Tips for Preparing Sales Documents is a periodic newsletter in which I write about diverse subjects with the goal of helping you improve your sales processes.

All of the past issues of Tips are right here to read and download.

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If you have any comments about the subject matter of these newsletters, please do send them on and, if you have any requests for future subjects that are important for you, also drop me a note.

You may reproduce the content of these newsletters provided that you cite the source, in full.

Grammar Checkers – Are They Worth Anything? 

A customer asked me what I thought of grammar checkers. To be frank, I didn’t have too much to say as I have always regarded these tools as being useless or worse. In spite of this predisposition, I decided to determine just how effective (or ineffective) grammar checking programs are at finding errors and suggesting corrections. Enjoy my labors.

Vision Statements and Mission Statements

I was recently approached by two companies with requests to develop vision statements and mission statements. Until then I had not given too much thought to such documents. Both are intended to clearly and concisely convey an organization’s direction – its present goals (mission) and the way it sees the future (vision). By crafting clear mission and vision statements, you can lucidly communicate your intentions, motivate your organization, and even influence customers. I have tried to straighten out a few misconceptions about these two types of declarations and provide some guidelines for their development.

The Freemium Business Model

Freemium – a combination of free and premium – is a business model in which companies offer a product or service free of charge while taking a fee for advanced features, functionality, or related products and services. Can you make money using this model? Well that depends on what you have to offer and how you offer it. It can be a dangerous game to play

Re-Structuring Your Websites for Mobile Viewing

People are, more and more frequently, using smartphones to view websites. Unfortunately, most content on the Internet today is not optimized for viewing on the small screens of mobile phones. How often do people view your website on mobile devices? You should find out and you may be in for a surprise. And how important is this for your sales efforts? Let’s see.

Two Great Productivity Tools

I want to recommend two great tools that can really help you improve productivity and, in their basic versions, are free of charge.

Evernote is a personal digital assistant that makes your information available everywhere, on any device. In addition, it has some amazing features that let you collect, store and search the widest range of material.

Enloop build business plans. This statement may sound a bit arrogant but, if you know your market, the thing really works.

The Best Marketing Tool for Small Companies

Social media marketing may be all the rage, but newsletters are still the best way to market a small company. It is inexpensive, can result in great returns, and it is fully measurable. Newsletters are about relationship building and informing your customers about the products and services you offer. The more you interact and help them, the more likely they are to spread the word about your business to the people they know. I have managed to develop a solid relationship with my readers based upon these concepts.

Dumb Grammar and Your English Teacher

Language is a living and developing entity. There are many amusing conventions –obviously coming right off the blackboard from a high-school English class, which I have encountered in customers’ documents. I have had spirited discussions about grammar with clients and, I am happy to report, I have won the hearts and souls of several of them – as least in regard to use of the language. I have put together several examples of “non-errors” which require expansion and explanation.

Contending with Negative FeedBack

I was asked to assist a customer who felt their B2C products had been unfairly bad-mouthed by a few bloggers and correspondents. This may be an unpleasant situation, but ignoring criticism or directly responding to attacks with verbose remarks are hardly the appropriate solutions.

B2B Sales and the Documentation You Need

B2B sales processes are quite different than those used for B2C. In B2B sales efforts, you are trying to sell a product to a very narrow audience. You are presenting a solution for a particular problem to a specific industry or even a single customer. Just as the handling of sales processes differ from those in B2C sales, so does the required documentation.

Developing Elevator Pitches

An elevator pitch should be a well-developed part of your sales portfolio. The basic idea is to have it polished and tucked away in the back of your mind ready for use in encounters with business prospects. You will then always be prepared to give a lucid two-minute talk about the unique advantages of your product or service. An elevator pitch can help you turn a chance meeting into a real sales opportunity.

All About Dashboards

I recently worked with a software developer planning the design and content of a dashboard application. This project set me to thinking about how the term dashboard migrated into application design. I did my homework and the results are quite interesting so I decided to share this short tale with you .The word dashboard has a long history and it is a fascinating example of how language adapts to fit new circumstances.

