Writing 101
by Citrix Online

If you asked 10 of your support agents to write different sections of a support manual, you’d discover that all 10 samples were unique in style. You’d also probably find significant grammar and punctuation errors in all of the samples. Differing writing styles have an impact on your organization and the way the documents are received. You might be surprised to know just how many of your employees write memos, business letters, emails, reports, and other documents -- all with different styles and formats. Because of this, it’s important to unify writing styles and establish some standard guidelines.

With the emergence of email, writing has gone from the “would be nice to have” skills to the “must have” set of skills. Call-center agents who used to spend 95% of their time on the phone now often respond to email-support requests as well. Here are some tips on how to polish your writing skills:

• Recognize the need for help -- It’s important for your employees to know when to ask for writing help and act upon it. Let them know that hitting the send button with an “I’m not the best writer in the world” attitude isn’t appropriate. Instead, encourage your staff to ask someone to proofread important messages for correct grammar before hitting the send button.
  
  
• Provide resources -- Create a house style guide which serves as a one-stop shop for any writing-related question. Use pre-scripted messages and templates that convey the purest message with consistency. Agents simply select the appropriate pre-scripted message when responding to customers.
  
  
• Provide training -- Your employees’ writing needs are varied, so don’t offer a generic business-writing class to the entire group. Instead, try to determine your employees’ needs based on their current skills, as well as the type of writing they do, and tailor courses to meet their needs. Some might need help with the mechanics of grammar and punctuation, while others might need to improve their tone and persuasiveness.
  
  
• Provide ongoing opportunities for improvement -- For agents who are already part of the team, managers should consider offering on-site writing workshops or seminars. This group activity will strengthen the writing skills of individual agents, and serve as a team-building exercise. Managers should also consider allocating funds for external writing courses, seminars, and workshops for agents who request or require additional writing instruction.
  
  
• Measure success -- As with any expense, it’s crucial to measure the success of your writing initiatives. To assess the effectiveness of your writing training, ask each employee to give a writing sample immediately afterwards. If their writing is still poor, you’ll know your training measures aren’t working.

Your agents are your gateway to your customers. As such, unprofessional communication with your customers will have a powerful negative effect, eventually leading to a loss of credibility. Make sure your agents always use a professional writing style when communicating with customers. Not only will this make a positive impression, but agents will feel more confident in their ability to communicate with others. And what better asset is there than confident employees?

And finally: The best tip of all is to incorporate writing skills in your employment evaluation. You’ll save your company time and resources if you consider a candidate’s writing skills as part of the overall employment evaluation.

About Citrix Online
Citrix Online, a division of Citrix Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: CTXS), offers the leading Web-based access, support and collaboration software and services. The division offers Citrix GoToMyPC®, the easiest-to-use solution for remote, secure and managed desktop PC access over the Web; and Citrix GoToAssist™, the most secure, reliable and powerful solution for Web-based technical support and customer collaboration. Citrix Online products are used by more than 4,000 companies worldwide, including Cisco Systems, Siemens, Intuit, Cablevision and Microsoft Business Solutions. The division is based in Santa Barbara, California, and is on the Web at www.gotomypc.com, www.gotoassist.com and www.citrix.com.