Good writing saves money


Huge cost


Poor writing and communication cost millions each year in wasted time and lost business opportunities.

    • In the USA, an estimated 30% of all business writing is produced to clarify or seek clarification of something already written.
    • A study by the Royal Mail in the UK estimated that British businesses lose up to £5 billion a year because of pretentious, inappropriate or error-ridden writing.

It is estimated that poor communications account for as much as 40% of the total costs of managing all business transactions.

Organisations spend a lot of money on websites and emails with information that many people simply cannot understand.


Huge savings


Companies regularly produce documents that are hard to read or even indecipherable, but good communication can lead to big savings:

    • Merely by redrafting manuals into plain English, General Electric saved $275,000 in one year.
    • The US Navy estimated that good English could save it up to $300 million every year.
    • By using plain English, British Telecom cut customer queries by 25%.
    • The Plain English Campaign has saved the British government an estimated £500 million in the last 20 years.

(Source: Writing for Dollars, Writing to Please – Joe Kimble: http://www.plainlanguagenetwork.org/kimble/dollars.htm#N_46_

    • A professional editor rewrote a sales letter for a bank. The redrafted letter brought in an extra $11 million of new business.

(Source: Plain English Campaign)

 
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