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Mark Twain probably said it best in a note attached to a letter to a colleague that read, "sorry about the long letter, I didn’t have time to write a short one".

The underlying message in Twain’s note lies in the apology for taking up more of someone’s time than he would have preferred. The other implied message is that writing short letters is preferable than writing long ones. Or put another way, be as sparing as possible in the number of words you need to communicate a message.

One of the great things about emails is the accepted ‘netiquette’ that permits the sending of short, sharp, to the point messages. Even a single word reply is totally acceptable. The time saved through using emails is quite amazing. The only downside is that the ease and zero cost of sending emails often results in some people becoming electronically verbose.

The message in Twain’s quote applies to all aspects of business. If it is possible to communicate a message using two words instead of ten, then use only two.

Perhaps regarded as one of the most powerful speeches of all time, Winston Churchill is famous for delivering a speech which lasted less than a minute and consisted of less than ten words; "never, never, never, never, never give up!" The addition of any more words would have greatly diluted the power of his message.

Ensure that staff memos are short and to the point. Be as succinct as you can in your advertising. Ensure that signs in and around your business premises are simple and clear using as few words as possible. Road signs are generally a good example of how instructions can be achieved with the use of very few words. ‘No entry’, ‘wrong way’, ‘keep left’, ‘lane ends’.

As I have mentioned on numerous occasions, time is our most precious asset. Do all you can to save as much of your customers’ time as you can. That starts with writing short letters as opposed to writing long ones.

Short letters may take longer to write, but your customers will love you for it.

Until next week, many happy customer returns!

Graham Harvey B.Com APS

Graham’s new book, Seducing the Vigilante Customer – winning strategies to guarantee the return of happy customers and healthy profits, is now available at your favourite bookstore.

It is also available online at www.grahamharvey.com.au/Products

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