Editing the secrets in

Cantle is a coaching business that needs to be experienced to be believed. Owner Jim McNeish’s clients come (falling over one another) from word of mouth. It is in his interest to stay hidden to raise curiosity and appetite.

So editing Cantle’s first web site was about making sure that the descriptions enticed without giving too much away. The copy worked with sumptuous photography to wet potential client’s appetites. Not giving too much away meant keeping the blocks of prose short and allowing plenty of white space to let the content breathe on the page – essential for the tone of the organisation whose tagline is ‘breathing life back into organisations’.

Photography, text and white space on cantle.net

With no need for a forceful sales message, shaping Cantle’s content was more about deciding how much material to include, getting the experiential and seductive tone consistent, and tightening up the language where perhaps psycho-babble had slipped in. All is forgiven in front of a roaring fire with a single malt in hand up at the centre, but on the public web site the language needed to be as sharp as the coaching.

Fade-in strap line on Cantle site

A final word on Cantle – the leadership and coaching training is second to none. Without exaggeration a few days spent with Jim McNeish can revolutionise your organisation or career. He’s the guy that all the other trainers are desperately trying to be.

My limited experience of web professionals so far is that we’re quick to dismiss stuff like coaching and development. Our loss. We’ll grow up one day and I hope when we do that Cantle will have some places left.