1. Writing letters in the voice of AAA
Each year, AAA Members receive 80+ million transactional letters from us—
on topics ranging from welcome messages to the news that they’ve
bounced a check. Each of these letters creates its own brand experience
with the potential to deepen the reader’s relationship with us. So it’s
important we get these letters right.
Four guiding principles help us shape these experiences.
Be accurate and consistent We’re careful about spelling, branding, grammar, punctuation and
formatting. Our primary reference works for these mechanics of writing are Webster’s New
Collegiate Dictionary, 11th Edition, The Chicago manual of Style, 15th Edition, and the AAA
Masterbrand Guideline.
Be personal and appreciative As a Membership organization, AAA has a distinctively personal
relationship with those we serve. We demonstrate this by speaking in the warm, helpful voice of
a trusted fellow Member. Our language is simple, easy to understand, forthright and
conversational.
Be direct and transparent We show our respect for Members’ time and trust by being
forthright and to-the-point. We clearly state what we want the reader to know and what we
want the reader to do, ideally in the opening paragraph. We avoid sugar-coating difficult news
and when we make apologies we explain why we made the mistake and what we’ve done to
prevent it from happening again.
Sell the value of AAA Our letters are powerful tools for deepening Member relationships
through product usage, cross-sell and up sell. For this reason we include “sell” messages, to a
varying degree, in every letter. Refer to the Cross Sell Decision Chart at the end of this document
for guidance on which products to include in which letters.
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2. Here’s some specific guidance on style:
Voice
Write as you might speak to a Member if he or she were sitting across the desk from you. When
an individual is the author of a letter we speak in the first person singular voice. When a
business unit is the author of a letter we speak in the first person plural.
We’re pleased to welcome you NOT AAA is pleased to welcome you
We write in the active voice, not the passive
We’ve determined that... NOT It has been determined that…
We avoid archaic or formal terms
Per your correspondence of...
We strive, in all our communications, to leave the Members feeling confident that AAA “has
their back,” and assured that the road ahead will be enjoyable. Even unpleasant news, like the
cancellation of an insurance policy, should be delivered with humanity, compassion and
helpfulness. Our brand attributes support us in this:
Expert Convenient Proactive Supporting Reliable Responsible
Salutation
In both AAA Insurance and Membership communications we address Members by first name
preceded by the word “Dear.”
Dear Jane
If system limitations prevent customization, we instead use
Dear Valued Member
Signatures
We strive to make sure that letters are authored by an individual rather than a business entity.
For Guidance on this, see the “Who Signs What” chart at the end of this document.
Closes
We close our letters with
Thanks for the trust you place in AAA.
Your fellow AAA Member,
When, due to system limitations, letters need to be authored generically, we close with:
Thanks for the trust you place in AAA.
Sincerely,
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3. Calls to action
We follow direct response best practices and always include a prominent and clear response
method, ideally stating it at least twice. Use boldface and larger type to guide improve scan-
ability. It’s important have a single, clear call to action. A letter that asks the reader to figure out
what to do is never going to be as effective as one that tells the reader what to do.
Choose imperative sentences over declarative sentences
Discover AAA Insurance NOT When you discover AAA Insurance
Apologies
When making apologies, state the reason for a mistake in simple terms and specify what we’ve
done to prevent it from happening again.
Brevity
We make letters brief and easily scan-able, limiting them to one page whenever possible.
Highlight important elements like calls to action with bold face and use paragraph spaces to
“chunk” content into quick hits of copy.
Typography/Layout
Because typography is an important element of our personality, we build consistency of voice by
using our primary house, Frutiger Next, and enhance legibility for all readers by following these
standard type specifications:
Body copy: set in Frutiger Next Light, 11pt minimum with 14pts of line spacing, and 7pts of
paragraph space
Legal/mice type: Frutger Next Light 9pt
Authorship
Whenever possible, an individual should be identified as the author of a letter. For AAA
Insurance and Travel letters the Member’s agent should be the signatory. We identify signatories
with a signature followed by name and title.
Letter type Author
AAA Membership Steve Chan, AAA Membership Team Leader
AAA Insurance Steve George, AAA Insurance Team Leader
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4. Cross-Sell Decision Chart
Letter type “Volume” of sell Product(s) to cross-sell, prioritized
AAA Membership welcome and High AAA Auto Insurance
renewal AAA ERS differentiation
AAA Plus or Premier Membership
AAA Member Discounts
AAA Insurance welcome and Medium Multipolicy discount
renewal AAA Home or Renter’s Insurance
AAA PUP
Life Insurance
AAA Insurance billing Medium Multipolicy discount
AAA Home Insurance
AAA Member Discounts: Auto & Home
AAA Insurance claims Low AAA Member discounts: Auto
Direct Repair Network
AAA Membership transactions Medium to low depending on AAA Plus or Premier Membership
letter topic ERS differentiation
AAA Member discounts
AAA Travel news High Sojourns
AAA Plus or Premier Membership (for travel
benefits)
AAA Member Discounts: Travel
AAA Travel transactions Medium Sojourns
Plus or Premier Membership (for travel
benefits)
AAA Member Discounts
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5. Cialdini Principles
We apply six principles of social psychology, as codified by Robert Cialdini, to improve
our response rates.
Principle Example
Reciprocity: when the customer has already A gift, waived enrollment fee, coupon, helpful
gotten something from you, they are more information, etc.
likely to reward you with loyalty and more
likely to purchase more products; so be the
first to give, and establish that reciprocal
relationship
Consistency: once you have made a “You’ve come to count on AAA for dependable road
promise, follow up on the promise; service, now you can peace of mind from your insurance,
customers appreciate it when you are too.
consistent with existing commitments.
Consistency also applies to our desire to
align our current choices with past behavior.
Consensus: customers are likely to follow “We’re 55 million Members strong”
the lead of many others, and of similar
“It’s no wonder that 1 in 5 drivers in Northern California
others; emphasize what the Member’s peers
count on AAA Insurance.”
are doing
Authority: a credible communicator is “Rated A+ by A.M. Best”
knowledgeable and trustworthy; establish
“...knowledge gained from more than 100 years of
yourself as an authority, reference other duly
rescuing motorists.”
constituted authorities and always be honest
Liking: give genuine compliments and [Member testimonials]
praise, and emphasize your mutual efforts
“I know that my AAA agent, Patti, has my back.”
and mutual goals
Scarcity: people are more motivated by the “Don’t risk losing the protection you need—renew
fear of loss than by the possibility of gain; today.”
highlight the uniqueness of our products
and let the customer know how they will be
missing out if they don’t take advantage of
what AAA has to offer
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