Frequently asked questions

Most of our day-to-day work lies somewhere on the spectrum of proofreading, editing and writing. We can also provide design and organise print if needed. We write a lot of case studies, blog posts, articles and website copy, and produce annual reports, brochures, guides and sometimes PowerPoint presentations. We can also help with non-writing tasks such as researching contact details or media lists, updating spreadsheets, cross-referencing information, organising photoshoots, sourcing translations – and some of the random queries that end up with comms because they don’t fit anywhere else! We don’t offer a reactive service (media enquiries/crisis comms) but apart from that, if it’s comms and it can be done remotely, we can probably help.

If you have a task that’s not listed here, drop a line to projects@sortedcomms.co.uk and we’ll let you know whether we can help.

Yes! We know what we’re good at and we stick to that. Things we don’t do include:

• Medical writing: While we are comfortable working with medical terminology, we are not medical writers.
• Technical analysis: We often work on technical documents to make sure the copy flows and the content is accurate and well presented, but we can’t crunch the data and do statistical analysis.
• Strategic planning: While we know what a comms strategy looks like, strategic planning and campaign development are not our forte; we work best as a delivery team.
• Reactive work: We don’t have the connections and insider knowledge that you do, so we leave the fire-fighting to you. We don’t provide media handling, crisis comms or other kinds of reactive or ‘on-call’ services.
• Creative-led projects: Our design team are fantastic at adding visual pizzazz to our copy in all kinds of formats and they do a great job with annual reports, leaflets, brochures, social media graphics and the like, but if you need a full rebrand or a creative campaign, we’re not the best fit.

Our real strength is proactive ‘calm comms’ – the things that so often get pushed aside when you’re busy – blog posts, case studies, annual reports, newsletters, leaflets, presentations, posters, website copy… we’re a safe pair of hands that you can rely on to just get those things done.

Yes, absolutely.

We have some case studies on our website here and there are testimonials at the bottom of most of our website pages.

If we send you a proposal for work we will include testimonials and examples of relevant previous work within the proposal.

If you would like to see anything else, just drop us an email and we’ll be happy to send you some relevant examples.

There are a number of factors that affect how long a piece of work takes. We’ve devised a calculator which gives us a good idea of how long something will take. If you’re able to tell us the word count and the amount of work involved (e.g., is it editing or proofreading? Is there any research or interviewing required?) then we can crunch the numbers and give you a pretty good estimate. Obviously, if things like word count or the number of interviewees change, that will alter the time involved.

You can find out how long we estimate for some example tasks here: https://sortedcomms.co.uk/pricing/.

If you’d like us to quote for your project, please email projects@sortedcomms.co.uk.

We aim to respond to all emails within three working hours.

We can usually turn small tasks (things that take an hour or two) around within a day or less if you need us to. Of course, it’s always helpful to have a bit of notice but if something urgent comes up, just send us an email outlining what you need and we’ll confirm whether we can fit it in.

For bigger jobs, we may need longer, but we’ll always do our best to meet your deadlines. If you know in advance that something is coming up that will need a quick turnaround it’s really helpful if you let us know so that we can block time out to work on it.

As a guide, for non-urgent work, please allow about a week for tasks that take a few hours, but we can usually respond more quickly when needed.

If you have a lot of work that needs doing at the same time, we may contact you to discuss timelines and priorities to make sure we get everything done in the order that you need it.

If you need us to join a video call, please aim to give us 24 hours’ notice so that we can manage our diaries. We understand that there are times when urgent things come up unexpectedly; with less than 24 hours’ notice of a call, we will do our best to attend, but cannot guarantee availability.

All of our team work flexible hours, managing their time to fit with business need and personal commitments. If there’s a meeting that needs attending between about 8am and 6pm Monday to Friday we should be able to cover it.

Our central Projects mailbox is monitored from at least 9am until at least 4pm Monday to Friday (except public holidays) and gives you one point of contact. We aim to reply to all emails sent to that mailbox within three working hours.

If ever you need us to be available outside normal business hours just let us know and we’ll confirm whether we can help.

