Memo link for good instructions: Purdue University's the OWL.
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/590/04/
To: Bridgestone Firestone Retail Dealers
From: John Lampe, CEO Bridgestone Firestone, LLC.
Date: January 14, 2000
Subject: ATX I, ATX II, and Wilderness AT Tire Failures
As many of you already know from reports in the media, our company is under increased scrutiny due to a number of accidents and motorists' deaths that may be tied to the failure of the ATX I, ATX II, and Wilderness AT tires. Most of these failures have occurred on Ford SUVs, particularly the Ford Explorer.
At this time Firestone Bridgestone is working with Ford Motor Company to determine why the suspect tires failed on Ford models. Firestone Bridgestone is also cooperating with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in its investigation of this matter.
We are recommending to you, our tire dealers, that you suggest to customers who have Ford products and wish to purchase the tire models mentioned above a substitution of Bridgestone tires. We see no need to suggest a substitution for any other automotive brands or Ford cars and vans. Please follow the flow chart at the conclusion of this memo in selling our tires.
Ford SUVs and trucks = SELL Bridgestone products ONLY
Other Automotive Brands and Ford cars and vans = SELL Firestone and Bridgestone products, including ATX I, ATX II, and Wilderness AT tires
As we work to resolve this issue, please be aware that a recall of the Firestone ATX I, ATX II and Wilderness AT tires is ONLY likely in the event of findings not in our favor by the NHTSA investigation or additional negative media coverage. Moreover, a recall will only be issued if the previous condition is met and when Bridgestone Firestone has ramped up production of enough alternative tires to meet market demand. If needed, additional information is available from the regional sales manager in your area.
Team Evan Comment
Our source agreed with your judgment to open the memo with a short paragraph explaining its purpose.
Our source suggests using bullet points to emphasize the major points of your memo.
ACORN Response
Your memo is structured well overall. You have a good opening followed by an informative body and closing comment. However your memo is a bit bland overall. There are no bullet points or headings. Headings help the reader skim for sections of the document. Numbered and bulleted lists make information easy to scan.
Group SSS
Your internal memo, compared to the examples we found, is almost spot on. The only issue I could see is the use of bullet points; in your case, maybe the failed tire models could be listed this way for reading ease.
memo response
According to the resource we found regarding how to write a memo, for the most part your memo was written correctly. It explained the situation in detail and kept a positive/neutral tone throughout. In the middle where you wrote: Ford SUVs and trucks = SELL Bridgestone products ONLY, it didn't really seem very professional. There probably was a different way to have written that to appear to have more professional knowledge.