It's a completely preventable problem, often driven by internal politics and a misunderstanding of the skills writers bring to the table.

Here are four tips to help advisors get the most out of their writing staff.

Understand That Writing is Not a Writer's Only Skill

At many firms, writers are viewed as order takers who simply put pen to paper on already defined topics that are believed to be fully thought out, fleshed out ideas by decision makers at the firm.

And, because most financial professionals are educated and are required to write – in some form or another each day as part of their job – they often fancy themselves as talented writers, which is not often the case.

This often leads to messaging that is overly technical, filled with jargon, or generic enough that it reads like it could be from any firm.

Truly talented writers, on the other hand, are trained to understand their audience and are skilled at crafting messaging in a way that will prompts readers to action.

Writers typically thoroughly think through topics they are writing about. They poke holes in subpar initiatives to figure out how to make them more effective and even help management decide whether certain pieces of collateral are really necessary.

Most experienced writers have also learned to assess the type of information that they will need to include when writing about a topic. Such perspectives comes from having previously come up short on writing complete stories when information was lacking or the premise behind a piece was flawed.

To avoid some of these potential problems, advisors should include writers in meetings in which product positioning and marketing messages are planned. Advisors should not simply hand off the writing portion of the job to the writer once everything else is cast in stone.

For example, handing a writer an outline that has already been approved by senior management can prevent the writer from providing valuable comments on the message being developed.

Avoid the Data Dump

Writers can easily get caught in the battle over responsibilities. In some cases, investment and research staffers may dismiss requests to provide data for writers, explaining that such responsibilities should fall within the marketing department.

Marketing departments typically respond that they have neither the expertise nor the access to databases that are required to retrieve data. With such debates lingering, the end result is that investment staffers may simply provide a data dump.

For example, rather than provide requested averages for various types of data, they may simply provide the data and let the writer struggle with the calculations. Not all writers are capable of doing so, nor should they be expected to.

Pride in Craftsmanship

Writers often take pride in their craft and being associated with a firm that produces quality value-added materials. Publishing poorly written materials or materials that are riddled with typos or grammatical mistakes, therefore, can have a clear impact on career writers who have spent years refining their craft.

Typos and grammatical mistakes can happen for many reasons, such as non-writers editing the copy or adding sections after the writer has finished his or her part. Make sure you have a defined workflow that is endorsed by senior management to ensure non-writers are not fiddling with copy, such as emails, at the last minute before they are published.  

Hire a Proofreader

Writers often make great efforts to avoid typos or other mistakes in their text, but they do happen. It can be tough for a writer to catch his or her own mistakes.

That’s why having a skilled proofreader or copy editor assist in producing materials can be a big help. It’s a different skill set that many writers and editors do not possess. And, its well worth the investment to be sure you don’t suffer reputational damage by publishing sloppy copy.