Legal and Business Writing Consultant : Lori Herz : Write For Clients : Professional Writing and Online Content Consulting

There’s a new market culture that service professionals can no longer afford to ignore or opt out of. It goes by different names, including: the conceptual age, the experience economy and the creative age. But, the given name is largely irrelevant. It’s the market’s core message that really matters to service providers.

Blogger Hugh MacLeod beautifully captures this message in his now-classic commentary, The Hughtrain. If you prefer the quick-fix version, MacLeod gives voice to the new professional services consumer in this memorable quote: “We are hungry. Meaning is the prey.” 

This quest for meaning influences consumer decision-making. Professional services consultant David Maister and co-author Lois Kelly illustrate this point in an article titled Marketing is a Conversation. 

They suggest that it’s high time “we stopped thinking of marketing as a one-way propaganda campaign.” Instead, marketing is best viewed as a conversation in which we openly invite our business prospects and clients to share their “ideas, beliefs and perspectives” with us person-to-person.

Maister and Kelly don’t see this as a one-shot proposition, but an ongoing exchange that compels clients to regularly air their core “concerns, issues and needs.” This person-to-person dialoguing doesn’t have to be face-to-face. We can invite and nurture it through the content we write for our blogs, newsletters and other client communications.

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My daughter came home from school last week and enthusiastically told me how her middle school science teacher brings class lessons to life by sharing anecdotes that relate to the curriculum. I wasn't surprised by her enthusiasm.

In my post on sticky business writing, I cited a list of attributes that make our communications durable and memorable. Among those attributes are stories.

Most of us have experienced first-hand how facts and ideas conveyed through engaging stories come alive and linger in our thoughts and memories. Media producers, public relations professionals and marketers routinely harness the power of story to channel their messages to audiences.

The importance of storytelling is also gaining a foothold in other business sectors. In his Forbes.com article on The Power of Stories, John Kotter notes that some business leaders are coming to recognize that “we learn best--and change--from hearing stories that strike a chord within us.” They understand that the stories a firm broadcasts --deliberately or inadvertently -- about itself, its employees or its clients can have a big impact on its business culture and bottom line.

To evaluate how stories infuse our business, Kotter suggests that we consider these questions:

• What are the stories that define us in light of our customers, employees and shareholders?

• Are these the stories we want to tell--and have others tell about us?

If the answer to these questions is "No," he recommends that we take steps “to replace the old stories” with ones that genuinely support our business values and success.

Seth Godin adds to this point in a post on how to tell a great story. Drawing from an Ode Magazine article he wrote on the same topic, Godin sets out the underpinnings of all great stories. Among other common denominators, he says, all great stories:

• Capture the imagination

• Are consistent and authentic

• Don’t contradict themselves

• Agree with what the audience already believes

• Make people feel smart and secure

Many of us are comfortable with the idea of incorporating stories into conventional business writing and communications. At the MarketingProfs Daily Fix blog, Jennifer Jones shares that storytelling is also the key to making social media work for us. Jones recognizes that, even in the new media universe, information delivered via stories is much more vibrant and indelible than dry presentations of fact.

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An often-cited building block of successful and enduring client relationships is authenticity – the desire and ability to lay down our shield, open up and let our clients get to know who we are and what’s important to us.

Authentic exchanges can take place during face-to-face conversations with clients and prospects. But, our everyday business writing – in emails, articles, blogs and other Web and print publications – can also be a channel for authentic expression.

Steve Pavlina offers a great post on authentic communication. Describing his visceral reaction to inauthentic written communications, he states: “I just don’t want to spend time dealing with people who aren’t willing to communicate like real human beings.” Pavlina also directs us to John Kinde’s commentary on the power of authenticity.

Kinde, in turn, wraps his thoughts on the subject around inspiring footage of the late Fred Rogers. The footage transports us to a 1969 senate hearing at which Rogers talks about funding for the newly formed Corporation for Public Broadcasting. You can click here to view the clip.

As Kinde points out, what’s remarkable about this interaction is how Mr. Rogers’ authenticity affects the hard-nosed politician he’s addressing. It’s moving and, yes, instructive, to see a person who’s so genuine and so crystal clear about why he’s here and what he stands for.

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Welcome to Write for Clients.

I’m Lori Herz. I designed this site as an open space where service professionals can learn and discuss how powerful writing builds business success.

As a lawyer by training and business writer and communications consultant by trade, I’ve spent over 15 years exploring this connection. The communications landscape has changed dramatically in that time. But, strong business writing remains a potent relationship tool that helps you connect to the people you work with and want to work with.

I invite you to visit here often for fresh tips and commentary on harnessing the power of your business writing. A blog is an ongoing conversation, so please feel free to add your voice and insight to the coverage at Write for Clients.

