Accuracy is essential to credibility. Duh, right? Yet organizations miss the accuracy boat all the time. And even one or two innocuous slip-ups can cast doubt on everything you say.

Just look at the “climategate” kerfuffle, where a few questionable (stolen) e-mails between scientists were taken to indicate rot at the heart of all their work. Or at how the inclusion of an unsubstantiated speculation on the melting rate of Himalayan glaciers in the 2007 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report brought forth a barrage of claims that all climate science is bunk.

Sure, these reactions came from people who are climate science skeptics (at best)—but that’s the point. Every business making a benefit claim for its products or services and any advocacy group promoting a policy solution faces skeptics. Inaccuracy encourages doubt to spread.

So why is there so much inaccuracy in communications of all kinds? Anyone who’s not actively trying to deceive realizes that factual statements should be correct; when they’re not, speed and sloppiness are usually the culprits. The rule: check every statement. Then check it again.

The more slippery (and common) problem is claims that are inaccurate by implication—for example, packaging that can be recycled only at rare, specialized facilities but is simply  labeled “recyclable” with no explanation. Companies that do this may earn greenie points from the uninformed, but once people find out their recycling can’t actually be recycled, they tend to get peeved—and massively distrustful. Credible claims are realistically correct, not just technically correct. The rule: if you’re implying something untrue, then you’re not telling the truth.

I wrote in April about what decision science research tells us about how people respond to environmental issues and what that means for communicators. Now the Center for Research on Environmental Decisions (CRED) at Columbia University has released an illustrated guide to the psychology of climate change communication—handily summarized by Grist blogger Jonathan Hiskes here.

Even if you’re not communicating directly or specifically about climate change, take a look. There are nuggets here that can be useful to people trying to influence behavior on a spectrum of environment-related topics—from clean tech companies trying to get staid industries to adopt new technologies to universities trying to boost participation in campus sustainability efforts.

Much of the advice boils down to the fundamental communications truth—it’s not about you; it’s about your audience. Know who they are, speak their language, put problems and solutions in their context, be concrete, don’t exaggerate, and give people easy ways to act. You’ve no doubt heard these rules before (we certainly can’t shut up about them), but this guide gives you the science behind why you ignore them at your peril, and may give you fresh ideas on how to to apply them.

It’s easy to push the maintenance part of communications work to the back burner. So many pressing things to do and so little time! You don’t keep the website quite as current as it could be. Sales has been doing fine without those backgrounders—surely they can wait a few more weeks? Ditto, refining the messaging for that new target market.

But weeks stretch into months, and soon you find that the back of the stove is so crowded you don’t know which pot to tend to first. (I’ll stop the metaphor there.) Or the competition makes a move and you find you’re not prepared to counter it. And since all the parts are connected (or should be), one small need sets off an avalanche and you’re faced with what feels like a gigantic project instead of an exciting challenge.

I see it with clients who tend to react rather than remain on the offensive. And I’m guilty of it myself. (Hence the inspiration for this post—it’s as much pep talk to self as advice.) It just doesn’t result in communications that are sustainable and well thought out. It becomes difficult to change course. And it costs you in lost opportunities.

But a little effort can go a long way. You can set aside a few hours a week (or every two) to keep your site current and make sure your collateral reflects your needs and changes in your market. Figure out if you can save time by outsourcing or delegating.

Before you know it you’ll be freed to pursue those opportunities you once had to pass up because you weren’t prepared to tackle them.

Or rather, I should say, I’ll be freed up. I feel better already!