To Whom it May Concern strikes again! Yes, I’ve written about this before — and now it is time for a reminder. Through this site, my every-day Email Etiquette and WordPress Consultant sites I received 7 e-mails addressed “To Whom It May Concern” just today! With a click or two on all three sites you would know that Judith is the one behind the site and the person who you will be addressing when you e-mail with a question or inquiry.
When you e-mail a site, especially for commercial gain, you need to make the effort to look for who to contact by name. “To Whom it May Concern” tells me you are not concerned about who you are contacting. You just want to get your pitch in front of anyone. That certainly doesn’t make a positive impression.
As a matter of fact, when I see “To Whom it May Concern” I pretty much stop reading and hit the Junk button.
Add to that the “Dear Sir” e-mails I get in my inbox and very quickly I can determine the serious inquiries from those who just want what they want from me (an answer, an opinion, advice, or for me to use their services). E-mails addressed in this manner are not read — they go right to trash.
So, don’t make this mistake. There really is no reason to use a non-greeting like this that screams “I don’t know who you are, and I don’t care”. If you cannot find a name or if it isn’t important enough to you to pick up the phone and ask for the appropriate contact information, a simple “Hello” will stand a better chance of your e-mail being read over a “To Whom It May Concern” reflecting you actually have no concern other than yourself.
How do you react to e-mails addressed in this manner?
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Judith,
I LOVE YOU!! Yes, it’s in caps because I do love your response
On a daily basis I encounter the same situation. It is extremely frustrating especially when you are dealing with an academic community. I would provide them with clear guidelines and also mention about the salutation and yet they continue to address their dossier to “To Whom It May Concern”.
The other matter is the fact an email is received and they will lodge right into a questions, no opening greeting “Hello” or any courtesy and I am so tempted to trash the email. But, I politely respond to them, then they start addressing me by my first name as though I gave them permission! What’s up with that? As far as I recall common courtesy is for the receiver to reply with their first name, which gives you the permission to address them as such, don’t just assume you can go ahead and address them ‘as if’ you are buddies.
To me (old-school lady), that is very poor business and professional etiquette.
Hey, Lyn:
Thanks for stopping by and sharing!
The bottom line is we live in a narcissistic culture, that IMNSHO, has lost touch with common courtesy off-line. That was one of the main reasons I started my E-mail Etiquette sites 15 years ago. Especially in business, courtesy and formalities do matter. I cover both issues you mention — the importance of Greetings (http://www.businessemailetiquette.com/are-you-perceived-as-terse/) and formality in greetings based on the other side’s sign-off in my Business E-mail Basics..
From one “old-school lady” to another — courtesy and professionalism never go out of style!