Damage Control: A Written Answer to a Business Disaster (Case Study)

7-21-08

Most people think copy writing belongs in ads, on brochures, etc. Heavy promotion, chock-full of sales slogans. Oh, and for filling webpages with jargon, so they don’t look empty.

I’ve always believed writing has tremendous power in business. To prove it, here’s one example where good copy helped salvage an entire business!

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(These proceedings concluded in mid-2009.  But I’m leaving out or changing names of the parties involved to protect their privacy.)

Last month I received a call from Jeff, a mortgage broker in my area. He said he needed a letter written ASAP, and a fellow copywriter had recommended me.

Why the referral? The letter needed would seek damages from a software company, whose processing application caused severe damage to his business. Heavy on detail, very aware of the seriousness of the issues. Even though I like putting humor in my writing, I am very good at this kind too.

And I’d need to be.

THE PROBLEM: DATA LOSS

I spoke with Jeff at his office the next day. He laid out a day-by-day portrayal of what had happened. This software company – we’ll call them BrokerX Software – had sent Jeff an upgrade of their software 2 weeks prior. Not wanting to risk any data loss, Jeff called the company and had them walk him through setup.

Everything went fine. Until Jeff went back and checked.

BrokerX’s upgrade had erased his database of customer information!

You read right. Every name, phone number, account history…gone. Needless to say, Jeff called back.

At first, BrokerX tried to fix the problem remotely, connecting to his office in California from their center in Texas. While they worked like this (with no success), the software upgrade actually traveled out across his company network and erased any remaining data in the system!

Now the backups were gone too. Jeff almost panicked. He faced a double-barreled shotgun of Business Collapse and Financial Ruin.

Since remote support yielded little, BrokerX brought in technicians from a California office, hoping to restore the data on-site. Over a week’s effort only netted a 15% restoration.

Jeff was crushed. Despite all their efforts, his business was essentially destroyed. All the backups were gone, his paper files only covered a fraction of customers…he faced going out of business. From one software upgrade.

BrokerX declared they would like to settle with Jeff, and requested a damage estimate from him. Here’s where the letter came in. Jeff is a great broker – but he was far too frazzled by these circumstances to write out the story.

THE SOLUTION: AN URGENT LETTER TO SEEK DAMAGES

I was a little busy that week with two other clients. But after hearing Jeff’s story, I knew he needed the help. Badly. Jeff and I met, and had several phone conversations over the course of a week to rush his project along.

This was more of a legal/financial writing project than technical, so it was a unique sort of challenge. But I had several things going for me:

1. Jeff was thorough, and completely open. He provided every detail I asked for, and then some.

2. Jeff’s lawyer stood ready to look over my work once completed. In case a change was needed to
satisfy legal requirements.

3. Because BrokerX had in fact requested a damage estimate, I didn’t have to use a hard sales
angle. I focused on writing out a solid case for Jeff, so his damages would be 100% valid in
any reader’s eyes.

After Jeff gave his seal of approval, his lawyer took a look at it. His response? “There’s nothing I need to change!”

The next Monday, Jeff’s “Request for Damages” letter had been sent off to BrokerX.

THE RESULT: SETTLEMENT IN PROGRESS

Jeff called me a week later to say the company had arranged a meeting to discuss a settlement. He said he finally felt good about the process, and had hope of salvaging his company again. Great! I asked him to keep me informed, and so far everything’s going well for him.

Professional copy writing isn’t just for glitzy ads and hard-driving sales. It’s essential whenever you need to communicate a message. Regardless of whether that message is marketing a new product, explaining your business methods, or requesting legal damages.