The main aim of proofreading a document is to ensure accuracy.
This conveys a lot about an organization, especially as the first contact that a business makes with potential customers may be through its written materials.
Therefore, if the materials are peppered with errors, the business could lose customers who may view the organization as sloppy.
On the other hand, if the documents are accurate and well written it lets the target readers know that the organization consists of a group of professional executives who follow a certain code and style of writing.
Such behaviour shows potential clients that the organization as a whole is capable and expert enough to work to a high professional standard.
This in turn helps to inspire confidence in customers regarding the organization's approach; after all, an organization that is sloppy in its paperwork is also likely to be sloppy in the way it does business.
The effects of inaccurate documentation can therefore be devastating as they will give the company an image of being unsystematic and disorganized.
The company will lose face in front of not only potential clients but also existing clients as well.
As a consequence, these clients may feel reluctant to enter into or continue business with the company concerned.
Proofreading for businesses should be an integral part of their functions, not only for printed documents, but also for online materials.
A well proofread document creates a significantly good reputation for the company and speaks volumes about the quality of its staff.
First impressions are important and the professional appearance of written materials is just as important as making a good impression on the phone or face to face.
If a customer comes across a document or website that is grammatically incorrect and full of spelling and punctuation errors they are likely to dismiss the company as one with low quality service.
Conversely, a well proofread official document gives the impression of an organized and systematic company that employs a high standard of staff and gives quality service in general.
Even one day of inaccurate documentation can damage the longstanding reputation of a company to a great extent.
After all, no client would want to do business with a company that cannot even get their language right.
At the same time, it is also important to remember the differences between UK English and US English.
A mixture of both is highly ambiguous and confusing for the reader, and indicates yet again that the company doesn't take care when producing written materials.
Although there are only minor differences between the two variations of English, these differences are quite noticeable to any well versed reader.
Therefore, if the target customers are UK English, it is imperative that documents are accordingly written in UK English only.
The same applies in the situation where the target customers are US English.
There are many companies and individuals that offer proofreading and editing services.
This means that smaller businesses, that do not have an in-house editorial team, should have no problems finding somebody to proofread their materials on an ad-hoc basis.