What is the rule for how fast you should be responding to e-mails?
The short answer: As soon as you can.
The long answer: It is obvious that some e-mails will be more important to you than others. It also is clear that we only have so much time in a day and there will be days where you will be unable to reply to any e-mails at all. So, you do the best you can to reply to everyone as soon as you can.
Onliners look at e-mail as an instantanious medium. They know that their e-mail is in your inbox waiting to be downloaded or ready for you to read usually within minutes to hours of clicking Send.
By not making the Sender aware you are away with a courteous away message, the Sender will assume their e-mail is received and if not responded to promptly, in your view, not a priority.
If you are so busy that you cannot respond at all (you’re there but not “away” to require an away message be in place), you are in fact deciding to ignore the Sender — even if for the time being — and that’s exactly what they will assume. You’ve made a decision that their e-mail is not important to you or you would have responded.
There really is no gray area here. Perception is alive and well in regard to how quickly you respond to those who take the time to e-mail you. Of course, this does not include spam or irresponsible forwarders.
That is why it is so important to have a informative away message in place if you are not available at all. Senders will then understand if they don’t receive a prompt reply from you.
If you are simply swamped or have other responsibilities that keep you from responding in detail, a short message stating your situation and that you will respond in detail as soon as you can is highly recommended.
Remember, e-mail isn’t just about you, how busy you are or what you feel is important to you at that point in time. There is another human being involved (the Sender) on the other side of your screen who e-mailed you for a reason and is expecting your prompt response.
Showing the courtesy to keep those you communicate with informed as to your status can ensure you are a person that is looked at as a pleasure to communicate with and avoid misunderstandings and hurt feelings in the process.
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Thank you for interesting article. In my opinion and according to rules of business etiquette when you get an email or other correspondence such as request, invitation, etc., you are supposed to reply within 48 hours.
Hey, SP:
Thanks for your comments! I agree that 48 hours is general rule — but should be worst case scenario. I can’t tell you how often I hear comments from customers, vendors and others that I work with about how much they appreciate my prompt responses because I generally reply to all e-mails that coming during business hours within an hour or two. Sometimes sooner depending on my workload.
When your are “Johnny on the Spot” you give the perception of being dependable, responsible and more professional that those who feel as long as they reply within 48 hours that is good enough. Online is rabidly competitive — and as applies off-line — the early bird gets the worm! Don’t underestimate how responding promptly and professionally can give you an edge over your perceived competitors!
At your service,
Judith
P.S. Your comment was on topic so that is why I have broken my usual rule of not approving comments where visitors do not use their name and instead use their domain or keywords. Please do me a favor and on future comments, use your name so we all know who we are talking to. (See the link at the top of the page: Comment Policy). TYVM!
Dear Judith
Thank you for a series of really good advice on the topic of e-mails. I am working on a blog entry dealing with quality and professionalism for SMEs (on http://www.kvalitetspraksis.dk) and would like to quote some of your good advice, naturally giving the link to your site. Is this OK with you?
Best regards,
Helen
Hey, Helen:
That’s just fine — thank you for helping get this very important information out there! If you could e-mail me the link so I can visit your site where you include my info — that would be great!
I agree with SP. The rules of business etiquette dictate that an appropriate response time for business communications is within 24-48 hours. Unfortunately, the instantaneousness of email, instant messages and social media communications have set an unrealistic expectation of an immediate response, however the rules of business ettiquette have not changed. Allowing email communications to command your day is not necessarily good time management. An effective and efficient professional has learned to properly manage their time, and responds to communications in a timely manner.
Hey, Bridget:
Great minds think alike! Thanks for sharing!