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How to Swipe Your Way to Faster Communication and Better Service
Personalized communication is important these days. No one likes automated responses and canned communication, and we feel let down when we see those template replies. Your potential customers want to work with you. If you treat them like a number, you may lose sales.
But new freelancers often go to extremes to avoid the problem of using cookie-cutter communication. They want to offer top-notch, all-personal attention to every potential customer, so they expend energy and time writing out brand-new replies to every contact.
Those minutes add up, often into hours. Even a fast typer ends up wasting a huge chunk of time each month – and that’s time that better spent elsewhere, like on improving services, working hard or marketing for new clients.
But using a template response for your communication may not be very appealing to you. You want to give that personal attention. One cookie-cutter letter that gets copy-pasted to all clients? No thanks. And what about customizing quotes to perfection? Each potential client has specific needs, after all.
Ahhh… Enter the swipe file, a time-saver technique that lets you personalize communication for every prospect you email without constantly starting over from scratch.
What’s a Swipe File?
A swipe file is a collection of tried-and-tested, proven solutions that you can use over and again. You build a document full of various excerpts, responses and information you’ve swiped from situations you’ve come across, and you swipe from the document to use for your needs.
A swipe file is like a mix-and-match wardrobe. You buy clothing you’ve carefully selected so that the shoes of one outfit fit nicely with two others or the shirt you love matches with three pairs of pants.
Likewise, your swipe file (the closet) contains excerpts of useful text (the clothes). Each paragraph specifically answers a certain question or provides the pertinent information your client needs. When anyone contacts you, you swipe the paragraphs you need from your document, mix and match them together to respond to the potential client quickly and easily, creating a customized response in no time at all.
Let’s say a prospective customer already knows what services you offer. He knows your rates, too, but he’s sketchy on your process. How would you two work together? You open your swipe file and select the pre-written paragraphs that cover 1) your process, 2) your revision policy and 3) your encouraging closing.
Here’s another example. A person writes and asks if you offer ebook services. You open your swipe file and select the paragraphs that cover 1) a description of the relevant ebook services, 2) your rates and 3) the information you’d need to get started.
Your swipe file lets you tailor your responses without clogging up your PC with a whole bunch of individual documents – there are so many potential replies you could write clients that it’s easy to end up with 10, 20 or more than 30 templates.
With a swipe file, you don’t have to spend too much time penning a custom reply, and your client still receives your personal attention. Win for all.
How to Create a Swipe File
Creating your swipe file is as easy as writing down short paragraph responses for any question you think a client might ask you. Use your experience and your common sense. Write those questions down, creating a headline that you can easily find when you skim through your swipe file document.
Beneath each question, write a great answer. Be clear, be concise, and keep it to one paragraph if you can. Make sure that what you write sounds lively and avoid a canned, rote tone. Also make sure that you can reuse the information again. Put Xs for dollar signs and dates to help create a ‘fill in the blanks’ template to follow.
Need some help with ideas? Start with FAQs, then write paragraphs for business policies, rates and payment terms. Cover your process, your upsells, and some in-project situations that crop up frequently, like asking clients to review your work, requests for feedback or friendly reminders that payment is due.
Build your swipe file over time, adding to it each time you find yourself writing something new. If one person asks, the chances are pretty good that someone else will eventually ask the same question as well.
Keep your swipe file up to date, too. Make sure that if you change a reply because you’ve found a better one, save it to your swipe file. Brush up on your paragraphs every now and then, reworking them for clarity or shortening them up to get to the point.
Swipe File Advantages for Teams
There’s an extra advantage to swipe files: Eventually, you may want to expand your freelance business and bring on someone new. A well-prepared swipe file gives you a valuable resource to help a new team member or employee fit right in and get to work quickly.
Your swipe file helps a new team member learn how you work with customers. It gives a good overview of how you operate your business and your typical business policies. He or she learns the turnaround you offer clients, the boundaries of revisions or the usual process you use during projects.
That’s fantastic. The person you’ve just hired will know exactly how you do business and be able to replicate what you do so that the integration is seamless. More, that person will know what you expect from him or her as well as the type of service he or she should provide to customers.
Plus, you save training time. Your new team member has the answers to all sorts of questions right there in your swipe file, and he or she won’t have to ask so many questions. It’s all right there, like a mini instruction manual.
A swipe file also helps you delegate tasks. If you’ve hired a VA to help you answer email, your VA can respond to clients the same way you would just by using your paragraphs and text, providing the exact service you do and adding consistency to your business. Potential customers always get the right answer, no matter with whom they communicate.
And you don’t need to worry about mistakes or forgotten details.
Do you have a swipe file? Have you found it a lifesaver? Has it improved your customer service or saved time for your business?
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Lolz! Actually I had this idea whilst dealing with my hosting-online support. Most of the time, you ask a question and they provide you with detailed answer that is humanly impossible to draft. So I created a few for my own ease while dealing with employees and customers.
Its really a saver, cuz we know that whether clients or employees, 70 % of the questions asked are FAQ’s. So its better to have ready-to-give answers.
