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This article explains how to send effective
e-mail replies. It also discusses why proper e-mail etiquette is necessary,
and lists e-mail etiquette rules:
1. Always, Always, Always use a
greeting.
Whatever happened to good old fashion courtesy
and manners? For whatever reason, people just aren't as nice or considerate
nowadays as they used to be.
For instance, I'm always amazed how many
e-mails I receive that don't contain a single "hi," "hello," "good
morning"--nothing! I just don't understand why people treat e-mail so
casually, because e-mail is a form of communication and is really no
different than answering your telephone and saying "hello." It's just the
courteous thing to do.
You have to realize, people who don't know you
form opinions and impressions about you, based on your e-mail
communications. And if you come across as cold, rude, indifferent or
unfriendly, it's a direct reflection on you and your company and it will
negatively impact your business. Let's face it, we all like to do business
with people we like.
Now if you're corresponding back and forth
with someone several times a day, it's certainly not necessary to greet them
in every single e-mail. However, your initial e-mail should always contain a
greeting of some sort.
2. Be concise and to the point.
Don't make an e-mail longer than it needs to
be. Remember that reading an e-mail is harder than reading printed
communications and a long e-mail can be very trying to read.
3. Answer all questions, and pre-empt further
questions.
An e-mail reply must answer all questions, and
pre empt further questions - If you do not answer all the questions in the
original e-mail, you will receive further e-mails regarding the unanswered
questions, which will not only waste your time and your customer's time but
also cause considerable frustration.
4. Always reply promptly.
People send an e-mail because they wish to
receive a quick response. If they did not want a quick response they would
send a letter or a fax. Therefore, each e-mail should be replied to within
at least 24 hours, and preferably within the same working day. There's just
no excuse not to be able to do that. If the e-mail is complicated, just send
an e-mail back saying that you have received it and that you will get back
to them shortly.
5. Do not attach unnecessary files.
By sending large attachments you can annoy
customers and even bring down their e-mail system. Wherever possible try to
compress attachments and only send attachments when they are productive.
Moreover, you need to have a good virus scanner in place since your
customers will not be very happy if you send them documents full of viruses!
6. Do not write in all CAPITALS.
IF YOU WRITE IN ALL CAPITALS, IT IS CONSIDERED
SHOUTING. This can be highly annoying and might trigger an unwanted response
in the form of a flame mail. Therefore, try not to send any e-mail text in
capitals.
7. Don't leave out the message thread.
When you reply to an e-mail, you must include
the original mail in your reply, in other words click 'Reply', instead of
'New Mail'. Some people say that you must remove the previous message since
this has already been sent and is therefore unnecessary. However, I
disagree. If you receive many e-mails, you obviously cannot remember each
individual e-mail. This means that a 'threadless e-mail' will not provide
enough information and you will have to spend a frustratingly long time to
find out the context of the e-mail in order to deal with it. Leaving the
thread might take a fraction longer in download time, but it will save the
recipient much more time and frustration in looking for the related e-mails
in their inbox!
8. Always proofread your e-mail before you
send it.
A lot of people don't bother to read their
e-mail before they send it out. This is evidenced by the many spelling and
grammar mistakes contained in e-mails. Apart from this, reading your e-mail
through the eyes of the recipient will help you send a more effective
message and avoid misunderstandings and inappropriate comments.
9. Mass Mailings: Use the Bcc: field or do a
mail merge.
When sending an e-mail mailing, some people
place all the e-mail addresses in the To: field. There are two drawbacks to
this practice: (1) the recipient knows that you have sent the same message
to a large number of recipients, and (2) you are publicizing someone else's
e-mail address without their permission. One way to get round this is to
place all addresses in the Bcc: field.
However, the recipient will only see the
address from the To: field in their e-mail, so if this was empty, the To:
field will be blank and this might look like spamming. You could include the
mailing list e-mail address in the To: field, or even better, if you have
Microsoft Outlook and Word you can do a mail merge and create one message
for each recipient. A mail merge also allows you to use fields in the
message so that you can for instance address each recipient personally.
10. Be careful with abbreviations and
emoticons.
In business e-mails, try not to use
abbreviations such as BTW (by the way) and LOL (laugh out loud). The
recipient might not be aware of the meanings of the abbreviations and in
business e-mails these are generally not appropriate. The same goes for
emoticons, such as the smiley :-). If you are not sure whether your
recipient knows what it means, it is better not to use it.
11. Don't forward virus hoaxes and chain
letters.
If you receive an e-mail message warning you
of a new super virus that will immediately delete everything from your
computer, this is most likely a hoax. By forwarding hoaxes you use valuable
bandwidth and sometimes virus hoaxes contain viruses themselves, by
attaching a so-called file that will stop the super virus.
The same goes for chain letters that promise
incredible riches or ask your help for a charitable cause. Even if the
content seems to be bona fide, the senders are usually not. Since it is
impossible to determine whether a chain letter is real or not, the best
place for ALL chain letters is the recycle bin.
12. Never make any libelous, sexist or
racially discriminating comments in e-mails, even if they are meant to be a
joke.
There's nothing remotely funny about those
types of comments. All they do is perpetuate an ugly, endless cycle of
ignorance and intolerance.
13. Don't send or forward e-mails containing
libelous, defamatory, offensive, racist or obscene remarks.
By sending or even just forwarding one
libelous, or offensive remark in an e-mail, you and your company can face
court cases resulting in multi-million dollar penalties.
There's too much of this garbage already being
circulated on the Internet. Don't get involved with this ignorant and
irresponsible behavior.
14. Don't reply to SPAM.
By replying to SPAM or by unsubscribing, you
are confirming that your e-mail address is "live." Confirming this will only
generate even more SPAM. Therefore, just hit the delete button or use e-mail
software to remove SPAM automatically.
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Dean Phillips is an Internet marketing expert,
writer, publisher and entrepreneur. Questions? Comments? Dean can be reached
at mailto: dean@lets-make-money.net
Make Money Online! Internet marketing expert,
Dean Phillips will teach you how to make money online, starting
today...Guaranteed! For details just visit my website.
Website: http://www.lets-make-money.net
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