White Paper - Hide the Sales Angle but make the Sale

Hey, notice the upper left corner? Happy to say I got cudos from E-zine.

Glad you could make it to our next lunchbox lesson. I know, the title seems contradictory, but that is exactly what you will have to do if you are dealing with the corporate world. So how does that work? Easy…you write a white paper.

Okay, I’m sensing the furrowed eyebrows and the question mark expressions.

According to Wikipedia, a white paper is “an authoritative report. The white paper is used to educate customers, collect leads for a company or help people make decisions”. So, isn’t that a sales paper, you may ask. No. It is not. A sale often tends to be hard, fast and to the point. A white paper, on the other hand is sophisticated, informative and artistically persuasive. If well written, it is used for reference and has a long life. It brings a solution to a problem. It is the ideal strategy to sales and marketing -an opportunity maker.

So, how do we sell without talking sales? Content - pure and simple content. Let’s look at that content. It has to be educational, relevant, and focused. You have to prioritize the readers needs, (a perfect attention getter). This way everyone understands that there is a challenging problem that needs to be solved, but you are not accusing the client of incompetence or making any other insult. Once you have their attention give them an elegant, well-researched solution to their problem. It doesn’t matter if you sell a technical product or a service, the approach is the same-(1) keep the tone friendly, conversational, (2) know your customer and your product; (3) and persuasively craft your paper. Also, publicize it well, and the readers will flock. In one fell swoop you have generated sales leads, educated customers and instituted thought leadership.

Be willing to commit to an investment in research and writing time. Make sure there is something unique about your product or service and give the client information that they do not have. It gives you necessary credibility. Additionally, it is mandatory to be interesting enough to grab their attention in the first paragraph.

Michael A. Stelzner, who I call the Guru of white papers, has a fantastic, free monthly newsletter that will give you priceless tips on crafting a “can’t lose” white paper. http://www.stelzner.com/newsletter/index.html

Okay, so how do we put this thing together? Well, it goes in this order.

1. Introduction
2. High Level Solution
3. Solution Details
4. Business Benefits
5. Summary

This site, http://www.klariti.com/white-papers/How-to-design-White-Papers.shtml provides a very simple, detailed, clear explanation that defines the above steps. Log on. It will make you a pro.

So, last but not least, here is info for my visual learners - templates, glorious templates. You know my motto by now, “When ‘know-how’ fails you, grab a template”.

If you have this ultra curious mind and want to know more, put that Google search engine to work with the words “white paper”. The typical white paper can range from one page to many. Take a look.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/Bb742431.aspx

http://whitepapers.zdnet.com/

http://www.stelzner.com/PDF/Motorola-Push2Talk.pdf

There is also a free e-mail course that is very helpful, and is written by Perry Marshall.

http://perrymarshall.com/whitepapers/

I find the best way to keep on the cutting edge is to take courses from those who have been there, done that and know how to succeed. Study and brush-up is a little time consuming, but think of it this way, if you make the time, you’ll make the money.

White papers are here to stay. If you have to write one and don’t know how, this article will point you in the right direction. You don’t have to be a research pro, just type in the keywords, point, and click. Some of the information retrieved will be over your head, but just keep looking because someone out there was in the same boat that you are in right now. They struggled through it, succeeded, and have written step- by- step guides to help you to do the same.

Hope this has been helpful. 

The next article is a shocker, titled "Death by Peanut", but it has a happy ending. So, if you’re up for tears and cheers, look out for the next article.

‘Til next time…

Foreign Accents - Problem in a Diverse Workplace?

Here is that hot topic I promised you. I know you have some strong opinions about this, and I’d really like to hear them.

Corporate success today requires a diverse body of talent to implement new ideas, views, and perspectives.  The client base has become multicultural and the need for effective communication demands diversity. In the past White males made up more than 60% of the American workforce. A steady growth pattern created a shortage of qualified personnel resulting in today’s multinational workforce and an alteration of the image of the typical American worker.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Report “Futurework:”  Trends and Challenges for Work in the 21^st Century states, “By 2050, the U.S. population is expected to increase by 50 percent and minority groups will make up nearly half of the population.  Immigration will account for almost two-thirds of the nation’s population growth.  The population of older Americans is expected to more than double.  One quarter of all Americans will be of Hispanic origin.  Almost one in ten Americans will be of Asian or Pacific Islander descent. And more women and people with disabilities will be on the job.” http://www.opm.gov/Diversity/diversity-2.htm

Obviously clear communication is a necessity. However, in today’s workplace communication is lacking due to much of the international workforce’s accents.