I will now rename my MS word file ” The Swipe File”
…..Sounds Cool
write a writing´s last blog ..Mental Makeover 1 : Thinking Like Cats and Writing Like Dogs
James,
Well, I’ve always heard swipe file used in a whole different context, but sure, why not call the standard text snippets you need to repeat over and over a swipe file? Yes, I do keep those standard bits around, and I do have a sort of master template for projects that I can insert the customized bits into. Every big corporation I ever worked for, from fast food to financial services, had some version of that, and I realized it’s not just a time-saver, it’s a mistakes-and-confusion-saver and even a checklist for myself. So I swiped the idea many years ago. I’ve blogged about written standards like this, and often recommend it to my clients now, and I’d definitely recommend anyone reading this swipe it from you.
Regards,
Kelly
Kelly´s last blog ..Ask Me What It’s Like When You’re Not Looking
I do this all the time because once I’ve figured out how to say something well, I see no point in redoing the work to redo it.
Alex Fayle | Someday Syndrome´s last blog ..The Right Kind of Action
Yup, I call it notes.
Kaushik´s last blog ..The Red Pill of Awakening
Hmmm. I have FAQ’s and Templates and cut and paste the pieces of templates I need. I quess the same thing but your way is quicker.
And never would have thought to call it a swipe file.
But I will now. I am going to swipe it from you and use the idea. Also I have a few clients who need this advice. I’ll send your link to them.
Thanks.
Wendi Kelly-Life’s Little Inspirations´s last blog ..Stolen Moments.
Like others, I’ve used things like this, but I haven’t actually developed a full system. I think I will now, thanks to your advice.
David Garcia´s last blog ..Interview: The life of a lobbyist
Anyone who has ever been in sales knows the value of what I’ve always called “scripts” (am I showing my age?). Prewritten answers to every question or objection a potential client might have. A similar idea to the Swipe File, no? Most definitly a time-saver either way. Thanks, Keri
Great idea. I’m already imagining saving myself tons of keystrokes with this method. In fact, I already use a similar method with Google Lab’s “Canned Response” feature. Canned Response allows you to set up blocks of text like your “swipe” text and then inserts it directly into Gmail.
Another way this could help? When you are tired and typo prone. Nobody wants a typo in an email from their freelancer writer, and I’m extremely error prone in the evening hours when my natural clock has gone to bed for the night.
Jennifer Escalona´s last blog ..Vanessa Knauf on “Who’s the Boss?â€
This sounds very similar to the precedent system used by law firms.
It works well for communication.
The important thing though is to make it not look like a swipe. Sometimes when I receive emails from people the font changes halfway through the email, and you say “I see what you just did”.
So use the same font in your emails as you do in your swipe file.
Patrick Vuleta´s last blog ..Using the law to protect your own land
Ahhh hell. I had replies written out for everyone. And I noticed a spammer’s comment (GONE! DELETED! HOW DARE YOU SPAM HERE!?!) and… yup. Lost it all.
@ Patrick – Actually, no. This happens with me often and it’s not from swiping. I write my email replies in Word, very often, then copy to Gmail. When I remember a detail I wanted to add, I type it in – and the font is different. Argh.
More comments from me later!
Ah… my mistake then. Yeah that would cause that to happen.
I’m gonna go right an email to you with different fonts now…
Patrick Vuleta´s last blog ..Using the law to protect your own land
James,
And when you do that to me, I always think, jeez, the dude can’t even check the fonts before hitting send? Writes to me in sections? Or is part of this letter something that got sent to an old friend?
Yes. I do think that. But I never say ‘cept right now. Blame Patrick.
Patrick,
I’m with you on this one. Even thought there may be (semi?) legitimate reasons for it, it’s darned important that it not look swiped especially in business correspondence (so ignore that personal story up there, hehe). You don’t have to comb through looking for boo-boos, just hit select all and change the font to whatever you mainly use before you hit send, and don’t put questions in anyone’s mind.
Later,
Kelly
Kelly´s last blog ..MCE Round Table: 6 Most Incredible Bloggers Who You’re Missing Out On
@ Kelly – Wait, writing to you is *business*? Sheesh, lady!
Actually, Gmail can be a real bitch. I’ve tried multiple times to select and change the font (or sometimes the color) and get it all the same. No juice. Partial select, full select, c’mon, c’mon… No.
*cries*
I have similar problems with Outlook sometimes.
These days I prefer to send text with Georgia, and for everything Outlook does, it doesn’t let you change the line height, or at least I haven’t figured it out yet.
So to get it all working it is a double switch from copy from Word to Outlook, then Outlook to Word to format again, then Word back to Outlook… takes time.
Patrick Vuleta´s last blog ..Using the law to protect your own land
James,
Heh, no, I wasn’t saying it’s business, though sometimes it is. Just saying that multiple fonts can and does raise questions. If it makes me wonder, what would it do to a client, y’know?
Finally, something my personal email on Yahoo does better than all the supposedly fancier programs, I guess. No problem getting my fonts to behave.
Later,
Kelly
Kelly´s last blog ..MCE Round Table: 6 Most Incredible Bloggers Who You’re Missing Out On
By the way, just to clarify – I’ve never actually experienced that font mismatch from James.
That comment seemed to spark a discussion of James’ emailing which wasn’t quite intended.
I was just saying it happens, more from my own experience in struggling with email programs.
Patrick Vuleta´s last blog ..Using the law to protect your own land
Hehehe. James does good email.
Also there is a great plugin for thunderbird called quicktext.
Worth a try if you use thunderbird as an email client. Has saved me a lot of time