Rate Your e-Tiquette
I am flummoxed. (Great word, huh?) Lately I have come in contact with several businesses and individuals who have very rude e-mail etiquette. The biggest complaint that I have is a lack of response.
Maybe I’m alone here, but I feel like if I send an e-mail and receive no response, it’s kind of like shouting in the abyss. In fact, it’s kind of like writing a blog...with no comments. You have no idea whether anyone is reading you or not.
When you send an e-mail and get NOTHING in response, how do you know it was received? How do you know the little Internet gremlins did not steal into your outbox and delete that message before it reached its destination?
How is YOUR e-tiquette? I am going to define a few key areas, and ask you to give yourself a grade. If you do not score high marks, it may be time to take a look at your e-behavior and make some changes to make sure that you are not losing clients or mistreating your vendors.
1. RECEIVING COMPLAINTS — Last week, I sent an e-mail to a cleaning company to tell them why I would no longer be using its services. I was respectful and very specific. That was five business days ago and I have yet to receive any kind of response, or even an acknowledgment that my message was read.
If you receive this kind of e-mail from a client or prospect, it is very important that you very quickly acknowledge it, thank them for their candor, and apologize for the incident. Of course, the next step would be to take action, if necessary, and report that back to the client when appropriate.
Rate yourself: How quickly do you respond to complaint e-mails?
- 3 points for “within 24 hours”
- 2 points for “within 48 hours”
- 1 point for “when I can get to it”
2. ACKNOWLEDGING A QUOTE OR REQUEST FOR INFORMATION — As salespeople, we often have call to work with another vendor or partner, and often that can include a request for a quote. When you receive that quote, it is only considered polite to respond with a quick “Got your quote. Thanks, we’ll let you know by xx/xx/xxxx.”
- Categories:
- Business Management - Marketing/Sales
Blogger, author, consultant, coach and all around evangelist for the graphic arts industry, Kelly sold digital printing for 15 years so she understands the challenges, frustrations and pitfalls of building a successful sales practice. Her mission is to help printers of all sizes sell more stuff. Kelly's areas of focus include sales and marketing coaching, enabling clients to find engagement strategies that work for them and mentoring the next generation of sales superstars.
Kelly graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in Political Science and, among other notable accomplishments, co-founded the Windy City Rollers, a professional women's roller derby league. She is also the mother of two sets of twins under the age of ten, so she fears nothing.
