(And Why Your Company Needs Them)

Creating business guidelines unique to YOU makes your company trustworthy.

What evokes more trust: Content full of generalities, or content that explains precisely how you (and only you) work?

Last month I wrote a post about the term “best practices.” How too many businesses use it instead of detailing how they do things, expecting their readers to “just get it.”

I argued for writing out specific guidelines. If not for your industry, then at least for your company. Last week I created a name for them: Business Operating Guidelines.

BOGs for short.

I promised a how-to on creating your own BOGs. A set of guidelines on…how to make guidelines.

Now, these guidelines I’m recommending are what spur the beginnings of trust among your customers. They must reflect what you actually do–not what you imagine you do.

Don’t just dash off one-liners for each guideline and call them done. Roll these around in your workplace. Ask employees what they would say. Get feedback from customers.

Make sense? Okay, let’s go for it.

CAVEAT: This is a prototype document. It will change as time and business moves along. Bookmark it and check back.

Guidelines for Writing Guidelines: How to Create BOGs

1. List out the industries, locations and sizes of your clients. Include prospects too (add buyer personas if you have them). All BOGs must address these people.
2. Detail your “typical project.” Go step-by-step, from first contact to final billing. Be as specific as you can without naming (client) names.
3. Write out exactly what you do in the event of a problem. Do this for the 3 problems that first come to mind.
4. Identify which communication channels you prioritize (email? Phone? IM?). Then identify which ones your customers prioritize. Do they match? If not, why not?
5. Write out your initial BOG ideas. THEN discuss them with employees. Ask questions, and let the conversation bring up more questions.
6. Write down the things your customers ask for. Address all of the problems.
7. Frame your BOGs in terms of a conversation with your audience about these topics. Don’t preach or rattle on. What frustrates them? Is there something you do that’s different from other companies? (Do the customers like that?)
8. Include examples. Examples of your documentation, your procedures…the conversations you have. Things like:
   • Project Quote Documents
   • Names & Contact information for specific tasks (customer service, issues, department heads)
   • Your Interactions with Partners, or Vendors
9. Examine competitors’ websites. Is there helpful content you could offer that they don’t? Write a BOG pointing this out.
10. Post the BOGs prominently on your website. Include them in company documents. Make them easy to find.

P.S. – Always use Clear Content for BOGs. Simple, human language.

Now, what do we have after all of that? A bunch of specific, relevant content!

(This one activity could generate dozens of ideas for even more content, too.)

The BOG Advantage to Business: Differentiation

My bet is that BOGs will help you build authority in your industry.

You define how others see you with this content. Everyone else has to follow that.

“But we can’t define how our whole industry works! That’s rude!”

You don’t have to define BOGs for your industry. Just define your own guidelines. It can be a big differentiator for small businesses looking to garner a wider audience.

Specific Guidelines VS. “Best Practices”: Why BOGs Win Out

Posting guidelines on how you work helps you (the business owner/VP/manager) get information out of your head and in front of your audience. People who’d love to know how you work, before they do any business with you.

Instead of wondering what you mean by “best practices,” they have an idea of how you work right up front. Readers get the sense of, “Hey, these are human beings. We can build a good relationship.”

Let me give you a visual on BOG value.
Some of my clients are industrial manufacturers. They know their equipment and their parts inside & out.

But they almost never write out their procedures. It’s all ingrained; they don’t think to tell customers how their business works. They just expect us to trust them (in fairness, most of us do).

As a result, their sites are barren. BOGs give them a chance to beef up their site’s content. Explain what their customers get.

And the customers have that much more reason to trust them.

Want to write out your own BOGs? Tell me about it!

In a future post I’ll share a BOG set for my own business (content creation/editing). Watch for it!

In the meantime, what would you put into BOGs for a B2B Software Development Firm? Or an IT Security Vendor? (Or even a Web Writer?)

I saw this the other day:
How to Use Jargon and the Dangers of Doing So – Bedell Communications

Good list. Covers the basics nicely.

I thought about the terms for a little bit. You could pick any one of them out, ask ten people what it means, and get ten different answers. They seem designed to cause confusion.

But that’s not the worst of it.

Jargon Becomes Dangerous in the Reader’s Mind

Many jargon terms carry certain impressions. Impressions readers automatically call to mind when they see these terms.

Most of the time it’s subconscious. Sometimes it doesn’t happen at all. But either way, you have no control over their reaction.

