EXAMPLE OF INDIRECT APPROACH

1. The Background:
A marketing manager for a formal wear and tuxedo manufacturer must
answer a letter from Mr. David Harbor, an independent dealer with an
exclusive franchise to rent and sell those products in his area.
2. The Dealers Request:
Each year the manager purchases an advertisement for the dealer in
his citys classified telephone directory. The dealer also wants the
manager to purchase advertisements in the two suburban editions of
the telephone directory.
3. The Organizations Policy:
The manager purchases advertising only in classified telephone
directories serving areas in which his stores are located. Since this
dealer is not located in the suburbs but inside the city limits, the
manager will place advertising only in the city directory.
4. The Letters Job:
Refuse Mr. Harbors request for company-paid advertising in the two
suburban directories. Explain the policy behind the refusal: the
manager has more than 800 hundred stores; if he buys something for
one, he must do it for all; the costs would be out of sight; request
would come in for him to purchase advertising in the directories in
neighboring countries and town.
5. The Approach:
Since the manager will have to say no, an indirect approach is called
for: the buffer paragraph opening. The finished letter is on the next
page.

Formal World Inc.

82 Broadway
Dryden, NY 13053-9100
518-55-9788
March 2, 1999
David Harbor, Manager
Formal World
P.O. Box 5488
Ellisville, MS 39437-5488
Dear David:
We agree that advertising in the Yellow Pages is important in calling the attention of
prospective customers to the availability of our products. We also agree that the more of
it we do, the better.
Last year we considered the possibility of altering our policy on telephone-directory
advertising. We calculated the cost of placing advertising for each of our 806 stores in all
the telephone directories within 125 miles of the stores location. It came into a staggering
$965,000 a year! Even for just those directories in areas actually served by our stores, the
cost was over $650,000.
Since we would, of course, have to apply the same policy to each store, we regretfully
cannot increase our telephone-directory advertising.
Any increase in one area of our advertising budget would have to be at the expense of
Other areas, and we know how reluctant you would be to see us cut out sponsorship of the
Wedding Fair, magazine advertising, or our successful television advertising campaign.
Such activities, as well as telephone-directory advertising, are all part of the master
marketing plan for Formal World Inc., and midyear changes tend to have a ripple-effect
on the plan far beyond the actual changes themselves. Because the various telephone
directories around the country are published at different times during the year (according
to no particular pattern), the ripple-effect would be magnified.
In spite of increased competition, Formal World Inc., has increased its share of the
market, an achievement we are all proud of. We intended to continue to provide you with
the best products on the market and to aggressively support you in your successful sales
and rental efforts.
Sincerely,
Leslie Peterson
Marketing Manager