MakingTech Sound Human
There’s no doubting what boxxe do from a technical standpoint, it’s big and bold, clear to everyone that we’re experts in tech solutions. What’s easy to lose sight of, however, is how important the human part is to the people we work with.
That warm, funny, sometimes squishy bit on the other side of the computer screen is also known as trust, and it’s what keeps people coming back when they need help.
Why is how boxxe sounds, important?
Impact - Having a standout tone of voice brings our brand to life in an engaging and powerful way.
Consistency - Creating a consistent experience for customers and stakeholders, whatever the context.
Trust - The more we talk in a consistent TOV across our brand, the more likely it is that customers and partners will reciprocate that openness and trust towards us.
It’s how we differentiate ourselves from the competition and our tone of voice is a big part of that. Not just our marketing, but all our terms and conditions, every website click, every social post and how we communicate with each other. Every word adds up to people's perception of who we are.
The boxxe tone of voice
Friendly
We are warm and approachable, engaging, open & sometimes witty.
We are human.
Straight-talking
We speak in straightforward, everyday language - clear, simple, honest and direct.
We are human. We make tech easy to understand.
Positive
We’re enthusiastic and care about what we do.
We make life better with tech.
Passionate
We’re optimistic and not doom and gloom. We find solutions to problems, even when things are tough.
We are inspiring and motivating.
Every word matters
The words we put out there into the real world are among the most important ways we have of showing people what we stand for. If the way we communicate confuses, frustrates or scares them, we can lose their hard-earned trust in seconds. Every word is a chance for us to make a connection with someone, go beyond what they'd expect from a tech provider and even, when the situation calls for it, raise a smile.
BUT, This isn't a set of rules
Think carefully about the people you're writing to. Be understanding about how they feel and what they need from us, good writing is empathetic – it should be something you put thought into every time.
We don't want everyone to write like chatbots. boxxe writing should feel like it's come from people with the same values, but it shouldn't feel like one person. Because it's not, so be yourself, it’s okay to let your personality do the talking for you, once you’ve built that layer of trust.
What would boxxe be like in person?
At the heart of who we are is our conviction that we must make life better with tech. We simplify complex processes and make tech easy to understand. We work together with our customers to deliver informed solutions that drive growth commercially and sustainably.
Our people, our customers, our partners and the environment are important to us.
We understand, we collaborate, we simplify, we care and we deliver.
So, we would be these things;
- Interested in
- Engaged
- Human sounding
- Down to earth
- Trustworthy
- Not corporate
- Experts with empathy
- Warm and friendly
How to humanise our language
Using emotive language can be important in gaining trust because it helps establish an authentic, emotional connection with the audience. When people feel emotionally engaged, they are more likely to relate to the message on a personal level; and keep coming back for more.
Examples
Formal Language: boxxe’s new product range is designed to enhance your overall user experience, providing increased efficiency and improved performance.
Emotive Language: Our smart solutions are crafted with you in mind, bettering your user experience and bringing you unmatched performance.
Formal Language: We are pleased to announce a 10% discount for all customers during this promotional period.
Emotive Language: Here’s a 10% discount as our way of saying thank you for being part of our brilliant boxxe community.
Formal Language: We regret to inform you that your application was not successful at this time.
Emotive Language: We know this is disappointing news, but please know that your application was carefully reviewed, and we really appreciate your interest.
Formal Language: Our company is 100% committed to providing top-tier customer service.
Emotive Language: At boxxe, we’re committed to offering you exceptional customer service that goes above and beyond your expectations.
Speak the language of our customers
We might know what we can do inside out, but we’re experts, that’s a given. Chances are though, our customers might not. Whether it’s an area they don’t work in every day, a new service their business are looking to expand into or maybe it’s been a while since they got to splash out on some new tech, try not to alienate the customer by assuming they know the things that we do.
Keep an eye out for terminology that we use all the time. It might not be clear to people outside boxxe (or even new people just starting out here). We can't get around the fact that sometimes we have to use technical language, but we can always be clear about what benefits we can bring to the table and help out people who aren't familiar with the subject.
