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E-mail is arguably the most successful and popular Internet
application. It has not only become one of the most accepted and
used communication medium in business but have even invaded our
personal life. Even grandmothers these days exchange e-mails with
their grandsons and granddaughters.
The unobtrusive and indirect nature of e-mail is both
a boon as well as bane. Its helpful, because one can easily avoid
responding to an e-mail. Its curse because the sender will remain
in dark forever why he/she did not receive any response - is it
because of wrong e-mail address, technical problem or willful refusal
? It indeed could be intimidating !
I have no doubt that not receiving response has as
much to do with sender as with the receiver in many cases. True,
many times the receiver does not respond because of lethargy, laziness
or sheer habit. It could also be that receiver did not receive the
e-mail because of some technical problem. But its also equally true
that many e-mails do not invoke any response because it merits NO
RESPONSE in the rating of the receiver.
Question is how do you deal with this situation ? Should
you ignore silence from receiver ? It could be suicidal in case
the receiver actually never received your e-mail or could not respond
because of genuine difficulties beyond his/her control. We discuss
here a few tips that may help you induce better response rate.
'Reply to' address in your e-mail
Make sure that you have provided correct 'Reply to'
address in your e-mail. A small mistake in that column can create
a huge negative impact about you and your company. Even if 'From:'
column of your e-mail contains correct e-mail address - all responses
to your e-mail will always be directed towards e-mail address at
'Reply to:' column of your e-mail. If you use same e-mail address
for receiving and sending e-mails, leave the 'Reply to:' column
blank in your e-mail preference list.
Signature Line
All professional communications must bear information
about sender's identity. Absence of such information reflects poorly
on professional competence of sender. Imagine receiving mails from
complete strangers - how often do you respond to them ?
You need not spend time in writing your identity information
every time you send an e-mail - signature files in e-mail software
do that for you. All e-mail software (Outlook, Netscape, Eudora
etc.) support signature file that automatically gets appended to
your e-mails. The signature should contain your contact details
like telephone, fax, mailing address, URL of your Home Site etc.
The signature file is a great advertising tool also.
Remember, every time you send an e-mail or someone forwards your
message or you post a message at bulletin board or discussion forum
- your message spreads without any extra effort.
Address Line
Ensure that your mail is properly and individually
addressed. Cramming the CC: or BCC: columns with e-mail addresses
may not serve your purpose. How often do you read mails that is
not addressed to you individually ? Besides, absence of actual receiver's
e-mail address in 'To:' column of your e-mail may lead to its deletion
even before opening (many corporate e-mail software routinely destroys
e-mails that do not contain recipient's e-mail address at 'To:'
column of the mail).
Subject Line
Make sure your mail has not only a SUBJECT but is relevant
and as specific as possible (e.g. 'Price and Specification of Brass
Candle Holder' rather than a vague sounding "Indian Handicrafts').
Remember - recipients first look at the subject and then the content.
If your subject fails to attract recipient's attention, chances
are the mail will end up in trash.
Quality is Better Than Quantity
Do not indulge in mindless mass mailing, though it
seems so easy and convenient to send thousands of e-mails in no
time !! Do not get misled by numbers alone - quality is more important
here than quantity. Targeted, specific and individually addressed
e-mails carry much more weight than an anonymous mail.
A Gentle Reminder
Forwarding your un-answered mail with a gentle reminder
induces many to respond. No harm in doing so once or twice before
giving up on a prospect.
Understand the limitation of e-mail
E-mails can never be as proactive as a telephone call
- someone has to respond to its ring ! So use judicious mix of telephone
and fax along with e-mail for serious inquiries. Do not sit back
after sending an initial e-mail - you may have to follow it up with
short telephone calls, gentle e-mail reminders etc. for best result.
Related Links:
Source: FAIDA
- Newsletter on Business Opportunties from India and Abroad
Vol: 3, Issue 3
April 18' 2002
Author :
Dr. Amit K. Chatterjee
(Amit worked in blue-chip Indian and MNCs for 15 years in various
capacities like Research and Information Analysis, Market Development,
MIS, R&D Information Systems etc. before starting his e-commerce
venture in 1997. The views expressed in this columns are of
his own. He may be reached at amit@infobanc.com
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