Email response. What's your policy?

I admit I’m a compulsive responder and acknowledger when it comes to emails. I send thank you notes, got it notes, get back to you soon notes, confirmation notes, and so on. 

Unfortunately people don’t always send them to me so I’m often concerned that my email might have got lost in cyberspace or is lying trapped and helpless in a spam filter.  Or I reluctantly decide that the person I’ve communicated with is either inefficient, ignorant or just downright rude. 

“But I don’t have time to reply to everything”, I hear you say.  Or “I pride myself on only answering what I absolutely have to” or “but I didn’t have anything to tell you yet”.

Good on you for your time saving diligence, but what you are saving in time, you could well be losing in good business relationships. I’d like to point out a couple of distinctions that might make you think again about the benefit of email acknowledgement.

Good communication is the basis of all relationships and poor communication results in misunderstanding and poor relationships.

I am not talking about responding to unsolicited promos or mail.  This is about email communications with clients, colleagues, suppliers and friends.

The communication cycle has three parts.  Person A communicates to person B.  Person B, responds or acknowledges the communication.  A third part also may come into play in some instances to complete the cycle where person A acknowledges person B’s response.

For instance: Fred sends an email to Mary asking for input on a project. Mary responds with the required information or says, sorry she will not be able to do it at the moment and maybe makes a suggestion.  Fred then thanks Mary for her response.  Everyone is happy and in good communication. 

If part two or three was missed the result could have been misunderstandings and upsets in Fred and Mary’s business relationship. 

When we communicate in person or on the phone the response is immediately and understood.  By email it is a different matter and if an answer or even brief acknowledgement is not sent there is an open loop. Did it actually reach its destination and was it read?

With no stable information on what is going on there is a good chance we will get annoyed, feel slighted or just assume the answer is “no”  or “yes” to any request for information.

Here are some things you can do to make sure you complete the communication cycle and that your communications receivea response.

• If you need a response to your email by a certain time, include something along the lines of “Please let me know by (date) or I will assume the answer is yes/no/you know longer want this”. Have an “awaiting response” folder in your emails, so you can keep track of answers receive.
• Reply to all emails once a day, even if it is only to say thanks, or get back to you later, and then put the email in your “follow-up” folder.
• Remember to regularly check your follow-up folder.
• Invest in an email program that can show you if your email has been received and opened.
• Never assume your communication has actually been received and read and if no response is received, be willing to make a phone call to check.