For many businesses, e-mails have become by-far the most commonly used method to communicate to their customers, prospects, vendors, and to other staff members. When that happens, the e-mail correspondence takes the place of the “sharp suit”, the well-designed business card, the attention getting presentation folder, and the well-adorned lobby. That is why I am frequently amazed at how little attention businesses give to the appearance and general handling of e-mails. The company has a dress code, company shirts, behavior policies, etc, but no policies and no training for how to handle electronic communications. Here are a few tips to consider for good e-mail “netiquette”.
- Create an e-mail use policy and provide training (should I use the word “liability”?).
- Require timely and complete responses.
- Reply to ALL questions, not just the first one noticed while speed-reading.
- Attempt to preempt further questions.
- Require that all users spell-check ALL e-mails by default.
- Use corporate templates for frequently asked questions.
- Quote the sender’s e-mail to establish continuity (aka creating a “thread”)
- Don’t type in ALL CAPITALS, or too much punctuation!!!!!
- Please use meaningful subject lines. It makes finding e-mails later a lot easier for everyone. If appropriate, modify the subject when replying.
- Avoid using deliver and read receipts for all e-mails.
- Avoid using e-mail for confidential information. E-Mails are not truly private.
- Limit the number of cc’s listed.
- Standardize e-mails closing company-wide.
- Avoid long closings, with large amounts of text and/or logos.
- Avoid sending attached logos, use HTML references to images (look for a future blog post on how).
- Unless required by your legal council, avoid using full closing with each and every back and forth.