Business Communication

PERSUASIVE COMMUNICATION

2010-06-07T23:21:00.000-07:00

PERSUASIVE COMMUNICATIONS: USING YOU-ATTITUDE AND READER BENEFIT

FOCUS ON "YOU" INSTEAD OF "I" AND "WE"

Your receivers are usually more concerned about themselves than
about you or the company you represent. They are more likely to
read your message when they see their name and the pronoun "you"
rather than "I," "we," or "us."

Usually it is desirable to get your reader into the first
paragraph. (Exceptions are presented later in this section.) If
psychologically desirable, begin with "you" or "your," and keep
your reader in the message (tactfully) until you finish. The
opposite of the you-attitude is the we-attitude, in which the
writer views every matter from his or her own (or the
organization's) standpoint rather than from the reader's:

We-Attitude You-Attitude

I want to send my congratu- Congratulations to you on
lations for. . . . your. . . .

We will ship soon the goods You should receive by May 8
in your May 4 order. the Apex screens you ordered
May 4.

We pay 8% interest on. . . . You earn 8% interest on. . . .

The we-attitude department store message, letter 1 below,
contains 20 "we-our-us-I-my" pronouns (underlined) and only 3
"you's" (bold).

Letter 1 We-attitude.

May I take this opportunity to express my thanks for the
account you recently opened with our store. We are pleased
to furnish a wide variety of products for the home or
individual customers.

We want you to take full advantage of our store services, for
we have the largest stock in the city. Also we make
deliveries of our customers' purchases free of charge within
30 miles of our store.

The next two paragraphs--omitted here to save space and
reading--have four "we's," three "our customers," and no
"you." The last paragraph is:

We welcome you to Bekinson's. If we can be of additional
service in any manner, please call on us.

In contrast, letter 2--rewritten for more you-attitude--
contains 20 "you's" and "your's" (bold) and only 2 "we-our-us"
pronouns (underlined):

Letter 2 You-attitude.

Thank you for the account you recently opened at Bekinson's.
Serving you with your needs for clothing and home furnishings
is a pleasure.

You can satisfy all your shopping needs when you visit any of
Bekinson's 32 well-stocked departments. Our courteous,
skilled salesclerks are ready to assist you in selecting the
merchandise that best meets your requirements.

If you prefer to shop within the comfort of your home, instead
of coming to the store, you need only telephone 555-8823. A
Personal Shopper will gladly take your order for any number of
items, answer your questions about brands and sizes available,
and see that the goods you order reach you by store delivery
within a few days.

When you shop at Bekinson's downtown store, you are invited to
use the free customer parking privilege provided just across
the street.

You are always welcome at Bekinson's. Please call on us
whenever you need additional services.

As the foregoing examples illustrate, a letter is likely to
have better you-attitude when it contains more "you's" than
"I's." But there are notable exceptions! An extreme example is
the collection letter with "you" or "your" in almost every
sentence; if those sentences are insulting, sarcastic, tactless,
or untrue accusations and threats against the debtor, the letter
surely lacks you-attitude.

In two kinds of situations it is advisable not to use "you."

1. When the reader has made a mistake:

Poor: You failed to enclose your check in the envelope.

Better: The envelope we received did not have a check in
it.

Poor: Your contract tells you plainly that. . . .

Better: I am glad to explain more fully the contract
terms.

2. When the reader has expressed an opinion different from
your own:

Poor: You are entirely wrong in your attitude.

Better: The proposed plan has three aspects which are
extremely important and which we need to explain
now.

SHOW READER BENEFIT OR INTEREST IN READER

Whenever possible and true, show how your readers will
benefit from whatever the message asks or announces. They will
be more likely to react favorably and do what you suggest if you
show that benefits are worth the effort and cost. In situations
where actual direct reader benefit is impossible or irrelevant to
the subject matter, the message should at least show interest in
and concern for the reader's needs or viewpoint.

Even a simple request gets better response when a reader-
benefit plug accompanies it.

For example, an insurance company that wanted to update its
address files sent to half its policyholders a double postcard
with this message:

Because we have not written you in some time, please help us
bring our records up to date by filling in and returning the
other half of this card.

