Policy writing sucks, right? Those policies that are so tough to write and consider are the very things that will keep your business protected, and extend the same type of protection to your clients. Reasonable, sound policies will actually help your business and establish trust between you & your client. Here are four tips for writing your business policies.
1. Keep it short, & concise.
There are a few things that you should spell out for your prospective clients as you’re writing your business policies:
Your shipping policy, if applicable. State plainly how you will ship, what company you will use, and any time frame information that might apply.
Your refund or satisfaction policy. You need to decide if you will have a satisfaction guaranteed policy, or whether you will dream up a refund policy of your own. Whatever you do, make it clear.
Your privacy policy and how you will handle information that is provided by your client during the purchase process. This includes your client’s name, address, phone number, e-mail address, and so on. Your prospective client will want to know what you plan on doing with that information, and whether or not you plan to share it.
2. Don’t use that legalese stuff, and don’t be angsty or confrontational.
You can write your policies without using legal jargon. It’ll make it way more simple for your prospective clients to understand, and it won’t sound sterile and like a machine wrote it. Angsty or confrontational policies won’t earn you business. Don’t fall into the trap of editing your policies after you’ve had a bad experience with a person and want to avoid it happening again.
3. Make a frequently asked question section somewhere on your website or blog.
Provide a link in your policies to the FAQ! Most of what goes into the FAQ is not policy-related, so you need to draw a clear distinction between your policies and FAQ. If you include your FAQ with your policies, it’s going to overwhelm your prospective client with information when they really just want a quick answer!
4. Make the policies easily accessible.
No one wants to hunt for policies. That makes your business seem shady if it’s not out in the open.
Re-read your policies before you make them a for-real thing. You should feel comfortable and protected by your policy. Similarly, your prospective client should also feel protected by your policy and should not be left with any questions as a result of your policy. Make a point of revisiting your policies every 3-4 months to make sure that it’s still applicable to your business & what you’re doing.
Remind yourself of your own policies, as a business owner, and stick with it.