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If you’re in any business that’s not completely face-to-face, chances are that you need to write to customers or clients. You may need to write simple auto-response e-mails, straightforward responses to queries, or longer letters and e-mails that are part of an ongoing relationship. Whatever you write for customers, you’re showing them your public face. Business writing is therefore not only a critical part of customer service, but also of marketing. Yet few people have had any writing training - and it shows.
The first step is to get the basics right. Spelling, punctation and grammar really do matter. If you don’t show that you pay attention to detail in your writing, why shoud people believe you pay attention to detail in anything else. But good English really is only the first step. Rudyard Kipling wrote that ‘words are the most powerful drug known to mankind’, and that’s absolutely true in business. If you really think about your reader, you’ll choose words that work most effectively.
When your reader is your customer, you have to think of their needs above anything else. Ask yourself the following:
- What do you want them to think of your business - and of you?
- Does your writing intstill confidence?
- Do the e-mails and letters you send out give your customers confidence?
- Are you wasting customers’ time with long-winded messages?
- How many times do you write ‘we’ and how many times do you write ‘you’ - it makes a big difference to the message.
- What’s in your message that they will care about?
Poor writing skills impact directly on customer service, yet are frequently ignored.
If you’re not 100% confident that your staff are sending out the right messages through their writing, then think about business writing training as a key part of your customer service training. Improved writing skills could be just what you need to get the edge over your competitors. You’ll improve customer service, develop better relationships, and see more business as a result.
Tags: business writing, business writing skills, business writing training, Customer service, writing skills, writing training