Several Grammar-Related Issues

I was recently approached by customers and readers with queries about two issues that can be quite confusing: which words do you capitalize in titles and headings, and when do you use a hyphen to join words. In English things that you would expect to be straightforward and elementary can be rather frustrating and may seem totally incomprehensible, even to native speakers. I have tried to provide a bit of logic to these two issues in the hope that this will help you improve your writing.

A Few Comments on  Product Marketing

Many of the people I work with either have the title of product marketing and product management on their business cards or they, in fact, perform these tasks. I have had no small number of battles over the development of their marketing and customer-directed documentation and, in some of the cases, I have even carried the day, convincing them to let me rework and expand their documents well beyond the scope they had originally intended. As is often the case, I am writing in this issue of Tips about a few small but important issues that are directly related to the subject at hand. I also have decided to bring to your attention a really important blog about product marketing and management.

Improving Machine Translations

I was recently involved in the development of responses to RFPs from two European organizations. In both cases, the companies that I supported were responding to requirements that had been machine translated from Central European languages and, furthermore, their answers had to be delivered in the same language. After contending with texts that were sometimes almost unintelligible, I made a major effort to ensure that the translation of the responses would be considerably more effective than that of the questions. I was reasonably successful so I am providing some guidelines about how to write for translation. All of this is in spite of the fact that I think machine translation should be banned.

Branding A Startup – Cost and Effectiveness

In Newsletter No. 31, I gave you “The No-Cost Way to Brand Your Company”. I suppose that I should have realized that if I started off on this tangent, readers would be certain to pick up the challenge and demand some concrete ideas about how they can get their companies properly branded and not go broke at the same time. Well, here they are.

What Should You Expect From a Marketing Writer?

Since a customer actually asked this question, I decided to develop a reasonably detailed response that just might help you prevent minor disasters. I put a few hours of thought into the content of this piece and came up with several issues related to the relationship between marketing writers and high-tech companies in Israel. For those who asked, and for those who are curious, I hope this helps.

The No-Cost Way to Brand Your Company

Geoffrey James has written a tongue-in-cheek piece “Brand Your Firm in 2 Minutes or Less” (http://blogs.bnet.com/salesmachine/?p=10876&tag=nl.e808). I invite you to try Mr. James’ “five steps to 2-minute branding” and have a bit of fun. Then you must also do some serious thinking about the importance of a properly implemented corporate brand. Poor corporate branding can be suicidal.

To Blog or Not to Blog

The initial idea behind blogs was to let individuals create their own forums in order to express themselves. That in itself is a very dubious idea. As could be expected, many people use blogs as unedited repositories for garbage. In addition, most blogs are basically dormant. It seems that people start them up with considerable enthusiasm but the energy wanes rapidly. It requires a major effort to maintain a blog.

A technical blog may be a good idea to attract the attention of customers and associates and develop commercial relationships, but there is a price to pay. A blog must be active. You must regularly add new material in order to maintain a dynamic image. What really counts in any blog is how effectively you are communicating with your selected audience. A poor business blog will torpedo your internet marketing strategy, and raise the scorn of your customers.

Writing Press Releases – A Difficult Business

A press release is a statement to the media that seeks to demonstrate to an editor or reporter the newsworthiness of a particular person, event, service, or product. A mistake commonly made in writing press releases is directing the document to traditional audiences. Press releases are not meant to advance sales. Unlike advertising copy, which is written to appeal to customers, a press release is written to catch the attention of journalists. I have prepared a few guidelines for the development of press releases that I hope will be of assistance to you.

Writing for the Web

Good writing is an absolute. It is not something that can be manipulated. No matter what you write, to successfully put your message across, you must be very careful with syntax and grammar. But writing for the Web is different than writing for print because people read differently when sitting in front of a computer screen. It is more difficult to read on a screen than it is to read printed text. And because of the basic inconvenience of sitting in front of a monitor (rather than lying in bed with a book) people tend to scan the content rather than read every word. On an average visit to a Web page, a user reads 28% of the text (Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox).

