Email and electronic communication errors made in the past month, by The New York Times and Vassar College respectfully, are reason enough to examine the way we communicate today. The New York Times sent an erroneous email to 8 million subscribers, while Vassar College directed Early Decision applicants to a website page posting misinformation. Both a P.R. and customer service disaster, with lingering fallout, it reminds us that technology is still subject to human error.
Set-up a “Send” Delay. How often have you hit “Send” to only say “Oops” immediately after? Set your email account up with either a delay delivery time (Outlook has this) or the ability to “Undo Send” (Gmail) which allows you to take back the email message up to 30 seconds after hitting send. Lifesaver.
Proofread. Spell check, of course, but that doesn’t pick up all errors. Read each email out loud and listen for content, phrases and words that could be interpreted other than you intended, as well as grammatical errors. Reread it word-by-word and don’t forget to double-check the recipient’s name. I’ve received emails where there was a different name in the body of the email. Ask a trusted person, with strong grammar and spelling skills, to read it, as well.
Do a Trial Run. Send the email to yourself. You’d be surprised at what you catch. How does it appear in your preview pane? Check out all links. Sometimes hyperlinks don’t appear correctly. Did the formatting shift? Are the fonts consistent? When you cut and paste items into an email all this can occur.
Keep Multiple Recipients Email Addresses Private. I was shocked to receive an email, from a Fortune 500, where the name and email addresses, of 50 job applicants, were visible. Not a good practice and perhaps a privacy violation? When sending an email to more than one person, either create a “Group” or send the email “To” yourself and then “Bcc” the other recipients. This also keeps the email cleaner.
Never Send an Email When Angry. If you’re upset, do not send an email to clarify your position or feelings. Lack of nonverbal communication in email makes it difficult to convey emotion. Remember the written word is a permanent record and email can go viral in minutes. If you need to vent, write the email, save as a draft, and then reread it the next day. You will most likely not send it. Err on the side of caution when it comes to jokes or anything that could be misconstrued, too.
Avoid hitting “Reply to All.” Only use this feature when you are absolutely certain of who is seeing your response. Thoroughly check the “To” and “Cc” fields. If in doubt, don’t hit “Reply to all.” Even if you know the other recipients, ask yourself “is responding to the sender sufficient?” Don’t duplicate your efforts, and annoy people. This applies to the use of “Cc.” Don’t “Cc” someone if they are totally out of the loop on what you’re communicating about. It can seem self-serving, as if you’re going around the original recipient. Make sure that either you, or the original recipient, have discussed the need to keep this person informed.
Don’t Forward Messages Without Carefully Studying the Thread. Everyone has been there, received an email that inadvertently included messages not intended for our eyes. In order to avoid, cut and paste the message and copy the subject line into a new email before replying or just start a new email, referencing the other one. I often change the subject line anyhow, because they are unclear and inaccurate.
I assume The New York Times and Vassar College employed some of the above tips, yet they still made email mistakes. As with anything in life, it is not the error, as much as how you recover. Both the Times and Vassar were criticized for their lack of follow-up. Do not make that mistake. And do not follow-up an email error with another email, pick up the phone or go see your client. Accept responsibility for the error and do whatever it takes to satisfy the recipient and make things right.
Theresa Merrill is the Director of Business Development for Anovick Associates. She has more than 20 years of sales and marketing experience in NY, Boston and Atlanta working for Katz Communications, CBS, Tribune and Cablevision and can be reached at 201.444.2991 or by e-mail merrill.theresa@gmail.com.
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