1. A Friend in Need

An old friend walked back into my life with a desperate need (in my opinion of course) for Grammar to Go. I shall be fascinated to find out if he agrees.

I ran into an old friend the other day. I'd heard Philip had recently started his own business, so when he suggested a quick cup of coffee, I accepted. After all, we had plenty to catch up on. Two milky lattes later, we had caught up on pretty much all of the big events of the last five years. I had also learned that running his own business was not quite the pioneering dream that my friend had hoped it would be. Unreliable suppliers, an unstable economy and the constant pressure to sell - not to mention the Accountancy Labyrinth - had deprived this man of much-needed sleep.

"But the worst thing", Philip told me, "Is how duplication of effort is robbing my time."

I asked him what he meant, and he went on to explain.

"My sales and procurement teams are all responsible for producing their own documents. These could range from presentations and price sheets, to letters and emails - all of which are read by our suppliers, our customers and our competition. I didn't realise how badly written they were at first: after all, my staff are all bright, well-educated people, so I'd trusted that they could write perfectly well. How wrong I was! Now I insist that all documents come to me for checking before they are released. I'm spending most of my day checking and correcting their work - rather than focusing on running my business!"

After expressing my sympathy - and he really did look exhausted and fed-up! - I told Phil about Grammar to Go, and explained how this inexpensive, easy-to-use online grammar reference could save his company time and money. Grammar to Go's functionality - from the spelling and grammar coaching through to the commonly-used phrases and the personal helpline - would empower his staff to write their own documents, swiftly and accurately - giving Phil back the time he needs to manage his business.

Phil was interested, but needed convincing. So I suggested he sign up for just one month: a single payment of £15 to see if the tool made any real difference.

"Go on then - I'll give it a whirl. After all, I've paid nearly half that for these lattes!"

I wonder how he's getting on... I'll give him a ring in a week or two, and let you know.

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