Cut the waffle
We often have to explain complex information and processes. But that doesn’t mean we have to get everything down on the page all at once.
Keep it simple; Don’t use ten words when five will do. The fewer words you can use, the clearer you’ll be. As customers ourselves, we generally prefer straightforward openness.
Simplify and be as concise as possible.
Remember, we make tech easy to understand.
Trust in subheadings, they're your best friend
As writers, one of our toughest jobs is just to hold people's attention. That's where subheadings come in. Subheadings give you the gist, fast. Scroll through this guide, and you'll (hopefully) be able to understand the big idea in each section just by reading the headings. Then if you want the detail, you can dig in.
The best headings are more than labels or questions
The trick with subheadings is to summarise what you're trying to say in one line, and then save the detail for the bit below. Your readers will thank you for the effort. Even if they only look at the subheadings, they'll still know the key stuff.
Start with what matters to readers
If your first question is “what does my reader really need to know?”, then you can't go wrong. Are they more interested in how popular some new tech is with other customers, or how that tech is a future-proofed way to improve their productivity? (Hint: it's almost always the latter.) That doesn't mean we shouldn't explain our reasons, it just means we should explain what the benefit is first.
“Sell the sizzle, not the sausage “
Think about it for a second, would you rather buy a cylindrical length of minced pork (or other meat) encased in a skin, or a delicious smelling, home-cooked breakfast in your slippers on a Sunday morning? What it means is people don’t just buy products they buy benefits. It’s what the product DOES for our customers.
We’re not just selling products and technology, we’re selling solutions that will help business people perform in ways they hadn’t even imagined yet.
Talk about ‘we’ and ‘you’
Instead of talking about ‘boxxe’, talk about ‘we’. Call the person you are talking to ‘you’ rather than talking about ‘customers’. It’ll make your communications sound warmer and more personal.
Let positivity ring through in your writing. The odd exclamation mark or confetti emoji is great! But if we use them in every other sentence, they start to feel a bit forced and insincere. The same goes for superlative words like ‘great', ‘lovely' and ‘awesome'. Sprinkled over our words they brighten everything up. But if we use them all the time, they start to lose their power.
Be open and inclusive:
boxxe is a welcoming community no matter who you are. That means we're inclusive in our language too. We can, and should, change our language to be more inclusive of everyone.
Less FORMAL – more NORMAL
It can be tempting to revert to formal language, but if we use normal, everyday words, we’ll make ourselves easier to trust and easier to work with. We're friendly people, and we don't want to come across like a cold, faceless organisation. So, use the kind of language you'd use if you were talking with the person you're writing to, and avoid business-speak.
The best test for this is to read what you've written out loud. Does it sound like the kind of thing you'd actually say? If not, some of the words below might be the culprit.
Would you say…
Accumulate Assistance Commence Enable Ensure Further However In order to
Or…
Build up
Help
Start
Let
Make sure More
But
To
Would you say…
Obtain
Provide
Query
Request
Require
Resolve
Therefore
Utilise
Or...
Get
Give
Question
Ask
Need
Fix
So
Use
boxxe in 25 Words
We connect people with hardware, software and managed IT services.
Through 35+ years of expertise, perfecting what works for you and tweaking what doesn’t,
We Make Tech Human.
boxxe in 50 Words
We connect people with hardware, software and managed IT services.
Through 35+ years of expertise, perfecting what works for you and tweaking what doesn’t, we provide flexible tech solutions.
By putting our people, our customers, our partners and the environment at the heart of everything
We Make Tech Human.
boxxe in 100 Words
We connect people in businesses across all sectors with hardware, software and managed IT services.
Through 35+ years of expertise, perfecting what works for you and tweaking what doesn’t, we implement flexible tech solutions, all underpinned by world-leading security and smart data management.
Our range of services empower organisations, enhance teams, and provide tech solutions through strategic consultancy, enabling effective performance and transformation, accelerating growth, increasing productivity and reducing downtime.
With a passion for sustainability, we put people, our partners and the environment at the heart of everything we do.
We Make Tech Human.