Only 3 percent of these cards came back. To the remaining
half of its policyholders the firm sent the same request--
reworded to show reader benefit:

So that dividend checks, premium notices, and other messages
of importance may reach you promptly, please fill out and
return the other half of this card.

This request brought 90 percent of the cards back in a few
days!

Merely inserting the word you does not ensure you-attitude,
as shown in this sentence:

You will be glad to know that we now have a Walk-Up Window
open 7-9 a.m. and 3-8 p.m. every weekday.

Some readers may wonder, "So what?" The revised sentence
includes reader benefit:

You can now take care of your banking needs also at our new
Walk-Up Window. It is open with a capable teller to serve you
7-9 a.m. and 3-8 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Reader-benefit appeals help collect payments on bills, soften
the blow in a turndown, and sell products. Though your company
is in business to make a profit, you omit that selfish-sounding
idea; the reader assumes it anyway and is motivated only by what
benefits he or she receives. Reader-benefit appeals are
desirable also in job applications, favor requests, and
announcements to your customers, prospective buyers,
stockholders, and employees. Whether you are writing to one
person or to large numbers, try to personalize the reader
benefits (as in letter 2) instead of stating them in a general
way ("our customers," as in letter 1).

If your organization provides employee benefits--such as
health insurance and various retirement plans--management should
make every effort to assure that all employees understand and
appreciate those benefits. Many may be unaware that their
employer spends more than one-third of the total payroll on
employee benefits. To inform employees effectively, management
can use such media as memos, employee manuals, bulletins, policy
statements, company magazines, newssheets, reports, posters,
films, and notes in pay envelopes.

Exercise

Change the following sentences so that they emphasize you-
attitude instead of we-attitude.

a. We allow 2 percent discount for cash payments.

b. This is just the kind of job I am looking for, since it
offers me a chance to get practical experience in personnel
work.

c. We value your patronage, for satisfied customers are the
foundation of our success.

d. Since we have our own obligations to meet, we must ask your
immediate attention to your past-due account.

e. We do not send receipts, because of the extra work involved
for us; of course, you have your canceled checks anyway.

f. Our pamphlet is designed to help its readers get the most out
of raising beautiful roses.

g. We hope to have the pleasure of showing you what we think is
the finest assortment of Italian boots in the city.

h. To help us improve our production schedule, we would
appreciate your ordering two weeks in advance.

i. I wish to tell you that we are sending your new coat
tomorrow.

The Power of About Us Page

2010-06-03T21:10:00.000-07:00

An About Us page is your calling card. When a prospective customer visits your website, in all probability he would visit the "About Us" page first to know about your company. What he reads there can make or mar the reputation in his eyes.

Therefore one should lend extreme care while writing a company's About Us page.

A 2003 study entitled "'About Us'-Presenting Information About an Organization on Its Website", which found that 30 percent of the websites studied needed to revamp their "About Us" section so that visitors could more easily find what they were looking for.

Some effective resources to learn on About Us:

http://www.useit.com/alertbox/about-us-pages.html

http://www.clickz.com/3623058

TIPS FOR EFFECTIVE E-MAIL WRITING - PART I

2009-08-03T12:44:00.000-07:00

Scan your hard disk. I say your, not your system’s. Single out an occasion when you are in office but have not sent or received any e-mail. No results should be the ideal systemic response. All that I drive home is the fact that e-mail is now the most preferred mode of business correspondence. But ask yourself, do you lend the seriousness that an e-mail as a business correspondence deserves?

Here are five tips to help you master the art of effective e-mail writing for successful business.

1. Keep your subject line concise and comprehensible.

Did you try wading through the flood of e-mail when you come back from a vacation or try searching for a particular e-mail? The subject line of the e-mail must have been your only savior. The subject line of the e-mail should be well thought and comprehensible so as to summarize the content of an e-mail.

Here are some examples of subject lines:

[Blank] - It projects you as arrogant.

Never miss this one! - What you find worthy might not be so for others.

That file you asked for. – Better, yet risky. Your recipient might have asked for some other file from someone else. Do you expect him to remember what he asked from each of the team members?

