Positive Terms & Conditions earn their keep
Terms & Conditions can be a genuine force for commercial good… as long as they’re written with your customers in mind.
T&C are almost always legal gobbledegook, often lifted wholesale from a template. From a communications perspective they’re criminally poor.
Which is a shame. Every communication is an opportunity to promote your business. In a world packed solid with dodgy dealers, positive, honest, transparent Terms & Conditions can be powerful marketing magic.
The thing is, most lawyers would probably advise you to leave your T&C well alone. The solution?
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provide a plain language version of your T&C for people to read in tandem before signing up to the legal version. Say something like: Because our Terms & Conditions are legally binding, they’re difficult to understand. We think it’s nice to know what’s what, so here’s a plain English version.
or
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summarise each term and condition in plain English above or below the legalese. Say something like: Because our Terms & Conditions are legally binding, they’re difficult to understand. We think it’s nice to know what’s what, so we’ve summarised each section in plain English.
or
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Take the view that your T&C are a formality. Some terms and conditions are just common sense written in legalese. For example when you join a forum it is usually a condition that you don’t swear at your fellow members. There’s absolutely no need for simple concepts like good manners to be expressed in legalese.
or
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If you’re 100% risk averse, say what the hell and get a good copywriter to create a palatable document that means the same as the legalese – but communicates it properly.