Scribbr’s philosophy of customer-centric editing
Here’s my theory: students are the best clients in the editing business. There are few corners of the industry where you have the chance to see your clients grow as writers over time and help them reach important milestones (graduation!).
As an editor, you can really make a positive difference in students’ lives, whether it’s by helping them learn how to clearly express their ideas or empowering them to overcome their insecurities and write with confidence.
At Scribbr, we see this every day in the reviews that students send us, which often include comments such as these:
“I am so thankful for Aimee! Academic writing is not my strong point, and I was discouraged as I was writing my dissertation. Her feedback, recommendations, and resources are truly appreciated. I learned so much about my writing style.” (Trustpilot)
“Thank you, Shane! I am extremely satisfied with your Proofreading and Editing Services! I received word that my proofed and edited dissertation has been approved by my Dissertation Chair, and I will defend next week on June 27th! Hooray!” (Trustpilot)
Working with students is rewarding, but it also comes with certain obligations. As editors, we need to remember that providing feedback on something as personal as someone’s writing inherently involves managing insecurities and vulnerability. With our words and our tone, we have the power to build someone up or break them down. How can we be sure to edit in a way that empowers and motivates students?
In this article, we’ll share some of Scribbr’s secrets for building positive relationships with students and scoring glowing reviews.
Give the author direction
Imagine this. You’ve worked on your thesis for six long, stressful months. You’ve finally finished, and you submit it for editing. You can almost see the finish line! But then…your paper is returned with 132 improvement points. You’ve got a week before your deadline, and you have no idea where to start. How are you feeling now? Pretty distressed, right?
Here are two ways to sidestep counterproductive feedback and help students succeed:
- Help the author navigate your feedback. You can do this by developing clear focal points. This will offer cohesion to your advice and help your feedback feel like a unified whole, rather than a set of disconnected observations. The author will walk away with confidence, as they have a clear path forward.
- Help the author prioritize their efforts. Start with the feedback that will have the greatest impact on the author’s writing, and go from there. Your author will walk away with a clear action plan and insight into how to make the most of the limited time they have to improve their paper before the deadline.
At Scribbr, our editors make sure to do this in the personal note that’s included with every edit. Taking this extra step to frame the edit for the student can help to inspire confidence, build trust and provide the best possible customer experience.
Get your tone right
Whether you’re writing your first paper and are at the start of your academic career or you’re submitting an article to a high-ranked journal, no one likes to feel judged when they receive feedback. While working with students, we recommend adopting an author–editor tone instead or a student–teacher one.
If you treat the author as an expert and yourself as an advisor, then they will receive your feedback in a more positive way. Try phrasing your feedback as recommendations instead of commands and offering specific improvements instead of general instructions.
Instead of….
“Poor sentence. Revise.”
Try…
“Your reader may have difficulty following this sentence; consider revising for clarity.”
To encourage students to be receptive to your feedback, the best strategy is to balance truthfulness with careful expression. When you use this approach, your feedback is more likely to be perceived as constructive and as having good intentions — and you won’t give your students flashbacks to angry red ink all over their high school essays.
Personalize it
When you work behind a screen and don’t have direct contact with the author, it can be easy to forget there’s another human on the other side of your edit. This can lead to impersonal and mechanical edits, if you’re not careful.
Try your best to fight this. Remember that as editors, we work with people — real, living people who almost certainly did their best. So take the extra step to engage and connect. If an author has written something clever, go ahead and say it. Give genuine compliments about the author’s writing or approach. Small words of encouragement can mean a lot to nervous authors.
Ultimately, showing empathy will help you establish a positive relationship with the author from the get-go. They’ll be more receptive to your feedback and to see you as a person who means well. By taking this extra step to make it personal, you can be sure your will clients walk away with a positive impression of you as their editor and satisfaction with your services.
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Now, if you’re thinking that this doesn’t sound like rocket science, then you’re not wrong! Being an exceptional editor involves emotional intelligence. And while emotional intelligence isn’t something you can train in two weeks, you can be intentional about treating your customers as individuals and being kind.
As long as you make a genuine effort to understand and fulfill each customer’s needs, your edit will surely be met with appreciation.
