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Put it this way. If the phone was ringing would you let it just ring out, thinking you’ll answer it tomorrow?

Email is another form of communication but unlike the phone can’t make the urgent sound that demands you answer it immediately.  So it amazes me how many business people (including banks and large corporations) don’t actually reply to emails, even ones that are relatively urgent) till days or weeks later.  Why is that?

I believe it’s because they don’t have staff regularly monitoring their email and that’s a poor thing.  It’s a legitimate form of communication and people will use it because it’s convenient.  Why is it convenient? Well, let me count the ways:

1. They don’t have to wait for someone to answer the phone
2. They don’t have to call during business hours but rather send a message at a time that suits the sender
3. Written email will often help clarify the problem or request and additional information can be sent such as images, copies of text, etc
4. They don’t have to sit on hold for a long time as is often the case when making phone calls
5. Written responses mean that the receiver can read over it again and again to check on the response rather than having to depend on their memory whether they heard right.

I’m sure there are others but this was just off the top of my head.

So, will you be checking your email regularly now rather than just thinking about it occasionally?  It’s worth thinking about.

Tags: Email Etiquette by Kathie Thomas
1 Comment »

This is a laugh!

Just got this email with an attachment which no doubt has some script installed in it.  What makes it so funny?  Well, apart from the obvious things like not addressing it personally to me (I don’t even have a NAB account), spelling errors, etc, it talks about paying me in Euro – from an Australian bank?  Doh!

I have notified the real NAB of the new phishing/spam email doing the rounds.  To date I’ve received 3 copies in less than half an hour.

Subject: Reward 20 Euro (31 AUD) ,take our survey jurney

Dear NAB Credit/Debit card Holder,

For better cooperation between NAB and his clients, NAB Survey Team has
initiated a new poll on the functionality of our banking services. By
completing the attached survey form emailed, you will receive an amount of
20 Euro. This amount will be debited to your credit card account in 2 days
after verifications. To participate, download form attached to email !

Tags: Email Etiquette, Warnings by Kathie Thomas
1 Comment »

Let me set the scene for you:

I manage several database lists for myself and for clients.  And as those lists grow, the numbers are well into the tens of thousands.  So, it’s only to be expected that you’ll get several requests for people to be removed off lists or for their details to be updated.

Today I received an email addressed to one of my clients advising that one of her readers may have received an email addressed to this address or that address and could I please update it to ….?  I spent some time trying to find the various addresses she’d given without success. In the end I emailed her back advising that the very next email she receives from my client simply requires her to click on the Update link at the bottom so she can update her email address.

Now, I get a few requests like this and I’m beginning to wonder what is so hard about clicking on a link at the bottom of the email they’ve received that says ‘cancel’ or ‘update’ and for them to update or cancel accordingly.  I use systems that allow for owners of email addresses to easily manage their subscriptions – it’s also designed to try and ease the load for us too.

I mean, I do that when I no longer want to be on a list or change an email and I don’t expect the owner of lists to maintain my addresses for me. So should I be expected to do the same?

And whilst I’m on the subject of maintaining my own email addresses on lists, I particularly dislike being made to login (therefore having to create a username and password) simply to get off someone’s list. Why should I have to register to unsubscribe? The reality is that often these people have just put me on their lists and if I click on an unsubscribe link find I have to prove I am the owner of that address and fill out information I don’t want to have to fill out.  Or am I just being pedantic?

What are your thoughts about who should manage the ownership of subscriptions?

mailing lists, email subscriptions, managing lists, email addresses

Tags: Email Etiquette, Technology by Kathie Thomas
10 Comments »

I sometimes wonder what goes on in the minds of other people when participating in chat forums.

I belong to a lot of email based business network forums, mainly through yahoogroups.  It seems to me there are 3 types of people who participate in these forums.

1.  The person who replies and leaves all of the previous email(s) and so we get a trail of messages repeated over and over again, especially if others add to it.  The poor people on daily digest, or on dialup – having to pay for the download of repeated messages.  These people either don’t really understand what it’s all about, or perhaps they are just plain lazy – maybe they don’t even think.

2.  The opposite (extreme) – deleting everything, even what they are responding to, and thereby leaving others guessing what it was they were responding to. The subject heading doesn’t always give a clue, particularly if it’s gone off topic.  These people are too pedantic – not everyone is on your wave length.

3.  The person who does trim the email, leaving enough so that others can see what is being responded or added to – this is the preferred option and keeps things running smoothly.

Actually, there are others.

4. The lurker – those who read everything, devour what info they can and possibly apply it, but give nothing of themselves and don’t contribute back to the group.  These are the takers.

5,  The responder – to everything. They have to have a word about everything that is taking place, even responding with just ‘thank you’.  Some of these replies just aren’t needed, at least via the forum – you can always email the person direct.  We all get enough email as it is, don’t you think?

Tags: Email Etiquette, Forums by Kathie Thomas
2 Comments »