CHAPTER 30

Trust the TA-DA Template^TM

When something can be read without effort, great effort has gone into its writing.

—ENRIQUE JARDIEL PONCELA, SPANISH PLAYWRIGHT AND NOVELIST

When an email, report, or proposal confuses people, typically the problem is structure, not content. To translate this concept to digital language: The writer selects the image, edits it, crops it, and then decides where he wants to post it. Wrong approach.

A backward display of information leads to either rereading or total incomprehension. Yet people routinely write as they think. They start with “once-upon-a-time-there-was-this-problem” and go all the way through the details of the situation and the investigation finally to “here’s-my-summary-of-the-situation-and-solution-THE-END.”

The difficulty with this display of information: People can’t follow your discussion of the problem and details until they understand your overall point. See what I mean with this example.

Don,

As you know, for the last 5 months, we’ve been formally evaluating the Call Center to find alternatives to enable our company to reach a certain set of business goals. A few of those goals are to:

(I know this!)

•  Put infrastructure in place to grow in a “campus-like” environment

•  Improve response times internally and externally

•  Stop giving support away free due to inability to track maintenance agreements

•  Reduce extraordinary hold times

(I already knew these goals!)

Our sense of urgency was increased when the company discovered, through a report, that the abandonment rate of calls was extraordinarily high—from 24% to in excess of 50% of customers or potential customers hanging up before making contact.

(Whoa! That’s bad. What are you going to do about it?)

What we think NetComm offers to us can best be described as business impact, technology, and financial investment. The investment is roughly $2 mil, which can be financed over 3 years. Let me know your thoughts and if you’d like me to set up a meeting with them to answer your questions.

DeAnn

Besides having to read all the way to the end of the document to find out the key message, this email raises more questions than it answers: What “report” revealed the abandonment rate? What is meant by “business impact” and “technology”? Is NetComm making part of the $2 million investment? What’s the time frame before this situation is resolved?

Solution: Use the TA-DA Template^TM to organize your routine documents (emails, letters, reports, and proposals) in an easy-to-understand format so readers can grasp your point quickly in one reading and take action. Don’t leave them wondering, “Now what am I supposed to do?” “Why is this important?” “So what is the cost again?”

THE TA-DA TEMPLATE ^TM FOR WRITING

Trust The TA-DA Template^TM for organizing your emails, reports, and proposals in an easy-to-understand format that helps readers grasp your message quickly in one reading.

Don’t keep your readers blindfolded halfway through your documents before stating your key message. Putting the message up front will reduce both reader time and tension.

Of course, exceptionally sensitive situations—such as “bad news” messages—warrant a different structure. Start with a neutral or positive opening, add an explanation about the situation or reasons for the “news” you’re about to deliver, and then state your negative message. (For a few other exceptions, see E-Writing: 21st-Century Tools for Effective Communication.) But for the vast majority of emails, reports, and proposals, the above template will be all you need to be clear, concise, and persuasive.

TA-DA—that performance will generate applause!

Here’s the TA-DA Template^TM at work, a revision of the previous email.

Don,

After 5 months of evaluation, we think NetComm is the best business partner to help us improve our Call Center service. Their current study and report has already had significant business impact by revealing that 24–50% of our prospects and customers abandon the call before ever making contact with our Call Center. Additionally, NetComm’s specific technology (both software, processes, and staff expertise) complements our environment well to achieve the key business goals we’ve established for the next 12 months.

Their proposal involves our investment of roughly $2 mil, which can be financed over 3 years.

I plan to meet with them to review the proposal in more detail. If you’d like to attend, please let me know when you’re available, and I’ll coordinate accordingly.

Just as a reminder, here are a few of the business goals we’re working toward:

•  Put infrastructure in place to grow in a “campus-like” environment

•  Improve response times internally and externally

•  Stop giving support away free due to inability to track maintenance agreements

•  Reduce extraordinary hold times

I’ve attached their full proposal if you care to review it.

DeAnn