by Leslie O'Flahavan | Aug 24, 2020 | Uncategorized
Webinar 1 Where to find plain language award winners and heroes: Plain English Awards The Center for Plain Language is a 501(c)(3), non-profit organization. We help organizations create information that’s easier to understand. https://plainlanguage.gov...
by Leslie O'Flahavan | Aug 16, 2020 | Uncategorized
We’ve all experienced the highs and lows of having a personal virtual network. We enjoy the highs—reconnecting on Facebook with your best friend from high school—and we suffer the lows—scrolling through a cousin’s Instagram pics of every plate of food she’s ever...
by Leslie O'Flahavan | Aug 16, 2020 | Uncategorized
A badly written knowledge base article is like the tainted clam in the linguine. It probably won’t kill you, but you aren’t going to feel very well after eating it. What did that bad clam cost you? Well, you wasted $24.95 on a meal, and no one wants to throw...
by Leslie O'Flahavan | Jul 30, 2020 | Uncategorized
You want to help your customers, you really do. So you write a gorgeous 75-page User Manual, which answers every conceivable question your customer might have about using your product or service. And then you learn the ugly truth. Nobody reads the User Manual, even...
by Leslie O'Flahavan | Jul 30, 2020 | Writing Matters Blog
For years, customer care organizations have been as scared of social media as water-phobic summer campers staring at the high dive. “What if customers gang up on us? What if we get trolled? What if one of our agents gives the wrong answer and all 25,000 followers see...
by Leslie O'Flahavan | Jul 27, 2020 | Uncategorized
To help customers get up to speed with a product or service, companies offer many types of documentation: user manuals, video tutorials, in-product help, even good old FAQs. Why? Because customers need heaps of help when they’re just starting to use the thing you’ve...
by Leslie O'Flahavan | Jul 27, 2020 | Uncategorized
In a few select companies, the Marketing Department and the Customer Service Department are like a happily married middle-aged couple. They like the same music, they finish each other’s sentences, and they’re even starting to look alike. But in most companies,...
by Leslie O'Flahavan | Jul 27, 2020 | Writing Matters Blog
Predicting the death of email may seem risky for a consultant who helps frontline customer service agents improve their writing skills, but I’m here and I’m doing it. Throughout the 2000s and the 2010s, email was the workhorse customer service channel—an easy, modern...
by Leslie O'Flahavan | Jul 27, 2020 | Uncategorized
A knowledge base article is like an apple. A fresh, crisp apple makes a wonderful snack, bakes a delicious pie, and brightens a green salad. But a mushy, flavorless apple makes a dreadful snack, bakes a tasteless pie, and ruins a green salad. To improve the dish it’s...
by Leslie O'Flahavan | Jul 20, 2020 | Featured, Uncategorized, Writing Matters Blog
When I started my business 24 years ago, I believed I should have a “versus” attitude toward my competitors. It was their offering versus mine, right? One company had to win, didn’t it? Like many people, I thought that getting ahead in business meant getting ahead of...
