Poor grammar costs you money: Part two

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?

In this part, I look at the whether the industry is important and, first, whether writing in a foreign language would influence opinion.

Language matters      Some people were willing to make allowances for those making the effort to write in a foreign language, but the overwhelming majority were not. The overall consensus was if you are writing in a language other than your native tongue, it is even more important to ensure that it is correct. Some disagreed, of course. One respondent commented that if 'the original website is not in English and they offer an English translation of said site, then I will be more likely to cut them some slack as…a second language…may involve considerable expense to have grammatically checked.' I do not agree. If you are going to create a website in a foreign language, you are doing so in the hope of generating business from the market in which that language is used, therefore you should show an equal amount of respect to the language and the people who use it. To put less emphasis on a foreign language is almost like telling people that you value their language less than you value your own. Is that really the message you want to send? One respondent was a professional editor from the US who pursued an MA in Spain, where she had to complete all of her coursework and a research paper in Spanish. 'No one was cutting me any breaks for being a non-native speaker, ' she explained, 'and in a professional environment I wouldn't expect them to.' The industry doesn't matter   The overwhelming majority of respondents stated that it didn't matter whether it was an individual selling hand-made pillow cases or a company specialising in editing and proofreading – inattention to grammar indicated inattention across the board. 'If they can't take the time for a spell check or some editing, they probably won't take time for their customers. Even if you think it doesn't matter, subconsciously it would,' concluded one respondent. Another went further, saying that 'regardless of industry, grammar and spelling are important when reviewing a website. It shows a certain amount of intellect, professionalism, attention to detail, and often, grammar is how we discern the phishing sites from real ones. Typos are one thing, blatant misuse or ignorance is another entirely.' I will conclude this section with a response that I think best sums up my opinion, submitted by a marketing manager in the UK: ' Professionalism is professionalism no matter the industry. If you're not going to take pride in one aspect of your business what makes you think people are going to believe you take pride in the others?' Poor grammar can demonstrably affect public perception of you and your business. Left unattended, it will cost you money.

A selection of quotes:   I give no credit to any source that doesn't bother to proofread their material, no matter how much I am interested in their product or whatever it is what they are selling/promoting. Any time I see poor spelling or grammar, my opinion of the business in question drops.  I automatically assume they don't know any better, and why would you want to broadcast your ignorance to the world? I have to admit I will stop reading a website if I notice grammatical errors, and I actually become much more critical about the opinions of the site. That is how much it bothers me. I have a high regard for good grammar usage, and I lose respect for a company when they don't pay attention to it. Bad grammar or bad spelling is an indication of carelessness. A second error indicates unprofessional people and problems will probably occur if I get involved with them. If a company lacks attention to detail in their promotional material, it speaks volumes to me about their attention to detail in other areas. Virus-ridden/phishing/spam emails almost always have misspelled words and bad punctuation. Would you respond to those? If they are skimping on grammar, I wonder what else they are skimping on. The industry is irrelevant. Grammar and spelling errors are lazy, unprofessional and inexcusable. If you're going to go to the trouble to publish something, go to the trouble to check it. Poor spelling makes one question the writer; Do they not care? Are they lazy? Regardless of what industry, this is the company's representation.