Effective Communication: Addressing Mr. Beddinghaus's Lawn Issue

This assignment presents a student's response to a case study involving an administrative assistant tasked with resolving a neighbor's complaint about leaves falling from the business's property. The student demonstrates interpersonal communication skills through simulated phone conversations, addressing the customer's concerns while seeking a resolution that aligns with the business's policies and community relations. The solution involves active listening, problem-solving, and creative thinking to find a suitable resolution for the elderly neighbor, including suggesting alternative solutions like involving local NGOs or community agencies. The assignment highlights the importance of customer focus, ethical considerations, and professionalism in handling difficult situations, showcasing the application of communication principles learned in the course. The student also reflects on the customer's needs and offers additional support beyond the initial issue.

Running head: INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION
Interpersonal Communication
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

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Scenario 1
Your first phone call conversation with Mr. Beddinghaus. What will you tell him when you
hear of his complaint?
 Hello Mr. Beddinghaus. Good Morning.
 I hope you are fine and in good health. I am aware about the issue that has been raised by
you time and again.
 As was promised, I will soon be back with a resolution. I was busy understanding the
situation and was trying to understand the best ways of clearing the leaves from your
lawn.
What steps will you take to begin handling this difficult situation?
 I will try to make Mr. Beddinghaus comfortable so that he can actually understand that
we are there to help him.
 I will also give additional time in order to understand the issues without getting angry
Remember, this situation does not directly affect your business, but it is important to your
boss that his company remain in good faith with the community.
 I will try to help out Mr. Beddinghaus even though his problem is not linked to our
business.
 I will try to recollect the CSR principles and make sure that we are being able to take care
of our community.
Create Scenario 2, your second phone call conversation with Mr. Beddinghaus. What will
you say to him the second time he calls to complain of the leaves in his yard?

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 I will try to focus on the customer satisfaction
 I will also try to fix an appointment with Mr.Beddinghaus so that I can meet him and then
solve all the different issues being faced by him
Where are you at in the solution to the problem?
 I have discussed this with the local council of that place to check the best measures that
can be taken to help Mr.Beddinghaus. This will help me to know the properties and the
jurisdictions under which the properties are falling. I am aware about the fact that none of
the properties are under the ownership or the responsibility of our business.
However I will not be forgetting about the different lessons of Customer Focus,
Problem Solving and Critical-Thinking, Professionalism, Work Ethic and other such
lessons that were taught during our lessons. I will always try to work as per my principles
and my ethics. As per the ethical lessons, it is essential to help out a client or customer
when he is in need. Therefore I will try to help the customer as he is lonely and in need of
my help. I will try to arrange for some local NGO or community agencies who will be
able to help solve this issue by undertaking free cleaning service on a weekly basis.
Remember, you have now spoken with your boss and he has informed you that they need to
remain on good terms with Mr. Beddinghaus, but the company cannot afford to pay to
have his yard raked. He leaves it up to you to find an alternative solution. What will you do
now?

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I know that my company cannot raise money for this. Therefore, I will take help from some
NGO or domestic help service who are interested in rendering are to the elderly persons at zero
cost.
Create Scenario 3, your third and final call with Mr. Beddinghaus. What creative solution
did you come up with to get the leaves out of his yard?
In the final call I will give the solution-
 Hello Mr. Beddinghaus. Good afternoon. Thank you for calling us again and being
patient with us.
 I apologize for the delay in our service to help you out from this situation. However after
a deep research we have finally been able to find out a solution for you.
 I have talked with the local NGO and the help care centers to come up and check on the
cleanliness of the local properties
 Please don’t worry as you will not be charged any fees for this service
What do you know about Mr. Beddinghaus at this point? What can you offer him
additionally aside from keeping his yard clear?
Mr. Beddinghaus is a lonely elderly person. He is alone and does not get much support from his
family members. He also finds it tough to manager is domestic work like cleaning of the house
law. He is not very strong financially as he is not able to bear any additional charge. Apart from

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keeping his yard clean, I would arrange for some free domestic help service so that his life
becomes bit easier.

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Bibliography
Berger, A. A. (2016). Interpersonal communication. In Messages (pp. 100-117). Routledge.
Hargie, O. (2016). Skilled interpersonal communication: Research, theory and practice.
Routledge.