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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This Month’s Case Study – Miller Accounting

 

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

JPT@spectrumcopywriting.com

www.spectrumcopywriting.com

 

 

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