Your written business communications – first impressions last, so no detail is too small.

My Sunday Morning Blog

Choosing the topic for my blog this Sunday morning was hard.  It was almost as difficult as selecting from the delectable range of Tiptree Jams lined up in front of me on the breakfast table like little chess pieces waiting to be chosen for the next manoeuvre.  Should it be ‘Intuitive leadership – qualities needed post recession?’,   ‘Social media in the Public sector – can it work and who should do it?’ ,  ’ Relationship Equity – a move from transactional to partnering’ or even ‘Onboarding – does a change in name really mean Induction will be better?’.   After mulling over my array of jams I decided to go back to basics and went to the pantry to get the Seville Marmalade.  Back to basics too, for my choice of blog.  Why?  Because, just like playing a game of chess, to achieve success you need to ensure, whilst directing energies towards the winning post, you have all bases and basics covered.

I agree it is laudable to invest in ‘highbrow’ strategies to enable all of us to blossom post recession.  I am passionate about progressing some of the themes I’ve just mentioned and, trust me, I will be returning to blog on these later.  But in our haste to champion the next big corporate or HR agenda item, let’s not forget that, as in all walks of life, the simple things often make the difference.

As directors, managers, professionals and business owners, can you guarantee that the written communications that leave your organisation, by any channel available, create the impression you need? Great if they do, but what are the penalties if they don’t?  How aware are you all that every communication represents you, your team, your organisation? And that just a minor slip could mean a negative representation?  Communicating face to face increases our chances of success.  We can read and immediately respond to the visual, auditory, and  kinaesthetic  cues, signals and clues we receive, switching  ‘channels’, to  increase our chance of success  (the VAK channels). We are better placed to respond to instant feedback, create rapport, adjust interpretation and appreciate the importance of the power of the silent word (Albert Mehrabian – Professor Emeritus of Psychology UCLA).  Even over the ‘phone we stand more chance of getting it right.  Written communication reduces our options and raises the stakes.  Even in this glorious age of emails demanding instant attention you don’t get a second chance to make a first impression.

We all know that it only takes a few seconds for our missive to form a first, and lasting, impression – the old so-called  ‘halo  or horns’ effect.  Have we all got though the requisite skills and tools to achieve that ‘halo’?  Because that’s exactly what we need, whether it’s our CV, our letter, our publicity material or our routine emails.  And what about if the stakes are even higher? What if we are submitting a response in the tendering process,  a Board report or responding to an irate client, dealing with a difficult and demanding person, or putting ourselves into the Public domain via a website or Blog in this new world of social media and user generated content?

Do you think it matters if our writing lets us down?  How much store does the reader place on our tone, our punctuation, our spelling, grammar, and whether we have made appropriate choices for the medium selected?  Are you aware that you need to match layout style with a certain type of punctuation or are you still using closed punctuation with a fully blocked presentation?

Years ago, I was working on a customer service development programme and an airline client told me that the first thing passengers did, on reaching their seat and settling down on the plane, was to reach forward and check the ashtray in the seat in front of them for cigarette ends.  The 2010 equivalent is checking the magazine netting to see if the debris from the previous passengers has been cleared away.  If the passengers discover that the necessary cleaning has not been done, their minds switch rapidly to wondering if the aircraft maintenance and checking has been carried out to standard.  In other words, if we don’t know otherwise, we take something at face value and judge the rest of the service accordingly. 

So, if I receive a well-written communication from you, you will have increased the chances that I am likely to have instant confidence in you, your team, your product/service and your organisation.   Create a negative first impression by committing some cardinal written sins, and you will lose trust and respect immediately.  Being a bit of a pedant, for me a run-on sentence in your writing may be all it takes to switch me off.  If you can’t even get the writing right, what confidence will I have that you know how to deliver what you are promoting? Can you afford to take that chance?

Would you like to be one of the first five readers to receive for FREE a copy of our checklist ‘The Cardinal Sins of Written Communication – key pitfalls to avoid and guidelines to help’?  If so please email us at enquiries@trainingtoachieveuk.com   Please note that this checklist is soon to be offered on our website.  Normal price £29.99

If you are still not sure if you would benefit – go take my test.   You’ll also be able to see some of the responses that have been posted on our blogs.

If you’d like to respond to anything discussed in the blog, please do so as we’d always like to hear from you.

Alison Miles-Jenkins Sunday Morning Blog – 06 June 2010  Blog Number 5

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