Good Writing Has The Power To Boost Insurer, Adjuster, Producer Productivity

Sometimes it's hard to be simple. Yes, you heard me right! Call it an oxymoron like those gems from baseball legend Yogi Berra–famous for saying that “90 percent of this game is half mental.” Simplicity and clarity are especially hard to come by in the digital age.

Check out this error message I recently got on my computer: “The exception unknown software (OXc0000017) occurred in the application at location Ox7c964ed.” I always seem to have trouble with that “exception unknown software.” What are they talking about? Couldn't this have been said simpler?

Too many insurance professionals–from agents and brokers to claims handlers and carrier executives–don't know how to write clearly. Their documents are wordy, disorganized, dull and offensive, and sometimes riddled with embarrassing grammar and usage mistakes.

To make matters worse, the insurance industry is filled with jargon (loss runs, captives and impaired risk pools) and acronyms (BOP, PIP and SIU), which often aren't explained to a lay audience, like your clients and prospects. The result is time wasted, productivity lost and–this one hurts–potentially lower revenues.

So let's look on the bright side. Good writing pays off, not only with higher productivity, but with the power to motivate others. For example, well-written internal memos can demonstrate your leadership skills and justify your recommended action steps, and persuasive proposals can convince prospects that you can deliver what they need to achieve their goals.

Below are some of the most important skills for writing more productively.

o Be explicit and precise.

Never make the reader guess your meaning.

Unclear: “E&O claims for the second quarter were 20 percent higher.” What were they 20 percent higher than? When using a comparative term like higher, say what you're comparing it to.

Clear: “E&O claims for the second quarter of 2008 were 20 percent higher than for the second quarter of 2007.

o Drop unnecessary words and sentences.

About 200 years ago, Thomas Jefferson gave some profound–and simple–advice: “Never use two words when one will do.” The same goes for sentences.

Two sentences, too many words: At the July 25 seminar, I heard several intriguing presentations. Among the most interesting were the talks on commercial liability, environmental pollution coverage and loss control.

One sentence, fewer words: At the July 25 seminar, I heard intriguing presentations on commercial liability, environmental pollution coverage and loss control.

o Bring dull language to life.

Whenever possible, choose compelling words to enliven your text.

Dull: By developing innovative products, we could do better than our competitors for the next five years.

Compelling: By developing innovative products, we could outshine our competitors for the next five years.

o Keep words flowing.

Even seemingly mundane documents like denial letters, claims reports, requests for more information and others should have a pleasing rhythm to be easily understood. Be sure your sentences have a logical flow from start to finish.

Flow interrupted: We keep ignoring critical problems that hurt performance and drain our resources, such as inexperienced service reps and outdated software.

Smooth flow: We keep ignoring critical problems like inexperienced service reps and outdated software, which hurt performance and drain our resources.

o Break on through with explicit subject lines.

Forty years ago, the legendary Jim Morrison and the Doors urged listeners to “break on through to the other side.” We know he wasn't talking about e-mails in the late 1960s, but you should heed his advice today and write explicit subject lines that “break on through” to readers deluged by 100 or more e-mails a day, encouraging them to open your message right away.

Vague subject line: Second-quarter sales

Explicit subject line: Second-quarter sales up 18 percent/Hire 3 new reps

o Soften the impact of your message.

Use words and phrases that lessen the impact of your message when necessary.

Harsh: Your presentation was dull and left out many critical strategies.

Softer: Your presentation could have been a bit more engaging, discussing additional key strategies.

If your company is committed to helping employees improve writing skills and believes that good writing promotes productivity, consider a group writing workshop. Start by identifying the individuals who most need help. Then select an instructor who specializes in teaching corporate employees, preferably one with experience in the insurance field.

To help tailor the program to your firm's needs, assign someone in your organization to work with the instructor to identify factors such as the employees' toughest writing challenges and frequently written documents. Also consider incorporating one-on-one consults, in person or by phone, so each participant can address his or her personal writing issues–which many don't like to share in a group setting.

If you're a business owner or other professional who wants to improve your own writing, a business writing coach may be the ideal solution. Your coach would first discuss your challenges, goals, frequently written documents and other issues and then develop exercises and an action plan tailored to your requirements.

Plan to work with the coach for at least three months, meeting in person or over the phone once or twice a week to review your completed exercises and on-the-job documents. During this time, the coach would e-mail you written critiques and continually monitor your progress, pointing our areas in which you've improved and areas that you still need to work on.

It may be time for you to take a hard look at how bad writing is hurting your company. The good news is that business writing is a learned skill, so everyone can significantly improve their writing with the right instruction. And that can mean higher productively, which can translate into more revenues. It's that simple.

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