Savagedoge

Account Executive

How much does grammar matter in sales?

Think of grammar in cold emails, follow ups, LI messages and generally in sales conversations. Is it a turn off or do you overlook the error and look at things that actually matter?

I used to think good grammar, punctuation, etc are absolutely necessary for a good email or conversation. But having seen so many people miss this by a long shot and still do great sales, I've learnt to not give that much of a shit about it in general.

Does bad grammar in sales bother you?

Attached poll

Yes No I don't pay attention to it

*Voting in this poll no longer yields commission.

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25 comments

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PartnerGuy

Good Citizen

VP Channel Sales

While bad grammar does bother me, I can get over it. But, the fundamental to me is that it screams the personal lacks attention to detail or hasn't bothered re-reading what they've written. With complicated products, sales cycles and other moving parts, if they can't string a sentence together properly it's a red flag.

I'd give them the benefit of the doubt, but if it continued I'd be quite turned off.

Someone in my team is also dyslexic so is understandably awful with grammar and spelling. He does a great job of calling that out at the bottom of his emails/notes and doesn't effect his ability to string together a sentence, so is more than acceptable.

CuriousFox

WR Officer

🦊

Is this a trick question? I'm overly cautious when I put anything in writing. You can't take that back.

Savagedoge

Tycoon

Account Executive

Not a trick question, haha. But I get what you say though. I've written atleast a hundred comments on LI and other places and after a few seconds thought, "nah, I'll just not say anything". But the turning point for me was when I realised only a handful of people read my comments and most of them, I don't give a sh** about lol

Kamper

Executive

Enterprise Account Executive

Grammarly saves lives. However, impeccable grammar doesn’t get me a reply so who knows

nikhilatequla12

Senior Account Executive

If the value proposition is solid and the client is sold (and you don't write like a total mouth-breather) it shouldn't matter. I don't expect a Spanish or Italian person to have full command of the English language and vice versa. Saying that I guess it might be different if you don't operate in international markets ...

blondeenigma

Opinionated

Well to be honest, in theory it should not matter a huge deal. However, to me, if someone has impeccable grammar and a great level of control of the language and its nuances, I subconsciously perceive them to be more reliable, knowledgeable, intelligent and overall better at their job. It’s a Halo effect if you will. It’s kind of like wearing clean clothes and being well groomed - not essential, but tells you a lot about the person. When someone uses your” instead of “you’re”....the absolute nightmare....

Savagedoge

Tycoon

Account Executive

It used to annoy me so much. I can't believe there are SO MANY people who mix up you're and your!

Simo

Politicker

Director of Sales

your right!! :P

LordBusiness

Politicker

Chief Revenue Officer

I'm terrible at grammar and spelling. I subscribe to the "done is better than perfect methodology" of life, and I simply don't have time to run every email or social post or anything past my assistant for grammar and spelling. If a client/prospect is going to judge me because I "theire'd when i should have "they're'd" they likely aren't a client I wanna work with any who.

SalesPharaoh

Big Shot

Senior Account Executive

I get harrassed by my management when I do some mistakes so I guess if its something unnoticeable don't worry hut don't make a habbit about it.

CaneWolf

Politicker

Call me what you want, just sign the damn contract

It's even worse when leaders are the ones making the mistakes. I've seen way too many VPs send out your instead of you're to customers and it just makes your organization look unintelligent.

KennaChristine73

Good Citizen

Account Executive

I personally think grammar matters. Why would you want to send an email to someone who may or may not discredit you due to grammatical errors? Now a days you never know who harps on things like grammar, so I would say do your best to reread your emails before sending or maybe even have someone you know/ coworker look over it for you.

madtea

Good Citizen

Regional Director

I think it also depends on the client type and who you are reaching out to. For example, if you're working with C-suite, lawyers, etc. they might be more turned off by grammar or spelling.

BillyHoyle

Tycoon

Senior Account Executive

Grammarly is the GOAT

Simo

Politicker

Director of Sales

^^ truth

Blackwargreymon

Politicker

MDR

While bad grammar does bother me, I can get over it. But, the fundamental to me is that it screams the personal lacks attention to detail or hasn't bothered re-reading what they've written.

BillLumbergh

Good Citizen

Vice President of Sales

Highly recommend downloading Grammarly -- the free version does the trick. App works across everything you access through a web browser (i.e. G suite, this website, Linkedin, etc.)

Stringer

Arsonist

SDR

I don't pay super close attention, but if I notice something, it bothers me. I personally use free Grammarly. It's pretty solid for the quick simple fix or if I overlooked something,.

aki

Old School Bravo

Founder

it is one one those principles in copywriting you need to pay attention to. It is to show some level professionalism.

YoursTruly

Politicker

Account Executive (SaaS)

It depends on how egregious it is. For example, I was able to get over the bad grammar in your question about bad grammar. Most sales reps weren't English Majors so it's more attention to detail than misplaced commas that would be bothersome.

Edit: to add on, I always make my reps send me their proposals for review if they are above their average deal size to give a second set of eyes for mistakes.

Thunderheart

Public Safety BD Manager

While we have all probably made an error at times, it might reflect badly on you and your company unfortunately.

bababean

Old School Bravo

Academic Consultants

As a non-native English speaker, I feel that it is very critical, especially in business communication.

Things can be misinterpreted big time, and that's just not effective. I can tolerate misspelling that is quite obvious, but a structural error...yeah that's a big turn-off.

Thank GOD for Grammarly, I get to learn more!

ThatNewAE

Big Shot

Account Executive - Mid enterprise

As long as the articulation is precise, the message is crisp and clear; grammar won't bug much.

MR.StretchISR

Politicker

ISR

I think both can be successful, but from my experience a higher percentage of top 1% performers are introverts. They are generally better because they don’t rely on natural “people skills” to generate success, they are generally more profess oriented, detailed and systematic in their approach to sales.

Error32

Politicker

ISR

One's not better than the other- each comes with their own strengths/weaknesses

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Savagedoge

How much does grammar matter in sales?

Does bad grammar in sales bother you?

25 comments

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