Oops!! An email apology.

Being in the email business, I pay attention to the emails that I receive and RARELY does a mistake make it through to my inbox. It happens though, and the ways that a company can handle the mistake are many.

One way is to simply ignore the typo. I mean the majority of people are skimming their emails so fast that they won't even catch it right? Sure, a handful of English majors will reply to your donotreply mailbox with a tirade about how American grammar is going to hell in a hand basket and what ever happened to proofreading anyway? 

Another is to resend the same email with the corrected offer/wording/programming/whatever. No different subject line, no explanation of why a second email is being sent.

... PLEASE don't do this option. It's the kind of mass-blast mentality that gives emailers a bad name and makes me not get invited to parties. AT LEAST put "correction" or something in the subject to let the recipient know why they are getting another email an hour after they got the first one.

Finally, TAKE THE OPPORTUNITY to use this second communication to not only correct the error but give some human touch to what has become a very impersonal medium. (What? "Dear Dave" is impersonal??) You can easily become a hero in customer relations with a "personal" note correcting your error and explaining how you promise never ever to do it again, cross your heart and hope to die! The following is an example of an email that I sent recently to about 800 recipients. One note: only one person responded to the original incorrect email and 10 people responded to the OOPS email. Some of the responses are below.

Dear Lucille, Happy UN-Birthday? So, unfortunately I can't tell February from October and I accidentally sent you a birthday greeting from [company] -- Sorry about that! Hopefully you're having a perfectly wonderful non-birthday today and I do apologize for the confusing email. Sincerely, Dave Nelson Communications Representative

_____________
Some replies:
"Hey!!   I'm sitting here in Ohio under 10" of snow on top of 8" from a few days ago and you made me laugh!!   GREAT JOB!!  Lucille"


"oh that is okay!.................any time someone wishes me a good day that's cool..............  and it was perfectly wonderful too sitting here watching the ice melt.............hope you had a good one too!"


"That's okay Dave, when you get to be this age you likely won't even remember you have birthdays, ha  ha  ha  But thanks for the thought. I'ts nice to be remembered anyways :')  Sue S."


"Want to know of an even more of an epic fail?  My name isn't Sharon."


"Ha Ha! This was cute!! Love the photo.

Thanks,

Natalie"

"Well, my dad's birthday was yesterday so maybe there's the confusion? 

Thank you for the note. It was humorous. "

>>>The takeaway: In Advertising, once an error is out there you can't take it back but with email you have the very inexpensive option of changing your customers' opinion of you from careless to caring. Take the opportunity to add a "face" to your errors.