Customer Experience refers to all the interactions potential customers have with your business. As more of this journey takes place online, prioritizing readability at all customer touchpoints is crucial for your company’s success.
Customer experience refers to the impression a customer has of your business across all touchpoints of the buyer’s journey.It includes all interactions, from the research stage to becoming a customer and receiving after-sales support.
A recent report from Zendesk shows that 75% of customers will spend more on a company that provides a great customer experience than on cheaper competitors. As more of this journey moves online, it’s crucial to ensure that your customer touchpoints prioritize readability. Let’s take a deeper look at how clear communication is a strategic move for any business.
How Can I Assess the Readability of My Organization’s Content?
As management guru Peter Druker once observed, “What gets measured, gets managed“. In the same vein, this thinking can be applied to understanding how clearly you communicate with customers. Therefore, before making any changes to your content, you should perform a content audit to assess the clarity of your communications. By doing so, you can identify areas for improvement and ensure that your messages resonate effectively with your audience.
“The Flesch Reading Ease Score marks text out of 100, with a score of 70 or higher considered readable for most people”
You can assess your organization’s content readability using the Flesch Reading Ease Score. It measures readability by looking at how many long sentences appear. It also looks at the text. How many syllables there are in each word on average? The Flesch Reading Ease Score marks text out of 100. A score of 70 or higher is considered readable for most people.
The Flesch-Kincaid Score is built on this methodology and confirms the level of education a reader would need to easily consume and understand a piece of text. A Flesh-Kincaid level of 8 means the reader needs to read at a Grade 8 level – this is the recommended level for most marketing content. It’s important to remember that dense paragraphs with long sentences and complex words can lower your score.
“The software also allows managers to measure and manage content output, identifying areas that are showing improvement and areas that need more work”
Using writing software like VT Writer, your organization can embark on a company-wide project to improve your written communication with customers. Your employees can get instant feedback on their work and helpful hints on how to improve their writing. The software also allows managers to measure and manage content output, identifying areas that show improvement and areas that need more work.
How Can I Improve the Readability of My Company’s Writing?
By following some basic writing rules, everyone at your organization can become a better writer. Here are some tips that you can implement immediately:
- Use shorter sentences – break long sentences into two
- Avoid jargon and acronyms – use plain English as often as you can
- Don’t use the passive voice – the active voice is clearer
- Automate proofreading processes – use VT Writer to get instant feedback
Want to learn more about writing in plain English? Check out our top tips for improving the readability of your marketing documents with clear communication.
“Ensuring that all your materials meet recommended readability scores improves your customer experience, builds trust in the market, and can ultimately increase sales.”
Why is Readability Important?
Readability helps you to meet your customers where they are. Your customers come from different backgrounds: many are not native-English speakers, their educational backgrounds will differ, and some may have additional needs. It’s vital to communicate in a way that is easily understood by them all.
Ensuring that all your materials meet recommended readability scores can improve your customer experience, build trust in the market, and can increase sales. For government contracts with different departments or agencies, there may be specific guidelines and regulations that your content must meet.
“Improving the readability of your written communication can transform your customer journey.”
It can also help lower costs: companies that prioritize readability and customer experience can resolve customer inquiries quicker, and empower customers to help themselves by directing them to online educational resources or help centers.
Improving the readability of your written communication can transform your customer journey. Creating simple and understandable messaging for your business, will create a customer experience that increases loyalty, brand advocacy, and profits.