Redesigning My Website

Why do organizations decide to completely transform their Websites? The question was particularly pertinent for me as I jumped into that very cold water and decided to rework my Website. Why did I make that decision? Good question. In retrospect, I did have justifiable reasons to take such a drastic step but I am certain that I really did not have a clear understanding of the implications of all the issues involved. Indeed, it seems that this is often the case with such decisions. I have consolidated some of the most pertinent issues here.

What Makes Good Technical Documents

In this issue of Tips for Preparing Sales Documents, I have sought the help of Baruch Brodersen, one of the best technical writers with whom I have worked. Baruch understands the interactions between a product, its documentation, and the end user. I have been very impressed by documents he has produced and much of the following content stems from discussions over coffee and Danish.

Although my declared goal in writing these newsletters is to assist Israeli companies in developing their marketing and sales documents, many of my comments are equally relevant for technical documentation.

Two Amazing PowerPoint Support Tools

I have dedicated about a half-dozen newsletters to topics related to presentations and presenting in general. These are certainly major issues in any marketing or sales effort and – since they are all too often among the weakest links in the process – I have really tried to bring to your attention a variety of aspects of effective presentation methods.

Watch Out for Good Grammar!

Under the title “28 Amazing Direct Marketing Copywriting Tips from an Amazing Copywriter!” (www.mailorder-copywriting-secrets.com/Direct-Marketing-Copywriting-Tips.html), G. Gilbert Carlson states “Your copy is the most important part of your direct mail, so make sure it sells!” I certainly have no argument with Mr. Carlson on this issue but in his 28 tips, he makes several rash statements about the use of grammar that have raised my ire. Mr. Calrson states in rule #4: “Watch out for good grammar, that can be so boring. Forget about what you learned in English class, write you would talk to someone (sic).” This is a direct citation – with all its errors in punctuation and grammar, and ultimate confusion. If the fellow can’t get his marketing message across to you, how is he possibly going to write yours?

George Orwell and the Art of Effective Writing

A few months ago, I came across a reference on LinkedIn to George Orwell’s brilliant essay “Politics and the English Language”. Orwell’s works are not popular. How many of you have read Nineteen Eighty-Four or Animal Farm? He has, on and off, been loathed by both the left and the right, and often misunderstood by those in between. His writing is marked by a profound awareness of social injustice, a firm opposition to totalitarianism, a belief in democratic socialism, and a passion for clarity in language. I will not deny that I have a strong empathy for Orwell’s political and social thinking but my goal here is to discuss his comments on the use of the English language.

This chance encounter with a mention of his paper set me thinking. What can we learn from Orwell about the preparation of effective sales and marketing documents? In fact, as you will see, his assault on political commentary in the mid-twentieth century, is equally relevant for our subject under discussion – marketing writing.

An Amazing Concept for Delivering Presentations

I discovered an interesting method for the delivery of presentations, totally different from anything that I have previously encountered. It is called Pecha Kucha and it has one hard and fast rule. You are allowed to show 20 slides and each slide is displayed for exactly 20 seconds. (You do not have control of the slide projector, so you can’t cheat.) That's what you're permitted. And within 400 seconds you must make your point. This is very intriguing stuff. Just think how different it is from the prevailing norms of giving presentations in Israel. And Pecha Kucha has real added value – it is an excellent way to start discussions and business relationships. Isn’t that the name of the game?

Struggling with Microsoft Word’s Quirks and Bugs

Microsoft Word, like it or not, is the word processor of choice for everyone except for a small pack of technical writers who insist on using Adobe FrameMaker. Outside of Israel, people still use other word processors – compatible or not quite compatible with Word. But it seems that we have fallen totally in love with the Office package. Inasmuch as everyone uses it, let’s try and make the most of it. Since the initial releases of Word, it has had an overly large number of problems that we have learned to live with. Word 2007, in spite of Microsoft’s claims, can still bring the best of us to tears. I have provided a few tips and workarounds for problems about which readers have asked for assistance. This may be a bit complicated and even if these guidelines confuse you, keep them for future reference. It is more than likely that you will encounter such problems.

