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The Cost of Complexity – Why Simpler Business Communication Often Works Better

More detail in the proposal. More explanation on the website. More slides in the presentation. More paragraphs in the email. Business owners may assume that sounding professional in their communication means providing more information.

The intention is usually good. We want clients to understand the value we provide, demonstrate our expertise and give people everything they need to make an informed decision. But there is a point where more information stops being helpful and starts creating friction.

Clear business communication isn’t about saying less for the sake of it. It’s about making it easier for someone to understand what matters, what it means for them and what they should do next. For businesses competing for increasingly limited attention, that simplicity can be a genuine advantage.

Complexity Creates Work for Your Customer

Every interaction with your business asks something of the person on the other side.

• A prospective client visiting your website needs to work out what you do and whether you can help them
• Someone reading a proposal needs to understand what you’re recommending and why
• A client receiving a report needs to identify what matters amongst the information presented
• Someone opening an email needs to know whether they need to read it, respond to it or take action
• … and so on

When business communication is unnecessarily complicated, we’re effectively transferring work from ourselves to the customer. They have to decipher the terminology, identify the important information, navigate competing messages or work out what happens next. Some people will persist, while others may postpone the decision, ask for clarification or simply move on.

That makes clarity more than a writing preference, it can directly influence the experience someone has with your business.

Your Website Should Answer Questions, Not Create Them

A business website can accumulate complexity surprisingly quickly, as new services are added, pages are written at different times by different people, and every department wants its particular capability mentioned.

Eventually, the website may accurately describe every product of service the organisation provides while making it surprisingly difficult to understand what the organisation actually does.

A useful test is to look at a page from the perspective of someone who knows very little about your business:

• Can they quickly understand who the service is for?
• What problem does it help solve?
• What does working with you involve?
• What should they do if they want to know more?

The objective isn’t to remove useful detail, rather to create a hierarchy that helps people find the right detail at the right time. A clear headline, a short explanation and an obvious next step can do more work than several paragraphs of information that is technically accurate but poorly prioritised.

Value ≠ Volume – A Longer Proposal Isn’t Necessarily Better

The same principle applies when businesses prepare proposals, recommendations and presentations. There can be a temptation to demonstrate value by demonstrating volume. If considerable expertise and effort have gone into preparing something, a substantial document can feel like evidence of that work. However, the recipient may see it differently.

Their primary questions are often much simpler: What are you proposing? Why are you recommending it? What will it cost? What happens next?

Supporting detail may absolutely be required, particularly where the subject is technical or complex, but that doesn’t mean every piece of information needs equal prominence. Good communication creates layers. Give the reader the essential information first, then make the supporting detail available for those who need or want it.

Complex work can still produce a simple explanation. In fact, being able to clearly explain something complicated can be one of the strongest demonstrations that you understand it.

Emails Should Make the Next Step Obvious

Email is another area where complexity can quietly create inefficiency. Consider an email containing five paragraphs of background information followed by an important request somewhere near the bottom.

The sender knows exactly why the email matters because they wrote it. The recipient has to discover that for themselves.

Where possible, make the purpose clear early:

• If you need someone to approve something, tell them
• If there is a deadline, make it easy to find
• If you’re providing information but don’t require a response, say so

This becomes particularly important when communicating with clients who may already receive considerable correspondence from their accountant, adviser, bank, insurer, lawyer and other professional service providers. Being the business that communicates clearly becomes a key part of the value you provide.

Reporting Should Highlight Meaning, Not Just Information

Businesses have access to more data than ever before. Dashboards, financial reports, analytics platforms and automated systems can produce enormous amounts of information. But access to more information doesn’t automatically produce better decisions.

A useful report doesn’t simply tell someone what happened. It helps them understand what matters:

• What changed?
• Why does it matter?
• Is there something we should investigate?
• Is a decision required?

This is particularly relevant for business owners. A comprehensive financial report may contain dozens of important figures, but an owner may gain considerably more value from understanding the three or four numbers that deserve their attention this month, with practical solutions to go with it.

The expertise isn’t simply in producing the information. It’s in helping someone interpret it.

Clear Communication Doesn’t Mean Oversimplifying

There is an important distinction between simplifying business communication and oversimplifying the subject. Some matters genuinely are complicated. Tax, finance, law, business structures and financial planning are obvious examples.

Removing necessary qualifications or presenting a complex decision as universally straightforward can be misleading. The goal should instead be to make complexity manageable:

• Use plain English where possible
• Explain technical terminology when it is necessary
• Break information into logical sections
• Separate the key message from supporting detail
• Use examples where they genuinely make something easier to understand.

Most importantly, don’t confuse industry familiarity with customer familiarity. Language that feels completely normal inside your business may be unfamiliar to the people you’re communicating with.

The Best Test: Can Someone Easily Work Out What Happens Next?

There is a simple question every business can apply to almost any piece of communication:

What do I want the person receiving this to understand, feel or do next?

If the answer isn’t obvious from the website page, email, proposal, report or presentation you’ve created, there may be an opportunity to simplify it. That doesn’t necessarily mean making it shorter, as sometimes clarity requires additional explanation.

It means removing unnecessary friction between the information you’re providing and the outcome you’re trying to achieve. Businesses invest considerable effort attracting prospective clients and building relationships with existing ones, and clear communication helps make sure that effort isn’t undermined by making people work unnecessarily hard to understand us.

Sometimes the most effective way to demonstrate expertise isn’t to show someone how complicated something is. It’s to make the complicated feel easier.

written by:

Ben Hart

Ben joined the McKinley Plowman team in 2017 as a Marketing & HR Assistant, after completing a Bachelors degree in Marketing & Management from the University of Western Australia. Ben has since stepped up to the role of Head of Marketing & Communications and oversees the marketing activities for MP+ and many of our clients.

Ben enjoys helping MP+ and clients take their businesses to the next level with thoughtful marketing strategies, innovative solutions, and timely reviews to ensure great outcomes. When he's not in the office, you'll find Ben playing football (soccer), watching it, or reading about it.