Away Message Basics

Today I received 3 away message autoresponders when I sent out my Weekly E-mail Etiquette Tips that were stating the receipient would be back in the office on Monday. This past Monday, August 28th.

When using away messages, especially for business there are several things you need to consider:

1. Most importantly, if your e-mail address is subscribed to any discussion mailing lists, unsub before your engage your away message. Otherwise, each time a message is sent from the list, your autoresponder will go out to everyone else who gets posts to the list. You may find that you are unsubbed by the list owner and may even have some unpleasant e-mails waiting for you from other list members upon your return.


2. Create a message that is brief, includes your return date and who can be contacted in your absence and their contact information. A note stating you will respond promptly to pending messages upon your return is a nice touch too.


3. Engage your away message right before you leave to go away and do not intend on responding to any further e-mails until you return.


4. Right then and there, write yourself a note, post-it or put it in red letters on your calendar by your computer to take down the autoresponder when you get back. Make this one of the first things that you do upon your return. If you want to give the perception of being unorganized or forgetful, have away messages going out that are outdated.


5. Upon your return, make it a priority to respond promptly to waiting messages. You don't want folks wondering if their messages got lost in the shuffle or make them feel they are not important to you.

HTH! ;-)

Business is Business

Daily e-mails pour in about what to do in regard to situations involving work related e-mail. Many times these problems could have been avoided if folks just used some common sense and discretion in how they use their employer's resources.

A good general rule of thumb is to not put anything in a business e-mail that you wouldn't feel comfortable putting on company letterhead. This includes your choice of formatting, formality and verbiage. Discretion also comes into play when e-mailing with those in your office or company -- you still should watch your P's and Q's. Business is business.

To that advice some have responded that if their employer doesn't have an e-mail policy in place "anything goes." Believe that and you will be the first to go!

When at work, respect your employer's resources. Only use your company e-mail for business purposes and only use your personal e-mail when on your own time. Think before you type, think again before you send. You are a representative of your company and you need to make a professional impression with each and every e-mail.

For more tips, check out my very popular article: Business E-mail Basics

Addressing Concerns

How do you address an e-mail to a company when you have no specific person's name? Many years ago, before e-mail was invented, it was proper to use the salutation "Gentlemen". That seems archaic now, especially since the addressee may turn out to be feminine gender. "To Whom It May Concern" seems better suited to a legal document than to correspondence.

First off, I always recommend you find out the specific person's name. Perusing their site may give you the specific contact information you seek and is better than a generic greeting where one would know no effort was made to determine their name.

When I get addressed as "Gentlemen" through any of my sites I know the person didn't even take the 5 minutes necessary to find out my company is me. As far as "To Whom It May Concern" that isn't very impressive is it? Generic greetings are just that and will never lend to standing out from the crowd or the other sales pitches sent with the same.

What to do? If you cannot find a specific contact name on the site, pick up the old fashioned telephone and ask who to address your e-mail to. Simple! ;-)

Greetings Matter

Too busy to type a Hello or Hi? Do you think that it isn't necessary to include a brief greeting at the beginning of your e-mails?

Then, know that you may be coming off as terse or being perceived as bossy. The little effort it takes to type a Hey, John!, Hi, Jane: or a Hello, Sally: can make all the difference in the world in setting the tone of your e-mail. It is well worth your time to type those 10-15 extra characters!

When you call folks on the phone, you don't just start babbling without brief intro do you? If you do, then those you are calling probably cringe when they hear your voice. Same goes for e-mail. People prefer to communicate with those who show the basic courtesies and present themselves in a friendly manner.

Tiny little courtesies, such as including a greeting with every e-mail instead of just blurting out your comments, demands or questions, will go a long way to being perceived as someone who is a pleasure to communicate with. You don't want folks cringing when they see your name in their inbox do you?

How and When to Use Return Receipts (RR)

This morning I had an email from a business guy asking about how and when one should use Return Receipts (RR) due one of his associates making this request with every single e-mail that they sent.

Return receipts are a way of knowing that an e-mail has been opened on the recipient's computer. It does not however, mean they have read it.

