Preparing Routine Messages Routine messages should be direct and front-loaded. The primary message should have ten words or fewer, and you should typically place it in the subject line of your email to immediately capture attention. Furthermore, the primary message should appear in the first sentence or two of the message and again in the closing if your message is several paragraphs long. In the body of the routine message, you should provide short paragraphs with related details. To make sure your message receiver will comply, include all needed information. As you draft the message, aim for a helpful, professional, and reader-centered tone. Focus on making the message easy to read. Readers expect to understand your primary message in less than 10 to 15 seconds, so use short sentences and paragraphs. Paragraphs should generally be between 20 and 80 words. Design your message so that readers can find information in just moments. Use bullets, numbering, special formatting, and external links to relevant information to highlight key ideas. In the reviewing stage, you proofread, which should take a minute or two. Since business professionals send so many routine messages each day and their content can be repetitive, they often do not take time to reread them. Avoid the impulse to hit "send" without rereading your messages. By rereading, you will make sure the content is complete and without errors. Even minor typos can distract your readers from complying with your messages. The most important aspect of the FAIR test is checking for accuracy—that is, making certain that your information is accurate and reliable. Common forms of routine messages include requests, expectation setting, directions, responses to inquiries, announcements, claims, and appreciation. Each message contains distinctive elements, as described in the textbook chapter. In this exercise, you'll read a short case about a finance manager with many routine messages to send each day. She must do so efficiently and effectively. You will help evaluate her communication tasks for a single day. Read the case below and answer the questions that follow. Anne Jenkins is a finance manager for J.L.N. Used Cars (JLN), a used car business with about 30 dealerships. She is in charge of running the company's financing program. She sets terms for loans provided through the dealerships. She also manages a team that works directly with dealerships to ensure that loans are promoted and granted appropriately. On Tuesday, she woke at 5:45 a.m. Before getting out of bed, she pulled out her iPad to check email and her to-do list. She already had roughly a dozen messages from colleagues, and she wanted to respond to each of these messages before a series of meetings that would begin at 10 a.m. On her to-do list for the day, she had several writing tasks, including a memo to dealership managers about changes in financing eligibility and purchasing plus an email to the dealership managers about developing customer profiles for dealership financing. She also wanted to write an email to the personnel director requesting compensation for mileage for several recent trips. Since she also expected an additional dozen or so email messages that would require responses throughout the day, she knew she'd need to be efficient with her writing. Anne wants to better understand the customer profile of those who choose to finance their car purchases through the dealerships. She wants the dealership managers to ask three questions of these customers during the upcoming month and then provide her with the responses. Which of the following components is she most likely to put in this message? Claim, rationale, call to action, goodwill Request, rationale, call to action, goodwill Goal, directions, goodwill Attention, announcement, details, call to action, goodwill Anne wants to send a memo to dealership managers about changes to financing eligibility. Which of the following components is she most likely to put in this message? Goal, directions, goodwill Attention, announcement, details, call to action, goodwill Request, rationale, call to action, goodwill Claim, rationale, call to action, goodwill Recently, Anne was reimbursed for several trips she took, but the company did not cover several of her expenses. She wants to write an email to the personnel director requesting compensation for mileage in which she used her own auto for several recent work trips. Which of the following components is she most likely to put in this message? Claim, rationale, call to action, goodwill Goal, directions, goodwill Request, rationale, call to action, goodwill Attention, announcement, details, call to action, goodwill Anne is writing an email to all used car salespersons about a mandatory process to follow when completing financing documentation. While all of the following might help Anne in writing the email, which one would be the best for her to use to make the steps in the process stand out? Italics Parenthesis Paragraphs Headings Numbering Generally, Anne should write paragraphs of what length for most of these messages? 60 to 120 words 80 to 150 words 40 to 100 words 20 to 80 words 80 to 200 words For most of her routine messages, Anne should create a primary message that can be understood within how long by the recipient? 45 seconds to one minute 30 to 45 seconds 15 to 30 seconds Less than 15 seconds One to two minutes For most of her routine messages, Anne should provide information that is: downloaded uploaded front-loaded.