Welcome to WRITING MATTERS, celebrating the value of good
writing in the business world.
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VOLUME 1, ISSUE 7 – MARCH 2008
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Miller Accounting was a small accounting firm operating in a
large metropolitan area. An upstart
company, Miller had experienced great success in its ten-year existence. Alan Miller, the founder, was a hands-on
manager and had good relationships with all of his employees. He believed in a true open door policy,
where anyone could come to him for any reason, and his employees trusted him
implicitly.
One month recently, Alan encountered some unique human
resources issues that hadn’t come up in the past – one employee requested to go
out on family leave, another needed extended time off for an illness, and a
third recently returned to the company after a two-year absence and had
questions about his vacation and benefits.
As a small firm, Miller had neglected to publish a formal human
resources manual and relied on a piecemeal collection of standards and
practices referred to on an as-needed basis.
Alan regarded his employees as family and always handled
personnel matters with the utmost care and adherence to the law. Despite this, it wasn’t good business
practice to operate without a formal human resources manual. All of the pieces were there to create a
manual, but it was an unorganized collection of papers and binders sorely in
need of rewriting and updating. Alan
had plenty of accountants around and a dedicated human resources specialist,
but no writer to speak of.
Alan realized if he wanted a professional manual, he would
need to hire a professional writer to get the job done. Alan’s HR person, Mary, had worked with a
freelance copywriter in the past at her previous company and offered to contact
him. Alan trusted Mary to find the
right person and told her to set up a meeting.
Mary contacted Robert, a copywriter who had experience in
working with human resources related content.
Robert was finishing a project for another client and said he would be
available to meet in a few days.
At the initial meeting, Robert requested to see the existing
content to determine the scope of the project.
He discovered everything was basically there, albeit in fragments, and
Mary could act as the subject matter expert for any clarifications or
updates. After assessing the situation,
Robert said he would contact Mary and Alan the next day with a quote. Alan asked why he couldn’t make an estimate
on the spot; Robert explained he needed to take into account all aspects of the
project – writing, concepting, meetings, revisions – in order to make an
accurate estimate. He explained he
always worked this way in fairness to the client. Alan understood.
The next day, after carefully reviewing the available
content and determining how much work was required, Robert emailed his quote to
Alan and Mary as promised. The quote
outlined the work involved, a timetable for completion, as well as his
fee. Alan thought the estimate was fair
and Mary vouched for Robert’s writing skills and work ethic. The project was on!
Robert worked closely with Mary and, a few weeks later,
completed the first draft of Miller’s new HR manual. Alan was impressed with Robert’s writing and grasp of the subject
matter. As an added bonus, Robert
recommended a graphic designer he had worked with in the past to put some
finishing touches on the look and feel of the manual. Although Alan hadn’t budgeted for any design work, he trusted
Robert and agreed to meet with the designer.
The ensuing meeting was beneficial and Alan decided some graphics work
would definitely improve the final product.
After revisions, design work and printing, Miller Accounting
finally had a real human resources manual it could be proud of. And with a reliable copywriter and graphic
designer available for future projects, Alan had made two valuable business
contacts he could use for years to come.
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The next issue of Writing Matters will be out April 1st .
Have a great month!
John Paul Tancredi, Copywriter/Consultant
Spectrum Copywriting Services
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