You know that sinking, tight-throat feeling when you realise you’ve done something really stupid and avoidable and there’s nothing you can do about it? I’m guilty of all of these:
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Got the person’s name wrong at the top of an email
There are variations on this. You might be sending an identical email to a number of people and have left the ‘Dear XXX’ at the top. (Bonus points if it’s an invoice!) Or you might have cut and pasted a previously sent email, and forgotten to change the name at the top. Or, my favourite, you type in ‘Dear wrong-but-very-similar name’ and don’t notice until you’ve hit ‘send’. And there’s nothing you can do but resend the email and hope they don’t notice the name and assume a glitch has caused you to send it twice.
Said the wrong thing at a function
Maybe you had one too many, or you just got a little out of your depth, or you weren’t quite sure if the other person is joking around with you. Whatever, you make a quip or let a naughty word inappropriately slip out, and in that second after, that pause lets you know that you’ve entered Faux Pas country. Time to change the subject or politely excuse yourself.
Answered “Are you busy?” with anything other than “yes”
In a client-provider situation, when the client asks if you’re busy, the only correct answer is yes. This lets them know that you’re successful and well worth the dollars they’re paying you. Telling them “it’s not too bad” or “actually, it’s pretty quiet at the moment” are both wrong answers. When in doubt, treat it like “how are you?” in a social situation – people don’t want to know that you burnt your toast or that you think you’re developing a serious addiction to edamame beans. You always answer “fine, thanks”.
What have you done that makes you cringe?
I sent an email to one client and called her by another client’s name. She was okay with it, but I was mortified.