Error-Free Emails

In customer service situations, written communications reflect upon you as well as upon your organization.

Sloppy, error-riddled emails can indicate to customers that your attention to detail is poor or that you don’t care enough about the recipient to correct simple typos or misspelled words. You certainly don’t want customers coming to either of these conclusions – especially when most are already frustrated.

While it is often overlooked, our 15+ years of Customer Service Training and Consulting has taught us that the importance of written communications should not be underestimated.

Spell-check can help but it’s not fool-proof. A word may be correctly spelled but incorrectly used. Here are a few common mistakes…words that sound the same but have different meanings.

• Complement means to complete; whereas compliment is a noun for words of praise.
  
• Stationery is a noun for writing paper; stationary (with an “a”) is an adjective that means staying in one place. If you think of “stay” and remember the letter “a,” you will get it right.
  
• “There” is an adverb indicating a direction; “their” is possessive; “they’re” is a contraction short for “they are.”

See if you and your colleagues can think up other words that are commonly misused. Make a checklist against which you can review your emails before they go to your customers.