Only over using the jargon.

With this in mind, I decided to write a post series on jargon. And these ‘hidden dangers’ brewing in readers’ minds.

Hopefully you’ll see enough reason to avoid using them in your content from now on.

(Before I give the first example, let me make a differentiation: I’m talking about ‘marketing jargon’ here. NOT ‘industry jargon’ – sometimes that can be very helpful! Remember, only talking ‘marketing jargon’ here.)

Example #1 – “Industry-Leading”

My first example will be the term “industry-leading.” You’ll usually see it in sentences like these:

* Our industry-leading product line gives you a whole new experience in buying software!
* XYZ Corp. has been an industry leader in plastics manufacturing for 12 years.

Problem number 1.

If you have to make this claim, you’re lying to the reader.

If you ARE the industry leader, you don’t need to say it. Others will say it for you – in mainstream media, in the blogosphere & in social media. Sit back and watch. (Once the customers are happy of course!)

If you AREN’T, and you use the term, this is the impression that forms in a reader’s mind:

“Who are they trying to convince here? Me or them? I don’t buy it.”

Your trust factor just took a hit.

From that point on, there’s a veil of suspicion floating between the screen and your readers’ eyes.

They might even call you out online. Then where are you? Stuck defending an indefensible position.

If you aren’t an industry leader (yet), try one of these approaches:

–Invent a new industry. Characterize your business as the first of a new type. (This takes work – lot of networking, lot of promotion, lot of patience. But it’s done all the time.)

–Go for the underdog position. People DO like rooting for underdogs. Works well for startups.

Think About the Readers’ Impressions

Remember, one purpose of content is to have a conversation with the reader. What kind of conversation are THEY seeing?

Back next time with more dangers hidden…in JARGON! (*Horror film music!*)

If you haven’t heard of The Oatmeal’s comics, you have not earned your Web merit badge. Report back to me when you know how many hungry weasels your body can feed.

Anyway. One of his hilarious works is a great example of what Clear Content means (without even trying!). It’s called “How to NOT Sell Something to My Generation.” Go check it out.

How to NOT Sell Something to My Generation – The Oatmeal.com

Now, I happen to be the same generation as The Oatmeal. But even if I weren’t, I couldn’t agree more with the comic. It may be an oversimplified point–but it’s a vital one. Everyone writing web content, every business trying to sell online needs to know it.

What’s the point I’m talking about here?

Be sincere in content. Not pushy or deceptive.

That’s it.
Read it. Understand it.

When’s the last time you read sincere web content? Can you remember where you saw it?

In this corner, “Telling Stories!”
And in this corner, “Bullet Lists!”

(“Long copy!” “Short copy!” No, no, you guys aren’t in this one.)

For years now, writers and marketers have argued back and forth about what’s the more persuasive writing method. Many advocate telling stores in your content. Others look to the old stalwart “The Bullet List” to get points across fast.

There’s no way I could settle the entire debate with one blog post, so no, I’m not trying that. I’m just responding to one part of it, in the form of a question:
“Are there circumstances where one trumps the other?”

My response: Yes, there are. It all depends on where and when these methods are best employed.

What Factors Would Make Telling a Story More Persuasive (Or Bullet Lists)?

(Note: This post assumes a B2B audience.)

To hash this out, I’m detailing the persuasive power of telling a story vs. using bullet lists in terms of why an audience reads and what persuasion tactic the method employs.

1. Why An Audience Reads: What’s the reader’s main focus when they arrive at your content? What do they want out of it?
2. Persuasion Tactic Employed: What type of persuasive approach suits this method best? What will compel the reader to act the most?

TELLING STORIES
Why Read: When a reader comes across your story, it’s because you grabbed their interest with your subject. With B2B, they’re usually reading because they have a problem & are curious about you solving it.

Persuasion Tactic: Stories are a great way to emotionally involve others. They persuade via “Liking” – a principle that compels us to say yes to someone if we like and/or identify with them. The easiest way to do this is to admit that you (or your client) had a similar problem to the one that brought the reader. “Oh good,” they think. “I’m not alone here. How’d they solve it?”

BULLET LISTS
Why Read: Bullet lists have been around so long that everyone perceives them as straightforward information on a central topic. If people are reading bullet lists, they’re looking for information on that topic.

