How Your Business Documents Can Reflect Professionalism
“In my blog earlier this month, I wrote about professionalism and what it means to me. In it, I noted the five key areas of professionalism that I discuss most often with my clients (you can read it here).
As a business owner and someone who has worked in professional services my entire career, the concept of ‘professionalism’ has been front-and-centre for me for as long as I can remember.
One of the key areas that I included in my previous blog was documents. This is an area that I am particularly passionate about, so I wanted to explore it a little more here.
An excellent barrister that I worked with over many, many years once said to me “there is advocacy in writing”.
At the time I was developing my skills in drafting affidavit evidence to be filed in court proceedings, and we needed the written affidavit to be clear and persuasive. Years of practice developed my appreciation of the significance that documentation plays in several aspects of business – not limited to court proceedings.
When we write content material for our business; when we send emails to potential clients or strategic partners; when we issue our business terms and conditions or service agreements to new clients; and when we issues invoices and receipts – these all have an immediate impact on our business, because each and every document is a direct reflection of our business and our level of professionalism (or in some cases, lack thereof).
I view issuing our first document much like making a first impression, and we all appreciate that we have one opportunity to make a first impression! It is important, so we need to get it right.
When it comes to our business documents, we as business owners need to:
Have business documents tailored to our business, and be sure to understand them. It is so important to not simply copy documents from another businesses - whether you realise it or not, it is often very easy to tell when someone has done this.
Proof-read. Spelling errors these days in our documents can, and should, be avoided. It is so easy to use the spell check function in documents, and to set this up on your emails so that spell check is run automatically before sending. Not many things are so urgent that you can’t get someone else to look over your work – getting someone else to proof-read your documents can be a great way to ensure you look professional and polished.
Have a set of ‘master’ documents or templates – this reduces the chance of missing a name or a figure if you are using another client’s documents and adapting them, and therefore reduces the chance of errors in your documents.
Include the correct figures if you are including figures. Clients tend to pay close attention to figures, so if you get this wrong, it will be identified very quickly.
Know who you are doing business with. Get the names of the parties/clients right. This is an important one!
Keep your documents current. If you are making changes to your business, or if the law or regulations in your industry have changed, be sure to take the time to update your documents and keep them current. Nothing says ‘unprofessional’ like a set of out-of-date documents.
Finally, whilst the above points are important, we are all human and despite our best efforts, we will make mistakes – and that’s ok, it happens. When it does, it is important to acknowledge it and correct it swiftly and efficiently, and then move on.
If you need help with your business documents, or if you are not quite sure what to do or how to develop yours, feel free to get in touch to chat about this. I am a stickler for getting these things right and would love nothing more than the opportunity to help you develop the perfect set of documents for your business.
If you found this article helpful, you might like to read more in our resource Legal Advice for Small Business: The Ultimate Guide.
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