I read a post yesterday from the team at 37Signals and found the on-going commentary fascinating. The post concerned two approaches to a response being sent to a customer who was looking for a bigger discount.
The first reply was very direct and essentially said;
“sorry, but no can do over and above what we are already offering“.
The second was more flowery in approach and basically said;
“we’d love to have you as a customer and feel your company would benefit” along with a re-dressed version of what is being sold on the website.
The variation in opinion as to which was the correct response has been exactly 180 degrees. To me, it is reflective of how difficult it actually is to put together a response that will please most of the people, most of the time – which is what many of us try to do.
So which is the right answer?
For me, neither – the first was overtly direct and the second overtly fluffy. But this is exactly the challenge isn’t it? What works for me, will not necessarily work for others.
So perhaps instead of trying to please everyone all the time, we should just focus on putting ourselves forward in our communications and accept that this is who we are.
Of course I am not condoning being ignorant, rude, dismissive or intolerant communication towards our customers - but I suspect that most of them would prefer us just to be honest, ourselves and a decent representative for our business.
What are your thoughts?
Photo: DerrickT
It’s a hard one. Sometimes I draft some crafted responses and get nothing substantial from the client. I just finished reading “ReWork” from the guys at 37 Signals. They only hire people who can write well, they say, since written communication is where everything is going apparently.
We have to stop at some point, and just be ourselves. I think the big issue is not so much to get others to accept and like us, it's accepting ourselves and liking ourselves, and trusting that we are good business managers and good communicators.
That is all, have a great self-loving weekend
I tend to prefer honesty over too much flowery language as well. I've seen responses that attempt to “soften the blow” to the point that it can be difficult to tell what the actual response is!
On the other hand, as you mention, politeness never hurt anyone. You need to be direct in the information you provide, but it costs nothing to be polite. Often, we mistake vagueness for politeness, but they are quite different things.
Hi Marek. Thanks for the comment. It does indeed cost nothing to be polite (as well as it being more likely you'll keep the client on-side!).
Hi Facundo. Thanks for the comment. I would agree with them – being able to write well is key. The trick is being able to do it without coming across as contrived or false.
Thanks for the comment Elaine. I agree that your “self” needs to come through in the writing and that by being effective generally, that the projection will be positive of both the company and the individual.