Spell Names Correctly

April 16, 2009 by Judith

Several site visitors have written recently in regard to the incorrect spelling of their names by those who e-mail them. They are concerned that their names are being spelled wrong when their signature file or the From: field clearly shows the correct spelling of their name.

What should they do? Should they correct the Sender?

It is sad to say, but many onliners have the attention span of a gnat. Most so concerned about typing what they want to say, that they do not pay attention to details. One of them being the correct spelling of the name of the person they are e-mailing.

This is an error that in of itself reflects the sender’s inability to pay attention to something as important as how someone spells their name. This is certainly not the type of error you want to make if you are serious about building relationships.

I have folks who e-mail me as “Judy” — I’m not a Judy — I am Judi. If they knew me well enough to approach me informally and not address me as Judith as I sign my e-mails, they would know that. This is a sign of someone getting too friendly or informal too fast. Not good in a business relationship for sure!

What does that say about the Sender? To me it notes a lack of attention to detail. And, it makes me wonder what else they may not be paying attention to. These folks are also typically those that require I resend, repeat or in many cases reiterate conversations or information we discussed in the past. Because they weren’t paying attention to details.

So you can see how something as simple as assuming how the informal version of someone’s name is spelled or not noticing you are incorrectly spelling it can leave a negative perception.

Take the time and make the effort to ensure you are spelling your contact’s names correctly. Little “enuances” like this will go a long way to building strong and productive communications.

Comments

2 Responses to “Spell Names Correctly”

Jodi on July 23rd, 2010 2:58 am

I am getting many people addressing me as “Jody” in emails when I very cleary sign my emails with my name. I would like to know the best way to point this out to these people.
Judith on July 23rd, 2010 10:28 am

Hey, Jodi:

Thanks for stopping by! What I do when this happens is after their greeting, I would simply type:

“Good to hear from you! (BTW, my name is spelled Jodi. ;-) )”

The winky is optional, but as I recently typed about on my Business E-mail Etiquette site — adding a winky does soften corrections and makes the recipient more open to the suggestion being made.

HTH!