There are lots of little signals you send with every e-mail.
There is an understanding of the basic guidelines (at least with those who cared how they were perceived) when it comes to day-to-day e-mail. Now, so many onliners are accustomed to texting that when they do send an e-mail those basic courtesies are neglected. And they wonder why they may not get a reply.
When you receive texts you expect the other side to be short and sweet, right? Some of the common courtesies of regular e-mail are just not practical when texting.
However, if you send e-mail like you are texting, don’t be surprised if you do not receive a response. What never changes with the written word — e-mail included — is that those you e-mail look for the meaning and the intent and tone of the words you type by how you type them. In what order you type them. What words precede or follow others.
How those words are interpreted is in your control to control!
If you think about it, courtesies on or off-line are just a matter of taking a little extra time to think about how your words and actions (or lack thereof) will affect others. When it comes to your e-mail a few extra keystrokes can mean the difference between offending or helping, sounding terse or cordial.
One of the topics I get contacted about most is lack of response. “Why don’t people I e-mail respond?” “Why are they ignoring me?” “Shouldn’t they take the time to respond?”
There are probably three primary reasons why folks don’t respond:
- They didn’t get your e-mail because you did something spammy.
- They are busy and/or away from their computer/devices.
- Were your terse or rude or… not taking a hint?
If you take the time to integrate the basics of e-mail etiquette you may be surprised by an increase in and the type of responses you will receive by those you e-mail!
No one is too big to be courteous, but some are too little.
Think about it…
