Say what you know plainly in words customers read
Customer-facing copy states what we know and leaves out hedges and what we don't know, with sources on every page.
What it can see: only this page.
The rule itself
In words a customer reads in our name, say what we know plainly and leave out what we don't know. A reader who sees hedges thinks we don't trust ourselves, and they don't buy.
- If we don't know something, don't raise it. Don't tell the reader that we don't know it.
- Don't hedge in advance. Cut "may vary", "we can't promise", "results depend", "to be fair" and "it's worth noting".
- Cite sources on every page, sales pages too: agents and readers trust a claim they can trace. A source names where a fact comes from (publisher, date, link) and never says what it doesn't support. Caveats stay in our notes and on the ticket.
- When you brief a model or a neighbour to write for customers, don't ask it to mark its guesses, to drop numbers it can't check, or to say what its sources don't support. It will hand the flinch back in the copy.
- Everything you say must still be true. Don't invent prices, results, customers or numbers. Where you don't have the fact, leave it out.
Use it
Copy the rule into your agent's rules folder, or add it with a kit that lists it. Your agent reads it at the start of each session.
Used by
- writing (kit)