If you know who is working on your project and have their email address, feel free to contact them directly (all our emails follow the format firstname.surname@sortedcomms.co.uk).

Note that we all work flexibly and many of our team are part-time, so if your message is urgent or if you’re not sure who’s best to speak to, just email projects@sortedcomms.co.uk and we’ll sort it out for you.

Our central Projects mailbox is monitored from 9am until 4pm Monday to Friday and gives you one point of contact. We aim to reply to all emails sent to that mailbox within three working hours.

When you sign up with us you will be invited to arrange a regular short call with your account manager to run through the active tasks and discuss future work. For most clients we recommend doing this fortnightly, but we can also do this at other frequencies to suit you.

If you would like an update on any task at any time, just email projects@sortedcomms.co.uk and your account manager will be able to give you the latest details.

When we send your monthly statement we can also send a list of all the tasks we have on our list and the time we’ve spent on them so far if that would be helpful.

We offer a range of flexible package options which are outlined here as well as an ad hoc hourly option for smaller jobs. If you’re not sure which will best fit your needs, please contact us for a chat. Behind the scenes, we have a calculator which we can use to get a good idea of how long a piece of work will take and we can use that to help you decide which package to choose.

Yes. Package hours can be used for any work we do.

The start date of your package is the date we raise the invoice for it. The start date and expiry date will be shown on your statements.

We use a task management system which allows us to track all our work and record how long we’ve spent on each task or project. We use this information to send you a statement at the beginning of each month so you can see your balance. If you’d like to know how long any individual task has taken or would like a balance update at any time during the month, just let us know and we can give you up to date figures.

Through our task management system we track all our work and record how long we’ve spent on each task or project. If your hours are close to running out, the system will flag that to us. You will also be able to see your hours in your statement each month.

If you run out of hours and would like to send more work, we will invite you to buy a new hours package (either the same or a different one). Alternatively, we can switch to working on an ad hoc basis. We will always ask you to confirm whether you would like us to switch to ad hoc before we start work at that rate.

Our standard packages are valid for either 2, 3 or 6 months. At the end of this period, any hours remaining may be rolled over to the next month up to a maximum of one year from the package start date. Once the package validity has expired, hours rolled over are subject to a 10% deduction each month.

Yes! Once we’ve received your signed client set-up form, we can get started. Packages start on the date we invoice for them. If you’d like us to start work before then (e.g. if we need to wait for a purchase order for the invoice), we’re happy to do so using our ad hoc rate. Work charged at the ad hoc rate is invoiced at the start of the next calendar month – so we can start working on your tasks straightaway. We’ll track all our time and switch to a package as soon as we’re able to raise an invoice for it. Any time we spend on ad hoc work will be shown separately on your statement.

All our packages are invoiced in full upfront when we receive your order.

Any time spent working on an ad hoc rate is tracked and will be invoiced at the beginning of the next calendar month.

If you have asked us to quote for a project such as an annual report, payment will usually be split across three invoices – one at the start, one in the middle, and one at the end of the work. This will be detailed in our project proposal.

Note that if we send you a draft or proof of work and do not receive any feedback for 14 calendar days, we may deem the work to be complete and raise the associated invoice.

Our payment terms are 30 days from date of invoice.

Payment should be by BACS if possible. We can also accept card payments.

All costs are subject to 20% VAT.

Our full terms of business are on our website here.

We take the security and confidentiality of your information very seriously.

We are Cyber Essentials certified and registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office.

Our systems are regularly reviewed to keep us up to date and in line with the latest guidance to make sure our customer data is protected to the highest standards.

We are able to tightly control access to any individual files or folders and are happy to sign an NDA or similar document if required.

No, we don’t. We have always been a fully remote team and we don’t have any physical premises. We’ve been working this way since 2013 and are very accustomed to meeting people and taking briefs via video call, ‘phone or even just an email.

If you have any specific questions about how it all works, just drop us an email and one of our friendly team will be in touch.

Yes! If you refer us to someone, and they sign up, we’ll give you five hours of our time completely free as a ‘thank you’ (or transfer the free hours to them as a welcome gift). For more details, drop us a line or visit our terms and conditions page.