By the way, I am anything but an expert on the debugging of Word’s inherent traumas. In fact, if you have a corrupted file or issues which you cannot contend with, I am not really the right address, as much as I do try to help. The fellow to contact is Yechiel Lewis. He knows more about the Microsoft Office package than anyone else I know. You can contact him at: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 052-762-4938. He also gives training seminars in Word, template design, and using macros.

Rethinking Your Resume (and that Next Job)

A search in Google for the word "resume" resulted in about 172 million hits and “CV” gave me 183 million possibilities. What do these numbers have to say? In fact, except for being huge, they don’t really mean very much. All too often this is true of your resumes as well – they are not worth very much.

In the United States, one interview is granted for every 200 resumes received for a particular opening. A resume is browsed, rather than read and you have no more than 120 seconds to persuade a prospective employer to review the document in detail. What this means is that the decision to interview a candidate is usually based on an overall first impression of the resume – a quick scan that convinces them that you are qualified, serious, and a possible contender for the job.

Most resumes are boring. A well-written resume will land you an interview even if you are not the most qualified candidate for the job. Your resume is a sales document. It should be designed as a response to a particular job description and do exactly what you want it to do – get you through the door for an interview.

More Comments on Avoiding Improper Usage

In several of my newsletters, I have suggested blacklisting some oft- and overused marketing terms. I caught a lot of flak for this. People have their pet whims and favorite expressions and I seemed to have stepped on a few toes. Well, the itch to extend my list has overcome caution. Although we really should not get too annoyed at the clichés and phrases which are presently popular, as the worst of them will pass away soon enough, I cannot resist assaulting this awful, presently “in-style” language.

At the practical level, if English is not your mother tongue you must take considerable caution when using terms with which you are not completely familiar. The danger of embarrassment is always there and you can certainly put off a customer through the ill-use of phrases which you have picked up from the web or other doubtful sources.

The following are more examples of the improper uses of expressions which I have encountered, or which people have sent to me. Feel free to forward to me the trite and overworked clichés that annoy you, or any questions that you may have.

Handling the Fear of Public Speaking

The fear of public speaking ranks at about the same level as the fear of a tax audit. People who don't learn how to control their anxiety risk becoming either hysterical, or boring and ineffective presenters. That counterproductive gnawing fear in your belly most certainly creates a negative atmosphere. What I have attempted to do here is provide a few concepts about how to successfully stand in front of a customer and, in spite of all your inhibitions, deliver a winning presentation. There is no secret solution to public speaking. It is a question of experience and building up faith in oneself. If you cannot begin by having confidence in yourself, you must begin by having confidence in your message.

Feedback and Comments on a Few Relevant Issues

I receive a variety of email messages from people with questions, comments, and complaints. I reply to everything that I receive and some of these queries and remarks have sparked topics in my newsletters. Today, I have taken a few diverse subjects on which I want to expand, as they are all quite important for anyone who is trying to correspond with customers. The first is an issue which should cause all of you some anxiety – managing your day-to-day communications in a lucid fashion. Secondly, I was assailed in regard to suggestions I made in the last newsletter in regard to the tedious task of rehearsing presentations. I have added some clarifications and expanded on that subject. The question of English usage has brought people to the dueling ground and the courtroom – so I must defend my honor here as well.

How to Avoid Messing Up Your Presentation

I attended the IVA (Israel Venture Association) Conference last month. As impressed as I was by the huge turnout, the quality of organization, and the great food, I was a bit concerned by the quality of several of the presentations that I heard. The content was consistently original with a host of great ideas, but it seems that many entrepreneurs are convinced that their idea is going to change the face of the planet, and they don’t have to take the time to get ready. How wrong they are. It is quite obvious that several of the speakers could have put much more effort into preparing themselves for those critical 20 minutes. They should have mastered their presentations. Mumbling in fractured English is no way to impress a potential investor. If this was the case at the IVA Conference, I can only hope that these guys do a better job facing customers.

