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Just when you thought you were busy enough, along comes another piece of technology to ‘increase your efficiency’ and ‘save you time’.

The Internet and its associated functions have greatly increased both the accessibility and speed of sourcing and transferring data and information. Ten years ago, most of us hadn’t even heard of emails, let alone knowing how they would affect our daily lives by the turn of the century.

Emails are a fantastic tool, but just like any other tool, mastering the use of that tool requires some practice and application.

The volume of emails being sent around the globe each day is mind boggling. Exact figures vary depending on the information source, however the figure is certainly in the billions. And for every email sent, most require some sort of response. The question then is what is the most efficient way of responding to emails. What is correct ‘netiquette’?

Speed of response is singularly the most important. Sending a letter and receiving a reply via ‘snail mail’ typically took five to ten days. Faxes reduced this to between a couple of hours and a couple of days. Email technology enables response time to be reduced to seconds. But only if the respondent has adequate systems and procedures to enable a quick response.

Depending on the size and nature of your business, I believe the minimum that your ‘e’mailbox should be checked is three times a day; morning, noon and prior to close of business. For those of you with 24-hour constant access, schedule regular check and response times.

The ideal response time for emails is during the same business period. That is, if you receive an email sometime in the morning, respond to it prior to lunch. If it is received during the afternoon, reply before close of business. Sometimes, owing to the complexity of the email and the response required, responding in full may not be possible or desirable. However, what is possible and advisable, is a simple one-line acknowledgment that the email has been received and that a response will be forthcoming.

Unless there are lengthy attachments accompanying an email, the most effective way to respond to an email is to simply hit the reply button on the bar. This automatically addresses your email to the sender. Be careful whom you want the reply to go to. Embarrassing mistakes have been made where replies have been sent to all recipients of the original email and not just to the sender.

The beauty of emails is the general acceptance and use of short, sharp, to the point words and phrases. Bullet points are also effective. If you can use two words instead of ten, do it.

Quoting direct from the original email is also recommended. Simply respond in the body of the original email directly after the quote, or cut and paste the sender’s words into your responding email. Another effective way of highlighting your response is to use a different font and/or colour such as blue or red. This directs the original sender straight to your reply.

Another must for emails is a quality signature. Most email programmes such as Netscape Navigator and Microsoft’s Outlook Express allow you to set up a range of different email signatures. I have several set up, but two that I frequently use. The first is quite lengthy in that it lists all my contact details including telephone, fax, email, and website address as well as other ‘marketing’ info about my book, weekly newsletter etc. I use this signature when contacting or responding to a person or business for the first or second time. The second signature is short and simple stating only telephone, fax and website details. This I use for those who I am in constant contact with. My ‘default’ signature is blank. The reason I leave it blank is because I know that for every email I send I consciously need to choose which signature is most appropriate.

And last but not least, when you receive a response, how about sending a one word reply; Thanks!

Until next week, many happy customer returns!

Graham Harvey APS

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