Your inability to write clearly could be standing between you and a new or better sales job.
In the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) 2007 Job Outlook survey, "communication skills" topped the list of what employers look for in new employees. And a 2006 survey of 431 human resource officials (conducted by The Conference Board, Corporate Voices for Working Families, the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, and the Society for Human Resource Management) indicated that 
employees with those skills aren't easy to find. Forty-seven percent of those surveyed reported that their employees who were graduates of two-year colleges were deficient in written communications, and 81 percent reported that their high-school-graduate employees had the same deficiency.
Develop your business-writing skills, and you'll give yourself a big lead over other people competing for your job.
How do you do it?
- Do I make my main points clear from the very beginning?
- Is the content organized in a logical way that flows naturally?
- Can I strengthen my argument by including further proof of any of my claims or removing unnecessary words or sections?
After you've gone through this checklist, go back and check for grammar and spelling. (If it's a really important memo or report, you might even want to ask a friend or colleague to give it a final read-through.)
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