Comments on: Words that should be banned: Solutions – Guest Post by Clare Lynch

By: Aaron

Aaron — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 06:21:15 +0000

Thanks Clare. Another corporate cliché exposed here. The word ‘solutions’ is so commonly used, I think I’ve become brainwashed by it.

It made me look at one of my own projects I’m working on and yep, there it was; ‘solutions’. I’ve now changed this to ‘equipment, parts and servicing’.

By: goodcopybadcopy » Blog Archive » Corpspeak alert: “Solutions” still going strong

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 15:28:17 +0000

[...] For more on why you shouldn’t use the word “solutions”, see my guest post on Brad Shorr’s Word Sell blog. [...]

By: Drop Solution Selling from Your Marketing Vocabulary : Word Sell, Inc.

Drop Solution Selling from Your Marketing Vocabulary : Word Sell, Inc. — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 12:00:58 +0000

[...] Lynch wrote a post here recently in which she utterly destroyed the rationale for using “solutions” in business copywriting. Her post was so on target, so witty, and so devastating that frankly, I don’t know why [...]

By: goodcopybadcopy » Blog Archive » Thirty words you need to stop using today

Fri, 24 Jul 2009 09:00:43 +0000

[...] Solutions You know it sounds stupid, but you just can’t help using it can [...]

By: Clare Lynch

Clare Lynch — Fri, 08 May 2009 15:22:42 +0000

Perhaps we can stick "results-oriented" in the same bin as "client-focused" (if you weren't focused on your clients, then you'd soon be out of business). Clare Lynchs last blog post..Spot the mistakes

By: Brad Shorr

Brad Shorr — Fri, 08 May 2009 13:36:07 +0000

And, Clare, picking up on Karen's point, I observe that many companies touting themselves as results oriented are actually results disoriented. Brad Shorrs last blog post..Is Your Website Working? Take The Content Competence Quiz

By: Karen Swim

Karen Swim — Fri, 08 May 2009 13:13:57 +0000

Hi Clare! Great observations that made me laugh. Many companies even when educated by someone about these matters, will not dispense with this language and others insist that because it is "familiar" to the corporate ranks they must trot out these meaningless phrases. It can be maddening. Another phrase I want to kill is "results-oriented." Karen Swims last blog post..Of Unicorns and Rainbows

By: Robyn McMaster

Robyn McMaster — Thu, 07 May 2009 19:58:17 +0000

Hi Claire, I've never thought of solutions as being formulaic, since often they are hard to come by. After reading what you had to say, I can certainly see that for some folks they are. That's exactly why they wouldn't work. Problems that loom and hold a business back certainly don't work with formulaic solutions. It takes all parties sitting at the table and working them out, often with much pulling of hair to get them. Look at Chrysler, GM, the government and the unions, for instance. Robyn McMasters last blog post..Thwart Theft of Memory Bandits

By: Fred H Schlegel

Fred H Schlegel — Thu, 07 May 2009 18:22:26 +0000

Forgot to say this was a great post by Clare. Fred H Schlegels last blog post..Community Creativity: “Let’s Put On A Show”

By: Fred H Schlegel

Fred H Schlegel — Thu, 07 May 2009 18:17:29 +0000

This is painfully funny, such a wonderful word that is so often misused to avoid actually understanding what a customer really needs. Fluid movement is a great example. Of course half the time I don't even realize I've been using it. You sent me scurrying back to my website to see how guilty I am... Fred H Schlegels last blog post..Community Creativity: “Let’s Put On A Show”