What's wrong with this email?

I need a sense check, please.

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A few weeks ago, my son’s drama school sent me this email:

I didn’t reply.? I skim-read it, assuming they’d go ahead and charge my card.?

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But a few days later, I received a chaser email for payment.

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Looking at it now, I can see the phrase:

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‘With your permission, we can take payment’

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actually meant:

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‘Please reply to this email and confirm you are happy for us to charge your card.’

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But it was so ambiguous I just glossed over it.? Did you gloss over it too?

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I call this sort of request a ‘Cloudy Call-To-Action (CTA)’ – nebulous, vague and open to interpretation.?

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Cloudy CTAs are an absolute no-no if you want to get people to reply.?

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A surefire way to avoid them?? Use questions, not statements:

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‘Are you happy for us to charge your card?’ would have straight away shown me I needed to reply.?

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Or perhaps I’m just being pedantic. ?What do you reckon?

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And have you received any Cloudy CTAs recently?? If so, I’d love to see them!

I'm a marketing and brand consultant and communication coach. To get your business off that comfy old couch and out there winning business, visit kimarnold.co.uk or drop me a line at [email protected].

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