Poor grammar is costing your business money - Part one

I garuntee that bad grammer will make you loose money.

What impression does the sentence above give you? I imagine words like 'unprofessional' and 'sloppy' spring to mind. What if I told you that it was real copy from a company offering business advice and copywriting services? Are you likely to hire them? The copy goes on to give some reasons why 'you shuld listen too' them, but I doubt that many people ever get to the reasons.

The ways in which language is used, and misused, is central to my work, so I wanted to find out just how much poor spelling and grammar would affect public perception of businesses. To do so, I asked people from various backgrounds and countries the following questions:

1) Would poor grammar and spelling errors in promotional material affect your choice to use, purchase or endorse products and services?

2) Would the industry matter?

The results were conclusive. Almost everybody said that poor grammar and spelling would not only negatively affect their view of the business in question, it would make them actively avoid it.

Consider those negative opinions in monetary terms and the implications are obvious.

Grammar matters

A slapdash approach to the language used in your promotional material, which obviously includes your website, suggests a slapdash approach to other areas of your business.

One respondent pointed out that his 'opinion of a company drops immediately as soon' as he notices a grammatical error. Consider that wording: immediately. As the old adage goes, you don't get a second chance to make a first impression, and the effects of grammatical errors are immediate and lasting.

'Typos and poor grammar are a big red flag for me', wrote another respondent, 'I am an editor for a tech blog, and if I receive a poorly written press release I automatically assume the company sending it is less than professional.' I couldn't agree more. I receive many press releases and those that contain errors do not give me a favourable impression of the sender(s).

This is your public image, and it pays to get it right. Almost every respondent was of the same opinion.

'I have a high regard for good grammar usage, and I lose respect for a company when they don't pay attention to it', wrote a New York-based business consultant.

The problem runs deeper than spelling mistakes creating an unfavourable impression, as people can interpret errors in many ways. 'Bad grammar or bad spelling is an indication of carelessness,' wrote a respondent from Canada. 'A second error indicates unprofessional people and problems will probably occur if I get involved with them.'

Many people had similar things to say, including an advertising executive from Germany, who feels that 'if a company lacks attention to detail in their promotional material, it speaks volumes…about their attention to detail in other areas, like quality control or customer service.'

What you write may often be your first contact with a potential customer, so it absolutely pays to ensure that there are no mistakes.

Part two coming soon.