Write for Business - Blog

Sociologists say that when someone joins a long-standing community, that person is always viewed as "the newcomer," even decades later. The one exception is the person who remains awhile, goes away, and then comes back to stay. For some reason, the human psyche is designed to view this second person as "an old-timer."

As a parallel, a bad-news situation in business can actually become good news. It can be used to create a stronger bond between people, if the communication is handled correctly.

Consider: Which of the following suppliers would you be most comfortable with?

1. Someone who's Web site and catalog look great, with many glowing testimonials, but with whom you have no experience
2. Someone you purchased from before, with no problem, but who can be contacted only via an online form
3. Someone you purchased from before, who once delayed an order due to a materials defect, but who personally phoned and/or e-mailed you immediately to notify, explain, and apologize

Assuming the problems with hypothetical supplier #3 aren't regular, I'd predict you might feel most comfortable doing business there. That personal phone call or e-mail with its confession of error actually builds trust in a way that perfection cannot, because a perfect record gives no indication of how problems will be handled when they do occur.

Of course, I'm not suggesting that you go creating problems to solve just to build trust in your business dealings. However, when a problem does arise, you can look at it as an opportunity instead of a disaster. A quick confession, followed by a confident solution, can make you part of a trusted community far more than mere perfection can.

How does this idea match up with your own experience? Do you have an example of a disaster turned into a gem? We'd love to hear about it. Click to comment below.

- Lester Smith

Photo by boo_licious

As a child, I read a fairy tale about a boy who wanted to be a wizard. The current court wizard gave him three tasks to accomplish.

First, the boy had to show him something no one else had ever seen. Cleverly, the boy brought an egg just as it hatched, revealing a brand new chick.

The second task I don't recall; I suspect it wasn't that important to the story.

But the third task was truly amazing. Pointing toward a tall tower in the distance, the mage said, "Jump to the top of that tower." The boy started hopping, all the way to the tower, then up the steps one by one. What had seemed impossible merely took some time.

One mistake many writers make is wishing to get a project over with in one quick leap. Consequently, the project seems more daunting than it really is. They avoid the writing process (planning, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing), thinking it too time consuming, thinking it unnecessarily focused on polish. They miss the fact that the process can actually save time and effort by breaking things down into easily manageable stages.

Of course, it's also about polish, producing writing that makes you seem like a wizard. For example, as writing trainer Lynn Gaertner-Johnston points out in "Editors: Here Is Data to Support Your Job," a recent IBM study revealed a 30-percent higher click rate on edited Web text.

What's your writing process like? Do you plan an e-mail message before sending it? Do you write more than one draft of a memo? For that matter, what are your most common writing challenges? Click the link below to add a comment.

- Lester Smith

Photo by Swami Stream

Recently on Facebook I saw a post about a new study accusing not only TV but also video games of interfering with students' ability to concentrate on schoolwork.

It was followed by a biting response along the lines of "Who could have predicted, given a choice between self-directed problem solving in an imaginative video environment, and dull rote-work for no apparent reason in school, young people would prefer to spend time with games."

Of course, it's not just school children. Adults around the world are being accused of too much TV time, too much Internet, too much texting, and too short an attention span in business meetings or training sessions.

It's time to face facts. The problem isn't a generational lack of focus. It's that the old lecture model of conveying knowledge has outlived its usefulness. Information today is expanding too rapidly for any one person to take it all in, evaluate it, and try to pass it along to others. By the time trainees receive it, it's old news. That it's presented in a hypothetical example just makes it more pointless.

What's needed is a mentor model that teaches how to find information, evaluate it, and apply it. Trainees need to be empowered, not merely certified.

The first step is to make training matter to them. A high school student learning "f of x" to calculate a tennis ball's trajectory during a robotics competition is better prepared to understand calculus than if she were staring at a theoretical problem on a page. So too is an employee better able to learn effective writing while working on an actual memo for his company than while watching a trainer point out features on a white board. The closer a trainer can get to that real-world experience, the more quickly a trainee can perceive the gap between his own writing and truly effective writing, allowing him to step across.

Do you have any tips for making training real instead of hypothetical? If you speak to groups, what tricks do you use for getting the attendees involved? We'd love to hear your comments.

- Lester Smith

Photo by Orange Beard

The French have a phrase, esprit d'escalier - or "staircase cleverness" - the comeback that occurs to you just after you've left the party. In my case, that rejoinder usually comes a full day later. That's why I find conversations in writing so appealing; the delay between "receive" and "send" allows time to think.

In business, that time allowance can make writing an even more powerful tool. Consider, for example, Heather Duncan's explanation at Style-Matters.com, "How to Use Your Writing to Defuse a Bad Situation." In this case, writing to an unhappy client or employer allows for a message that is well thought out and carefully worded. Ms. Duncan presents a careful, stepwise approach to crafting such responses (and we appreciate her mention of the BEBE formula from Write for Business).

I'd add, however, that this sort of writing also accomplishes something that a phone-call or face-to-face conversation cannot: It provides the comfort of documentation. When a client or employer is upset, spoken words can seem just so much air. A carefully worded e-mail or letter, on the other hand, provides concrete evidence of your concern and your commitment to fix the situation. That document is something the recipient can reread, consider, and trust in.

What memorable experiences have you had as the writer or recipient of a complaint response? Do you have any advice to offer? Or any horror stories to share? We always welcome comments. Just click the link below.

- Lester Smith

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With the rise of social media, requests to write a "letter of recommendation" are ever more common. I put those words in quotation marks because the requested recommendations are often less formal than a traditional letter - more of a note. Still, the effect can be far-reaching for everyone involved. It's important, then, to do it right, while keeping time, and words, to a minimum. I recommend the following two-step approach.

1. What features do you admire most?
Ask yourself what honest praise springs to mind concerning the requester. If you can't think of something quickly, do everyone a favor and decline the request. The old adage "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all" finds a new application here. It's better to avoid wasting your time and a potential reader's, avoid damning the requester with faint praise, and avoid filling the Web with more pointless text. Your response to the requester doesn't have to be cruel; you can simply say you don't have time to give the request the attention it deserves, and wish the person well.

2. What does the reader want to know?
If you do have something nice to say about the requester, next ask yourself what a reader really wants to know. Is the recommendation for employment? Acceptance to school? An award or grant? Each of these readers will be looking for slightly different details, whether work ethic, potential for growth, or applicable accomplishments. Consider how the nice things you have to say match up with what the reader needs, and start writing.

Remember, though, to keep it brief. People on the Web are scanning for a quick sense of things. If they need more details, they will investigate further (and may contact you for that reason).

If you have any other suggestions for writing online recommendations, we would love to hear them. Either add a comment below, or send us an e-mail. Thanks.

- Lester Smith

Photo by PinkMoose