By Adam Turteltaub
adam.turteltaub@corporatecompliance.org
It’s been a great day for SPAM email. I received one from a company touting the complex capabilities of its learning management system. I might have been impressed, but not with the subject line they put on my email: @first_name@ quick question.
If that doesn’t convince me of their lack of actual technical prowess, I don’t know what will.
Then I got one of those follow-up SPAM emails that has “Re” in the subject line like it’s a reply, when it’s really just a nagging second email. The person was trying to sell me a solution we didn’t need. I went to hit the unsubscribe link, only to discover they didn’t have a link. Nor did they have a physical address like the CAN-SPAM law requires.
It was all I could do not to write back, “If you want to convince a compliance association to use you, at least bother complying with the law.”
These two emails are a good reminder to make sure you get the basics rights. You can lose someone, no matter how good your message or solution is, if you don’t get the subject line right, or miss a key legal requirement or have a typo.
There’s already a good bit of hefty skepticism from the workforce when it comes to compliance. Having misspellings, typos, or customized emails that show the customization code but not the customization can all destroy credibility and provoke the absolute wrong kind of laughter.
Proofreading is an underrated virtue. Spellcheck is overrated. You can’t trust is to get it write. (Yes, I know it should be “right” but spellcheck doesn’t.)
Printing the document out, and reading it out loud can show you things you missed. Having someone else read for clarity and mistakes helps, too.
If it’s an important communication, give it the attention it deserves, and your message will have more impact.
[clickToTweet tweet=”Did You Read This or Just Write It?” quote=”Did You Read This or Just Write It?” theme=”style3″]
Adam,
On a somewhat related note when it comes to messaging and attempting to portray a professional image, I find it entertaining when I get emails from people explaining the benefits that they can provide to compliance professionals given:
• Their years of experience;
• That they are a “nationally recognized leader” in the world of compliance; or
• Their widely known reputation as a problem solver, etc.
Then when I make it to the end of their email and I confirm it by looking at the email header, their email address is something along the lines of Baseballfan123@yahoo.com
Hmmm…a cause to pause for sure in my book.
As a baseball fan, I have no problem with that email address. In fact, I’m going out to get it!
There is another typo. See if you can find it. Ugh! Murphy’s Law. Thanks for the post. I always learn something I can use.
August 25, 2017
As a baseball fan, I have no problem with it either, although I may get AaronJudge99@yahoo.com unless it is taken.
All kidding aside, I wonder too how many people put catchy subject lines to get people to open their e-mails? I was taught this some years back; to put subject lines to get people to open your messages. Of course, that is another way of fancy marketing too. Maybe it is also a training issue – when I see an e-mail from my boss, I always open it ASAP as I have set up my e-mail folder to have her messages always appear at the top. When I get messages from others I don’t know, I am always hesitant to open them and instead prefer to read them from the navigation pane.
It is all about getting the little things right as Adam’s post illustrates. Let your reputation precede you enough so when you send an e-mail, people will open it because it is substance, not style.
Uh oh, did I make a typo?
John, apropos of the boss’s email address, a compliance officer once told me that he or she would have reminders to managers go out from the CEO’s assistant. So much stuff went out under the CEO’s email that people knew some of it was just standard company-wide email. But, if it came from the assistant, they knew it was important.
Yes.
“These two emails are a good reminder to make sure you get the basics rights. ”
MBH is right – “Murphy’s Law” :O)
Aside from that, I loved your article and wholeheartedly agree with your points!
The worst part is, now I have to leave the typo, or we’ll drive everyone crazy looking for it.
It’s true you have to leave it. I think there is a silver lining in that embarassing experiences really are good for our souls…which doesn’t mean I am willing to have one!
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