R. Roosevelt Thomas, author of “Beyond Race and Gender” states that managing diversity is “a comprehensive managerial process for developing an environment that works for all employees”. However, that compatible environment still does not exist in many work areas.

Some American co-workers have a very bad attitude and a severe lack of patience when it comes to conversing on any level with those who speak with a heavy accent. Their attitude is “Why can’t they just go somewhere and learn English”. The truth of the matter is they have gone somewhere and learned English and it is not unusual to see statistics showing that oftentimes the non-native speaker scores higher on the standard grammar exam than the native speaker of English. Therefore, “learning” English is not always the problem, but speaking is.

The second language learner (including Americans acquiring a foreign language) speaks the acquired language in the same manner as the native language is spoken, therefore creating an “accent”. The rhythm, stress, intonation, and voice projection of the native language carries over to the second or acquired language and when spoken, it causes a number of distortions in word formations, pronunciation, etc.

Insensitive American co-workers have stated, “Why can’t they simply hear and repeat like our children do?” If simply hearing and speaking were the only requirement for language acquisition, there would be no communications problems anywhere in the world. There is nothing simple about language acquisition. In fact, it is a very complicated business. In addition to linguistic features, there are other factors contributed to speaking with a foreign accent. (On the Nature of Foreign Accents, Daniel P. Dato, Ph.D, CCC)  Example (1) physical factors- to speak a single sound involves using an estimate of 100 different muscles in the throat, larynx, mouth, lips, tongue, and breathing mechanism. We do much of this involuntarily. Imagine trying consciously to control something that complex.

Example (2) cognitive factors (mental activity involved in problem solving.) One has to consider perception, memory, formulating ideas and processing language.  Children acquire language easier by using all sense modalities and acquiring new knowledge. The adult acquires language generally in an artificial classroom setting where neuronal activities are limited and his sensory associations are restricted. He/she has no meaningful experience with the new language 2) does not live these experiences, but instead analyzes them 3) ends up over-intellectualizing the language and therefore limiting its natural flow. In addition to the cognitive factors, there are emotional factors involved. These can be fear, humiliation, and inhibitions. These combined cause further, ineffective communication.

Example (3)socio-cultural factors When a second language is learned, one has to also learn a second culture. The learner has to be able to interact with, exchange views, accept new ideas, risk mistakes and become assimilated in a new and strange environment. If the learner views the new culture with a negative stereotype, learning is inhibited. Additionally, there are pressures from the natives of the culture to expect language mastery to be a sign of intelligence, good faith and a willingness to communicate. How many times have people foreign to a country been treated by the natives of that country as though they were stupid or hard of hearing because they could not communicate clearly? There is also pressure from the learner’s ethnic group who feels that it is disloyal to their native culture to learn the target language and culture of another country.

When adapting to a new culture self-identity, among many things is disrupted. Underlying cultural differences often cause a state of cultural shock, which can create physical or mental illness. The second language learner living in another culture loses all commonly perceived and understood symbols and signs of social communion.

Many native speakers of English do not realize all of the complexities involved in the non-native speaker’s acquisition of English.

There is a tendency to be insensitive towards those with an accent and some are blissfully living in the ignorance of thinking that they (Americans) do not have an accent. Nothing could be further from the truth. People who have not studied English in America have learned British English (a very different sounding English than that spoken in the U.S.)  After arriving stateside, the non-native speaker of English is confronted with an unfamiliar American accent and the frustration of having to learn a new way of speaking and listening.

