Put your email auto response to work

With the volume of emails we all get every day, we can’t afford to let our emails go unattended.  We don’t want the people who email us to think we’re ignoring them, so if we’re going to be out of the office — most of us use some sort of an automated response system.

You know what I’m talking about:  “I will be out of the office until Tuesday, March 3rd.  If you need assistance, please call my co-worker Biff at 555-123-4567.”

And that does the trick.  They don’t freak out if we don’t answer within an hour or two.

But if you’re at a conference, spending the day shooting a TV spot or attending a strategic planning retreat (or doing anything else that establishes your expertise) why not let your your email auto response do some marketing for you?

I’ve spent the last couple days conducting a workshop.  During the workshop, I emailed a link to the participants and got this back from one of them:

I am attending a conference of leading PR/MarCom agencies from around the country to discuss new MarCom trends and techniques and will be out of the office through Friday, February 10th. 

I will be checking my email periodically.

Brilliant!  What did this auto response tell this person’s email senders?

  • That he’s considered one of the leading PR/MarCom agency professionals in the country (otherwise, he wouldn’t have been invited)
  • That he’s honing his skills and staying current
  • That he believes in investing in his professional development

Who wouldn’t want to work with him?  We certainly get a better sense of who he is and what he’s about than if he’d used the standard language.

Often we think marketing has to be complicated, expensive or done over a long period of time.  But every once in awhile — it can be just this simple.

How could you leverage this idea?

~ Drew

 

Stock photo courtesy of www.BigStockPhoto.com

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12 comments on “Put your email auto response to work

  1. Jann Freed says:

    I learn so much from reading your posts. My two favorite blogs are yours and Michael Hyatt because your share information free that is so valuable we should be paying you! Thanks

    1. Thanks Jann — you sure know how to make someone’s day! I’m happy to share the information with all of you. I’m just glad you find it of value.

      Drew

  2. Ben Davis says:

    That’s a good point you’ve got there. I should use my email auto response more often.

    1. You and me both Ben! I plan on stealing his idea immediately!

      Drew

  3. Kneale Mann says:

    Thanks for the insightful blog post, Drew. I am currently looking at my week of 11 client leadership coaching and team calls, revisions on an upcoming business workshop and several on-site client meetings. I will be sure to comment on your always brilliant blog which I make a point of visiting daily.

    Aka you rock!

    1. Kneale,

      Gee, it’s too bad you don’t have enough to do! ;-}

      Drew

  4. It is a good thing to have an auto response in your email. This will ensure that all email senders are attended to. But this is not great either if you have lots of spam messages. At least, you still need time to check manually.

  5. karla says:

    This is really a very informative post and i learned so much. Thanks for providing us a useful information about emails. Keep up the good work Drew!

  6. Drew, great post. I read and decided to act on it. Last week, I was out of town facilitiating training sessions and left the following “out of office” message: “Thank you for your email. As I am away from the office working with a group of dedicated professionals to identify and enhance their customer service skills, I will respond to your email after 6:00 pm. Thank you for your patience and understanding.” I received “wow” responses from potential clients who loved the messaging. Your tip may very well help me close a few more bids. Thanks!

    1. Laurie,

      Gotta love that — you took quick action and it has already paid off. That’s some pretty impressive ROI! Congrats!

      Drew

  7. I think there are a lot of things that we should do to utilize our emails and this is one way to do it. Thanks Drew.

  8. Is it true that when you are in the United States, if your partner is not interested in your proposal, he does not answer?

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