Thanks to Kevin, Mark, Stacey and the great team at LexBlog for bringing my blog design to life. This is my second time around as a LexBlog client and I appreciate your steady support and professionalism over the years.

Many thanks, also, to my family for cheering me on in this new venture. Write for Clients wouldn’t exist without your help and patience. There’s nothing like the discerning eye and unbridled honesty of a 12-year-old aspiring writer.

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There’s a big buzz about sticky ideas - ideas that catch on like wildfire and take up residence in our minds. Malcolm Gladwell introduced the concept of stickiness in his bestselling book, The Tipping Point.

Building on his introduction, brothers Chip and Dan Heath reverse engineer sticky ideas in their book, Made to Stick. Informed by the work of political scientists, psychologists and educators, the Heaths conclude that there’s a blueprint for communicating ideas so that they’ll stick. It’s s-u-c-c-e-s-s:

• Simplicity
• Unexpectedness
• Concreteness
• Credibility
• Emotion
• Stories

Garr Reynolds picks up on this theme at his terrific blog, Presentation Zen. He discusses how the six key elements of stickiness “are easy to incorporate into messages – including presentations and keynote addresses.”

The same holds true for business writing. People are likely to remember and respond to our messages when we deliver them through simple, concrete and credible written content that tells a story with some emotion and offers an unexpected benefit to the reader.

For another interesting look at stickiness, you can check out this Inc.com piece on Marketing made Sticky.

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I've previously discussed how business writing can facilitate the human-to-human exchange that’s vital to successful client relationships.

An exchange is a two-way proposition.

Just as you need to learn about their issues, concerns and goals, your clients need to learn about you – the you that exists beyond your professional credentials and experience. This doesn’t mean that you spill all the details of your personal life. Rather, you offer appropriate anecdotes and insights that convey who you are as a person, thinker and collaborator.

Writing provides a solid platform for infusing your self into your business relationships. Susan Cartier Liebel nicely illustrates this point in a post about standing by the decision to start a solo law practice.

Through her writing, she depicts the emotions she felt while transitioning from solo law practice to her current work as a consultant, educator and blogger. She also acknowledges the feelings that lawyers often experience in going solo. I regularly read Liebel’s posts. But, given this new snapshot of the human behind the writer, I now have a heightened interest in her blog and other business offerings.

Many people resist, and even resent, the idea that self-expression is a business asset because it raises the specter of people pejoratively described as:

• Self-absorbed

• Selfish

• Self-Centered

• Self–Aggrandizing

While I understand why they make this connection, I think it’s a faulty one.

Certainly, self-expression can be taken to an unhealthy extreme. When that happens, there’s no room for give and take. So, there’s little to no chance of creating mutually rewarding and lasting relationships in business or elsewhere.

But, the same poor odds hold when we try to cultivate business connections without putting our selves into play.

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I’m a big proponent of the belief that business relationships are personal. But, many service professionals find it hard to drop the mantle of authority and sincerely relate to their clients as human beings who have fears, hopes and challenges.

While most of us write cards, letters and e-mails to meaningfully connect with family and friends, the common view is that business writing is the cool, aloof, dull and dry second-cousin of our personal communications.

That’s a misperception.

Business writing and intimacy mix very well. By intimacy, I’m referring to a desire to get to know the people behind the issues or needs that come across our desk (or computer screen). I’m also referring to a willingness to throw our genuine and empathic selves into the mix.

So, how can you better relate to your prospects and clients through your business writing?

Here are some tips via an acronym I created for a recent presentation:

• Reframe your focus. People seek out service professionals when they have issues that need solutions. They want to know that you understand their problems and can help them. They’re looking for themselves in your writing, not a reflection of your greatness and accomplishments.

• Enter your readers’ emotional space. There’s an emotional component to every business issue. Whether it’s allaying concerns about financial projections or employee attrition, prospects and clients want to know that you recognize and relate to their fears, anger and upset.

• Listen. Listening skills are critical to effective business writing. To meaningfully relate to others, we need to hear what they have to say about themselves, their situation and what they want from us. Pretend or selective listening just doesn’t cut it.

• Ask questions. One of the best ways to fine tune your writing is to regularly ask prospects and clients questions about their business needs and concerns. Use the information they provide as a guide for creating compelling online and print content.

• Tune in to conversations. There are many avenues for staying informed on matters that affect your current and prospective clients. Identify pertinent topics and follow the discussion thread through trade journals, blogs, mainstream media outlets and professional groups.

• Erase the jargon. I’m not referring to industry terms that your clients regularly use. I’m talking about legalese and other professional dialects that hamper clear, direct and meaningful written communications.

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