E-Mail Etiquette
Sitting at your computer, surrounded by all of your familiar stuff, it’s easy to forget that you are actually in a very public place. It’s tempting to just “let fly” with you comments and opinions without censoring them as you might otherwise do. In reality, the recipient of your e-mail perceives your output from a very personal level. You are “in their face”, in their home or office with them, even invading their personal space.
We all know that e-mail communications don’t include the physical nuances that face-to-face communications provide. Because of this, miscommunications are hard to avoid. Great care must be taken to write clearly, concisely, and in a way that takes into consideration the intended target of your communication and your potential effect on them. This is especially true with business communications.
Another issue with e-mail and eCommerce is the need to respond to online communications. Have you ever sent an e-mail to someone or some company and wondered if they ever received it? Sending a response, even just to acknowledge the receipt of the e-mail, is so important in your business. Even many large businesses fall down in this regard.
For example, recently I ordered a gift for my spouse from a vendor through Amazon.com. When the gift never arrived I contacted UPS through the UPS web site to inquire. A few days later, when I had heard nothing, I again contacted them through their site. Several days later yet, I called UPS to see what the problem was. I was told they had contacted the vendor to try to resolve the issue. However, they never sent me an e-mail to say that.
It has now been two weeks, and I still have gotten nothing from UPS or the vendor. I sent an e-mail to the vendor through Amazon (as recommended by Amazon) to no avail. Finally I e-mailed the vendor directly and got an immediate response. The story was that UPS is working on the issue and will either find the item or replace it. I was told to contact the vendor again if I don’t hear from UPS by the end of the week. Finally, somebody is responding!
Are you making your customers do all the work in your communications, or are you showing them how responsible and responsive you are by answering every e-mail you get from them? I am left with a negative impression of UPS and of using Amazon for purchases due to the issues I’ve had with this sale. The companies were doing their jobs; they just weren’t telling me that they were doing it. Don’t you make the same mistake.
A further consideration regarding “netiquette” is that your messages are not as anonymous as they may seem. E-mail messages are stamped with an electronic code that can reveal its origin. It can be, and often is, archived somewhere. Therefore, a message that you spin off may come back to haunt you and may be used against you. A good rule of thumb is to never put anything in an e-mail that you wouldn’t want published in a newspaper.
For further information about this subject, try this site:
http://www.albion.com/netiquette/
As always, I’m interested in your feedback, questions, problems, and information. Please forward any of that to me at the following e-mail address: vtolbert@laurel-design.com You can also find archives of this newsletter at this link: http://www.laurel-design.com/pages/archives.html (a few are available now with more being added as time permits) Feel free to share this e-mail with anyone you think may be interested. If you do forward it to others, though, please keep the contact information and web address intact. To unsubscribe or to subscribe, send an e-mail to: vtolbert@laurel-design.com http://www.laurel-design.com Phone: 205-338-6546