A Few Diverse Curiosities in English

Mastering the English language – to the point where you can comfortably communicate with your customers – is no small task. I have harped on the importance of this subject in several of my previous newsletters. This month, I deal with a few topics which are both current and interesting. One of them came to mind as I was considering the implications of the necessity for water restrictions. The others are based on my responses to queries from readers and customers.

I start by offering an amusing anecdote which you will certainly appreciate. One of France's greatest lexicographers, Emile Littré (1801-1881), was caught by his wife, in bed with their housemaid. “Emile,” cried Mrs Littré, “I am surprised!” “No, my dear,” calmly replied the master of words. “You are astonished. It is we who were surprised.”

Improving PowerPoint Presentations

The quality of presentations that I am asked to edit are often – and I am being quite moderate in my criticism – rather poor. People lack a basic understanding of the inherent power of PowerPoint and fail to take advantage of the many features provided. So, in the following I have assembled a few tips that will help you enhance your PowerPoint presentations. Although this newsletter refers to elements of PowerPoint 2007, most of these features are available in older versions of the application and, with a bit of poking around, you will be able to locate them in the version that you have installed on your computer. If you require any assistance, please contact me.

More on Usage and Misusage

I have dealt with the misusage of language and grammar in several newsletters. I think it is important to continue providing you with distressing expressions that I have picked up from documents sent to me by various customers. As I stated in a previous communication, I really hope that this will help you avoid making similar errors in your correspondence. Several of the items are typical of Israeli writing and they probably stem from the mental migration of terms and syntax from Hebrew. The main thing is – and I repeat this again – that I wish to raise your awareness of the damage that you can do to your sales and marketing efforts with faulty language.

Winning Over a VC Manager – Preparing a Convincing Presentation

I recently helped a customer develop a PowerPoint presentation used to support a venture capital solicitation with the ultimate goal of raising equity. This is an amazingly difficult task. Finding suitable investors is one of the biggest challenges in a company's early stages. In the current ailing market, it is more important than ever to be absolutely certain that the presentation you deliver is effective and convincing. This is a dozen times truer when trying to raise money from American VCs. These people are totally unforgiving and you must look very professional to be able to get beyond step 1.

A business plan presentation has one fundamental purpose – to convince potential investors that you have a product or service that will capture the market. What do these people want to see in your presentation? They realize that you have a fair chance of making money (or you wouldn’t have gotten through the door). They want you to convince them that you are worth the investment. You must sound exciting. You must be unique and brash so that they will select you over the other dozen companies that they will consider during the same week.

Proper Punctuation – the Shortcut to Clarity

I have warned my readers about the hazards of imprecise grammar and syntax. As unimportant as it may seem at first glance, punctuation is just as serious an issue. Babylon describes punctuation as a “system of symbols used to divide or clarify text”. That is a good, concise definition of a very complex set of issues. We encounter items in newspapers and on the Internet every day which can be hilarious due to the misunderstandings and confusion caused by the misplacement or lack of punctuation. I have collected a few comments here which I have prepared in response to questions people have asked and mistakes that I have encountered in customers’ documents.

More on Web Sites – How to Get a Site Up and Running

Well, I survived the repercussions of my tirade on Web sites in Newsletter No. 8. I received a number of comments and, of course, not everyone was pleased with what I had to say. Several people raised the interesting question of how to start a brand new Web site. Who – in the autumn of 2008 – is about to develop a Web site from scratch? Well, believe it or not, there are new companies out there – in spite of all the economic uncertainties – starting on the long road to their first sales, and they need effective Web sites.

