Infernal Comms

Why saying nothing about bad news makes it worse

I help out at a local sports club where my daughter is a squad member. If you do the same you'll recognise the situation: volunteers making the best of some difficult situations with no thanks and little support from inactive parents. Sometimes though the people who run organisations (large and small) can help themselves with a little timely communication.

Recently there has been an unexpected change in the coaching staff at our club: a key member of the team just stopped turning up. It just so happens that I know the guy and he had the good grace to come round and explain his reasons for leaving. There was nothing untoward it appeared, just one of those things. Several weeks later the club has still to make any announcement on his departure, and gossip and speculation have filled the void. It's not pleasant but it's human nature - whether it's a sports club run by volunteers or a multinational organisation, people talk.

It may well be that the poor people on the committee don't yet know how to fill the gap left by this sudden departure and don't want to announce anything until they have the answers. A logical approach but the wrong thing to do.

Bad news needs to dealt with quickly, honestly, and with authority. Say what's happened (the more detail the better), be clear about what's going to happen next (even if that is a bit of head scratching because the way forward isn't clear at all), and ask for a some consideration while things get sorted out. You can never eradicate speculation, but the less gaps there are, the more difficult it is for rumour to take hold.

That bit is easy though. The difficult part is to get into the habit of communicating promptly all the time. The people who run organisations need to earn the trust of their audience and that takes time. So start now.

Is it worth getting the words on your website done professionally?

I had a call from a prospective client this morning. He had been referred to me enthusisatically by a mutual colleague and was considering whether to invest in professional copywriting support. His business already had a website that was working OK but he felt there was more that could be done.

When we'd first spoken a couple of months ago, he'd been clear that he would be testing the return on any copywriting investment he made before making any significant commitment. Using Google Analytics he intended to compare the performance of the new homepage I would put together with the current page and the results would determine whether he would proceed further.

Today's call was about the results of that test. All of his measures of success had improved with the new page: visits, click-throughs, conversions to calls etc. "Ten out of ten" was his assessment of the impact that the copywriting had had. So we're getting down to work on the rest of the site and a long term relationship is in the offing.

Good copywriting makes a real difference to the success of a website. Don't be afraid to test the quality of any writing that's done for you, but don't be tempted into thinking that any old words will do. You don't know how much business you might be missing out on.