Improving the team’s accuracy, consistency and grammatical understanding at Cofunds

Cofunds’ marketing services and marketing communications teams produce a wide range of internal and customer-facing documents. Particularly in the case of the latter, the need for proper proofing is clear. “I was noticing that otherwise very good copy was marred by the occasional error,” says Cofunds Marketing Manager, Fiona Nicolson. “I wanted to improve the team’s accuracy, consistency and grammatical understanding.”

[need to amend this bit] Additionally, Fiona recognised a requirement for training in letter writing. Cofunds send out administrative letters to customers on a daily basis – but they were poorly structured, filled with jargon, too long and overly complicated. “Our letters just weren’t representing us as the professional organisation that we are,” says Fiona. “They were requiring considerable rework by marketing before they could be sent out.”

The solution: Grammar and Proofreading training

Writing Machine Academy delivered three half-day Grammar and Proofreading courses, which guided the marketing delegates through the different stages of a methodical proofread, from sense-checking to proofing for consistency and style. “The delegates said Grammar and Proofreading Quick Wins was one of the best courses they have ever been on,” says Fiona.

[Need to amend this] A few months later WM Training delivered three half-day letter writing courses to sixty Cofunds delegates, from all across the organisation. “The course taught the delegates how to adopt the right tone for their letters, to be clear and concise, and even covered professional techniques for delivering unpopular messages. These delegates are now much more confident in approaching letter writing, and I’m sure I’ll see a big improvement,” says Fiona.

Client feedback

Delegates were asked to give a score out of five on a list of feedback questions, such as ‘Quality of the training content’, ‘Quality of the trainer’ and ‘I have learned new techniques that will enhance my writing’. The average score for the four courses was 4.1 out of 5.