Area of expertise:
I am a plain language writing expert. I help customer care organizations improve the quality of their written communications with customers. I help customer service agents write better email, chat, social media, text, and chatbot content. I help companies create useful, readable knowledge content for internal and external customers.
What is your background in the industry?
I’ve owned my company, E-WRITE, since 1996. Over these 27 years, I’ve worked with customer care teams in every industry, from the US Patent and Trademark Office to the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority; from Delta Airlines to Selected Independent Funeral Homes. My background in the industry is longevity and breadth of experience.
What do you consider to be your greatest achievement?
I believe that being able to write well is a survival skill in the workplace. Being able to acquire new writing skills enables you to advance in your career. My greatest achievement is in helping people develop essential written communication skills, so they can do their jobs well, get promoted, and grow.
What do you see as the greatest challenge facing the industry?
Today’s greatest challenge has long been our industry’s greatest challenge: cost-cutting measures that harm the customer experience. For example, chatbots. Cheaper, yes. More aggravating, also yes!
What would contact center folks be surprised to learn about you?
Hmmm, that’s a tough one. Given how much speaking and writing I do, I don’t think I’m likely to surprise anyone in our community. No one will be surprised to learn that I began my career as a high school and college writing teacher. No one will be surprised that I love to read and write. Here’s a somewhat surprising personal fact about me: my husband and I have the same birthday. Yes, we do.
Recent Contact Center Pipeline articles by Leslie:
How to Check Writing Skills Before Hiring
What to Write When Saying "No"
Writing Home
Writing Well When Your Attention is Divided
12 Better Ways to Start a Customer Service Email
Digital Customer Care: 10 Ways to Fix Not-Very-Good Tweets to Customers
In Unusual Times, Replace the Usual Customer Service Phrases
20 Empathy Statements to Show Stressed-out Customers That You Care
How to Write a 5-Star Response to 1-Star Rating or Poor Review
E-WRITE's Leslie O'Flahavan helps people write well to customers. She delivers customized training for frontline agents, social media managers, and contact center leaders. She is a problem-solver for all written channels: email, chat, text and social. Leslie is a LinkedIn Learning author of five customer service writing courses.