4 guides migrated … rest to be done by Sept 01- Excellent. Your manager, must have heaved a sigh of relief but only if you are working on the last batch of deliverables.

Ideally: When you use the ‘Reply’ option, ensure that you modify the subject line to befit the context. Consider starting a new thread with appropriate subject line if you need to start a new discussion in the current thread.

2. Keep your message well-composed and well-formatted.

Your reader might be going through a bad day today. He might not have time enough to read through your block of text. An excellent idea might go neglected because of poor presentation. To ensure that the reader reads through all the points that you want to convey, present them in the form of a list. Better if you can add an introductory line that states how many parts the message has. Also consider using standard capitalization and spelling checks. Skip lines between paragraphs. Avoid fancy typefaces.

Ideally: Substantial points can be split up into separate messages for the convenience of the recipient.

3. Populate the address fields properly.

Many a time, we populate the wrong address fields and land in embarrassing situations. Here is how you must populate the address fields to avoid such embarrassments:

· To – the people you are directly addressing

· Cc – the people you are indirectly addressing. Copy only those who need to be copied; not your entire universe of contacts.

· Bcc – like Cc, except that the addresses in To and Cc do not know that the addresses in the Bcc are included in the conversation. The To and Cc addresses are blind to the Bcc addresses.

Ideally: Exercise judgment while using Bcc.

4. Review, proofread, and edit.

If you wish your message to have that professional look, you must review, proofread, and edit your first draft. Here is a checklist that will come in handy while you prepare the final draft:

1. Is the entire message pertinent to your target audience?

2. Is the tone of the message friendly and professional?

3. Does the message demonstrate that you value the recipients?

4. Are the links to any URL correct?

5. Does the message have a relevant subject line?

6. Is your message error-free, both from grammatical and spelling aspects?

Ideally: Before you hit the Send button, request a friend to proofread the final draft from the recipient’s perspective.

5. Avoid attachments.

You must be pondering, why so? Attachments take time to download, occupy needless space on your recipient's computer, and don't always translate correctly for people who access their e-mail on portable devices. The best practice is to copy and paste the most relevant text (or the gist) into the body of the message if the complete attachment is of little use to them.

Ideally: Send in the attachments only when the recipient expects them.

National Punctuation Day: Sept 24th

2009-07-25T11:37:00.000-07:00

As a writer, I thought it is important to share this piece of trivia. Punctuation definitely gets its due credit.

http://www.nationalpunctuationday.com

Thanks,
Ravi

Please see attached

2009-07-21T09:06:00.000-07:00

It is strange that widespread use of a misused English construct becomes a universal habit in no time My pick today is on the usage of "Please see attached" phrase in our daily e-mail communication.
I myself have been guilty of using such constructs in my official e-mail communication.

There are suggested alternatives to be used when you want to draw the attention of the reciever to an attached document:

The attached diagram shows . . .
The attached spreadsheet contains . . .
When you review the attached proposal, you will notice . . .
As promised, I have attached a revised . . .
Please let me know if the attached draft . . .

"Please see attached" is inaccurate and inappropriate usage. We don't want our readers to "see" the attachment.

We want our readers to perform some tasks one the attachment: review, improve, approve, save, forward, or recommend. Bute definitely, not see.

There is another variant of such usages: "please see attached".

This is no way better. We don't want the reciever to find it, because the attachment is very much there.

Usage: Meaning of Lest

2009-07-18T23:32:00.000-07:00

The nearest equivalents in modern English would be "in case" or "for fear that" and it is always followed by a subject and a verb. An example sentence might be:

I daren't touch the china vase, lest I break it. (ie., I am so afraid of breaking it that I won't touch it.

for fear that; so that (one) should not (used negatively to introduce a clause expressive of an action or occurrence requiring caution): He kept his notes by his side lest faulty memory lead him astray.

that (used after words expressing fear, danger, etc.): There was danger lest the plan become known.

Grammar: Had Better

2009-07-18T13:45:00.000-07:00

We use “had better” plus the infinitive without “to” to give advice. Although “had” is the past form of “have”, we use “had better” to give advice about the present or future.

