That may not necessarily be totally TRUE. As in, there are 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 than THREE things that many do not quite get right when it comes to their email responses.
If we are speaking about 𝗕𝗨𝗜𝗟𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗥𝗘𝗟𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗦𝗛𝗜𝗣𝗦 though, then these are the most common complaints I hear from people that receive emails – whether from government agencies, companies or service providers.
✍️ “They do not understand and get where I am coming from”
✍️ “Can someone interpret what these people are trying to say to me?”
✍️ “Are they really focused on responding to me?’
“𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗱𝗼 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗜 𝗮𝗺 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺”
💜 Many writers struggle to demonstrate empathy. The thing is, they do it well enough face-to-face and even over the phone, but when it comes to showing it in writing…not so much. And yet we all can learn to do this. Learning the art of doing this in writing will actually help you find the right words too, when you have to speak to and show empathy in person or over the phone.
It is no longer enough to be polite or nice, as someone just recently shared with me. It is not also about being efficient. Even when solutions are not exactly what the customer hopes for, empathy can go a long way to ensure the customer experience is a positive one.
“𝗖𝗮𝗻 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘁 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗮𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗲?”
😅 The number of times I have read emails that sound like they come from a bygone era is astounding. Especially in Asia. Write like you mean it and sound like a human being please.
Keeping it conversational does not mean it is being unprofessional. Most people do not use words like “herewith” and “forthwith”….of “for your perusal” and avoid those “bombastic” rarely used words or jargon that only YOU know about.
Structure, Organsiation and keeping things simple goes farher in the long-run.
“𝗔𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗲?’
🔍 Which brings me to my final point for this post – trust is about feeling like you were totally focused on what I have written in about. Which means that if I have written to you about three things then please give me a response to each of
them. When it does not happen, trust “wobbles” (a reference I got from Frances Frei’s Ted Talk)
A common lament is that some responses people receive are a waste of time. When Not ALL queries are addressed, there needs to be a follow-up call or yet another email. What a waste of time and effort.
Having a system to identify explicit and implicit needs and wants of the writer is KEY to ensuring you get it right with your response – that ONE time.
After years of training and practicing and reasearching on the topic, I decided to create a workshop on how we can all be better at this skill. Hence 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗲™️.
#WritingWorkshops#emailwriting#TheWriteResponse#ChangeBusiness