Persuasion Tactic: Because of this perception, bullets persuade via authority. We often look to an “expert” to show us the way to go. Using bulleted lists to back up your position/sales point carries the impression that you know what you’re talking about. (Which you’d better.)

When Stories are More Persuasive

When it comes to web content, I prefer using stories in blog posts, homepages, use cases and branding.
Case studies (one of my favorite projects) are pretty much one big story about 1 problem.
Even white papers can take advantage of storytelling. Best place for them is introducing the paper’s solution by giving a real-world example. Like a miniature case study inside the white paper.

When Bullets are More Persuasive

Bullet lists have more prominence (and more weight) in white papers and more content-rich websites. These are resources where readers will come seeking information. Give it straight and give a lot of it. Well-structured for easy reference, of course (that’s what the bullets are for).

These aren’t rules. (If they were, I’d have already broken them years ago.) But the principles are backed up by psychology, illustrious resources such as Robert Cialdini and Copyblogger.com, and my own experiences.

What’s your experience? Which is more persuasive to you? Leave a comment and let’s discuss it.

How many times have we visited a website when we’re somewhat interested in what they’re offering…only to have it try so hard to sell us we feel like we walked onto a used-car lot?

Too many websites try to act like big ads. In a few cases this works fine (mentioned below), especially if the reader’s need for your product is immediate. Or if it’s a niche audience and their time’s at a premium.

In these cases the need is acute. Visceral. So it makes sense to sell hard-and-fast.

However, that level of need is not always the case. In fact, I think it’s relatively rare online. When I visit a website, it’s for information. That may be information leading UP TO a sale – or it may not.

So I’ve put together four scenarios here, based on this idea:

1. Little Need/Soft Sell
2. Little Need/Hard sell
3. Strong Need/Hard Sell
4. Strong Need/Soft Sell

Each of these represents an approach you take in your website’s content (how strong its voice is, if you will), compared to the level of need your reader has while visiting the site. How well does need match up to selling approach? What happens in these situations?

Let’s find out.

1. Little Need/Soft Sell – Promotes Following

Your reader has a low level of need; you’re using a soft-sell approach in your content.
The reader may be here for a little research. Or a link brought him here and he/she isn’t quite sure why yet. The content is a light read. Seems to fit with some things they were thinking about.
They’re likely to bookmark the site, subscribe to email/RSS, or follow you on social media channels.

2. Little Need/Hard Sell – Used-Car Pushy

Your reader has a low level of need; you’re using a hard-sell approach in your content.
If web content tries to sell when there isn’t much need, it’ll chase readers off. It’s doubly worse if the content pushes hard for the reader to buy.
They’ll think, “Woah! Hey, who are you trying to convince here, me or you? I didn’t need this anyway,” and click Back.

3. Strong Need/Hard Sell – Short-Term High Sales

Your reader has a strong need; you’re using a hard-sell approach in your content.
There is a circumstance in which hard sell outperforms soft. That circumstance is the single-page online sales letter. You’ve seen these for things like specialized training programs. They’re popular with healthcare products too. These work because they’re hyper-targeted, usually sell one thing only, and do so (typically) for a short time.
Other circumstances though? If you can demonstrate value right away (and a lot of it), this approach can work. Otherwise…bye.

4. Strong Need/Soft Sell – (Many) Confident Buyers

Your reader has a strong need; you’re using a soft-sell approach in your content.
Now there’s something interesting I’ve found…
With little need/hard sell – i.e. you’re pushing something hard when people are just on your site for information – the content often fails. But with soft-sell content, the content succeeds regardless of the level of need.
If I visit a website with a product I’m a little curious about, and the site doesn’t push a hard-sell at me, I’ll remember it. It fits my future need. It forms an impression in my mind.

If I visit a website with a product I really need, but the site soft-sells me? I appreciate that they’re not pushy. It projects confidence. I think, “Wow, these guys must be confident in their product. I should get this one.” An even better impression forms in my mind. And so I buy.

Soft-Sell Wins Out Online

Content is, way too often, the last thing considered when building a new site or working up marketing campaigns. Sometimes when it’s last-minute, businesspeople will write from a hard-sell approach because they don’t have time to work on more finessed content (or to hire a writer).

Going for a soft-sell content approach, taking the extra time to portray your website as a confident educational resource instead of an ad? You’ll get a better response every time. Why? Because you’re finding out your customers’ level of need, and building a sales approach that matches it.

Which selling approach do you prefer? Comment about it.