 Native American speakers articulate using the schwa (reduced vowel sound), contractions (blending two words to make one [can’t, don’t, etc]), and reduced phrases ([gonna, wanna, etc.]Vowel Dimensions, Howard B. Woods). Now, imagine the confusion when the non-native speaker hears, “Jeetjet?” when they were expecting to hear “Did you eat yet?” Therefore, the rhetorical question, “Why don’t they go somewhere and learn English” from the non-native speaker’s perspective can also apply to the native speaker of English.

The responsibility of communication is placed squarely on the shoulders of the non-native speaker of English. If there is to be “an environment that works for all employees” then half of the responsibility to communicate rests on the shoulders of the American.  In fairness and common sense, some well-placed sensitivity and listening workshops should be a mandatory part of all American employee training.

In reality, diversity is the future and growth and success depends upon the ability to communicate with clients worldwide. Qualified personnel is no longer White male American only, therefore training non-native speakers of English to sound more like the American is just not going to be enough.  The future American is going to have to tolerate, assimilate and re-learn to communicate.

 

 Thanks for reading. Next post, we'll get back to our lunchbox learning.  

How Do I Write a Formal Business Letter?

Good to see you again. Ok, so what is this Lunch Box business? Well it's a concept and in this instance, a stress reliever. It is designed for all of you who hate to write but have to. That includes international employees, employees who multi-task, graduate students and those going from homemaker to bread-maker. It is called "Lunch box Learning" because the information is compact, can be absorbed easily, and applied in the time that it takes a busy person to eat lunch. Cute, huh?

Well, recently spoke to a friend who is going back into the work world after spending a "lifetime" raising the kids. (well, that's how she felt) but anyway she has great office skills and couldn't wait to get back into the saddle; that is , until she realized that she no longer knew how to write a formal business letter. Seems crazy, but things have changed. So I thought this would be a good place to start our Lunch Box Learning. And for all of you who are a little rusty at it or those of you who are new at it, here we go...

The biggest favor you can do for yourself is to get good at surfing the internet. The information there is easy to understand and thorough. Do not try to memorize the different rules that apply to each style of business letter, but instead make a reference packet from your search that contains a template for each type of letter. Keep it handy and refer to it when necessary. Saves you time, stress, and improves your performance. Just type into the Google search engine “how to write business letters” and you will find all the information that you need.

FYI: A resume, cover letter, job reference letter, or resignation letter is not a business letter. Those that fall under the category of “business” are letters to clients/customers and correspondence from one business to another .

All the Working Parts

The Business letter has a structure that includes approximately fifteen standard sections:

Return address – Sender’s address

Date – Month, day, and year

Reference Line –Job reference # or invoice #

Special Mailing Notations –Certified, Air mail, etc.

On-Arrival Notations – Personal, Confidential

Inside address – where letter is going to

Attention line- Name of person receiving letter

Salutation – Dear Sir, Madam, or Name, etc

Subject line - Gist of letter

Body – where purpose of letter is discussed

Complimentary Close – Yours truly, Respectfully yours

Signature Block- space for signature

Identification Initials – initials of typist and/or person letter is being typed for

Enclosure Notation – indication that there are additional documents in the letter

cc: - Courtesy copies list of names of those receiving copies

Whew! That's a bunch. Remember; don’t stress yourself trying to memorize this list. Use that search engine. Collect your data and make that crib sheet; and when you have written enough business letters, you will have memorized the structure automatically, without having to add frustrating study time to your busy schedule.

Format

The body of a letter has three formats, Block, Modified Block, and Simi- Block . Don’t know how to formulate them? Again, just Google “business templates”. Problem solved.

Maintain that Professional Edge

Make sure spelling and grammar are correct and document is neat and clean. Either self-edit or have someone read it aloud before mailing or read it aloud to yourself. Funny, how when you hear the written word you can find mistakes that you couldn’t find when you were reading silently. Guess it’s a brain thing. Do not forget to revise. Owl Purdue Writing Lab offers some sound advice on revising business letters.

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/pw/p_revisebus.html

Now, go get em’ tiger!

Next post I'll give you a 'think' break and we'll talk about something a little controversial...accents in the workplace. Well, the accents aren't controversial, but attitudes towards them are, so I titled the article "Should the Foreign Accent be a Problem in a Diverse Workplace?" Get your opinions ready.  Search bar upper right--Don't forget to hit the RSS button because this topic will be Hot.

