Email mistakes are not the end of the world … If you handle your response in the correct way!
We have all seen it (and sometimes done it). You hit “send” on an email blast to your database that has a grammatical error or incorrect information in it! Take a deep breath … we’ll help you with what to do next.
First, don’t panic or immediately fire off another email. Think it through and check the mistake. Thoroughly analyze the response before sending it.
Identify the impact of the error. Is it a misspelled word, an incorrect date, or does the free play offer have an extra “0” in it … gulp!?
Below are a few examples of common email mistakes and some ideas for fixing them.
Grammatical Errors
Inexcusable, right? But no matter how many eyes proof your work, something gets missed. You are better off leaving it alone than calling attention to it.
Incorrect Dates/Times
Let’s say that you sent an email to your VIPs reminding them about your big New Year’s Eve party on Friday, December 31, 2015. Oops! Send a follow-up email with the correct information. You can be witty and say something like, “We are not concerned that you may not know when New Year’s is, but you may be afraid that we don’t, because there was a mistake in the email sent to you yesterday. Even though you party animals can go for two days straight, please know that the correct date for the VIP party is Thursday, December 31. See you then!”
If the mistake has caused any inconvenience to your players, you can include a special discount to make up for the mistake.
Incorrect Offers
This is probably the worst-case scenario. You sent 10,000 free play offers via email and every offer has an extra “0” in it, theoretically making it the most expensive free play email blast in your casino’s history. It’s not uncommon for something to go sideways when calculating variable offers.
Don’t panic. Make a checklist:
- Identify when the offer is valid.
- Who received the incorrect offer? Everyone or just one tier?
- How quickly can the offer be recalculated and triple-checked?
- When should you deploy a correction? If it’s possible to wait, an email sent in the morning is more likely to be read than one in the afternoon.
- Create a new email with the correct offer and an apology. “In our hurry to send you this week’s free play offer, we inadvertently sent you an incorrect offer. We have corrected the mistake and updated your account. Please accept our apologies for any confusion or inconvenience, and we would like to offer you 20% off your next visit to our restaurant. Just pick up a voucher at the players club.”
For the most part, your guests will understand mistakes. Acknowledge them quickly and honestly, and with humor.
One final tip – include a standard disclaimer in your direct marketing, such as “The information in this email is subject to casino verification. No part of this communication is binding in any way. Please contact the Players Club should you have any questions regarding the information you have received.”
The bottom line is that everyone makes mistakes.
