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The business documents your organization uses are reflective of your company image, so it’s imperative they are clean, accurate, polished and enforce your brand consistency. Creating document templates not only helps to ensure those guidelines are met, templates also increase productivity by eliminating redundant data entry efforts, reducing manual efforts and margin for errors.
Clear, Concise and Consistent Messaging
Documents will differ based on the individual drafting it which not only affects what is conveyed but also how it is conveyed. Critical points and information can be lost, if not presented in the most constructive format. When utilizing templates, a consistent and uniform format can be used throughout all documentation, making it easier to highlight the most important aspects of the correspondence, to convey a message that succinct, clear and concise!
Increases efficiencies
One of the primary benefits of utilizing templates is to reduce the time and effort it takes to complete a document. Whether it’s creating a new document from scratch, modifying an existing one or completing the information required, creating standardized templates reduces the amount of efforts required and boosts efficiencies. Thoroughly formatting, editing and proofreading is imperative but very time consuming thus costly when those efforts need to be repeated over and over, when that time should be spent on more constructive tasks.
Reduce Errors
Utilizing templates ensures valuable information does not get changed or worse, omitted altogether! In addition, not only does it guarantee that all required elements remain intact, but that all the details are outlined accurately. This is increasingly important when subject matter is complex such as in human resources, legal, insurance and contractual agreements.
Improve Customer Satisfaction
Communication is key to customer satisfaction so ensuring that all forms of correspondence convey your messages clearly, reduces the chances of miscommunication, misunderstanding or confusion and helps establishes trust and confidence. Furthermore, maintaining your brand message and image consistently throughout the communication process, reinforces recognition and professionalism.
When creating templates, it is important to take the time necessary to craft properly and be sure to pay close attention to:
Company Image - First impressions matter! Ensure that all documents are consistent with the company message, branding and image. The tones and style need to be in line with the type of document, as well as it’s purpose.
Format - One of the most important elements in readability. Make sure the flow is logical, style elements are consistent and it isn’t too crammed with information.
Proofreading - Thoroughly review spelling, punctuation and grammar.
Implementation – Create a clearly labeled template that will serve as the master copy for all future documents. Access to templates is important, so consider a centralized or cloud-based solution.
Investing the time and energy to create document templates not only reduces mistakes and costs, it increases productivity, consistency and customer satisfaction!