Mistakes Happen

You pushed send. An hour later you notice there's an error in your email, or you sent it to the wrong list. Check out these tips to counteract an "oops" moment:

• Assess the damage. Sending out an email to retract a misspelled word is unnecessary. If, however, the error will cause customer confusion, make sure to correct the mistake immediately.
• Apologize. Everyone makes mistakes. Acknowledging your error and apologizing for it will earn you much more respect with your audience than acting like it never happened.
• Reference the original email. Resend the entire email, not just the information that was incorrect. This way your audience won't have to piece together two separate sources of information.

Earlier this year, UC San Diego accidentally sent an acceptance email to their entire pool of 47,000 applicants instead of the 18,000 students who had been accepted. See how US San Diego sorted out the situation here.