Do you have someone in your life who has this feature on for every single e-mail? I've found those are the folks that seem to want to know when you receive their e-mail even if the content is not critical or important - sort of a control thing. Or, it could be your friend or associate does not even know they have this option selected. Maybe nicely e-mailing them with a "Did you know.....?" can let them know this is not a feature to be used for every single casual e-mail.

RRs are to be used sparingly. Do not use Return Receipt Request (RR) for each and every personal e-mail you send because you like "knowing" when someone opens the e-mail you sent to them. Not only is this a pain for the recipient, this feature is annoying and intrusive!

How would you like it if every time you heard a voice mail, answering machine message, opened a postal letter from a friend it was immediately reported back to sender that you had heard/opened their communications? RRs should be reserved for those instances where it is critical to knowing the e-mail was received/opened. Such instances would include legal and important business issues.

It is important to know that some e-mail programs allow the recipient to decline the sending of an RR. I know when I receive RR requests; I decline. It is none of anyone's bees wax when I open any particular email. That said, on those extremely rare occasions when it is an important matter and I can understand why there is an RR requested I go ahead and give my approval.

In the past I have used RR for legal issues and important company matters where I want to have some sort of proof or trail to document that an e-mail was sent and subsequently opened. I've never found a reason to use RRs with personal e-mails to friends or family nor have I used them in my daily business e-mail communications.

Now that I think about it -- I don't even remember the last time I initiated a RR request!

Internal Signature Files

Should you have a different signature file for internal communications? I say sure; why not!?

What I think happens is most use their one signature file with all their contact information appended to every e-mail they send. Either they are too lazy to choose another signature file to reflect who they are communicating with and the intended tone, or more than likely they don't know they have the option of using multiple signature files.

You should have a signature file that you switch to for internal e-mail. Those you work with don't need all your contact information -- they already have it. If you think about it, you can have a signature file for every situation and type of contact.

I have over 100 different signature files that I use on a regular basis! I choose which one to use when completing each e-mail to reflect the level of formality based on who I am communicating with. I have wacky ones, fun ones, professional ones and very serious ones. Some have my favorite quotes, while others promote my product du jour. There is no limit to the number of signature files you can create and use. Go for it!

Seeing Red?

When Senders change certain verbiage within an e-mail to the color red, they are making a point -- and a strong point at that! The use of red to make emphasis is an extra effort taken by the Sender to ensure the Recipient understands how strongly they feel about the topic at hand.

Red is so often used as a tool to emphasize only certain points that many (handfuls) each day ask me "What did they mean by using red for certain words in their e-mail?" Usually followed by "Were they yelling at me?"

The Sender meant to make a point, to add strong emphasis and wanted to ensure those words in particular caught your attention. Yes, you could say that they were using a louder voice -- but not yelling at you as typing in all caps would indicate. Now, typing in all red caps without a doubt reflects the Sender is clearly upset and unmistakably wants you to know that.

Red has a long history of being an aggressive color. For the ancient Romans, a red flag was a signal for battle. Because of its visibility, stop signs, stoplights, brake lights, and fire equipment are all painted red. To “see red” is to be angry.

So, if you are "seeing red" know that the Sender clearly wanted to make a point to you -- no need to wonder what they meant by doing so. ;-)

Does Size Matter?

Does font size in e-mail matter? What if you receive an e-mail where the font is much larger than normal? Do larger fonts mean that the person is yelling or screaming at you?

It would make a difference on how the larger font is used. Unless the sender or recipient is vision impaired and requires the larger font size for obvious reasons, anything larger than the standard default font size can be perceived as adding emphasis. Otherwise why would one make the font larger?

This is all about perception and trying to determine one's intent by how they choose to communicate with their e-mail. Since it takes a manual setting change to increase the font size -- folks may assume there is a reason for doing so. And if it is much larger, yes, they may take it that you mean to yell or scream.

So keep your font size set at the default of your e-mail software program -- that is unless you are trying to make a point!

Best Wording for Condolence E-mail?

I was asked today what would be the best wording for a condolence e-mail by someone who identified themselves as "not good with words."

The best wording would be to send a formal condolence card and not use e-mail for such an important communication. E-mail is not meant to replace all forms of communication. At such an difficult time, it is important that those who want to show they care do so in a way that is genuine. Receiving your card in the snail mail will give comfort and solace more than any e-mail ever could.

