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CUSTOMER SUPPORT
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| Email Etiquette |
I found this on the Internet, and since it sums up everything about email, I thought I'd share it. I'm sorry I don't have the original author's name or website, but it's worth reading !!
Respond to email promptly
Always try to respond to email promptly. In this age of spam filtering, ISP content blocking and automatic virus and message scanning, one never knows if their email made it to a recipient or not? Being prompt in your replies can help cut down the suspense. If you need time to research the answer to an email, or complete a task, at the very least you could type a short note informing the sender you will be in touch with them soon.
When to use CC: and BCC: and Reply-All
One of the most annoying things about receiving email is wading through the sea of email addresses to read a message. Proper use of Carbon Copy (CC:), Blind Carbon Copy (BCC:) and Reply-To-All should be a pre-requisite to using email! Here is the proper use of these tools:
| CC: | when you want to send the email to A FEW people. CC: is use when three or four people are collaborating on something together, and everybody in this SMALL group needs to see the messages. |
| BCC: | when you are sending a message to your entire address book. When you send the funniest joke in the world, it is unlikely that everybody in your address book wants their email address shared with 140 people - not to mention address harvesters. All it takes a worm on one recipients computer and the entire list of addresses now get bombarded with spam. For mass mailings, address the message To: yourself, and BCC: the rest of the recipients. |
| Reply To All | should be used similar to CC: - with a few people! This will send your reply to everybody in the CC: list when you click Send |
Be concise and to the point
Although it is polite to lead up to a question or response, not everybody wants to hear a three page story just to ask to borrow a shovel. And since few people pay attention to the BCC: rule your friend has a mail box full of spam to filter through, and reading more than they have to is sometimes more of a chore than a relaxing experience. Get to the point without mumbling and fumbling.
Less graphics = better email
One of the most annoying things in an email is a page full of dancing flowers and smiley faces. Because of this annoyance, many valid emails get deleted before they are read. If you insist on promoting your mood, use things like :) = (happy) and :( = (sad) instead of 2 pages of bouncing kitty cats. Just because all the graphics wasting a ton of space are amusing to you, they aren't amusing to everybody. If you like 'em - send yourself email and spare the rest of us!
Watch those attachments
Remember that there are still some people using a dial-up connection, and the average movie of a monkey urinating on a tree will take them 20 minutes to receive. Will that 20 minutes be worth it to see the monkey pee?
Some attachments can be very large and will choke up the recipient's finite mailbox size. Always compress them before attaching large attachments. This will also speed up the download time for the recipient, especially if s/he is using a
slow dial-up link.
Use a short and meaningful subject heading
The subject heading of your mail will help the recipient understand the content of your mail before s/he opens it. In the future, a good heading will also make it easier for the recipient and yourself in finding that old mail among your hundred other mails.
Spring clean your mailbox regularly
Don't wait until spring before you clean up your mailbox. Sorting and filing mails into subfolders will make it easier for you to search for them in the future. Regularly archiving of old mail items into a Personal Folder will prevent your
mailbox from getting full. A full mailbox will not be able to receive mails and this can be frustrating to senders. (Mailbox size is a finite resource, you can't keep asking for more space all the time!)
Be cool!
Watch that temper before you fire out a mail which may be offensive to the recipient. Cool down before you reply to a mail that has irritated you. One of the best rules I've taken to heart is, when writing or replying to a hot-tempered issue, take a walk to calm down for a few minutes before clicking Send ... you may find that you don't send the email when you get back to your mouse.
Never send Chain Letter, Spam, or Virus Hoaxes
Mass mails are a total waste of time and resources. Spamming is the practice of sending large quantities of mails to people who did not request it, do not want it, and are not interested in it. Don't do it!
If you receive an email message warning you of a new unstoppable virus that will immediately delete everything from your computer, this is most likely a hoax. By forwarding hoaxes you use valuable bandwidth and sometimes virus hoaxes contain viruses themselves, by attaching a so-called file that will stop the dangerous virus. The same goes for chain letters that promise incredible riches or ask your help for a charitable cause. Even if the content seems to be bona fide, the senders are usually not. Since it is impossible to find out whether a chain letter is real or not, the best place for it is the recycle bin.
Use proper spelling, grammar & punctuation
You don't have to be an author as though you are writing a novel, but e-mails with no full stops or commas are difficult to read and can sometimes even change the meaning of the text. If your program has a spell checking option, why not use it?
Do not write in CAPITALS
IF YOU WRITE IN CAPITALS IT SEEMS AS IF YOU ARE SHOUTING, it also implies that you have no idea what a Caps Lock key is. This can be highly annoying and might trigger an unwanted response in the form of a flame mail. Therefore, try not to send any email text in capitals.
Last updated by Administrator (admin) on Jan 09 2007 at 11:05
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