If you are a visual learner, here are some sample templates for your convenience.

Please note, cut and paste was a little tricky and the format is a bit off.  Inside addresses, return addresses, please single space.  And the closing at the bottom...Donald Thompson goes under Sincerely. I'm sure the ones you find with Google will look a lot better.

BLOCK STYLE- Formal

Merc Law Offices

Street • City • State • Zip Code

Phone # • Fax phone # • Messages phone # • Email

R R. Stoddard, Esq.

Merc Law Offices

34 Main St .

Chicago , Illinois 55555

422 990-0098

August 12, 2007

Re: Return

CERTIFIED MAIL

PERSONAL

Ms. Monica Berry

Alonica, Inc.

333 E. Mills Ave.

Penn Hills , Pa. 15234

Attention: Ms. Monica Berry

Dear Ms. Berry,

Vitamin Shipment

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Sincerely,

R.R. Stoddard, Esq.

dr

Enclosure (2)

cc: Mr. Donald Rodgers, Sales Mgr.

Mr. Samuel Kent, V.P. Acquisitions

MODIFIED SEMI BLOCK STYLE – Less formal

CERTIFIED MAIL

PERSONAL

Mr. Ron Jordan, Manager                                                                                         Mr Randolph Jesse, Administrator

Essex House, Inc.                                                                                                     5776 E. 23^rd Avenue

Newark , New York 44320                                                                                        Chicago, Ill. 98776

                                                                                                                                 510 876-0098

Attention Mr. Jordan                                                                                                August 28, 2007

Dear Mr. Jordan,                                                                                                      Re: Textiles

Delayed Meeting

     On Thursday, July 17^{th___________________________________________________________________________________________} ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

     During the course of______________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

                                                                                                                              Sincerely,

                                                                                                                              Mr. Randolph Jesse, Administrator

rj

Enc. (2)

cc: Mr. R. Johnson

Mrs. Luther Savage

MODIFIED BLOCK STYLE

CERTIFIED MAIL

PERSONAL

Mr. Keneth Toley, Flash Player QE Team Lead                                               Donald Thompson, Developer

Adobe Systems Incorporated                                                                          Sysco Systems

601 Townsend Street                                                                                      39 Broadway

San Francisco, Ca. 97765                                                                               Los Angeles, Ca. 61155

                                                                                                                        August 29, 2007

Attention:  Mr. Kenneth Toley                                                                        In Re: Styles

 

Dear Mr. Toley,

Customer Support

According to our previous correspondence___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

It has been called to our attention_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

                                                                                                                     Sincerely,

                                                         Donald Thompson, Developer

dt

Enc. (4)

cc: Roger Duval

Janet Simms

I am soooo glad that's over      

See you soon, 

Arrive With Confidence

Your day has just begun and already you can feel the stress coiling, tightening around you.  You have to write. The job demands it. You hate it. You're are not a writer and feel that you never will be. So what next?  We are going to talk to ourselves. Yep, that's what I said...talk...out loud...to yourself. Welcome to "Lunchbox Learning."

Take a deep breath.  Realize that not only do you have to do this, but you can do this. Just as everything else in life goes, so goes writing-step by step.

Let's throw away for just a moment all the writing, grammar, and spelling rules and go from there. Think of what it is you have to write about.  Now jot it down. What are your opinions, thoughts about that subject? Jot them all down.  Now go back and organize all the thoughts, opinions in the order of what you think is most important. Jot them down in that order.

How would you introduce the topic if you were talking to someone about it? Jot it down.  Now go back to each point you made and say a little something about each point.  As you discuss each point, jot it down. How would you end this conversation? Jot it down.

There you have it.  All the rules: Topic, Introduction, Body and Conclusion...all right there in your head.  And you said you couldn't write...

In future 'how-to' journals we are going to write by following that natural flow, only I will lead you step by step while applying each rule and before you know it, your are a writing machine!

PS What is lunchbox learning?  Stick around and you'll find out. 

-Alia