If you are not good with words, purchase a good old fashioned condolence card and send it by snail mail or drop it off personally at your friend's home -- now that shows genuine feelings and concern for their loss! Find a card that is in line with your feelings and sign it - no additional words are necessary.

Making these efforts will let your friend know you are truly concerned and will reflect your sincerity over those who just pop off an e-mail at such a sad time where personal actions by those who care can make all the difference in the world.

Think Before Replying to All

One of the issues I get contacted about most is using Reply to All on a mass e-mail where numerous folks are listed in the To: field. The simply answer is you don't use Reply to All -- you only reply to the Sender.

Most times problems arise when someone sends a controversial e-mail to all their contacts (and incorrectly lists all the e-mail addresses in the To: field). People react because it is an emotionally charged issue; hit Reply to All thereby letting everyone know their opinions. The Sender gets upset because their contacts were e-mailed while some of the contacts get upset because they didn't ask to hear anyone's opinion in the first place.

So here are a couple guidelines to help you avoid bad feelings and misunderstandings:

SENDERS: If you don't want someone hitting Reply to All and sending their comments about your e-mail to everyone you sent to, simply use the Bcc: field. If you do not make this effort to shield your contacts e-mail addresses, you really shouldn't complain when one of those contacts reacts by hitting Reply to All.

In addition, if you know that not everyone on your list knows each other -- please respect their privacy and do not display their e-mail addresses to strangers! Use the Bcc: field!

RECIPIENTS: Even if you know some or most of the people on the list -- only Reply to the Sender. Because the Sender displayed all those e-mail addresses in the To: field does not give you permission to e-mail anyone who didn't ask for your opinion.

At the end of the day, be very careful who you send e-mails with controversial topics or opinions to. Not everyone has the same viewpoint as you do and may not appreciate receiving your two cents when they didn't ask for it or worse yet don't even know you.

IM Availability Expectations

Many expect that if they "see" you are online, that you have time to chat. In my experience, whenever you don't do what other onliners expect or you let them know those expectations are not entirely accurate, (no matter how nicely) they get hurt feelings.

That said, you have the right to let others know when you are not available. Simply explain you are busy doing research or a business task and ask when would be a good time to hook up later.

In the same vein, don't expect just because you see someone is online that they are available to you alone. Ask first, if they are available and have time to chat. If they don't, don't take it personally.

When it comes to IMing, both sides need to be considerate to and honest with the other side about their availability and expectations.

You Don't Know Them!

I get asked this one quite often -- 3 times today alone. If one has something of interest (usually of interest only to those who e-mail me this type of question) to share with all those names in the To: field; (even if they don't know them) would it be improper to send an e-mail to any of them with your comments or about your business.

Yes, it would be immproper. These folks don't know you... And it would be spam.

Just because your friend didn't respect their contacts privacy by displaying e-mail addresses in To: field (instead of protecting those addresses by listing them in the Bcc: field) does not give anyone listed permission to e-mail the others. No matter how important you personally feel your advice or information is.

If you don't know them and/or are trying to sell them something they didn't specifically ask you for -- that's spam. No matter how noble or important you think the topic is, you simply do not e-mail folks you don't know.

Also, when you are a recipient of an e-mail with a long list of others in the To: field that you don't know, always make a point of responding to the sender only -- never use Reply to All.

I also have an article on this topic you can review:

Don't Brush Off Privacy

Reply Expectations

If someone expects a reply to an e-mail, should it be stated in the e-mail? And, what about a general informative e-mail that has been addressed to a large group for informational purposes? Are you expected to reply?

As far as stating you expect a response; not necessarily. When someone takes the time to e-mail another, common courtesy dictates that you respond on a timely basis. To not respond because the sender didn't ask you to, can be perceived as you ignoring the sender and that's just isn't nice.

Now this certainly doesn't apply to spam, forwarded chain letter e-mails or those e-mail that are from folks you don't know. Responding promptly, even if to just send a "Thank You" helps build relationships and avoid misunderstandings.

As far as informative mass e-mails, I would assume a reply is not expected if it is announcement type e-mail. The exception would be if you have specific issue with something in the e-mail that you feel the sender needs to be aware of. In that case, I would reply directly to the sender--and NOT Reply to All.

HTH!