A lengthy promotional email landed in my inbox and, because the subject caught my attention, I opened the email and skimmed it. There were a number of issues that I could comment on, but the one that stood out was the following paragraph:

Below you will see some of the templates we have built for our clients recently, you will see that they all match there website in terms of feel and branding. To give you the edge and help you make the right first impression ….. ……. …….

Now, my written English is not perfect, but when I write a sales letter, I do not mix up “their” and “there”. Such mistakes may seem trivial, but these and similar errors lead to ambiguity. Ambiguity in sales materials, potentially, leads to misunderstanding. In the sales process, misunderstandings are often expensive (but profitable for the lawyers).

What to Do

• Double check letters and emails for accuracy and for grammatical errors which may cause confusion.

• Get someone else to proof-read leaflets, mailers and brochures that you have written – once you have written some text and reviewed it yourself a couple of times, you start to see the words and the meaning that you intended – rather than what you actually wrote.

• Put written work to one side for a couple of hours and then re-read it before committing to print.

• Make sure that your spell-checker is turned on and is set to the appropriate language. Here in UK, I always use “English (UK)” – as opposed to “English (USA)” – the subtle differences can make a real difference depending on your audience.

• Do not place your trust in your spell-checker alone. A correctly spelt word can still be a typing error –with just one letter misplaced. There is only one letter difference between “Free” and “Fee”. Both are spelt correctly, but one will not pay the bills!

• If you struggle with common words and phrases, write yourself a handy hints guide and keep it near your keyboard.

Further reading:

• The Elements of Style by Strunk & White – [John: An excellent book that everyone should own. I really must read my copy again.]

• Eats, Shoots and Leaves by Lynne Truss

This was a guest post by Paul Fileman of Results-Zone. Results-Zone bring extensive knowledge and experience gained in Blue Chip organisations to businesses like yours. They ensure that your business is fully exploiting a well thought through operating plan. They work alongside you and your team – as business results managers. They ensure that your team and your business are elevated to the results-zone. They bring you “hands-on” experience – similar to employing high quality management skills without the risk or costs in recruiting full time employees.

Free updates:
If you enjoyed this post and would like to be kept updated on future posts, then please click here to get updates by Email. Alternately you can follow the updates the Business Opportunities And Ideas Facebook page or follow me on Twitter.