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Mistakes happen. We’ve all been in a situation where we carelessly overlooked something and it’s caused an embarrassing situation. While most of these faux pas happen in our personal lives, from time to time it affects business. This morning we received a Change of Legal Name letter for a business we’ve worked with in the past. It’s a nicely written letter on beautiful new letterhead with a funky new logo. The problem with the letter is two-fold:

1. They don’t state anywhere in the letter what the previous name of the business is. Although we’ve now figured it out, it took more than three people to narrow it down.
2. There’s a typo in the URL in the big bolded area where they list their contact information.

Yikes. If you’re sending out a notice like this, you want to make sure it goes out without a hitch and people aren’t left scratching their heads trying to figure out who you are. This letter probably should have been passed around a bit before it left the building.

Proofreading for Everything

Whether or not you’re sending out a letter or email blast, you can still benefit from having someone read over your stuff – and the benefits can extend well beyond preventing typos. When you build your own website, just like writing a letter, you’re very close to the content, design, etc. It’s hard to look at it with an objective eye and having someone unfamiliar with it can provide some great insight. Consider what a friend could tell you about your site. Things like:

• The tone/language of your writing and how it makes a visitor feel
• Whether you answer the questions that a potential customer might ask
• Whether your site design is pleasing or might have elements that turn someone off

The list goes on and on. Your website is your online salesperson and it can leave a lasting impression. If you give the feeling that you didn’t care enough to put effort into polishing your site, that same feeling extends to your products and services and can have a very negative impact on your bottom line.

What are some of the most memorable business faux pas you’ve seen? Tell us in the comments!