My brother placed an order recently from Every Man Jack, a local company (to him) founded by a fellow triathlete. His order was delayed a few days, but before he even thought to ask about it, he received this unprompted email:

Hey Scott,

First and foremost, thank you for your online order to Every Man Jack and many apologies about the delay in your shipment. We’re working hard on getting through a large holiday spike, and as a result, are running behind in shipping. I would expect your tracking to show movement within the next 48. I’ll also make sure the guys know to toss in a couple of free lip balms for your troubles.

Don’t hesitate to let me know if you have any questions or need anything at all. I really do appreciate your business and I hope you enjoy your Every Man Jack products and free lip balms upon their arrival.

Happy holidays, thank you for your business, and as always, Cheers from Every Man Jack.

Pete Cronin
E Marketing Guy | Presidio Brands

What impressed Scott was that 1) He never had to ask for an update, 2) it came from a real human being who wrote like one.

Imagine if Pete had written the standard, “Due to an unexpected increase in holiday orders, we are experiencing shipping delays. We apologize for any inconvenience.” It would have had no positive effect and might have even annoyed the customer. But the message Scott received actually made him more likely to do business with this company in the future.

Why share this on a college admissions blog?

First, I know that many of my readers are independent counselors who are running small businesses. This note is an example of why small is good, why you should never exaggerate the size of your business, why the best business writing is that which is not business writing.

But everyone—students, parents, counselors, high schools, and colleges—is in the communication business, especially over email. Yes, there may be times when more formal writing is appropriate. But if you’re not drafting a legal brief or writing a grant proposal, your written communication will almost always be more effective if you write like you talk (the same goes for when you’re writing a college essay).