend really makes a difference in this scenario. If my intention were to write to a best friend who manages the bookstore, then I would use a different tone and style of writing compared to writing to a friend that I am not that close to. For my assignment, as I chose that the recipient was a close friend of mine, I had to keep in mind that my intention was to inform her of some of the complaints that I have overheard and at the same time, maintain the connection of our friendship.

I contemplated at first, should I write an email or it is best to talk in person? Therefore after considering a lot of aspects, I chose to write a letter via email because I feel like it was the most appropriate way, making sure that it was personal and professional at the same time. After all, she is the manager of the bookstore. Since I mentioned that I overheard some issues from other customers, I have implemented a logical and an emotional argument by informing her what was wrong and suggested solutions to the problems. Also, I added statements like “I am not only your friend but also one of your customers and I want to ensure that you have a successful business”, to prove that it is a win-win situation for both parties. I framed the arguments by giving some attention on how I noticed customers were driven away from the store, giving interest by telling her what was the problem and suggested a solution, by giving desire that benefit my friend and I and by giving her the power to make changes because she has the authority to do so. Ultimately, I used strategies that would help my argument better and hopefully my assignments will turn out excellent.