Business Email Guidelines by GNC Web Creations

Business Email Guidelines

Email Guidelines and Etiquette

J. Walker Author of Business Email Guidelines

If you truly want the internet public to view your online company as a legitimate professional business, you must portray the image of a professional business, in everything you do. One part of this process, involves handling email in the manner that the public expects from a professional company.

Could your email practices be sabotaging your efforts at building trust and confidence in your business? Your approach to email correspondence can be vital to developing credibility in your online business. Although I certainly recognize there are various definitions of professionalism, standard business email guidelines and etiquette are applicable for any company conducting business on the internet.

Your business email correspondence should include:

A Professional Signature

At the foot of every email, in addition to your name, include your business name, website address and contact information. Your email signature should be short and simple, a maximum of five lines

A Relevant Subject Header

Take the time to determine the primary topic of your email and use it in the subject area of the header. Many busy professionals determine if they need to open an email based entirely on the subject shown.

Your business email correspondence should NOT include:

HTML Formatting

A large percentage of internet users have their email configured to send and receive only plain text emails. If you use HTML formatting, it may not have the appearance you planned on when they read it. Most major companies use plain text formatting for email correspondence.

Unexpected Images and Attachments

Today's internet users are rapidly becoming more educated about safe computer usage. They will often look at unexpected email attachments with mistrust and as an unwelcome arrival in their inbox. You also need to consider that nearly 50% of internet users access the internet through dial-up modems. If unexpected images and attachment lock up access to their email for 45 minutes, they are not likely to have a positive viewpoint on your correspondence with them.

Stationery Backgrounds

This really comes down to projecting a professional appearance. Most companies use plain white backgrounds for correspondence. Again, you also need to look at drastically increasing the download time of your emails for dial-up users by using stationery backgrounds.

Read Receipt Requested

Your business contacts and customers will not appreciate your email settings being configured to request a "read receipt" for every contact. Some may view it as simply an irritating inconvenience, while others feel it infringes on their privacy. Read receipts should be requested on a very limited basis, and ONLY when confirmation is truly necessary.

Spam Blocking Programs

What happens to the credibility of your company when a customer who has just made a purchase through your website, receives the following message when they tried to contact you for delivery date verification.

"550 5.7.1 This system is configured to reject mail from [email server] (Host blacklisted - Found on Realtime Black List server ['bl.spamcop.net' or 'sbl-xbl.spamhaus.org'])"

imagine the irritation of a potential client receiving a message similar to the one above, when they sent your company an email, requesting more information.

Do you really believe that they will try other means of contacting you?

Talk to your email service provider. Make sure that you have complete control of how spam is handled in your account. You should NEVER choose a program that prevents email from reaching you. If you feel it necessary to filter your email, choose filters that mark suspected spam rather than deleting it automatically.

Challenge Response Spam Prevention Programs

Do not even consider using a program that uses challenge response technology, (such as Spam Arrest) to help limit spam. This is major pet peeve for many people.

I'm protecting myself from receiving junk mail. Just this once, click the link below so I can receive your emails. You won't have to do this again. You are receiving this message in response to your email to ____, a Spam Arrest customer. Spam Arrest requests that senders verify themselves before their email is delivered. When you click the above link, you will be taken to a page with a graphic on it. Simply read the word in the graphic, type it into the form, and you're verified. You only need to do this once per Spam Arrest customer.

Please think about this for a moment.

This method comes across that you are implying that you feel that your time is far more valuable than my time is. Since you do not have the time to properly take care of spam issues, you prefer that I take my time to do it instead.

Control spam by using good prevention measures before the spam ever begins.

Use effective methods of preventing the spammers from using your email address to begin with. If you already have a spam problem because you have not previously done this, do not expect your potential customers to take the time for you. A large percentage will simply move on to your competition.

Automatic Address Book Update Programs

Do not use automatic address book update programs, such as Plaxo. First of all, it APPEARS that you have shared my email address with a third party without asking my permission. You are telling me that YOU will not share my email information, but if I click on that link, it is not YOUR site that I am entering my information on.

"I'm updating my address book. Please take a moment to update your latest contact information. Your information is stored in my personal address book and will not be shared with anyone else. Plaxo is free, if you'd like to try it."

At this point, I begin to lose confidence in your privacy policy concerning not sharing my email address. All of the assurances in the world are not very helpful, because it sure LOOKS LIKE you have already given this company my information, since the form pops up pre-populated. This is simply not a professional business practice.

Again, it comes across that you are inferring that your time is far more valuable than mine. Since you do not have the time to keep your address book updated, you prefer that I take my time to do it for you.

Email Guidelines for Small Business Owners

One of the challenges you face, as a small business owner conducting business on the internet is building trust and confidence in your company. Taking special care with all the little things can and does make a tremendous difference in your success!

I WILL DEFINITELY SEE YOU AT THE TOP!

J Walker (a.k.a. "Cricket")

Mississippi Web Designer and SEO Training Specialist
Owner GNC Web Creations and Mississippi Photo Gallery

Link to Business Email Guidelines

What Role Does Email Play in Business Credibility?

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Link to Business Email Guidelines

http://www.gnc-web-creations.com/email-guidelines.htm

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