Email Auto Responders that add value to your Business

Why don’t more of us use email auto responders?  Not from our main accounts obviously, but from our businesses enquiries@ or info@ or support@ email accounts.  In a world where no one sends a “read receipt”  it’s great to get an acknowledgement that your email to a generic email address has been received.

Most email systems, even basic POP3 ones, have the ability to send an auto response. Emails, and how you handle them, are a big part of how your business is perceived.  For example I got this response today from a company I deal with who will (but really shouldn’t) remain nameless:

We acknowledge receipt of your email, which has been forwarded to the relevant department.
We will endeavour to respond within the next ten working days.
Kind Regards,

So on seeing this what’s your first thought?

Mine was “10 working days, 2 weeks, REALLY?!?!?  for an email reply.  This is 2012…”  Either they are understaffed or incompetent, there’s no other conclusion to draw from this.

So how should you respond from your generic email addresses, and we all have them…  Here’s a suggested auto reply:

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Many thanks for your email to support@alpha-tango.co.uk We will deal with your enquiry as soon as possible but if the matter needs an immediate response please call us on 0800 9885534.

We use other communication channels that you might find useful, Facebook (linked to FB page), Twitter (linked to Twitter page), and LinkedIn (linked to LI page). You can connect with us in a way that suits you.

Best regards,

The Customer Service Team at WSI
support@alpha-tango.co.uk
0800 9885534 8am to 6pm Mon – Fri excl. Bank Holidays

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If your system can personalise the response even better but in this response we are giving an alternative option if the issue is important, as well as offering other ways of connecting to us that may be preferable to email for many people.

We are also including our social channels and web site address so the recipient can just click to investigate.  The key here is to deliver on your promise of getting the email dealt with, but also giving the user easy options to connect with you.

I hope this is useful, all interactions with customers and potential customers count so make your email work for you with a good auto responder.

Have a chat with your email provider or give me a call if you want to do this.  The cost is minimal but the effect will be substantial.