I write many reports for people, but I’m picky about what sort of projects I take on.
I’ve made mistakes.
One of the mistakes I clearly remember is writing a report for a prospectus for a cannabis farm that had a license for farming medicinal-quality cannabis.
I went through all the information that the business owner gave me. The project itself was interesting because cannabis farming is so popular these days.
But it was missing something.
I couldn’t quite put my finger on it.
So what I did was write back to the business owner and his associate and told them that they needed to come up with a strategy before I could write the report.
I think there must have been some puzzled faces when they opened the email.
I didn’t want to sound impudent, but it was obvious that a regurgitation and summary of what was in their documents wouldn’t be appealing.
I had to wait a long time before they came back to me.
They eventually did. The penny dropped for them. They realized that something was missing. They gave me their strategy to target a particular group of potential investors.
This strategy made all the difference.
From then on, with their strategy in mind, it was exciting to write the report for these business owners.
I’m glad I sent everything back to them to re-evaluate, and I’m equally happy for them and me that I didn’t make the mistake of accepting their initial approach to their report.
It helped them, and it helped me.
If I didn’t stop and think about what was happening and what they were trying to do, I think I would have done them a disservice.
I’m like this.
I enjoy optimizing things. I get satisfaction from trying to obtain the most possible value from anything, whether it’s a report or some pastime or hobby.
This is called excellence, but I’m also lucky to work with exclusive clients who can take feedback well and respect my questions and doubts with their initial approach.
I think this trust between the report writer and the client is important.
It’s not only about having the right strategy, but it’s also about all the various ways of being dead honest, but as persuasive as you can and to do it convincingly for the client’s audience.
That reminds me, if you are interested in having your report written, especially an important report, we’re not talking about a mundane report that you have to do weekly and just all about the facts of a situation. What we’re talking about here are reports that are going to make a meaningful difference to your business or even your personal life.
Sometimes you only have one chance to make a good impression, and when it comes to persuasive writing, you may only have one chance to get your client or customer to act.
It’s fine having something that is interesting to read, but unless it motivates your client or customer to do something, well then, quite honestly, it’s failed.
If you want to get results, then contact me via email. I’ll have a look at your stuff and see if I can help. If I can’t, I’d rather be honest with you and let you know up front.
Chesney Bradshaw