You'd better tell her everything.
I'd better get back to work.
We'd better meet early.

The negative form is “had better not”.

You'd better not say anything.
I'd better not come.
We'd better not miss the start of his presentation.

We use “had better” to give advice about specific situations, not general ones. If you want to talk about general situations, you must use “should”.

You should brush your teeth before you go to bed.
I shouldn't listen to negative people.
He should dress more appropriately for the office.

When we give advice about specific situations, it is also possible to use “should”.

You shouldn't say anything.
I should get back to work.
We should meet early.

However, when we use “had better” there is a suggestion that if the advice is not followed, that something bad will happen.

You'd better do what I say or else you will get into trouble.
I'd better get back to work or my boss will be angry with me.
We'd better get to the airport by five or else we may miss the flight.

The story of "The Age of Conversation"

2009-01-08T12:03:00.000-08:00

One of the first real and tangible successes of Social Media is the book, The Age of Conversation. Its a first of its kind book, in a sense that the book is a collaborative effort of more than 100 marketing professionals scattered all across the globe.
These authors have never met each other and collaborated only through the Internet.
Drew McLellan who is a world famous marketing blogger at http://www.drewsmarketingminute.com/ and Gavi Heaton who writes at http://www.servantofchaos.com/ met through their blog and brainstormed on the idea to come up with a collaborative book. Within a week, they could gather 100 contributors.
There was a noble side to this initiative too. The proceeds of the book were to go to charity.
The response to the book was overwhelming and the book attained 36th place on Amazon's bestseller business booklist.
After its huge success, the group published its sequel this year, named, The Age of Conversation 2: Why Dont They Get It?

The partial book can be read here.

Social Media: An Introduction

2008-12-25T09:44:00.001-08:00

I do not intend to question the intelligence of my readers by defining Social Media. Since, the term social media is ubiquitous and generously been used in all avenues for quite some time now. So, everyone irrespective of age and location pretty much knows what the suddenly all popular Social Media is. But, as this blog is relatively new, it needs to build on these basics. And just for the sake of completion and laying a firm foundation, let me go through the rigours of defining all these ubiquitous terminologies. Though not an extensive explanation, I would link up to some other useful resources.

But before that some facts:

133 million blogs registered on Technorati[1]

More than 100 million videos on Youtube[2]

132 million users in social network, Facebook[3]

Twitter received 3.5 million unique visitors in the month of Nov' 08.

LinkedIn, the professional social network, received 12 million unique visitors in Sept'08.

Source: http://socialmediastatistics.wikidot.com/start

Demystifying Social Media

If you are popular in Orkut(if you are an Indian), or Facebook(US/ Europe) then you are already a part of social media phenomenon. If you often take your angst out to the world through blogs, you have embraced social media already. If you like uploading small personal videos and share with your friends through Youtube, then you are ready to teach others a thing or two about Social Media. In short, almost any avid Internet surfer is already a participant of Social Media.

Let me formally try to define it, though it is too broad a concept to be explained in few words:

Social Media is a range of online applications and services which aim to facilitate interaction, collaboration and content sharing. These applications and services have some common characteristics (Refer Wikipedia):

Participation

Its the age of user generated content. The control of media is gradually shifting from organized publishing centers to individuals. individuals are setting up and writing blogs and working together to create information through the use of wikis. What these tools have done is to lower the barrier to entry

Sharing

The culture of communities and relationship has evolved on Internet. People of similar interests and needs are able to meet and network faster today through social media sites. As a result they share and discuss more and feel empowered than ever before.

Collaboration

Social Media provides various collaboration tools. Though these collaboration tools existed even before, the social element acts as a major facilitator for collaboration. It provides the much needed immediacy to act quickly and efficiently. To reinforce this, let us review a case study. Conversation 2.0 (the next post)

Connectedness

Social media content can be easily retrieved and is easy to stay in touch with. You can quickly link your content on other' site and vice-versa. There are numerous ways to let the members know of any new information that you want to disseminate. With the use of RSS (Really Simply Syndication) feeds, you can also syndicate your content or have others republish your content onto their site. Utilizing RSS feeds of your content gives other website publishers advance permission to view your content.

