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School’s in Session: A Crash
Course in Writing for E-Mail Customer Service
by: Patrick Wagner
There’s a reason why billions upon billions of dollars
are spent each and every day on products and services that
help people to look their best. People recognize Marshall
McLuhan’s irrefutable truth: "The Medium is
the Message". That means that presentation doesn’t
simply count -- it’s everything.
Mom may have tried to teach you not to judge a book by
its cover, but I bet she was wearing make-up at the time.
Great writers had moms just like yours, but those with best-sellers
spent good money letting professionals design their book
jackets, knowing that people, in fact, DO judge
a book -- and everything else -- by its
cover. It’s not right or wrong; it just is.
You may already appreciate how the way you look and speak
impacts on people’s impression of you. Good. You’re
awake.
What if the people who you need most to impress never meet
you in person?
The importance of high-quality correspondence when running
an on-line business cannot be overstated. Your intelligence,
credibility, manner, attitude, business habits and practices
are all conveyed each and every time you communicate via
e-mail, just as people form opinions of you in person each
and every time you open your mouth.
Communication should, ideally, be a two-way process. A
message is sent by the sender and read by the receiver.
Anything whatsoever that interferes with the success of
that message being understood (as intended by the
sender) is called "noise". Then,
the receiver compiles his own message which asks for clarification,
or new information, or simply confirms that the message
was indeed, understood. This is called "feedback"
. "Noise" is a concern in this
part of the process too.
As a provider of good e-mail customer service, you need
to understand this dynamic so you can minimize "noise"
in your communication. You need your messages to
be received as you intended, both in tone (attitude)
and information (subject matter).
Shhhhh! Noise Reduction in Progress
1. Read it. You, as the on-line business person, will most
often find yourself on the "feedback" end
of the model just described before you become a "sender"
yourself. That is to say, you will be responding to some
item of e-mail sent to you.
Read it. Be sure you understand what it’s asking
or saying. Just as in person, too many e-mailers spout off
an answer when they haven’t really listened to the
question. Listen to your sender’s message before you
try to answer it.
2. Give thought to the composition of the answer, not just
the content. You may have a standard greeting which thanks
the sender for his interest before you get to his inquiry.
Then answer him in a well-worded, grammatical, succinct
manner. E-mail is easier to read when it’s well-spaced
and even itemized, rather than one big, long, squished,
run-on paragraph.
3. Keep the flow. You have no idea whether the e-mail you
received was the only one sent by that person, or one of
one hundred s/he sent that day. The beauty of the "reply"
function is that you can send along the original message
to make your answer more clear by refreshing the sender’s
memory.
4. Bulk is noise. Don’t slow down or shroud the essential
content of your message by accompanying it with unsolicited
information or attachments. Bulky attachments will make
loading of your message more cumbersome for the receiver
and may irritate your reader.
5. An irritated receiver is a reluctant recipient! In order
to work and good communication to occur, this model requires
two willing participants. Offending your reader (quite
by accident, of course) essentially nullifies your
message. If a receiver doesn’t approach a message
with a willing mind set, it doesn’t matter how brilliant
your message is. Angry ears are deaf. This is a good reason
to avoid sending anything that may crash his browser or
waste his valuable time loading, unless he has requested
it and understands that "a big one" is
coming.
Another good way to irritate and alienate your receiver
is in your tone. You may think that you are answering the
most inane question ever asked, but don’t let him
know that. Your attitude comes through loud and clear in
your writing and condescending to a reader is the fastest
way to lose his co-operation, and therefore his attention.
DON’T SHOUT! Be wary that in trying
to sound emphatic, you don’t overpower your reader.
Some people who haven’t figured out the "shift"
key yet tend to write all in capital letters for simplicity.
This is known as the in-person equivalent of shouting, and
it’s a good example of how you can offend without
meaning to.
When we speak in person, we have a whole host of non-verbal
cues that people pick up on which help our messages be received
in the spirit we intended. No such luck in e-mail. Your
words fly solo. Your only non-verbal support can be found
in commonly used expressions: try a wink ;-)
or a smile :-) or surprise :-O.
You can display displeasure in :-( but
use it sparingly.
"Spamming" people is a sure-fire way to
irritate them and make them unreceptive to your message.
You hate spam. I hate spam. Why on earth would you send
something to someone else that you resent receiving yourself???
6. Edit. Edit. Edit.
I'm sure you can figure out whats being said hear but the
fact remain’s that while your trying to desifer this
message theirs more of your brain power is going to simply
comprehending it then really understanding it by that I
meen if your to busy triing to read it literaly than the
logic wont have a impact on you. ;-)
There is a reason why languages have conventions for spelling,
grammar and sentence structure. Their purpose is not simply
to drive students crazy. They’re there in order to
minimize noise and maximize clarity so that the content
of your message gets 100% of your reader’s
attention. Poor writing is distracting to the point where
the content -- the heart -- of your message
is severely compromised.
You have probably read several good resources in order
to better educate yourself to succeed in your business.
You are an intelligent person who wisely takes advantage
of free advice (after all, you’re reading
this). Since your e-mail (and all other)
correspondence plays such a crucial role in your business,
consider reading one more resource; get a good reference
book on style and grammar. My favorite is Strunk and White’s
The Elements of Style, but there are lots to choose from.
(For all you people who recognized that I just ended
a sentence with a preposition, hey, you choose your battles.
If that’s the sort of thing up with which you will
not put, consider that there is a way to be clear and understood,
while remaining colloquial.)
Finally, poor spelling constitutes "noise"
for the same reason. It’s distracting. Invest in an
e-mail program that has a spell-check function.
7. Sincerely...
Always "sign" your correspondence. The
signature file you use should include your full name, company’s
name and all contact information. It adds credibility, provides
a byte of advertising, and ensures that further contact
is easier for your recipient.
*************************
You’ve worked hard to build your on-line business.
Now present an image to your customers and prospective clients
which conveys the impression you want. An essential skill
of any good business person is knowing his or her own strengths
and weaknesses. If writing isn’t your thing, get educated.
If you know your spelling, grammar and structure are less
than what you’d like to convey, and you fear you might
not be fully appreciated as a result, at the very least,
get someone who knows their stuff to edit -- if
not write -- all your correspondence. It will mean
the difference between hiring a unshowered, monosyllabic
slob or an eloquent, well-dressed professional to be the
only person minding your store.
Sincerely,
Patrick Wagner
Webmaster - http://www.ezinelisting.com
mailto:webmaster@ezinelisting.com
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