With every e-mail you have the opportunity to communicate with clarity. The onus is on you as the author to ensure that the intent and tone you wish to relay is what comes across to those you e-mail. And, with every e-mail you also run the risk of being misunderstood or giving a less than positive impression by not paying attention to detail.
Remember; in e-mail you loose the benefit of eye-contact, body language, a firm handshake or a smile. By taking the time to create e-mails that have these 5 Essential Elements firmly in place, you ensure your meaning is not detracted from while minimizing possible negative perceptions and misunderstandings.
Every e-mail you write should have these 5 Essential Elements covered:
- The From Field: Your name needs to be displayed properly. John F. Doe. Not john f doe, or john doe, j. doe or no name at all and only your e-mail address. Proper capitalization is very important here. When your name is in all small case you open the door to being perceived a spammer or worse yet - lacking education or tech savvy.
- The Subject Line: A short, sweet and well thought out Subject is crucial and in some cases can help to ensure your e-mail gets opened. Keeping your Subject to 5-7 words that accurately identify the topic and context of your e-mail is imperative. Feel free to modify the Subject field in ongoing conversations to reflect when the direction or topic of the conversation has changed.
- The Greeting: Without a greeting at the beginning of your e-mail you risk being viewed as bossy or terse. Take the time to include a Hello, or Hi and the recipient’s name. How you type your contact’s name (John, Mr. Doe, etc.) is indicative of the level of formality your e-mail will portray. Be careful to not take the liberty of being overly informal too quickly. Let the other side dictate the level of formality and follow their lead. After all, formality is just another form of courtesy. You can usually get an indication of how those you communicate with prefer to be addressed by how they sign-off their e-mails.
- The Body: Taking the time to communicate with clarity is time well spent. Complete, correctly structured and capitalized sentences that reflect proper grammar and punctuation are crucial to your message. Typing in all small case or all caps does not lend to easy communications and gives the impression you are either lazy or illiterate. Review and spell-check every message before clicking Send.
- The Closing: Whether it be “Thank you for your time!”, “Sincerely”, “Look forward to hearing from you!” or “Warm regards,” use what is consistent with the tone and objective of your message. By not having a proper closing you increase the possibility that your e-mail will be perceived as demanding or curt. Without exception close by including your name to put that final considerate touch to your e-mails.
Make the effort to integrate these 5 essential elements in every e-mail you send and you will contribute to the perception that you are tech savvy, courteous and a pleasure to communicate with. When it comes to e-mail its all about communicating with knowledge, understanding and courtesy!
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E-mail autoresponders, also known as automatic replies or away/vacation messages are used quite often without a full understanding of how and when they should be used. While this e-mail tool has many effective and useful applications, there are also times when using an autoresponder is not recommended.
Here are five easy tips to help you use your autoresponders properly with knowledge, understanding and courtesy:
- When using autoresponders for your business away message, engage the autoresponder just before your leave the office. Then, write yourself a note to disengage the autoresponder so it is one of the first things you do when upon your return. Nothing smacks of lack of organization or attention to detail than away messages still going out after you are back in the office and available for business communications.
- A greeting and a closing including your name and title should be part of your away message. Business away messages should also include your name, the time-frame you will be unavailable as well as the name, phone number and e-mail address of someone that can be contacted in your absence.
- Autoresponders used to confirm receipt of an inquiry or for disseminating commonly asked for information (”Click here to get our automated message on…”) need to have an e-mail address in the From: field that is not the same as that of the autoresponder. Folks will hit reply to ask questions or give you their input. Rather than having them get another copy of what they’ve already received, replies should go to a different account.
- When subscribing to e-mail lists, forums, discussion boards or when simply requesting information, refrain from using an e-mail address that has an automated response attached to it. Virtual loops can be created that can create literally thousands of back and forth e-mails when an address with an autoresponder makes a request to another e-mail address using an autoresponder. The inquirer makes their request, the request gets replied to by an autoresponder, the inquirer’s autoresponder goes back to the address that responded, which responds again and this back and forth will go on until one side or the other shut’s down their autoresponders.
- When engaging an autoresponder away message on an e-mail address that you know you have used to subscribe to e-mail lists, forums, Blogs or discussion boards, be sure to unsubscribe from all those services and resubscribe when you come back. This will prevent your message from being repeatedly sent out to those also subscribed who are not e-mailing you directly. To avoid this situation all together, have an e-mail address that you use specifically for such activities.
Autoresponders are a great tool and when used appropriately autoresponders they can help keep others informed while freeing you up to do other things. Keep these issues in mind so that when you do use autoresponders, they are viewed as more of a benefit than an annoyance.
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E-mail Etiquette is not for customer service reps alone. It is also applies to those requesting customer service. Both sides have equal responsibility in ensuring the conversation concludes to their satisfaction.
Unfortunately, in my experience I run into customer service representatives that respond to e-mails without giving the time, effort and courtesy required. And, just as often I run into “customers” who assume simply because they are the customer that they do not need to take the time, effort and courtesy required when making their requests. Both sides are so focused on what they want to say or get across at the moment, that they do not take the necessary time and provide the relevant details that are so important to customer service communications.
Here I’ll provide to you both sides of the story so each participant understands their responsibility in the conversation.
CUSTOMER SERVICE REP EMAIL ETIQUETTE:
- Respond to all requests same day. If you are online for business, you need to be able to respond practically in real-time to instill confidence in your site, product and customer service levels. The faster the better!
- Take the time to review the request made and make a point of offering assistance in detail to the specific requests made. To send a template response that doesn’t address your customer’s specific needs reflects a lack of concern for detail and for the customer.
- Address the customer’s concerns or questions point-by-point to make sure all the bases are covered.
Answer the their questions in a clear and concise manner using full sentences, proper spelling and grammar. No matter how upset or rude a customer may be, take the high road and never communicate in less than a professional tone.
- Point the customer to URLs within your Web site that offer the information they seek, if appropriate, for future reference.
- Always include a pleasant greeting and thank the customer for e-mailing you. At the end of your response let them know if they have any further questions or require additional assistance how they may contact you.
CUSTOMER E-MAIL ETIQUETTE:
- Review the Web site in question to ensure the information you seek is not already provided for your convenience. To e-mail without reviewing a site’s content gives the impression that you may be a demanding and therefore not a profitable customer.
- When asking about specific products or services, include the URL to the specific Web page within the site that you have further questions on. Ask your questions in a clear and concise manner using full sentences, proper spelling and grammar. Try to avoid broad sweeping or general questions.
- If referring to an order, include your order ID and as much information as possible to enable to customer service rep to respond quickly and in detail to your request.
- Never take the stance that as the customer, policies and attention to detail do not apply to you. They do. Always ask for assistance with a courteous and humble tone.
- Be sure to communicate in a cordial manner. Customers who communicate with respect and courtesy will be valued more than those who make doing business with them difficult. Thanking customer service reps for the efforts on your behalf will go a long way.
So as you can see, E-mail Etiquette applies to both customers and customer service reps alike. Customer service reps using positive E-mail Etiquette skills will attain and maintain profitable customers. Customers who make their requests with information and courtesy will show they are a customer worth catering to.
“Always render more and better service
than is expected of you, no matter
what your task may be.”
Og Mandino (1923 - 1996)
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