m Teach you how to read a customer¶s email

carefully and understand what she is asking.

m Draft what your email will accomplish so that your

customer leaves your email satisfied with the
customer service you¶ve provided.

m Write in clear, short paragraphs that get the job

done quickly.

m Revise sentences for clarity.

m —elp you understand why Americans think µa,¶ µan,¶ and
µthe¶ are so important.

m Teach you to polish your email messages to change

Indian phrases that American customers might
misunderstand or misinterpret.

m Give you the opportunity to practice all these skills so

you can apply them to the emails you write every day
to Eli customers in the United States.
m rommunicating with customers is hard.

m rommunicating clearly via email is hard.

m rommunicating across cultures is hard.

m Add those 3 things together & you¶ve got a very hard

task.

m Writing effective emails to American customers

requires strategic thinking, planning, revision & a few
tricks.
o one can spit out perfect writing without going
through these 4 basic steps:

m Prewriting
m Planning
m Drafting
m Revision
2
 


 





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So, instead of writing something like:

m In order to log in to The roding Institute¶s OSS, it is

necessary to enter a username and customer number.

m 6ry:

m ou can log in to the online version of  





 by entering your user name, erinlb@eliresearch.com,
and customer number, 2828915, on this page:
http://osslogin.com/content/oss_admin2/cgi/member_login.
cgi?brand=tci.






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m Read the email carefully to make sure you

understand exactly what the customer is asking.
—ow many answers does she need? rount them
up. That will give you a good outline for your
email¶s paragraphs.
˜ ample ˜mail from a Customer:

m 
 
 



  
 



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nalysis:

m This customer is worried she is going to have to pay more money now
to get rEUs for reading our pubs. She¶s a little mad that she now has to
take a quiz and that she may have to pay more money.

m She also doesn¶t understand quite how to use the new rEU system,
despite reading previous instructions.
Π6o start, write a subject line for the email.

m If you are initiating the email, don¶t write

something like ³—I´ or response to request. If the
customer¶s subject line was something vague, like
µInquiry¶ or µRequest,¶ revise it a bit so that the
customer clearly sees your response in his inbox.
Instead, use the subject line to specify what you¶re talking
about.

Example subject lines:

m our subscription to rardiology roding Alert

m ORDER rO IRMATIO: Internal Medicine ronference in Orlando

m our Allergy roding Audioconference on April 1

m RE: our Inquiry about The roding Institute¶s July 9-11 Ob-Gyn
ronference

m RE: our Request for a PD of the ABI roding AUDIO slides

G Quickly plan the paragraphs you will need to
answer the customer¶s questions.

Tip: Give each paragraph a short word or phrase

that you can later use as a bold paragraph header.
This strategy helps you plan your response so you
ensure you answer every part of the customer¶s
inquiry. BOUS: ou¶ll have clear µlabels¶ for each
paragraph that help your customer skim the email
quickly, understand it, and be satisfied.
m 
 
 



 
 
 


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m our subject line might be: our rardiology roding
Alert subscription & rEUs

m our first paragraph will explain that the customer

doesn¶t have to pay extra. So your bold paragraph
lead might say: ou don¶t have to pay e tra to take
the C˜
quizzes.

m our second paragraph will make sure that the

customer understands how to take the quizzes. So the
paragraph lead might say: Onstructions for taking the
free quizzes.
e t step: Just write.

m Don¶t agonize over every word. That will only slow

you down. Get your words on the screen. ou can
revise them in the next step.
Subject: our Cardiology Coding
lert subscription & C˜
s

Thank you for your email. I¶m pleased to inform you that you don¶t have to pay e tra to take the C˜

quizzes. This is a benefit included in the price of your subscription.

Onstructions for taking the free quizzes are as follows:

Simply go to www.coding411.com.
rlick the link for ³AAPr rEUs´ - On the left had side of the page about ½ way down.
our log in name is XXXX, and your password is XXX. I¶ve just tested it and it works fine.

If you have any problems please let me know.

Thanks, John

P.S. Because you are finding rardiology roding Alert so useful, I wanted to be sure you know about the
upcoming audio conference entitled, rardiology roding that Gets you Paid. The speaker, Jim rollins, is
the leader speaker in this subject. If you are interested, I can give you a wonderful price because you are
also a subscriber. Just let me know.
m Paramedic Method

o Easy to read
o More persuasive
o More user-centered
6


 
   

    


m Prepositions are evil little critters sometimes. They

actually enable sentence constructions that are
wordier and more vague than they should be.

m Examples: µOf¶ and µby¶

6
  
 

2hy is active voice better for business writing?

