Ah, technology. How did we ever manage before the internet and the ability to email?
This is an email I received earlier this morning from another agent, an agent whom I don't know. The message pertains to my attempts over the past three months to hold a weekly all agent caravan in our market area. The names of the area and lane were removed to mask the identity of the agent. I am NOT making this up:
was this caravan to lease or to buy please advise. i have a property in the m******* on c**** p*** lsne fopr rent use to be a condo i like for you to know that we pay a commission for rentals if any if your agfents have a renter thanks
Yipes!
Okay, we all make mistakes. Sometimes we don't even care that we do as we dash off a fast 'critical' response email to a peer from our Blackberries, a text message to a co-worker stating "R U in Ofc?" or "Ned 2 c u SAP". We know the spelling is all wonky, but it's considered acceptable since we have a relaxed business relationship and we're responding timely and "on the fly".
Most of us recognize that when communicating B2B or B2C, it's critical to carefully re-read and polish our emails before hitting send. How many of us have hit send and forgotten the attachment? Oops! Drat! Can I retract that?
If you are brilliant in many ways but aren't a great technical writer, ask someone in your office to proof your writing. Take a night class in English and learn the fundamentals of the language or take a business writing course. Draft a few messages to respond to business situations that you deal with frequently, and perfect the grammar and spelling.
Many people write their emails in Microsoft's WORD(R) and use the built-in spell checker and grammar checker to make certain that their writing makes sense. Then, they simply copy and paste into their email program. WARNING: Spell checkers and grammar checkers can only do so much; you still need to know the basics and you still need to proof your work. The author is unknown, but here's a funny example of Spell Checker:
A Little Poem Regarding Computer Spell Checkers...
Eye halve a spelling chequer
It came with my pea sea
It plainly marques four my revue
Miss steaks eye kin knot sea.
Eye strike a key and type a word
And weight four it two say
Weather eye am wrong oar write
It shows me strait a weigh.
As soon as a mist ache is maid
It nose bee fore two long
And eye can put the error rite
Its rare lea ever wrong.
Eye have run this poem threw it
I am shore your pleased two no
Its letter perfect awl the weigh
My chequer tolled me sew.
I know we all get in a hurry, but, when communicating professionally, a few extra moments to proof our
work will make all the difference in our perceived level of professionalism.
Happy Marketing!
You only have one chance to make a first impression and that goes for e-mail as well. An e-mail like the one above sends the message that details aren't really that important. What we write and how we write it are all part of the image we project so make sure it's a positive one.
WOW....I'm speechless and very confused. Let me get my decoder ring and I'll be back.
Julie: Good analysis.
The agent may be very competent at a number of things but clearly communication is not one. I think that this could be a stumbling block to this agent's success as the email does not instill a lot of confidence in his/her abilities, does it? In the current market we can't afford to create the perception that we are less proficient than our competitor.
Thanks for your insight.
Echoing Michelle above...WOW! Certainly doesn't give you a warm and fuzzy about that agent, does it?
Michelle: love the decoder ring idea. Do you have an extra?
Deborah - Yuo maen yuo cuodln't raed taht? I cuodl...wahts teh beg dael? ;-)
I love that the human eye can still understand many misspelled words! Very funny!
Thanks for your comment, Amy. We are in a very competitive market here. I just can't imagine anyone surviving in this market with this little attention to detail.
Jason, I will respond as soon as Michelle finds her decoder ring.
Amanda: Ewe our two kind. Thanks four yore comment. Their is hop yet. Eye bot a diction airy end eye plane two use it.
For what it's worth, I recommend the use of the Google Toolbar as it includes a spell check feature so that you can check any on-line form boxes before posting (such as the ones here on Active Rain). I use it all the time.
I highly agree that you only have one chance of making a good first impression with a potential client and written forms of communication may be your only chance of making a sale.
The other day I was adding photo descriptions for a new listings and commented on the private backyard with 8" wooden privacy fence.
Thank goodness I have a real estate partner who caught the mistake and changed 8" to 8'.
Now in every single conversation we have she brings up the 8 inch privacy fence.
It would take me twice as long to send anything with out spell check. Often when I write, I have an outline but ideas and thoughts form organically. This is a recipe for disaster with my 10 thumbed typing style. I doubt anyone would benefit from the content I provide if it rebad libke thibis!
Egg sale lent poem. I've missed the occasional attachment as well. One thing that gets me is that sometimes it seems like blog posts have not been edited.
Michael, you are exactly right. I use Google as well, and was happy when AR added the spell check feature a while back. Thanks for your input.
Christine, I hope that is the same tape measure you use when measuring your waist! Thanks for your comment. Good catch by your partner! Even the editor has a proof reader!
Darrell, we cud start a diction airy end make hour cells a for churn.