Posted: May 27th, 2015

Green Wave Landscape Management

Green Wave Landscape Management

You are the operations manager for Green Wave Landscape Management, a provider of residential and commercial landscape maintenance. You have a substantial number of customers in your metropolitan area. Due to the increase of business in the summer, you must hire additional employees. This year, you hired six new employees.

Henry Stewart is your most valued customer because he is a prominent real estate agent and refers many of his clients to your company. He recently had his home’s trees and shrubs sprayed for insects by your company.

Yesterday you received the following letter from Mr. Stewart:

August 18, 2014

Dear Green Wave,

I have been a customer of yours for five years and have sent you innumerable customers. And you have the nerve to send over two bozos to spray my yard. Those two idiots have killed over $2,000 in prize fish. Additionally, they were rude. As you may or may not know, I raise expensive koi in my fishpond. Whenever your people spray my shrubs and trees, they have been asked to cover the pond. I assumed people in your profession would know how to do that without being told. Obviously, I was wrong.

In addition to the letter, you also discover that Mr. Stewart has posted scathing commentary on your blog. He has posted the same complaint and request for remuneration publicly. Now you have a public relations crisis.

During your investigation, you discover that Tom Harrelson, field manager in charge of assigning workers to the various job sites, sent two new workers to the Stewart residence. The accident at the Stewart residence probably occurred because these new workers were sent alone. Your company policy is to pair new and experienced employees on work assignments.

WA #1: Using guidelines from your course text and any of our discussions, reply to Mr. Stewart in business letter format. Your goals are to respond positively to his criticism, provide an adjustment, and win back his business.

When I mention “provide an adjustment,” this could be some sort of financial remuneration. It could also involve some kind of adjustment in services, fees, etc. You can choose whatever “adjustment” you feel is appropriate for Mr. Stewart’s situation.

In composing your letter, you can make up your company address and Mr. Stewart’s home address.

Strategies to Consider for this Assignment:

Please use the block format in writing your letter. For information on the block format, click here.

For general information on formatting and organizing a business letter, you might explore a wikibook on professional writing by clicking here.

Length: a length of 200-400 words should be sufficient in completing this letter. However, there is no solid minimum or maximum number of words required. Your goal is to respond to his criticism, provide an adjustment, and win back Mr. Stewart’s business. You can focus on the goal. The word count should follow from the goal.

Due Date: The first draft of this assignment is due Sunday, May 24, 2015.

You will receive comments from me on this assignment. You will submit a final draft of the assignment after receiving my comments on your first draft.

Prof. Feldman