It¶s more concise, and more direct. It¶s less likely
to confuse the customer because if you write in
active voice, you¶re more likely to use µyou.¶

m ³the problem is being fixed´ to ³our technical team

is fixing the problem´
6
     !
"

m Often, what separates a good business letter from

a bad business letter: X˜S. Using verbs adds
clarity, and reassures the customer you¶re DOIG
something to address the problem.
6ip # 6. Get to the Point

All too often, we begin sentences in business letters

with µthroat clearing phrases¶ that add words, clutter
the main message, and slow the reader¶s
understanding. Below are some phrases often
involved in µslow windups,¶ as well as for some revision
suggestions.

µronfirming our telephone conversation of today¶

µAs we discussed on the phone today¶
Do not write "the same" in an email. The phrase
makes little sense to Americans.

m ˜ ample - I will try to organize the project artifacts

and inform you of the same when it is done
etter: I will try to organize the project artifacts
and inform you when that is done.
Do not write or say, "I have some doubts on this
issue.´ In the Indian context the word for ³doubt´
and a ³question´ are the same. Americans use the
term "doubt" is used in the sense of doubting
someone.

m ˜ ample: I have a doubt related to your order.

m etter: I have few questions on related to your
order.
American¶s don¶t understand  September ˜nd",
"Month End," and "Day End.³

m They use these as:"˜nd of September," "End of

Month³ or "End of Day".
Americans don¶t use the word "
pdation.´

m etter: ou  update´ somebody.

Be very cautious when using the phrase  ou have
to´ or  ou must.´ rulturally Americans will view
this as an order, and not take kindly to it.

m ˜ ample: ou have to wait 10 days for the mail

to stop coming.
m etter: It will take about 10 days for the mail to
stop coming.
Certainly isn¶t misunderstood, but not a needed
word in the US generally.

o ˜ ample: I certainly will take care of that for you.

o Onstead: I will take care of that for you.
Scheme is used in Indian language to describe a plan
or promotion. In the US it is usually applied to an
unethical or unlawful plan:

o ˜ ample: Because you are ordering with me on the phone

today, I can offer you the following scheme.
o Onstead: Because you are ordering with me on the phone
today, I can offer you the following special plan.
Using the word promotion as it relates to sales
will never get you very far to reaching your goal.
American¶s hear this as a lead into a sales pitch
and will close down.

o ˜ ample: I¶m calling today with a great promotional

offer for you to consider.
o Onstead: I¶m calling today to confirm your
information so O can send you two free issues.
Use 2ould and 2ill correctly:

o ˜ ample: ou would be going to the first session at

9am.
o Onstead: ou will be going to the first session at 9am.
The word Gift in Indian English can be used as a
verb. In US English it cannot. or example:

o ˜ ample: I¶ll be gifting you the publications we

discussed.
o Onstead: I¶ll be sending you the free publications we
discussed.
evert does not mean reply to people in the US.

o ˜ ample: Why have you not reverted to my email?

o Onstead: Why have you not replied to my letter?
Although correct English, rarely will someone use
the word furnish:

o ˜ ample: Please furnish me with three copies.

o Onstead: Please send me three copies.
The phrase  the same´ is used regularly in
Indian English to refer back to the noun in the
sentence. This is never the case in US English:

o ˜ ample: She found the tip she was looking for in the
newsletter and used the same.
o Onstead: She found the tip she was looking for in the
newsletter and used it.
Immediately acknowledge that
you¶ve received the customer¶s
email.
Send Answers to Questions
Send Answers or Updates in a Timely
manner

> Service as good as how you would handle the

call
Answer the actual question

m Reread and tailor-fit

m Reliability is measured by reliability of your information
Emails should be riendly
Emails Should Be Accurate

m Email Templates
m Spell check
m Details
Emails should set the Right Tone

- Emoticons
- Grammar
- Polite
- Proper English and not Internet English
Emails should be EAS to read
m Standard : 10-12 point Times ew Roman,
rourier and Arial

m Use paragraphs and line spaces

Should be screened for potential legal threats
Emails should be well-organized

m Limit email to 3 important points

m Use bullets and numbers
m Product Questions

Informative Subject Line

Short

riendly
Makes potentially complex
issue easy to understand c

—as email links

Presents a
possible Work-
around

It is pro-active
 ‡




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m Exchange Policies 

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