Bad Grammar, Terrible Syntax and Dreadful Usage

In the day-to-day writing and editing that I do, I frequently encounter misused language – some mundane, some really funny – appalling grammar, and disastrous syntax. Many of these items are worth discussing, as it is my hope that you will avoid repeating similar errors in your correspondence. This is a list of totally unrelated subjects which I collected over the past few months. I trust that you will enjoy it and, much more important, be aware of the damage that you can do to your sales and marketing efforts with faulty language.

A Frontal Assault on Web Sites

I hope that we are all in accord that your Web sites are very important front-end marketing and sales tools. A Web site should serve as an effective way to deliver fundamental messages about what your company is selling. In 90% of the cases, people access Web sites in search of information. Initially, they do not read the content. They glance over the text of the Home page looking for material that is important for them. The main issue – from your perspective – is that they find the information they are looking for, and find it fast. Unfortunately, this is too often not the case.

Straight and Simple – the Language of Clarity

A short while ago, a customer gave me very explicit directives about the grammatical and syntactical structures he wanted me to use in writing his company’s marketing documents. He demanded very direct language, short, simple sentences and no fancy grammar. Somewhere along the line he has picked up the basics of a body of science called Simplified or Controlled English. I have been a great fan of Simplified English for many years and I will tell you a bit about it and the real value it can have for you in preparing marketing and customer-directed documents.

An Ode to the Bid Manager

The proposal bid manager is, without doubt, one of the most thankless tasks for anyone working in the realm of sales. It demands grueling efforts, for weeks at a time, and the degree of cooperation from the various supporting bodies can be dismal.

A bid manager is the proposal “owner”. He has ultimate responsible to ensure that the proposal is completed on time, that there are responses to all RFP requirements and they are comprehensive, correct and convincing, and that pricing is sufficiently well structured to keep your company in the running.

If you start off right, the chances of producing a winning proposal are considerable better than if you run the show by muddling through on a day to day basis. In this newsletter, I provide some organizational concepts for bid managers (and their bosses) – for the initial states of the proposal process.

The Documents You Deliver

When discussing sales and marketing documentation, I find people frequently using terms which inevitably introduce misunderstandings about what they really mean and what they wish to present.

Also, I have encountered a host of explanations from very enthusiastic sales and marketing personnel about what each type of document is supposed to provide and how it fits into the sales process. A lot of what I have heard has left me smiling and I hope that I will be able to establish some semblance of order, for you, in this newsletter.

A few words about length – short is sweet! Israeli companies tend to provide documents measured by the kilo and not by quality. If you can’t do the trick in less than 25 pages, you are doing something wrong and lulling your readers to sleep.

The Use and Misuse Of Graphics

Within the scope of this discussion, illustrations can be line drawings (block diagrams, charts, graphs, maps, etc.), photographs, and even paintings. Illustrations enhance customer-directed documents. Complex concepts become meaningful and text becomes more comprehensible. Although, illustrations provide an authenticity not given by text alone, they are often subject to misuse and abuse. If an illustration is not directly related to the subject matter, it is not only superfluous, but can be annoying, create confusion and distract the reader. A meaningful illustration confirms that you have a firm grasp of the point under discussion.

Tools of the Trade

In Tips for Preparing Sales Documents, No. 2, I mentioned the electronic dictionary, Babylon. Several people sent me questions about Babylon and, since this is an Israeli development and a very effective tool as well, I am going to expand on Babylon and discuss a few other tools that are very handy.

Expressions that Should Be Avoided in Your Writing

Brochures, product descriptions, proposals ─ and almost any other form of customer-directed documents ─ are overflowing with marketing terms that have lost their significance or never should have been used in the first place. I have provided a few of them here – that I particularly dislike – with some accompanying comments.
The point to keep in mind is that you should always adhere to simple and direct language. The majority of your readers are, very likely, non-native English speakers. Do not make it more difficult than it already is for them. Do not use hackneyed, potentially misleading, or offensive language.

Some Hard Facts about Executive Summaries

An executive summary is a critical part of your response to an RFP. Even if the customer does not explicitly request one, make sure you prepare it.