Ever send a message that made you cringe? If so, you’re not alone. Nearly eight in 10 (78%) advertising and marketing executives polled admit to sending an e-mail by mistake, with embarrassing and sometimes serious consequences, finds a survey by The Creative Group.

When sending an e-mail message, it is important to take extra precautions to ensure professionalism. “E-mail mistakes can be painfully visible and viral,” says Megan Slabinski, executive director of The Creative Group, a California-based staffing firm.

“Professionals must be especially careful in this economy not to do anything that could cause employers to question their competence or judgment, and that means paying close attention when sending any kind of message, particularly if the information is sensitive,” she adds.

Here are a few juicy mistakes that respondents shared:

• "Someone sent out confidential salary information to the whole firm."
• "I once sent a job offer to the wrong person."
• "Someone made a nasty comment about a supervisor and it was sent to the supervisor by mistake. It eventually led to dismissal."
• "A person called another employee an idiot in an e-mail to everyone in the company."
• "We sent an e-mail to a client that was meant for a vendor. It made it difficult when the client had seen our costs."
• "Confidential information about one client was sent to a different client. It was certainly embarrassing."
• "Someone crafted a scathing, sarcastic e-mail about a customer and did not mean to hit 'send.' It caused problems."
• "I once sent an internal memo about restroom etiquette to a prospective client by accident."

In order to mitigate e-mail faux-pas, The Creative Group offers the following seven tips:

1. Fixate your full attention on the task at hand. Avoid multi-tasking and if you can’t respond to someone right away, let them know when they can expect to hear back from you. This will give you time to free yourself of distractions that could cause grave repercussions, like job termination.

2. Hold off on the distribution list, for now. This is especially prudent if you are writing a sensitive or confidential message. In addition, this process will help curb sending incomplete emails or flagging the wrong recipients.

3. Take special care with those you copy. Think twice before hitting “reply all” and only copy those that need to be in the know.

4. Review the email on a big screen. Writing and sending messages on handheld devices with small screens or keyboards only augments the likelihood of typos and errors. When sending out an important email, it may be wise to review it on a computer screen and run a spell check.

5. Review attachments. Insert any documents, confirming they’re the right ones, as soon as you refer to them in the memo.

6. Don’t hit “send” when you’re emotional. Angry emails are never a good idea. Give yourself a moment to cool off before responding. You may find it better to speak in person.

7. Keep it professional. Bear in mind that emails are easily forwarded and some email messaging may be monitored. As a general rule, avoid saying anything antipathetic or unprofessional.

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