Announcing New Policies or Procedures to Customers
Guidelines and Alternate Phrases
Summarize the new policy or procedure immediately, without getting bogged down in minute details. Include effective dates.
Beginning October 1, we will implement a new procedure for shipping library materials to our field training sites. All orders for videos, periodicals, audio series, or other packaged courses must be placed through Jan Graves. After you phone her (ext. 3456) or drop her a note with your order, she will ship your materials to you within 24 hours.
Feel free to make any changes in current orders or place any new orders from the current catalog until February 9. After that date, we will no longer print a direct-mail catalog or ship products from this location. Instead, your new orders will go directly to ....
Use a positive, upbeat tone (rather than a scolding tone) that makes readers feel as though the change is to their benefit or at least to the benefit of the customers as a whole. Giving adequate explanations goes a long way in helping customers accept changes.
This system is currently being used by only 15% of our customer base, and the expense of the extra handling negates any profit on these orders.
While some of you have enjoyed the convenience of ..., we think the added value of ... will more than compensate for the extra time required to ....
We suggest that you try the procedure for six months. If you’re not completely satisfied that you’re getting better service, let us know. We welcome feedback and will make changes accordingly. Our goal is to provide the best possible service at the lowest cost, and this new procedure is getting high marks in other firms similar to ours.
There may be some confusion in the interim period, but we think the changes will be well worth any initial frustration with the learning curve.
We promise you help every step of the way. And we can assure you that this new policy will add value to your membership in the years to come.
Address the most obvious concerns with specific details. Then give readers a source for questions that will arise about exceptional situations.
The specifications for the new equipment sound restrictive and costly. In fact, they are not. In the chart below, I’ve compared ....
You may have questions about your benefits, your rights, and even the advantages of staying in such a business partnership. We have prepared a list of key people with their addresses and phone numbers so that you can direct your questions to the most knowledgeable source. They are expecting you to call and will be glad to calculate for you ....
We’ve added a special hotline number (1-800-334-6666) just for your questions. We want you to understand fully all the implications of the law on this new issue.
Express appreciation for their cooperation.
Thank you for your usual cooperative spirit.
We appreciate your willingness to try new ideas that we hope will save us all time and money.
Thank you, our customer, for your patience during this transition.
We’ve listened to you, and we’ve made changes. That in itself should show you how much we appreciate your business and your help in offering the finest service available.
We appreciate your willingness to make changes whenever we receive valuable feedback about how we can run our business more efficiently.
Thank you for accepting this new policy as a necessary step in growing a business.
We thank each of you as customers for your loyalty and your cooperation each time we make a change for the better. Here’s to our continued partnership under these new arrangements.
Thank you for your help in making this work.
We are working for you to help you grow. This new procedure is one more example of our effort to provide innovative products and services in a timely manner at the lowest possible cost.
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