For commercial property specialist DTRE I wrote a completely new website, as well as creating tone-of-voice guidelines with brand values for their internal use.
[TOV guidelines sample]
TONE OF VOICE
The way we communicate should always reflect our brand values. The words should be straightforward and friendly, but always professional. Assertive where appropriate, but not boastful. And always respectful. In each communication, remember who you’re aiming at, what key information you need to include, and what overall impression you’re aiming to achieve.
We should try to avoid industry jargon such as ‘big boxes’ for our marketing communications. The same goes for slang or abbreviations.
Overall, just follow the rules of good English. Below are a few pointers relevant to our business and our sector.
WHAT WE DO
Our operations are broadly divided into three areas: Leasing, Investment and Development. We previously used the term ‘Agency’ – this has been changed to ‘Leasing’ for clarity. We should always use these terms.
TEAM NAMES
The initial letters of DTRE teams should be capitalised, as follows:
The Office Leasing team
The Industrial Investment team
However, when talking about these areas in a more general sense, they should not be capitalised:
He is experienced in industrial investment
ABBREVIATIONS – VALUE
The nature of our business means we often talk about size, of both properties and deals.
For money, use the standard abbreviation for million, as follows:
An £8m deal
A £12.5m deal
For amounts in thousands, it’s acceptable to use the ‘k’ abbreviation:
We raised £10k for charity
ABBREVIATIONS – SPACE
For areas, write the actual amount in full for amounts up to one million, and thereafter as a fraction of millions. In each case, abbreviate ‘square feet’ to ‘sq ft’:
An 18,000 sq ft let
A 1.2 million sq ft space
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