15 things I’ve learned about writing for business and sales

1. People don’t read

Everyone is bombarded with content and it is difficult to gain—let alone hold—their attention. Keep content short and present it in bite-sized chunks. Design documents for ‘browsers’ not

‘readers’.

2. If—when writing a letter—the word

“you” is not the first word, or does not appear in the first sentence,

start again.

The way to gain someone’s attention is talk about them and things they care about. This simple rule—put ‘you’ in the first sentence—forces us to think about what makes what we have to say relevant to

our reader.

3. Sales is the process of getting what we

want by helping others get what they want.

The word ‘sell’ comes from an Old English word, ‘sellan’, which meant ‘to give’. The best sales people think of what they do as providing a

service: helping the customer solve a problem.

4. “A poor proposal focuses on the seller

and what is being sold. The best proposals link everything to the

customer’s goals, needs, and requirements.”

David G Pugh and Terry R Bacon

Now read that again.

5. We make decisions emotionally and

justify them rationally.

The best efforts of their procurement specialists notwithstanding, clients will make decisions on the basis of how they feel. Who do they trust?

Have confidence in? Who do they enjoy working with? To succeed, we must provide the rational

arguments to justify the decision and also engage their emotions.

6. “Don’t tell me: show me.”

People are sceptical: unlikely to believe anything you say about yourself. Rather than make claims,

provide proof: testimonials or case studies that demonstrate that you are as good as you say, and

do deliver what you promise.

7. “A proposal is not an isolated event,

but a critical part of a larger process.” David G Pugh and Terry R Bacon

If you have no existing relationship with the prospect—unless they already know you and have shown interest in buying from you—you are more than likely wasting your time putting in a bid. A proposal doesn’t begin the process of gaining a

new client, it concludes it.

8. “I would not give a fig for the

simplicity this side of complexity, but I would give my life for the simplicity

on the other side of complexity.” Oliver Wendall Holmes

Everything is complicated and people don’t read. And so, the creative task—always—is to make

things simple. Oliver Wendall Holmes challenges us to do so without dumbing it down.

9. “Art edits down complexity and helps

us to focus on the most meaningful aspects.”

Alain de Botton and John Armstrong

Art shows us the way. Artists make choices about what to leave in and what to leave out, about which details must be

shown and which are unnecessary. They make a distinction between ‘being honest’ and ‘being correct’. They focus on the authenticity of the

work as a whole: how effectively it communicates.

10. “The human species thinks in metaphors

and learns through stories.” Catherine Bateson

Business writing may be a dialect—a version of the language used in a particular context—but it

remains a human interaction. The less formal it is—the more personable is it—the greater chance it will have of making a connection with the reader.

11. “Art is a picture of a destination”

Alain de Botton and John Armstrong

Corporate stories—brands—are, by nature, aspirational. They describe who we intend to be,

not necessarily who are are today. �Corporate stories should challenge us

and inspire us.

12. “We sat together…and talked of poetry. I said, ‘A line will take us hours maybe;

Yet if it does not seem a moment’s thought,    Our stitching and unstitching

has been naught.” W. B. Yeats  

It is difficult to craft a sentence, a paragraph—a ‘one-pager’ —that clearly and concisely

communicates. In fact, the less effort demanded of the reader, the greater the effort required by the writer. Good writing is harder than it looks

and it takes time.

13.  “Never use a verb other than ‘said’

to carry dialogue” Elmore Leonard

Keep it simple.

14. We don’t comprehend large numbers

The human brain is extraordinary, but curious. We think we understand terms such as ‘a light year’

or ‘a billon’, but actually, we have no idea. To ensure people appreciate the significance of large numbers, provide context: “that’s more than…” or

“…about the same as.”

15. I’m a surrogate parent

Whether our client is literally a client, or our boss, or ‘the board’, the business writing we do is most

often on behalf of someone else. As much, then, as we regard what we’ve written as ‘our baby’ (and

will fight, as all parents do, to protect our baby), in the end it’s their baby and our work is done. Much

as it infuriates us, they can—and will— make it wear that stupid hat.