… Back with more tips to writing On Hold Messages and Marketing Communications for your business!

Human as we are, we commit a lot of mistakes and errors; especially in writing. There are mistakes that we can easily rectify or even avoid all together if we know how to use it properly.

In our last post, we tackled 7 of the 15 Common Grammar Mistakes that you should look out for, when writing scripts for your Messages on hold or other audio marketing.

Now here are the rest to make sure you’re writing tip top Marketing Communications for your business:

 

8. Lose vs. Loose – when you mixe up “lose” and “loose,” it’s usually because they’re spelled so similarly but know that their definitions are completely different. “Lose” is a verb that means “to fail to keep or maintain; fail to win; cease to have,” like losing your wallet or losing a baseball match. “Loose” on the other hand, is an adjective that means “not tight” or “not closely constrained,” like a loose shirt or tooth.

9. Between vs. Among – The word “between” is used to refer to two or (sometimes more) things that are clearly separated, and the word “among” is used to refer to things that aren’t clearly separated because they’re part of a group or a mass of objects.So you choose between a blue dress and a black dress but you choose among all your dresses. You walk between Adelaide St. and Queen St. but you walk among your colleagues.

10 Peek vs. peak vs. pique – We often see people mess up in using these words even if they know what they mean.

Peek is taking a quick look at something – like a sneak peek of a new film, while Peak is a sharp point – like the peak of a mountain. On the other hand, Pique means to provoke or instigate like “The president’s speech piqued my interest.”

11. “Alot” vs. A lot vs. Allot – Sorry to break it to all of you “alot” fans…but “alot” is not a word. If you’re trying to say that someone has a vast number of things, you would say that they have “a lot” of things. If you’re trying to say that you’ve set aside a certain amount of money to buy something, you’d say you “allotted” $100 to spend on Christmas shopping.

12. Who vs. That – This is a tricky one because both words can be used when you’re describing someone or something. Use “who” when you’re describing a person like “Kirsten is a ballerina who likes cake”. But you would use “that” when you’re describing an object. For example, you should say “Her laptop is the one that overheats all the time.” It’s pretty simple, but definitely something that gets overlooked frequently.

13. Farther vs. Further – People often use “farther” and “further” interchangeably to mean “at a greater distance.” However, in most countries, there are actually subtle differences in the meaning between the two. “Farther” is used more to refer to physical distances, while “further” is used more to refer to figurative and nonphysical distances. So while London is “farther” away than Dublin, a sales team falls “further” away from its sales target. Also the word “further” can be used as an adjective or as an adverb to mean “additionally.” For example: “I have no further query,” or “If you complain further”

14. Into vs. In to – these words are often confused with one another but “into” indicates movement or that relate to direction or motion. Example: “Amanda walked into the office.” or “She stuffed her iPod into her backpack.”

While “in to” is used in lots of situation because in by itself can be an adverb, preposition, adjective, or noun. To by itself is a preposition or an adverb or part of an infinitive, such as to fly. Sometimes in and to just end up next to each other.

Example: Brad walked in to hear Arthur talking about the surprise party. (Because to is part of the verb hear [to hear, an infinitive], keep it separate from in.) So if you’re trying to decide which to use, first figure out if the words “in” or “to” actually modify other words in the sentence. If they don’t, then ask yourself if it’s indicating some sort of movement, motion, or direction. If it does, you’re good to use “into.”

15. Less vs. Fewer – Use “fewer” for things you can count like “fewer jelly beans” or “fewer M&Ms”. Use “less” for things you can’t count, like “less courage” or “less traveling”

So those are just a few grammar mistakes we’ve picked up over our years here at Smart On Hold. Another word that you’ll want to specifically avoid for your call processing is dial. It might be common to say “Dialed a phone number” or to ask callers to “Dial 0 for the operator,” but the term is quickly becoming obsolete. Now a days, it’s more likely to say pressed buttons; instruct your callers to “Press 0 at any time to speak to the operator”. With the popularity of touch screen smartphones, you might also even want to use enter.

 

Just always remember that sounding professional starts with choosing the right words for your business. So if you’re not sure where to begin, why not start by checking out our custom Messages On Hold service, that we tailor for you and your business?

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Here at Smart On Hold, we help businesses through the supply and maintenance of professional On Hold messages and telephone recordings that get results! Smart On Hold is keeping your customers engaged on the phone and informed ahead of time. Educate your callers and instantly increase credibility at the same time – provided 100% free of lock in contracts and backed by our No Questions Asked 180 day double your money back guarantee.

What are you waiting for? Get our Messages On Hold working for your business today! Call us now on (07) 3117 0700