Getting the most from your faxes

How your faxes communicate your message

by Paul Paquet

You send out dozens of faxes every week. In fact, your clients probably see more of your faxes than they see of your letterhead. So it pays to think of the lowly fax cover sheet as an important communications tool.

• Don't send "junk faxes." Never send unsolicited marketing material by fax. It ties up the recipient's line and consumes other people's paper and toner.
• Limit the number of pages. Someone might be at the other end waiting to send an urgent fax, only to be stuck staring as page 21 of 38 comes rolling slowly off the machine. Call before sending faxes longer than 12 pages.
• Don't fax photos or images with a lot of grey. Not only do these sort of images take forever to transmit, but they never look right at the other end.
• Remember that a fax is a low-prestige tool. People are more likely to throw away faxes after they read them, especially if they are on thermal paper. Save faxes for urgent or routine messages.
• Program your fax machine to transmit late at night. Long-distance charges are lower and machines are less likely to be busy. But beware of sending late-night faxes to home-based businesses.
• Be careful about type. Although serif typefaces, such as Garamond or Century Schoolbook, are easier to read on the printed page, sans-serif typefaces, such as Arial and Univers, are easier to read when faxed. Metalworking Marketer, however, recommends Palatino as a serif typeface that faxes well. Set the type between 12 and 14 points and avoid "reverses" (white text on black backgrounds).
• Don't forget to number the pages. Faxes often end up out of sequence.
• Put your message on your fax. If you have a slogan, a logo, or some other means of communicating your main selling point, make sure that it appears on the fax. One organization we know reserves part of its fax cover sheet for public service messages, which it updates monthly.
• Be consistent. Your fax should be part of your communications package, and should have the same look and feel as your letterhead and other identifying materials.
• Be brief. Consider using half-page cover sheets. They take less time to transmit and use less paper on the other end.

Cornerstone is a writing and editing firm that uses marketing and PR principles to create "words you can build your business on."

Call us from anywhere in the world for rush work.

Click here to exit .