The language of New Business (a.k.a. the importance of manure)

When you’re about to hit ‘Publish’ on your latest website update, do me a favour - participate in a little role playing (before you reach for the PVC mask, let me explain…)

Imagine you’re a really stressed Marketing Director whose American counterpart is really pissing him off by putting the Q2 budgets under a biased magnifying lens. Can you do that for me?

Ok, great. Now imagine you’re about to receive the fifth email of the morning from a brand/digital/marketing/design agency, and try to imagine the voice he hears in his head as he reads about how you “really get under the skin of your customers” or “bring brands alive online”. What’s that you say? you “…move at pace, act with integrity and collaborate relentlessly”? Well that’s smashing.

You know how perky and impressive your statements all sounded when you read them out in your proud voice? It doesn’t sound the same at all when you simply don’t care does it? Instead it sounds like a dullard spewing tired clichés into a tin bucket.

Now that you know the recipient’s frame of mind, why not write the next email without trying to impress him. Instead, HELP him. Don’t tell him you’ve “built a frictionless design ops platform”, tell him (brace yourself) that you can help. Tell him how you’ve helped people just like him and are going to make his day better.

Don’t talk crap, just talk.