BCA FYI

OK, we admit it. If you caught our proofreading error in last week’s blurb about sloppy envelopes and business correspondence, you probably enjoyed a chuckle on us. It was a minor miss, but for it to appear in our gentle diatribe on the importance of detail, well, that stinks. So, this week we take a brief timeout to remind ourselves – and you – of the importance of impeccable proofreading.

Admittedly, this is an art-form-in-evolution, as e-mail correspondence, blogging and text messaging seem to be rewriting the rules of acceptability. Nonetheless, there are a couple of compelling reasons to get it right. First, error-free copy says something about attention to detail. Second, a typo has been described as a “speed bump” to a reader – it takes away focus and creates a distraction. Nobody wants that. Tip: It’s virtually impossible to adequately proof one’s own work. Better to have a second or third, or, in some cases, fourth party do it – and best when done without deadline pressure. 

We’re all working harder and faster these days, and some errors will slip through. We’re trying to minimize them at BCA. And no, we’re not going to end this piece with some funny typo. 

Business is tight, budgets are lean and we don’t know many people who are enjoying a great ride right now. But that’s no excuse for sloppiness. This week’s marketing tip focuses on something so simple it’s a bit embarrassing to even mention: the lowly envelope.

We’re talking about envelopes that purport to contain business correspondence, but look anything but. Crummy handwritten addresses and return addresses on non-personal material. Envelopes addressed to staff members who left your business years ago. Envelopes forwarded from scarily old former addresses. And it gets worse.

Get past the lousy envelope and you hit on a few of the mass-mail personal peeves at Barnett Cox. A compelling pitch directed at Dave Cox on a letter whose salutation reads: Dear Mr. BarnettCox. One to Maggie: Dear Mr. Maggie Cox. And, don’t get us started in the ones that think Maggie is Cox and Dave is Barnett.

The simple message: Everything you offer about your company says something about how you operate and the attention you pay to detail. Get it right. Whether it’s a direct mail outreach, or something as simple as a bill, make sure the piece you send says you are on top of things.

And for the record, it’s Maggie Cox. Dave Cox. The company is Barnett Cox. And Barnett was our dear old friend and former partner, Claude Barnett, who passed away in 1994. He’d turn over in his grave if his obit had read “Claude Cox.”

Let us know your pet peeve, and we may use it in an upcoming issue. E-mail me at mcox@barnettcox.com.