Effectively teaching TM Forum delegates in the US and UK with wide ranging writing abilities about marketing writing

The requirements for TM Forum were complex: the organisation has marketing and collaboration teams in both the US and UK;  it needed its tone of voice defining; and there were large differences in abilities between the delegates.

Most delegates wrote direct mail, but these might be to specific types of members or non-members. Other delegates were responsible for writing briefing documents that were used to kick off an initiative.

The training solution: Delegates attended either UK or US training and a one- or two-day course depending on ability

Writing Machine Academy worked with its sister company WM Communications to develop and document TM Forum’s tone of voice which was used across the organisation, worldwide. The delegates were divided, based on both their location and their ability. Writing Machine Academy delivered two Structured Marketing Writing (Fundamentals) courses (one in the US and one in the UK) and then Structured Marketing Writing (Advanced) course for the people that Nik Willetts, VP Communications at TM Forum, felt would benefit most from some intensive training.

“By its very nature, an industry association such as TM Forum includes a broad range of people writing about many diverse subjects,” says Nik. “WM Communications and Writing Machine Academy did a great job in making our communications more cohesive, coherent and consistent. The tone of voice work has been critical in my plan to make sure that all our external communications read like they are from the same organisation. Not only does this help to reinforce our branding, it also reassures our members when they read information from different areas of the association.

“Meanwhile, Writing Machine Academy tailored the course to fit all of our requirements. I have heard nothing but good things from those who attended, and I immediately noticed an improvement in style, tone and turnaround times of everything we’re writing.”

Client feedback

Delegates were asked to give a score out of five on a list of feedback questions such as ‘Quality of the training content’, ‘Quality of the trainer’ and ‘I have learnt new techniques that will enhance my writing’. The average score was 4.7 out of 5.