Communication is a very powerful medium of influence in any business. We have come a long way from the time when we depended only on written communications. Now, email is the most popular mode of communication. But whatever the channel, persuasive words are very important to make any communication powerful.

More than flowery words, it is the clear and concise language that is the crux of any effective communication. Every day we receive dozens of information than we can deal with, so in order for your sales and marketing messages to stand out and generate the desired outcome, they have to be clear, concise and, most important of all, be of value to the reader.

The above emphasises the need for good copies every day, be it for sales proposals, promotional material, advertisements, press releases, newsletters, speeches or your website.

Although it is important to have a standard writing style but moderation as per specific client should not be ignored.  For example, while dealing with your clients abroad, you may have to follow their communication custom like greeting them in their language etc.

Problems

Everybody thinks they know the right amount of English so are apt at writing even business communication. Just because you can put some sentences together doesn’t mean that you can write. Sales, marketing, advertisement etc need different copies and it is only an expert’s job.

Problems with self-written copies:

• You're too close to it, so you may have difficulty sorting out the wheat from chaff in terms of what you need to say.
• You're looking at it from your own viewpoint, which means you tend to focus on what you want to sell rather than what your potential customer wants to buy.
• You tend to give details about the product or the process when what your customer wants to know is what benefits they are going to get.
• You may undervalue the importance of certain elements such as spelling, presentation or layout, which may mean that your end result looks unprofessional and shoddy. At times you are too pompous about your job and may think that what you are writing is correct.
• You will probably find that you spend hours or days agonising over what to say and how to structure your copy, which means that that you start to lose sight of what reads well.
• Also, you may be in a habit to write everyday and develop a wrong style which may be difficult to unlearn.

Solving the problem

Instead of giving this job to just anybody, one must hire a professional, who is either a freelancer or a hired just for that particular job only. Remember, a few dollars spent on this exercise will go a long way in projecting a positive picture of your company.

Mukul Dhall, CEO, BigLaksh says that a message should be loud and clear. “From Shahrukh khan to Steve jobs, they are known because their message is loud and clear”.