In the Clear

Gratitude is the most exquisite form of courtesy. ―?Jacques Maritain

Welcome to?In the Clear.?I'll keep you up-to-date on why and how plain language increases profits, decreases negative call-ins, improves customer?experience. Who?wouldn’t want that??I hope you find resources and tips you need?for clear, concise, credible?communication.?

My Musings:?Gratitude Means More Than Thank You

Like many families at Thanksgiving, we all talk about what we’re grateful for. Of course, family, friends, a warm house, food, a job we love, etc. But this year, I realize I’m grateful for something new: receiving content or information from a company or the government that I can easily understand. I often spend far too much time figuring out what content is telling me, or what words mean, or what’s missing.

For example, I recently received an invitation to a gallery asking me to join them for Nutrient Rich. However, no where did they explain what that meant or what I would see. So I took time to email the program director and suggest they tell their audience what the event was about. I wasn’t very grateful for that.

On the other hand, I checked my score on Credit Karma and, as usual, found everything I needed to know quickly and in language I could easily understand. Now that’s something to be grateful for. They gave me minutes I didn’t have to waste, a warm feeling that they cared about their customers, and (frankly) a huge sigh of relief because I was in and out of their site in seconds. CX people use the word “delight” to refer to a good customer experience. I also like “grateful.”

So as you build your website, or create content, or even fire off a Tweet about a new product or service, ask yourself: Will my customers be grateful they received this message? If the answer is “yes,” then you can be grateful, too.

What's New?

Lately,?I’ve been asked/hired multiple times to compare plain language software. Let me know if you have questions about what is best for your uses.

What's in the News?

ProPublica experiments with ultra-accessible plain language in stories about people with disabilities:

I think the word “disabilities” can be offensive to some, so apologies for their headline.

Tips for Today

• Help Your Customer:?If you want your customers to have a good experience with your content, be friendly, be authentic, and be clear. I once almost burst out crying when I finally got someone on the phone who could solve my technology problem. That company became my go-to, and I told everyone I know about them.?
• Help Them Feel Grateful:?Not grateful like they owe you something. Customers owe us nothing. We owe them everything. If you make your language clear, your content brief, and you give people what they need (not what you want to give them, which too often is too much), they’ll feel gratitude for the ease of the transaction.

Be grateful that your customers keep coming back. That happens when their experience is easy and you solve their problems.?

Do you want to get clear with your written content? I am available for keynote presentations, training workshops, plain language content, and?consultations.?Contact me?to discuss your communication challenges.

Deborah S. Bosley, Ph.D. Founder |?Principal The Plain Language Group, LLC 704.641.1334 www.theplainlanguagegroup.com

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