Bad Writing Can Cost Insurers Time & Money

Where Bad Writing Begins: High School/College Horror Stories:

Remember the pressure of English assignments? An essay of at least 1,000 words, which should include some new vocabulary words is due in 24 hours and you're still 400 words short! Insert those new vocabulary words (which you still don't understand!) and crank out some more sentences. If you're repeating the same thoughts, don't worry. There's only one goal: reach that magic 1,000and not a word less!

To those who still write business copy like an essay, give it up! With business writing, you should use as few words as possible and simple words. Nobody reading your e-mails, letters or proposals wants long, fancy words anymore. Remember here comes a clich? less is more, or at least better.

Chances are most of your personnel from customer service representatives and claims managers to senior executives haven't had any writing training since high school or college, and their writing suffers as a result. That's why your company should consider business writing training tailored to the needs of your employees.

Organizing Business Writing Training:

First determine the level of interest by asking all managers to identify employees who could most benefit, based on writing proficiency and the number of documents they generate. Send a notice to the entire staff, if appropriate. (Don't forget senior executives, who may be thrilled to take a class that can hone their writing skills.)

Select an instructor either from the organization maybe from the public relations or corporate communications department or a qualified outside instructor.

After you get a list of enrollees, find out the types of documents they write and get some samples. These could include letters denying claim payments, letters to state insurance departments, reports, proposals, performance reviews and a lot more. Ask managers to identify specific writing weaknesses such as vague language or poor organization.

Sit down with the trainer to review writing samples and the managers' feedback, which will help you determine how to group employees and the types of documents to address. Limit class sizes to 15 people, and try to put higher-level executives in their own session.

Each group should receive a three- to five-hour group workshop and, if possible, one-on-one instruction with the trainer. Individualized meetings either immediately after the group workshop or within two weeks can be critical, since every writer has different deficiencies that need to be strengthened.

Among the skills to address in writing training:

? Be clear: Don't force the reader to guess important details.

VAGUE: I need the recent E&O claims report as soon as possible so I have enough time to review it before the upcoming department meeting.

CLEAR: Please provide me with the 2004 second-quarter report on E&O claims by Sept. 1, so I can review it before the Sept. 15 department meeting.

? Use straightforward language:

STUFFY: You will be advised of our decision on whether your claim meets our required criteria for remitting payment by the latter part of the summer.

STRAIGHTFORWARD: By Aug. 31, we'll tell you if we'll pay your claim.

? Be compelling: Convey enthusiasm for your ideas through powerful and energetic words.

DULL: With a targeted direct mail campaign, we can have 10 percent more commercial auto revenues, which will put our division on a better level.

COMPELLING: With a targeted direct mail campaign, we can boost commercial auto revenues by 10 percent and propel our division to new heights.

? Get to the point: Write like a journalist!

Is there anyone in the insurance industry or any other industry who is not impatient today? If you wait until page five to explain your key ideas, you'll lose those who just aren't willing to read that much.

Write business copy like newspaper copy putting the most important idea first. Check out the brief summaries on the front page of this issue of NU one to two sentences to entice you to read the entire stories. Put this practice to work for business text and you?ll get more people to read your documents and sooner.

Here's an example of a comprehensive one-sentence e-mail/memo that states the problem, offers specific suggestions and details the anticipated results.

CONCISE ONE-SENTENCE E-MAIL: Given the recent decline in personal auto production, I suggest expanding the database by 20 percent a move that should give us 10 percent more qualified leads in the third quarter.

? Use e-mail properly:

Don't cheat on capitalization, punctuation and other grammatical rules. Write an e-mail like any other document. Plus, take the time to write a meaningful and specific subject line, which includes your suggested next steps, if appropriate. This may prompt readers to open the message sooner.

VAGUE SUBJECT LINE: Report on July comp claims

SPECIFIC SUBJECT LINE: July comp claims up 10%/Let's step up RM

? Learn to edit:

It's much easier to find stuffy language and grammatical errors and redundancies in someone else's text. But good writers can put themselves in the readers' shoes and carefully edit their own documents.

After the workshop, be sure all participants complete written evaluations. Include rating factors such as relevance of content for their work, workshop format, and how much they expect their writing to improve as a result of the training. Then, in the next several weeks, ask employees and their managers for some gut reactions on how much difference the training has made and whether additional group or one-on-one sessions should be scheduled.

If you're not sure whether your employees need business writing training, read some of their documents but don't be shocked at the lack of skills you might find. For many, writing has been a forgotten skill one which can be dramatically improved through the right training that uses practical and easy-to-understand techniques.

Armed with better writing skills, employees can gain more confidence. In many cases, talented individuals who upgrade their writing can demonstrate leadership skills and catapult themselves to higher positions with greater responsibilities. With better writing, the whole company wins through higher productivity, greater efficiency and other positive results.

Jack E. Appleman, CBC, president of the Monroe, N.Y.-based SG Communications, is an award-winning writer who teaches business writing to firms in the insurance field and in other industries. Mr. Appleman, who also teaches writing and communications skills at the College of Mount Saint Vincent in New York City and at Fairleigh Dickinson University in Madison, N.J., may be reached at 845-782-2419, or at jack@sgwriting.com.

Sum Up Your Ideas In 60 Seconds

Remember the Broadway and Hollywood classic, "My Fair Lady," when Professor Henry Higgins, frustrated about Eliza Doolittle's pronunciation skills, asks: "Why can't the English teach their children how to speak?" In today's insurance industry, that could be re-written as: "Why can't businesses teach their good speakers to writer better?"

Listen to someone who speaks well and notice their directness, simplicity and minimum of words. But ask that fine orator to put these same thoughts to paper and something strange often happens: Those fine communication skills vanish, producing text that's vague, stuffy and filled with redundancies.

If you're a good speaker who wants to write better or anyone who gets writer's block try this: Before starting your next document, imagine that your supervisor has just called from the airport. "I won't be able to read the memo, so tell me, in a nutshell, the key points in one minute so I can catch my plane."

You'd be forced to concisely and immediately state the most important point which is how you should craft every document. Though most people who read your text dont have to board planes in 60 seconds, they're still impatient. That's why you need to get to the point right away.

Reproduced from National Underwriter Edition, September 23, 2004. Copyright 2004 by The National Underwriter Company in the serial publication. All rights reserved.Copyright in this article as an independent work may be held by the author.