Email and Fax Communications

With the increased use of technology in the business world and in the workplace more and more forms of communications are emerging. With each new medium of communicatins a new procedure and style are set as the standards for formal business communications. This lesson will help you to understand the main outlines for both formal and informal communications using the mediums of email and fax communications.

Marketing

In any company, marketing is a key aspect of how a company remains in business and successful. The general idea of marketing is to let your current and potential consumers know what you have to offer them. However, marketing is not only conveying what you have to offer. In its own right, marketing is also an art form. It is the art of convincing consumers that your product is the best and that they want your product versus the product of your competitors. Marketing is the art of displaying and maintaining a positive company image while getting the attention of the marketplace.

In-Class Exercises:“An Introduction to Marketing”

Exercise A: What are the “Four P’s” of the Marketing Mix?

P __ __ __ __ __ __

P __ __ __ __

P __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

P __ __ __ __

Exercise B: Using the words above, complete the sentences below.

1) The ________ is the cost to the buyer for the goods or services they want or need.

2) ___________ informs consumers about the products a company offers and persuades consumers to buy those products.

3) A ________ is where goods or services are available for people to buy them.

4) ___________ is the actual good or service that is sold to the consumer.

Exercise C: Fill in the missing vowels in the words below.

Market        r_ s_ _r c h= information about what consumers want and need

Market        s _g m _n t= a group of customers of similar age, income, and social group

Market        s h _ r_ = the percentage of sales a company has

Consumer   b_ h _ v_ _ r= where and how people buy things

Consumer   p r _ f _ l _= description of a typical consumer

Consumer   g _ _ d s= things people buy for their own use

Product      l _ _ n c h= introduction of a product into the marketplace

Product      l _ f _ c y c l _= length of time people continue to buy a product

Product      r _ n g _= set of products made by a company

Sales           f _ r _ c _ s t= how much a company thinks it will sell in a period

Sales           f_ g _ r _ s= how much a company has sold in a period

Sales           t _ r g _ t= how much a company wants to sell in a period

Advertising c _ mp _ _ g n= program of advertising activities over a period of time
Advertising b _d g _ t= the amount of money available for advertising

Advertising _ g _ n c y= a business that advises and makes ads for other companies

In-Class Assignment

Case Study

Group # 

Names of the People in the Group:

1) What do you think the normal consumer profile is for your customers?

· Age:

· Gender:

· Job:

· Income Level:

2) If you were an advertising agency what recommendations would you make to this company?

Ex: advertise in different ways-billboards, TV, radio, magazines, etc. And WHY does the company need to use these different ways to reach its customers?

3) If you worked for this company, and had an advertising budget of $25 million, how would you try to increase their sales?

4) What seems to be the target market for this company?

Ex: children, young adults, university students, young professionals, older professionals, retired individuals, families, or any combination of the above.

5) Do you think that it would help this company to expand its advertising campaign to reach children or university students?

Class Materials

Fax and Email Forms of Business Correspondence

Things to Include in a Fax:

· Have the headings of: To, From, Fax Number, Date, Number of Pages, and Subject

· The style of the fax can be formal, as in a business letter, or informal. This depends on who you are writing to.

· Points can be but do not have to be numbered for clarity.

· “Regards” or “Sincerely” is often used for the closing of the letter.

· The person’s name and position are typed out and the individual also signs their name.

Example of a Fax:

Denton County Chamber of Commerce

FAX TRANSMISSION

To: Arnold Coleman, CEO                                  Fax Number: 972 298 8160

From: John Smith                                                Faxed From: 717 245 4356

Date: October 10, 2004                                        Pages: (including this page) 1

Subject: Your letter, October 2, 2004

Dear Mr. Coleman,

Thank you for your letter of 2 October 2004 asking about the possibility of opening a factory for the manufacture of your products in Denton County. Let me answer some of your questions.

Employees

Yes, Denton County has a large workforce of well-trained and hard-working possible employees available.

Infrastructure

Road and rail links to the main cities in TX and throughout the U.S., the airports and ports are excellent.

Local Tax

In certain situations it is possible to arrange favorable tax conditions for start-up organizations.

If you would like to discuss the possibilities further, please call my office at (972) 567- 8160 to arrange a meeting for when you are in the area. I look forward to hearing from you.

Regards

John Smith

John Smith

Chief Development Officer

Things to Remember When Writing an Email:

· They can have a formal business style or a very informal style, similar to spoken English. There is also a semi-formal style which is in between these two styles.

· Remember who you are talking to in order to decide how you should compose your email.

The Semi-Formal Email:

It is similar to a standard business letter, but less formal and usually shorter. The ending is typically “Best wishes” rather than “Sincerely”. This style is best used when you are sending an e-mail to somebody who is outside of your company, or whom you do not know very well. The focus is on giving or asking for information quickly.

The Informal Email:

It is the most suitable for e-mails within your company and for people whom you know well. The greeting is often, “Hi”, “Hello”, or even “How are you?”. Sometimes endings are omitted altogether. Sometimes the writer will type only in small letters. This style is much more similar to spoken than written English. Sometimes people use abbreviations if they want to save time.

Ex: CU=See you, Thx=Thanks, 2=to/too, 4=for, RUOK?=are you okay?, TTYL=talk to you later, WBS=write back soon, ASAP=as soon as possible, How R U?=How are you?

Example of a Formal Email:

To: jedwin@worldcu.org

From: tsmith@bankone.com

Cc: callen@bankone.com

Subject: Cooperation agreement

Attachments: Word Document 52K

Dear Jim,

To celebrate the signing of the agreement between our two companies we would like to invite you to participate in our annual sales meeting which is taking place this year in Hawaii, October 25-29. Please feel free to bring another person with you as our guest if you would like to join us.

I hope it will possible for you to join us. Please let us know.

Best wishes,

Tammy

Tammy Smith

Product Manager

Bank One

21 Gold Street

Garland, TX 75210

Phone: 001 972 675 8760

Lesson 5: English Grammar Exercise

Prefixes

Prefixes are placed before a word and change the meaning of the word. If you are not familiar with what certain prefixes mean you can completely change the meaning of a word and the message that is being conveyed may not make sense or you may interpret it incorrectly. It is important to know what prefixes are, how they are used, and how they affect words in the English language.

Exercise A: Describe what the words below mean based upon sentence context and what you have learned about prefixes..

Lesson 6