PROPOSAL (PERSUASIVE REPORT)

PLANNING: Youre getting ready to launch a new lawn-care business that offers mowing, fertilizing, weeding, and other services. The lawn surrounding a nearby shopping center looks as if it could use better care, so you target that business for your first unsolicited proposal. To help prepare the proposal, think carefully about the following questions:

1. What will you need to answer before you can write a proposal to solve the readers problem?

2. What customer benefits will you include in your proposal?

3. Will you use a letter or memo format for your proposal? Explain your answer.

You'll need to first generate then organize information so that you have a logical, coherent plan for a persuasive report. The case asks you to assume the identity of someone who is at the information gathering phase and trying to determine how to proceed and ultimately generate a report that will

1. share information about the company

2. persuade a receiver to use your services Your task is to answer the three questions in the case in as much detail as needed then organize the information into a logical plan. Use the Plan Outline to format the document. Note that this requires you to generate questions that would need to be answered at this phase of the process. I expect your plan to have at least ten questions.

THE PROPOSAL: This assignment calls for you to write a persuasive report, developing the lawn care case more thoroughly. Your audience remains the local shopping mall. Keep in mind as you draft that persuasions goal is to convince somebody to do something, to do something differently, or to act or change an action based on what you desire. With persuasion you are always trying to elicit an action or response from the receiver. In business that action/response may be to fund a project, endorse expenditures or purchases, or institute a practice or policy to name just a few. Knowing how to persuade well can give you many advantages in business.

Your finished report should be 3-4 pages in length, single spaced and with appropriate formatting for sections and headings.