However, many companies don't realize that this advice is as true
today as it was ten years ago.
For example, a senior executive recently told me, "No one in my
company writes anymore. We just send e-mails." Interesting thought. But totally
naive.
E-mails may have reduced the need for paper, snail mail and limbo time
(the time a message spends in transit) but they still require the sender to convey his
thoughts clearly and concisely, using the rules for good business writing.
In addition, e-mails are not as easy to write as some would think. In a
recent consulting job, I found the employees were sending such sloppy e-Mails they
frequently had to send two or three messages to interpret their first transmission-a
complete waste of time.
And writing short e-mail messages is often harder than writing longer
documents. As Rudyard Kipling once wrote, "Sorry this is such a long letter, but I
didn't have time to write a short one."
Your Writing Creates an Image
The company's and the writer's image are two more reasons for good writing
skills. When a reader scans a document he subconsciously builds a picture of the writer.
The writer can project the image of a conscientious, energetic professional, or the image
of a bored bureaucrat marking time with an antiquated company.
Quite recently, a manager asked me to work with one of her new
salespeople. After reading copies of the correspondence the salesman was sending to his
customers, I pictured a man in his late fifties, probably with gray hair and blessed with
old-world good manners. In actual fact, the salesman was just out of university. It turned
out that the young man had been taking home all of his correspondence to write under the
guidance of his father.
The cheerful, straight forward and almost flip manner the salesman used on
the phone and in face-to-face situations was in direct contrast to the old-fashioned,
stilted correspondence he was submitting. Both customers and colleagues were confused by
the opposing communication styles.
Good Writing Attracts Customers
Good writing is a way of combating today's high cost of face-to-face sales
calls. The president of a plumbing supply company recently told me that it doesn't pay to
send his sales staff out on the road visiting smaller customers or to have them spend a
day on the phone making long distance calls. He has found it more profitable for his staff
to build relationships with some customers by faxing or mailing them well-crafted letters
and flyers.
And a salesman's correspondence doesn't always have to be of a sales
nature. Smart salespeople use the writing process to keep their names in front of a
customer on a regular basis.
George Rummage, former director of Direct Mail Advertising, said "A
good letter can be you calling on a customer again and again."
Every person within an organization is in customer relations, but this
message has not yet gotten through to all employees. I have seen situations where
salespeople do back flips to get an account and then lose it because of the poor
correspondence sent out by other departments within their companies.
Check your own Business Writing
I have heard people say, "I don't need help with my writing. I've
never had any complaints." Well, if you are a manager chances are your staff are not
going to tell you that your memos require time and energy to interpret. If you haven't
taken a business writing course in the past five years, chances are your writing is in
need of a tune-up.
Business writing has changed dramatically, as have readers. Years ago to
be able to write was the sign of nobility and wealth. And to receive a letter was
something special.
Even up to the 1970s, writers sought to impress readers with their
literary skills, and readers still took the time to thoroughly read their mail. In today's
workplace, readers are too busy to spend vast amounts of time deciphering messages from
long-winded letters and reports. Today's writer must write to inform, seek immediate
action and create goodwill-in as short as space as possible.
Progressive companies carry out regular analyses of the correspondence and
reports produced by their employees to ensure that the image and service level projected
is consistent with the one they wish to convey.
The analysis usually includes an examination of randomly-chosen letters,
memos, reports, proposals, form letters and boiler-plated material and may also involve
interviews with staff and clients.
©2002, Jane Watson is dedicated to advancing business communications. She
is a consultant, author, keynoter and trainer and can be reached at
jane@jwatsonassociates.com or (905) 820-9909. |
