Cost benefits to businesses using plain English
Plain English makes sound business sense. You save time and money and your customers feel good about doing business with you.
- British Telecom cut customer queries by 25 percent by using plain English.
- The Royal Mail saved £500,000 in nine months by redesigning one commonly used form in plain English.
- UK businesses lose an estimated £6 billion a year because of badly written letters.
- A UK Government Plain English initiative saved £9 million in printing costs.
- General Electric saved $275,000 by redrafting manuals into plain English.
- The US Department of Veterans Affairs saved $40,000 redrafting one standard letter into plain English.
Kimble, J. Writing for Dollars, Writing to Please. The Scribes Journal of Legal Writing. vol.6. Sydney: Federation Press, 1996–1997.
Read Joseph Kimble's article on Answering the critics of plain language
