That complacency could cost you big, though. Even minor spelling and punctuation errors mar your professional image . Worse yet, every now and then, a text contains an error that can do serious, long-lasting damage.
Roswell Honda's scratch-off sweepstakes tickets are a case in point. The New Mexico Honda dealership hired an outside direct marketing firm to create a sweepstakes advertisement along with 50,000 scratch-off tickets. Only one $1,000 grand prize was available.
When around 30,000 tickets had been mailed out, a happy Roswell resident came in to claim the prize. Then another showed up. And another. After some quick investigation, Roswell Honda general manager, Jeff Kohn, realized what was going on. A typographical error had resulted in all 50,000 tickets being printed as grand prize winners.
Your Money and Your Reputation are On the Line
Kohn managed to stop the remaining 20,000 tickets from going out, but in terms of public relations damage, the horse was out of the barn. In the following weeks, more than 2,000 people contacted the dealership ready to collect their prize. None of them were happy to hear they'd been misled.
The management of Roswell Honda had to take time out of their schedules to consult with the direct marketing firm. To offset customers' disappointment, the dealership offered Walmart gift cards and the chance to enter a contest with an even higher grand prize. While the dealership managed to mitigate the damage, the fact remains that a single misprint could have cost them $50 million.
For as much damage as they can do, editing and proofreading mistakes aren't always easy to spot. Catching them takes a keen eye for detail and skill with the techniques professional proofreaders use to make sure nothing slips by.
If you could use some help ensuring your written business communications are free from editing and proofreading mistakes, contact us at Hurley Write, Inc .
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