Email Marketing Information

Taking Care of Busines... E-mail


In this digital day and age, communicating through email is getting more and more important. This is of course also true for customer service and help desks.

Looking at the incoming stream of calls I see a growing trend of email communication.

Most companies have a protocol for handling telephone calls, but taking care of business email is clearly underestimated. I have assembled 12 valuable tips you can use directly to improve how you or your company is handling email.

1. Keep your customer in mind:

As with everything you do, keep your customer firmly in mind: Is this info appreciated? Is the tone of voice appropriate for this customer? Could the customer be offended? It is best to place yourself in front of the customer, as if you are face-to-face, talking to each other. Choose your words wisely. Format your email professionally.

2. Canalize your business email streams:

Customers are emailing you for many different reasons; they may have a sales question, or just wants some info, or have a complaint. By creating different mailboxes for the different streams customers can help you by selecting the most appropriate mailbox for their request. And they will do it, if you tell them that it will speed up the process (for them).

3. React quickly (within 8 hours):

Email is a fast medium. Customers expect a quick reaction when they use email. Same day response is the ABSOLUTE minimum, but to make a good impression you should make every effort to react within 8 hours. All the time. No exceptions.

4. Use auto responders:

Don't make customers guess whether the email they sent has arrived at your company. Make use of auto responder technology to send a confirmation immediately.

5. Choose your subject wisely:

Customers are getting lots of email every day. They scan the subject field and from field to see what's of interest. So make sure your subject line attracts the customer, and doesn't look like a load of SPAM. So, do not use ALL CAPS or overuse exclamation points!!!!

6. Proper salutation:

Think of your customer: would he rather be greeted with "Hi Erwin!" or "Dear Mr. Steneker"? Don't fall in the trap of the fact that email feels informal. Choose a salutation that fits your customer.

7. Spell the customer's name correctly:

OK, I know this is an open door, but so many folks don't take the time and effort to properly spell the name of the customer. And a misspelling puts down customers FAST. Think how you feel when your name is spelled incorrectly.

8. Introduce yourself:

Remember tip #1? You have to put yourself in front of the customer. So what is the first thing you do when you meet a customer? You introduce yourself! Don't let your customer guess who he is "talking" to.

9. Format your email:

Email is mostly read on screen, so format your email accordingly. Use short sentences and plenty of white space. Also make sure that your text lines are a maximum of 60 characters wide, otherwise they may strangely be truncated, with one or two words flowing over to the next line.

10. Emails and Emotions:

Emails are notoriously bad for conveying emotions. If you feel it is appropriate for your customer, you can make use of so-called emoticons. Emoticons are combinations of letters and punctuations that are designed to show emotions. Here are some examples (Note that you have to tilt your head left to see it):

:-) Smile

:-P Extending tongue

:-( Sad

:'-( Crying

:-D Big smile

;-) Wink

8-) Cool

*


MORE RESOURCES:

MailChimp First to Offer iPhone and Yahoo! Mobile Access for Email ...
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Internet Marketing News

Research highlights popularity of email marketing with retailers
Business Strata - Business News, UK - 14 hours ago
A new study has revealed that many retailers are turning to email marketing in an effort to communicate with potential and existing customers. ...
Email marketing 'top retail tool' One Stop Click
Email marketing, search cited as important for e-tailers Digital Response Media
Site search 'can boost e-commerce conversions' Internet Marketing News
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MailChimp First to Offer iPhone and Yahoo! Mobile Access for Email ...
International Business Times, NY - 13 hours ago
The foundation of every product and service we develop is to make the emailmarketing experience easier for the user, and these mobile applications areyet ...


Yesmail Partners with EdgeCast to Provide Superior Content ...
MarketWatch - 12 hours ago
a recognized industry-leading provider of permission-based online email marketing solutions, announced today a new partnership with EdgeCast Networks, ...


Effective email marketing 'a must-have for serious online businesses'
Business Strata - Business News, UK - Oct 6, 2008
The use of an effective email marketing strategy has been described as "a must-have" for businesses looking to trade online. According to Thomas Harpointer, ...


Email marketing list prices 'falling'
Digital Response Media, UK - Oct 6, 2008
US email marketing list prices are starting to drop as the economy continues to slow, new statistics have suggested. Figures from Worldata's Fall 2008 List ...


Show Your Email Savvy: Compete for a MarketingSherpa Email ...
PR-CANADA.net (press release), Montenegro - Oct 5, 2008
Show your email savvy by entering a campaign in MarketingSherpa’s fourth annual Email Marketing Awards competition. Sponsored by ExactTarget for the second ...


Silverpop Takes Email Marketing Social
MarketWatch - Oct 2, 2008
Share-to-Social can energize existing email marketing programs, turning them into a powerful acquisition tool capable of increasing list size and filling ...


List buying - Why quality pays
Brand Republic, UK - 50 minutes ago
Some brands take similar risks with their email marketing. Attracted by high volume and seemingly attractively priced email data, they risk losing their ...


Loan Choice Educates Consumers with StreamSend
PR Web (press release), WA - 16 hours ago
Loan Choice Direct has found the StreamSend Email Marketing service to be a very effective tool for educating consumers. Sacramento, CA (PRWEB) October 7, ...

Email-Marketing - Google News

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