The following are the broad categories of Social Media applications and services:

Blogs (short for web logs) are online journals posted by an individual or group, which readers can comment upon.

Forums are discussion groups in which multiple users create topics and then comment on these topics. These are usually formed by people with common interests get together and share ideas. For example, book lovers within a company can discuss about best sellers in order to share knowledge.

Content communities are sites that allow users to post and share content. Such communities exist around anything from videos and photos to stories and links. Some of these sites include voting functions that allow the community to determine the relevance of content.

Virtual worlds are three dimensional virtual space where users interact and engage in immersive worlds. These spaces resemble real world scenarios.

Wikis are community-generated documents and databases. Approved users can create content and augment that of others in the interests of creating better resources. Wikipedia is arguably the best known wiki, with over 2 million4 articles in the English edition alone.

Social networks are communities through which users stay in touch with each other in a virtual network. Facebook is the most popular social network site and LinkedIn is a popular professional social network site.

Microblogging is a new form of communication in which users share information through short messages not more than 200 characters. Twitter is the leader in microblogging service

Many of my friends wanted to know more about social media through me since I am a social media evangelist for IFF. I wouldn't want to state more than what the Internet already has a lot to say. I will provide a lot of relevant resources for your perusal.

Resources:
http://www.socialcomputingmagazine.com/
http://socialmediacore.com/top-25-free-ebooks-on-social-media/
BLOGS
http://www.conversationagent.com/
http://www.chrisbrogan.com/

(Please come back. Because I will be appending more resources here)

Why Twitter is a phenomenon today?

2008-12-22T03:09:00.000-08:00

Since the time Internet has evolved, it has lent the world some terms that have become buzzwords on the Web like, Web 2.0. Twitter has been a buzzword for the last two years.

Now what on earth is Twitter and why has it caught the fancy of millions of netizens lately?

Microblogging is a new form of communication in which users share information through short messages not more than 200 characters. Twitter is the leader in microblogging service.

On a warm Sunday afternoon, three software engineers Jack Dorsey, Biz Stone, and Evan Williams during their day dreaming sessions brainstormed an idea. An idea that combined the best of instant messaging, text messaging, and blogging. The idea talked about delivering short updates from anyone to anywhere on the planet. They got along together and implemented this idea to form Twitter. And the rest is history.

Today Twitter boasts of more than 5 million users. Biggies like Cisco, Jet Blue and Sun Microsystems use Twitter service to provide product and service related information. Presidential candidate Barrack Obama made use of Twitter for his public campaign.

But how is it different from blogging? How did it get its niche?

I have been an ardent blogger since 4 years. And took some time to get in terms of this new phenomenon. But when I scrapped below the surface, I learnt, both weren’t competitors, but had their own user base. Twitter is very natural to adopt for bloggers who have no time on their hands to seriously post, but can still tweet when they have 30 seconds of free time. Also another advantage of Twitter is 90% of Twitter interactions are not made via the Twitter website, but via mobile text message, Instant Messaging, or a desktop application such as Twitterific.

Compared to regular blogging, microblogging fulfills immediacy of communication. By encouragingshorter posts, it allows users to translate thoughts as and when into contentwithout investing lots of time. This is also oneof its main differentiating factors from blogging in general.The second important difference is the frequency of update.On average, a prolific blogger may update his blog once a few days. But a microblogger may post several updates in a single day.

All in all Twitter is not a whim of a disillusioned developers, but a potent medium for a whole lot of people to stay updated with the pulse of things around.

What is this blog about?

2008-11-11T06:19:00.000-08:00

Just as the description of my Business Communication blog reads, this blog would be a one stop resource for all that is happening in the world of business communication: Social Media, Communications, PR and Branding. This blog would be a self learning avenue in my professional journey as a business communicator.

Business communication over the years has evolved gradually and today it has reached to an exciting stage where it had never been more dynamic as it is today. The advent of social media in communication has redefined the rules of business communication.
The intent of this blog is to keep a close watch on this evolving phenomenon. Bouquets and brickbats are welcome through comments.

Lets share and learn.