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Response-to-Complaint Letter Rhetorical Strategies for Writing

Timeliness Why?

A faster response time means a more favorable customer perception

Faster response times decreases negative word-of-mouth publicity

Making contact quickly is essential to continuing a customer’s story

Timeliness How-to

Reflect immediacy with the date on the letter

Use time-indicating words in the letter, like “this morning” or “today”

Email or call with a short response if a written response is not immediate

Economic Fairness Why?

Reparations answer the question, “What can be done to fix the situation?”

Economic redress can include money, product replacement, or coupons

Economic Fairness How-to

Include a coupon, check, or gift certificate in the response

Give more than what is asked for if possible

Sincere Apology Why?

Apologize for the inconvenience of the situation, even of not for specific elements of the transaction

Font choice can be considered to convey friendliness

Sincere Apology How-to

State the apology in clean, plain language: I am sorry; we are sorry; please accept our apology.

Choose a friendly, yet professional, font to convey sincerity

Explanation Why?

Give your customer the rationale for the policy or background information

Providing an explanation lends perceived fairness to a decision

An explanation allows the customer to see the big picture

Explanation How-to

Take responsibility for what went wrong

Use facts to support what happened

Situate the customer’s experience in the context of a bigger picture

Include a plan for why and how it won’t happen again

Establish Credibility Why?

Confidence is important. Project character in your response

A customer sees the organization as a whole, even if it was “another department’s fault.”

Establish Credibility How-to

Sign the letter with a title

Communicate firmly when taking responsibility and delivering the solution

Attentiveness Why?

Taking the complaint seriously

The complaint must be viewed as legitimate

Customers always expect a response to a complaint letter

Impacts word-of-mouth activity and repurchase intentions

A manger response shows an increased level of attentiveness

Attentiveness How-to

Write a response letter every time

Use words that convey the gravity of the situation

Avoid taking anything personally

Ask for another perspective and revise

Ask a supervisor to sign or co-author the letter

Politeness Why?

Bring polite contributes to a customer’s overall satisfaction

Personalization contributes to satisfaction

Complicated by personal, situational and cultural variations

Politeness How-to

Add a personal salutation

Address specific concerns in the complaint

Use modal verbs communicate a negative message, such as can, could, may, might (not should, must and will)

Use down graders (just, somehow, think)

Use politeness strategies more when referring to the person complaining and less when talking about the organization

Being Positive Why?

Customers respond more favorably to letters with positive messages in them

Negative surprises further anger the customer- they are already unhappy

Being Positive How-to

Give more text space to positive messages and less to the negative

Limit negative messages as much as possible

Alternatives Why?

Alternatives allows the complaining person control in the situation

Choices provide a distraction from a negative message

Alternatives How-to

Give possible options to keep control in the hands of the customer

Friendly to Professional Typeface*

*Mackiewicz, J. (2005). How to use five letterforms to gauge a typeface's personality: A research driven

method. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication 35 (3), 291–315.

Friendly to Professional Typeface*

Friendly to Professional Typeface*